Our local PBS just ran back to back segments on The Carpenters; how their hits came to be, and then a Christmas special.
It’s a fundraiser, but I ignore that and just enjoy the music.
Karen Carpenter was really something, and Richard so, SO talented. I wish someone could’ve saved her from herself.
‘A Star on Earth And Now A Star in Heaven.’
Send an invoice to your local PBS station—demanding reparations for their endless slanders against white people.
Karen Carpenter had an incredible voice - both tone and how she communicated the soul of the music/lyrics.
Richard was equally adept at arranging, too.
Short story...
When recording the love ballad “Goodbye to Love” they brought in a local guitarist to play the break and outro solos. At first he played an easy “Carpenters” style but Richard encouraged him to play with a more raw edge....which he did. It became one of the first love ballads with a “power solo”.
I have both their 2-CD “Gold” album and the HiRez 24-bit “Singles” - they both are still played frequently at home and in my car. The 24-bit HiRez has excellent mastering & sound quality, too!!!
Growing up when I did, I listened to Mick Taylor Stones, Zep, Kansas, Supertramp, Boston, etc.
ALL amazing music.
But truth be told, none of us ever turned Karen off when she came on the radio. Same can be said of an act like KC and the Sunshine Band. Was it my kind of music? Nope. But it was GOOD music.
Later on in the teens, I discovered more 60’s music (other than the Stones and the Beatles - which I already listened to) w/ groups like the Mamas and the Papas, the Animals, the Rascals, Faces, etc.
We were doubly blessed. I wouldn’t trade today’s accessibility and digital convenience for what we had in a million years.
The Carpenters were one of the few duos of that time to use classical instruments to accompany modern pop music.
Example: In the song “Superstar” the intro begins with what I think is a clarinette providing the melody. This measure is ended with a French Horn, providing a soft, buttery crowning touch to the moment. They are telling you this song will be about the memory of that stunning moment in time.
I studied with a vocal instructor who was a successful "second banana" at the Met and NYC operas. He loved to say probably one quarter of an audience is tone deaf, and another quarter is distracted or hard of hearing. So don't take compliments or criticism from the general public too seriously. And I apply that to the reviews of popular singers.
Today's vocals are so full of screaming and upper register acrobatics that I can't even get into the backgrounds.
I watched the PBS special on Little Feat celebrating their album Waiting for Columbus. I don’t think half the band members were alive in 1978.