"We’ve Only Just Begun" - Carpenters
Printed From: Top 40 Music on CD
Category: Top 40 Music On Compact Disc
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URL: https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=6149
Printed Date: 16 May 2025 at 6:35am
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Topic: "We’ve Only Just Begun" - Carpenters
Posted By: Todd Ireland
Subject: "We’ve Only Just Begun" - Carpenters
Date Posted: 26 March 2011 at 9:35pm
| After recently listening to "We've Only Just Begun" on my Carpenters' Yesterday Once More 2-CD set on A&M 6601, I would submit that a "some instrumentation rerecorded; remixed" comment for this song should be listed next to this CD entry in the database. |
Replies:
Posted By: edtop40
Date Posted: 08 June 2013 at 8:55am
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need some help, here class....all 3 of the cd's i have
with the song 'we've only just begun'...'classic', 'gold' and 'singles 69-81' has a pronounced piano tinkle at the 0:39 mark....right during the lyrics 'before the rising sun, we fly'......in addition, my vinyl 45 starts off with the piano intro, panned all the way in the left channel, while the cd versions have it centered and maybe a tad to the right.....so it looks like all three of these cd's should have the "some instrumentation rerecorded; remixed" notation next to them.....do any of the cd's in the db, have the piano tinkle removed and the piano intro panned to the left? ------------- edtop40 |
Posted By: davidclark
Date Posted: 08 June 2013 at 9:29am
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attn Carpenters fans!
I recently stumbled upon this website: http://carpenters.amcorner.com/author/rudy It is the best resource I have found for documenting the multiple times their songs have been remixed, including the year and a brief description. As well, it indicates on what CD each version resides (AND, not only US CDs). Although I can not vouch for its accuracy, given the mess Richard has created, I believe it to be "pretty damn good". Pat's database does not coincide with what's on this site in several instances (e.g., my copy of "Love Songs contains a remix of "We've Only Just Begun", while Pat indicates no version info). No fault to Pat, as I am sure he got frustrated as well with "Carpenters on CD". ed, "We've Only Just Begun" is indicated as being on several CDs. My version (original mix) is from "Close To You" and the piano starts in the left channel. ------------- dc1 |
Posted By: The Hits Man
Date Posted: 09 June 2013 at 4:38am
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About the only sure-fire way to get the single versions is
to get the original A&M or the "Forget Me Nots" reissue 45s. ------------- |
Posted By: Brian W.
Date Posted: 09 June 2013 at 11:40am
Or to get the Japanese CD Singles box. |
The Hits Man wrote:Posted By: Todd Ireland
Date Posted: 09 June 2013 at 11:52pm
Interesting, Ed... I have the Carpenters Ultimate Collection Holland import 3-CD set (Universal 983584) and I've always been under the impression all the tracks on this compilation consist of the original recordings. However, I just gave a quick listen to "We've Only Just Begun" and while the opening piano is panned hard left like you describe on the vinyl 45, the piano track does abruptly kick in at the :39 mark (it clearly sounds like an edit or tape splice was performed at this point). So you're saying there is no piano track beginning at :39 on the 45, Ed? |
Posted By: edtop40
Date Posted: 10 June 2013 at 9:15am
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todd,
yes.....the vinyl 45 does NOT have this abrupt piano tinkle at the 0:39 mark......i will send you an mp3 of the vinyl 45 at the section and you can hear that there was definitely something added to the cd versions that are NOT on the vinyl 45.... edtop40 ------------- edtop40 |
Posted By: edtop40
Date Posted: 10 June 2013 at 6:56pm
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ok......paul was kind enough to send me a copy of the song
from his dutch import cd titled 'The Ultimate Collection" Holland import - Universal 983584'....and good news....it's the same as the vinyl 45 i have.....i have just sent both you and brian a copy of the vinyl 45 for your review.....also...i sent you a copy of the cd version from 'a&m classics v2' which has an extra piano tinkle at the 0:39 mark, very noticeable if you do a headphone A/B side by side listen......so....the three cd's i have, 'classics', 'gold' and 'singles 69-81' are all the remixed, additional instrumentation' versions....this should be noted in the db ------------- edtop40 |
Posted By: Todd Ireland
Date Posted: 10 June 2013 at 9:18pm
| Thanks to Ed, I was able to do an A/B comparison of "We've Only Just Begun" between his commercial 45 and the Ultimate Collection import CD set and I agree they are identical. |
Posted By: Scanner
Date Posted: 12 December 2021 at 7:50pm
|
I was listening to AT40 on Sirius and heard this song at
# 11. (I could not talk about a countdown show and exclude the chart position! It had just fallen out of the Top 10.) I was stunned when the version of the song that was played was not the 1970 single version, but a later version featuring that piano flourish that is first played when Karen sings the "Before the rising sun, we fly" lyric. I was stunned - I thought Sirius' AT40 programs were authentic and unchanged from when they first aired. I'm reminded of this when Sirius plays shortened versions of some songs as Kasem often did. (I always found that very annoying back when...and still do now!) So, did Sirius alter the past or was this piano flourish version of "Begun" already circulating 51 years ago? Considering how frequently Richard always tinkered with their recordings, it wouldn't surprise me if he did then already. |
Posted By: PopArchivist
