[RckyRaCoCo]

I haven't read the entire piece, just a reminder that we lost one of the greatest female singers 40 years ago today.

[NewJerseyJoe]

My all-time favorite female singing voice.

Ella Fitzgerald and Dusty Springfield, respectively, in second and third places.

[Fledermaus]

In high-school all you had to do was play “Close To You” on a date and you’d get lucky.

[dfwgator]

A no slouch on the drums.

[redshawk]

one of my favs.
We only just begun
https://youtu.be/__VQX2Xn7tI

[G Larry]

No mention of somebody in her orbit commenting that she was 'a bit chubby' for the optimal stage presence. (and that lead to her weight self-consciousness)

I think one biopic suggested it was Richard.??

[Governor Dinwiddie]

The diametrically opposite of jungle music.

[llevrok]

I agree. She had a tone that had so much depth.

Her version of “Superstar”, that starts in a lower register, still nails me 50 years later.

[odawg]

A surprisingly dumb article.

[chrisinoc]

The Carpenters grew up a couple of miles from my neighborhood but never knew them. A couple of classmates of mine said they did noon concerts at Long Beach State during the late 1960s before they started to play professionally.

[Glad2bnuts]

If she had her prime today, she could have had her family, and recorded too. The only reason to tour is for the feedback from the crowd, and ticket sales which make a lot of money for the owners of singers and groups. I mean Managers and radio execs...NO, owners fit better. Her voice could have been recorded at home, and she could have worked on herself which really happens when you are a parent.

Just a theory.

[fso301]

Terrible when viewed in isolation but within context of the music industry, it was just another premature death of what pop society tells us was a person on top of the world.

[Clutch Martin]

There’s a few pop vocalists that I like Karen Carpenter is one, Tony Tennille is another and Tom Jones. Great pipes.

[telescope115]

Thanks for the reminder. There were a lot of good ones, but she was the best.

[Flying Circus]

“The singer, whose worldwide popularity has not waned for 53 years”

Um, what? If her popularity is as high now as it was when she was alive, why are we even talking about her? If you mentioned Karen Carpenter to anyone under 40 I would be stunned if more than 1 in 10 answered with something other than “Who?”. I was a kid when she died and I barely know anything about her other than she sang Christmas songs and died of anorexia.

I never thought of her as anything special, nor does my mother who would have been part of her prime audience.

[Drew68]

Anorexia is a strange disease. People often imagine rail-thin women that look like concentration camp victims, nothing but skin and bones.

Carpenter was 5'4" and weighed 108 pounds when she died. Slim, but not insanely skinny. Nonetheless, she had anorexia, was hospitalized for it repeatedly, and it killed her.

[WeaslesRippedMyFlesh]

For no reason whatsoever I listened to the Carpenters Essentials Thursday.

Took me back to my youth. Very cool.

[DesertRhino]

If she would just have ate a slice of pizza sometimes, we would still have her voice with us. very selfish.

[rbg81]

Show biz is a very high pressure business. I think both Karen and Richard were perfectionists. I remember seeing a biopic on them a long time ago, and it suggested that Richard had problems with pills (Quaaludes) in the late 70s. After 1976, they had no major hits. That and an insane touring schedule probably added to the pressure. She also had a failed marriage that added more pressure. Toward the end of her life, she did start gaining weight again and was even described as “vibrant”. However, the damage done to her heart by years of anorexia had taken its toll.

[dayglored]

Rules. Pretty girl, good drummer, great singer.

[mdmathis6]

The group got criticized by many of the “tut tut tsk tsk “ set for her song “Goofus” but it was a FUN SONG!!! Tight harmonies, and breezy easy swing and a killer sax riff solo with some lovely steel guitar playing as well as a tinkly saloon rag time piano style affected by her brother! What’s not to love??!! Just have fun with it and don’t look for secrets of the Karen Carpenter universe in the song. It was meant for fun!