Pop/Rock Duo’s Longstanding Influential Legacy Celebrated in Full with Mastered for Vinyl 12-LP Vinyl Box Set and Individual LP Releases
12 OCTOBER 2017 (Toronto, ON) – On November 17, A&M/UMe/Universal Music Canada, the country’s leading music company, will release The Vinyl Collection, a new career-spanning 12-LP vinyl box set chronicling the recorded output of one of the most celebrated and best loved duos in pop/rock history, the Carpenters.
The Carpenters’ The Vinyl Collection box set includes all 12 albums replicated on 180-gram black vinyl and housed in a stylish slipcase. Each album features lovingly restored original packaging and related artwork. Mastered for vinyl by Ron McMaster (The Beach Boys, Don McLean) at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles, each album will also be released individually. The box set does not include their two Christmas albums.
This unprecedented box-set collection chronicles the runaway success of the Carpenters’ super-successful 14-year career, which resulted in 11 studio albums and a greatest hits collection, The Singles 1969 – 1973, that has been certified at seven-times platinum and features such indelible chart-topping hits as We’ve Only Just Begun, Top of the World, Superstar, Rainy Days and Mondays, Goodbye to Love, Yesterday Once More, It’s Going to Take Some Time, Sing, For All We Know, Hurting Each Other, and (They Long to Be) Close to You.
The Carpenters – vocalist/drummer Karen and her older brother, pianist/composer/arranger Richard – are one of the most successful sibling duos in pop/rock history, having garnered over 100 million album and singles sales to date. Their unique blend of smooth vocal harmonies and classically influenced pop arrangements frequently vaulted them to the top of the charts, resulting in three No. 1 singles and five No. 2 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and a dozen Top 10 singles overall, not to mention an astonishing 15 No. 1s on the Adult Contemporary chart.
Karen and Richard have more than earned their superstar standing as one of the world’s most popular and bestselling duos of all time, and their influence as songwriters, performers, and composers spans multiple generations and genres. The Carpenters have long elicited critical praise as well as numerous accolades from their contemporaries, from such notable artists as Paul McCartney, Gwen Stefani, Michael Jackson, and Beyoncé. Showing the scope of their reach, the 1994 If I Were a Carpenter tribute album showcased entries from alternative-rock icons ranging from Sonic Youth (Superstar), Shonen Knife (Top of the World), The Cranberries ((They Long to Be) Close to You), Sheryl Crow (Solitaire), and Matthew Sweet (Let Me Be the One), to name but a few.
The Carpenters were nominated for numerous GRAMMY Awards® throughout their storied career, and they won three of them: Best New Artist (1970), Best Contemporary Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus for (They Long to Be) Close to You (1970), and Best Pop Vocal Performance for a Duo or Group for Carpenters (1971). Two of their most cherished songs have also been inducted in the GRAMMY®Hall of Fame: (They Long to Be) Close to You and We’ve Only Just Begun. Following Karen’s untimely death in 1983, the Carpenters received a well-deserved star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
No matter what your walk of life is, the Carpenters have a song that touches your soul and finds a place where there’s room to grow.
Preorder: The Carpenters The Vinyl Collection
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The Carpenters The Vinyl Collection
A KIND OF HUSH
This album was the Carpenters’ 7th studio release and included both original recordings and cover tunes. It included “A Kind of Hush (All Over The World)” which was successful in both the U.S. and the UK and was originally recorded by Herman’s Hermits in the 1960’s.
A SONG FOR YOU
Critics agree that A Song For You was the highpoint of the Carpenters’ recording career. The album showcased songwriting by Richard Carpenter, Carole King, Leon Russell and more. Packed with hits, “Top of The World” became one of the most popular songs of the decade.
CARPENTERS
Carpenters is the third studio album from the Carpenters, originally released in 1971. The record is most notable for two of the duo’s strongest and best-loved singles. “Rainy Days and Mondays” and “Superstar.”
CLOSE TO YOU
When released in 1970, the Carpenters 2nd studio album rose to #2 on the Billboard Top 200 chart and gained them international success. The album contains the hit singles “(They Long to Be) Close to You” and “We’ve Only Just Begun”.
HORIZON
Horizon was the sixth consecutive platinum-certified album by the musical duo, Carpenters. The album’s first single, “Please Mr. Postman”, became the album’s biggest hit single and also the Carpenters’ biggest hit single worldwide. It reached no. 1 in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa.
LOVELINES
Lovelines commemorated the duo’s 20-year association with A&M Records, though Karen had passed away six years before. Ten of the 12 tracks were recorded for other albums but were not included for various reasons; two are remixes of previously released material. Richard penned the liner notes, which give some insight into the history of the pieces.
MADE IN AMERICA
Released in June 1981, Made in America is the tenth album by Carpenters, and was the final album by the duo to be released during Karen Carpenter’s lifetime.
NOW & THEN
Now & Then is the fifth album from the Carpenters, released in 1973. The title for the album was suggested by Richard and Karen’s mother. The album featured a three-panel cover that folded out, showing a panoramic view of Karen and Richard Carpenter driving past the Carpenter family home in Downey, California. The car pictured on the cover was a 1973 Ferrari owned by Richard.
PASSAGE
This album was a considerable departure for the siblings and contained experimental material such as the Klaatu cover “Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft” and “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” from the hit broadway play, Evita.
THE SINGLES 1969-1973
This collection of Carpenters’ biggest Top 10 hits shows off the lush melodies brought out in Richard Carpenter’s arrangements and Karen’s singing. The packaging is original, including the notes about the origin of each track.
TICKET TO RIDE
Ticket to Ride is the Carpenters’ most interesting album, for it contains a range of interests and sounds that were modified or abandoned on subsequent albums. The lushly orchestrated “Someday” is a brilliant showcase for Richard’s arranging skills and the most dramatic side of Karen’s voice.
VOICE OF THE HEART
Consisting of previously unreleased masters for a solo album by Karen, this album was compiled by Richard after her death.