Date Posted: 12 December 2021 at 10:54pm
A Carpenter thread (a rarity around here). If I remember reading at some point those original versions are in people's collections, Richard has tinkered with them so much that often I think these shows don't know the difference. I doubt this was the original 1970 version. Though if you can point to a clip, maybe crapfromthepast can answer your question he is our resident 1970 expert here... ------------- Favorite two expressions to live by on this board: "You can't download vinyl" and "Not everything is available on CD." |
Posted By: Hykker
Date Posted: 13 December 2021 at 6:57am
I was under the impression that many of the rerun AT40s had had the original vinyl dubs of the songs replaced with CD rips. ISTR reading some discussion of this on one of the music boards. Not sure why someone would feel the need to do this...it's not like used the same beat up, cueburnt 45 as some of their affiliates... |
Posted By: Scanner
Date Posted: 13 December 2021 at 9:13am
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I think you answered my question, Hykker. Sirius must
have been sourcing the music themselves for this particular show. The Carpenters were preceded on the countdown by the Supremes' "Stoned Love" and featured Kasem's intro to the song after the song's cold opening. Although I only discovered AT40 in the late 70's, I don't recall Kasem talking over or after songs that started with cold openings like "Stoned Love." Sirius must alternate how it sources the music for AT40. Last summer, I was listening to a 1978 countdown for the week that "Boogie Oogie Oogie" debuted. The show played a version of the song with the second verse and chorus edited out which, as I mentioned before, Kasem often did which made me expect the 1970 would be more "authentic." Then again, it's amazing that a 50+ year old radio program is still available in any form! I assume AT40 always provided the music for its shows as not all songs would have been on a station's playlist or library when aired. |
Posted By: Paul Haney
Date Posted: 13 December 2021 at 10:35am
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I just listened to the segment in question from the original 1970 recording of the show and the piano flourish is
not there and it sounds like the original 1970 version to me. As has been mentioned, Premier has been known to replace recordings for the current radio rebroadcasts. Which is why I highly recommend that people seek out the originals provided by Shannon Lynn. |
Posted By: Scanner
Date Posted: 13 December 2021 at 3:52pm
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Thanks, Paul. I never realized I could learn so much about
AT40 just because of a piano flourish! :-) BTW - I always thought this embellishment to "Begun" was unnecessary. Richard's constant tinkering of Carpenters' music over the decades has always been frustrating dating back to "The Singles 1969-1973" and how the songs segued into one another on Side 1. I never thought it would take 40+ years before a compilation, thanks to PBS, of their singles in their original state would finally be released. |
Posted By: eric_a
Date Posted: 18 December 2021 at 6:04pm
In general, the show has always been delivered to affiliates as intact segments - first on reel-to-reel tape, then eventually on vinyl, CD, and digitally. That's why we're lucky enough to have such a complete record of 50+ years of archives. If you're curious about specific songs, you might check out the AT40 fan boards on Facebook. Shannon Lynn frequents the discussions and speaks to specific choices, which ones started with his remasters vs. down the chain at Premiere or Sirius. |
Posted By: crapfromthepast
Date Posted: 18 December 2021 at 7:10pm
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That's exactly right.
The reel-to-reel period was very brief - from the show's origin in July 1970 until late 1971. The vinyl LPs lasted until the end of the prime AT40 years, until the late '80s at least. The show was in mono until about 1973, then stereo thereafter. The show began embedding national ads in 1982, when ABC acquired Watermark. In general, the producers at AT40 selected which version of the song to use (commercial 45, promo 45, LP, in-house edit) based primarily on timing. They had to make the segments for each hour work out to exactly 60 minutes. ------------- There's a lot of crap on the radio, but there's only one http://www.crapfromthepast.com" rel="nofollow - Crap From The Past . |
Posted By: eriejwg
Date Posted: 19 December 2021 at 1:21am
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I can't think of the gentleman's name at this point, but
may of the earlier AT40 70's shows that air on Sirius have mono2stereo conversion done by this gentleman. ------------- John Gallagher Erie, PA https://www.johngallagher.com" rel="nofollow - John Gallagher Wedding & Special Event Entertainment / Snapblast Photo Booth |
Posted By: eriejwg
Date Posted: 19 December 2021 at 1:21am
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*many of the earlier ------------- John Gallagher Erie, PA https://www.johngallagher.com" rel="nofollow - John Gallagher Wedding & Special Event Entertainment / Snapblast Photo Booth |
Posted By: AndrewChouffi
Date Posted: 19 December 2021 at 7:21am
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To John:
Ken Martin is the man credited with mono-to-stereo conversion. Andy |