The BBC Radio 2 Interview with Richard Carpenter is available for streaming via the BBC’s website. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0001q2g
Be sure to catch it before January 21, 2019, when the stream will expire.
The Carpenters are getting the royal treatment. Carpenters With The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is set for release worldwide December 7 by A&M/UMe. Featuring timeless hits and favorites, the album pairs Carpenters’ original vocal and instrumental tracks with new orchestral arrangements from Carpenter, conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) at Abbey Road Studios. It is available now for preorder in digital, CD and 180-gram 2LP vinyl LP formats. The LP set will be released February 8.
LOS ANGELES and LONDON, Nov. 1, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — The Carpenters are getting the royal treatment. Carpenters With The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is set for release worldwide December 7 by A&M/UMe. Featuring timeless hits and favorites, the album pairs Carpenters’ original vocal and instrumental tracks with new orchestral arrangements from Carpenter, conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) at Abbey Road Studios. It is available now for preorder in digital, CD and 180-gram 2LP vinyl LP formats. The vinyl set will be released February 8.
With their 1970 chart breakthroughs of “(They Long To Be) Close to You” and “We’ve Only Just Begun,” Richard and Karen Carpenter set a new standard for melodic pop that has never been surpassed. With over 100 million in sales, Carpenters are among the all-time most successful artists in recording history. The long hit list also includes “Rainy Days And Mondays,” “Top of the World,” “Yesterday Once More” and “Superstar.”
On the heels of RPO successes with Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, Roy Orbison and The Beach Boys, Carpenters With The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra marks the first time the series has the actual artist playing key roles in the recording process. Richard Carpenter served as the album’s producer, arranger and conductor.
“I think that’s what makes it very special: the fact that it’s his music and he knows it and that he was there from the start,” says Royal Philharmonic orchestral manager Ian Maclay. “It’s not somebody else interpreting, which is what normally happens.”
The fusion of Richard’s production genius, the duo’s harmonies and Karen’s immortal vocals make Carpenters both endearing and enduring.
In 2016, Carpenters returned to the UK album charts, climbing to No. 2 with the compilation The Nation’s Favourite Carpenters Songs. 2017 saw the release of the best-selling 12LP Carpenters Vinyl Collection. And, stateside alone, nearly six million watched last month’s season opener of “American Horror Story: Apocalypse,” which prominently featured The Carpenters’ 1977 global hit, “Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft (The Recognized Anthem Of World Contact Day).”
Starting today, the first two tracks from Carpenters With The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, “Yesterday Once More” and “Merry Christmas, Darling,” are available for streaming and immediate download with digital-album preorder. On November 16, “Ticket To Ride” will become available. Preorder Carpenters With The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra here.
Carpenters With The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Track List: [CD, 180g LP]
- OVERTURE
- YESTERDAY ONCE MORE
- HURTING EACH OTHER
- I NEED TO BE IN LOVE
- FOR ALL WE KNOW
- TOUCH ME WHEN WE’RE DANCING
- I BELIEVE YOU
- I JUST FALL IN LOVE AGAIN
- MERRY CHRISTMAS, DARLING
- BABY IT’S YOU
- (THEY LONG TO BE) CLOSE TO YOU
- SUPERSTAR
- RAINY DAYS AND MONDAYS
- THIS MASQUERADE
- TICKET TO RIDE
- GOODBYE TO LOVE
- TOP OF THE WORLD
- WE’VE ONLY JUST BEGUN
The discography links are now working again. Thank you for your patience!
Here is the cover art that has been posted for the CARPENTERS WITH THE ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA project. Release date is December 7th, 2018.
Richard Carpenter conducts the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios in London.
Richard Carpenter and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra are melding their talents to create a new album in the Carpenters canon. Richard recorded the orchestra over in Abbey Road studios and has undertaken the task of melding those recordings with the original Carpenters tracks to create an exciting new product. Join our forum discussion as we await this album, expected to be a December release.
Back in the mid-80s, a group of A&M “best-of” albums in a series called “A ARTE DE…” came out in Brazil. Carpenters’ entry in the LP series called A ARTE DE CARPENTERS was contained on two records, and when issued on CD, the set was combined onto one compact disc.
There are some surprising versions here, some original mixes, some 1985 remixes, and many with reversed stereo. There’s even a song not anthologized anywhere else, “You’re Enough”.
The Resource has been updated with the mix information, so since this is so hard to find, check out the listings. We’ll also be talking about it in our forums.