I Need To Be In Love

AM 1828 I Need Sandy
(Richard Carpenter – John Bettis – Albert Hammond) Almo Music Corp. / Hammer and Nails Music / Landers-Roberts Music ASCAP 3:35

A&M 1828 Single released: 5/21/76
Billboard #25, 6/12/76
b/w Sandy

Original album mix:
A KIND OF HUSH LP and Remastered Classics CD
CARPENTERS COLLECTED
THE NATION’S FAVOURITE CARPENTERS SONGS (UK)
ULTIMATE COLLECTION (NL)

Single mix/edit: eliminates opening piano part, and first 3-4 seconds are in narrow stereo suddenly changing to wide stereo
CARPENTERS-THE COMPLETE SINGLES
JAPANESE SINGLE BOX
THE SINGLES 1974-1978
YESTERDAY ONCE MORE (UK)
YESTERDAY ONCE MORE (84)

A mono folddown exists of the single mix on the promo 45 single.

1985 single length remix: short opening with the first 3-4 seconds in full stereo, reverb added
A KIND OF HUSH original A&M CD
– A&M COMPOSERS SERIES VOL 2 (RICHARD CARPENTER-JOHN BETTIS)
– A&M GOLD SERIES VOL 2
A&M NEW GOLD SERIES VOL 1 (1990)
A&M GOLD SERIES (1991) and STARTRAX (AUS)
ANTHOLOGY (89)
CLASSICS VOL 2 and YESTERDAY ONCE MORE (85)
REMINISCING

1985 single length remix: same as above with reversed stereo:
A ARTE DE CARPENTERS

1990 remix: Some list some of these as a 1991 remix
– 20/20 BEST OF BEST SELECTION
20th CENTURY MASTERS MILLENNIUM COLLECTION
– 40/40 BEST SELECTION (JP)
40/40 (US)
ANTHOLOGY (97)
BEST OF BEST+
BY REQUEST
– CARPENTERS BEST VOL. 1
CARPENTERS COLLECTION (Time-Life)
CARPENTERS PERFORM CARPENTER
– ESSENTIAL COLLECTION
FROM THE TOP
GOLD (JP)
GOLD (UK)
GOLD (US)
ICON
LOVE SONGS
MAGICAL MEMORIES OF THE CARPENTERS
– REFLECTIONS – SWEET SWEET SMILE – THE BEST OF THE CARPENTERS
THE SINGLES 1969-1981
SWEET MEMORY at last
THEIR GREATEST HITS AND FINEST PERFORMANCES (Readers Digest)
– TOP OF THE WORLD (original & karaoke masters)
TREASURES (UK)
TWENTY TWO HITS OF THE CARPENTERS
ULTIMATE COLLECTION (UK)
YESTERDAY ONCE MORE (98)
YESTERDAY ONCE MORE (NL)

Karaoke version:
ORIGINAL MASTER KARAOKE-YESTERDAY ONCE MORE
– TOP OF THE WORLD (original & karaoke masters)

Instrumental version: totally different recording
– PIANIST, ARRANGER, COMPOSER, CONDUCTOR

2018 RPO Mix: enhanced version recorded at Abbey Road Studios with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
CARPENTERS WITH THE ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

Songbook recording:
RICHARD CARPENTER’S PIANO SONGBOOK

Chris May says:
1976 – Original Album mix (long) *Note: Timecode error on Remastered Classics, stating 3:35; corrected timecode taken from vinyl 3:47
1978 – First remix (short for single mix) for inclusion on ‘The Singles, 1974-1978″
1985 – Second remix (short for single remix) for inclusion on “Yesterday Once More”
1990 – Third remix (long) for inclusion on “From The Top”

What’s interesting is I went back into the liner notes from “Trying To Get The Feeling Again”, as I’d remembered Richard mentioning something about how they found the master to this track while “working on the Japanese Karaoke album…”. He mentions the date November 29, 1991 as the specific day during the mixing of this album. Technically it wasn’t released until 1992, but we know that most of this stuff was all remixed in ’91. 

This adds some confusion about “I Need To Be In Love”, because if both the karaoke version as well as the version on “FTT” were from the same mix session, that would have meant he was remixing this stuff for at least a good year and a half, which seems odd. However, both the ’90 and ’91 mixes sound identical. The only other explanation for this (because mixing was automated by then), was that Richard used the exact same mixing structure (or ‘automix’ as it’s more commonly referred to) for both versions, just deleting the lead vocal on the ’91 mix for the karaoke project.

Original promotional ad for this single:

Billboard Carpenters I Need To Be In Love Promo Ad June 05 1976