🎤 Interview Richard Carpenter Interview 2014

Well, count me in as one of those fans. I thought the material well beneath someone of her talent. I, as probably everyone at A&M at the time, was expecting something of great "depth," emotion, and timelessness that only she could deliver...and well, honestly, we got sex and disco. I completley understand, and to a point agree with, the "stab at independence" and "growing" as an artist arguement; howver, this seemed more a dated commercial effort (to maker her "relevant" in the late 70's) hardly worthy of one of the greatest voices in the lexicon of American music. Short sighted on Phil's part, in my humble minority opinion.

My feelings toward Karen's solo album are some where in the middle. I was a bit disappointed in the choice of material. I didn't expect it to be a Carpenters album, but I didn't think it would lean as far toward the sex and disco that was prevalent on the radio at the time it was recorded either. Carpenters, as a duo had always done their own thing - they brought a new style to the airwaves, so I didn't expect Karen's album to have the sound that it did. We fans didn't know at the time she recorded it all the turbulence that was going on in Karen's and Richard's lives and family relationships. I just knew that she was "the ultimate vocal talent" and that it would be great to hear from her again. And she really did stretch her comfort zone with the vocal gymnastics and some of the overdubbing is awesome, i.e. If I Had You.

Later on, reading and watching what was happening with Karen all those years, it wasn't surprising to me that she chose to do something totally different and independent. Even if the album had not sold well in 1980, I think that the fans and many in the music business would have heartily encouraged her to keep pursuing her solo efforts as well as recording with Richard. That alone may have gone a long way. But it was what it was. We cherish the music we have from her. I'm grateful to Richard for taking the time and effort to release what he has of Karen's and his recordings. He could have totally fallen apart and never wanted to hear it again. I'm glad he rallied and has had a good life. I only wish Karen could have.
 
Haven't heard the interview yet (but am planning to) - I would truly ask all the people out there posting to think of it this way....imagine you're a chef or a short story writer or a painter or a carpenter (the chair building kind). Everyone keeps asking you when will you give them something new, please give us something, please do this for us, we can't pay you but we're family and we honestly love you (which they do), please please please do it for us. And then when you spend however much time it takes to do it the way you think it should be done....is that it? I know you can do more. This isn't as good as the last dish you made. I like your old chairs, these suck. These ten are great, give me ten more right now. Why did you use so much salt in October of 1975? Why did you use so much red in that painting?

Oh and by the way, nothing you do now is as good as what you used to do. Now give me more. Thanks, I love you.

I know he's eccentric - welcome to show business! Just my thoughts.
 
Haven't heard the interview yet (but am planning to) - I would truly ask all the people out there posting to think of it this way....imagine you're a chef or a short story writer or a painter or a carpenter (the chair building kind). Everyone keeps asking you when will you give them something new, please give us something, please do this for us, we can't pay you but we're family and we honestly love you (which they do), please please please do it for us. And then when you spend however much time it takes to do it the way you think it should be done....is that it? I know you can do more. This isn't as good as the last dish you made. I like your old chairs, these suck. These ten are great, give me ten more right now. Why did you use so much salt in October of 1975? Why did you use so much red in that painting?

Oh and by the way, nothing you do now is as good as what you used to do. Now give me more. Thanks, I love you.

I know he's eccentric - welcome to show business! Just my thoughts.

Exactly! And might I add "why did you kill treat poorly and cause the death of your sous chef? She did all the cooking anyway. But give us seconds, please."
 
Haven't heard the interview yet (but am planning to) - I would truly ask all the people out there posting to think of it this way....imagine you're a chef or a short story writer or a painter or a carpenter (the chair building kind). Everyone keeps asking you when will you give them something new, please give us something, please do this for us, we can't pay you but we're family and we honestly love you (which they do), please please please do it for us. And then when you spend however much time it takes to do it the way you think it should be done....is that it? I know you can do more. This isn't as good as the last dish you made. I like your old chairs, these suck. These ten are great, give me ten more right now. Why did you use so much salt in October of 1975? Why did you use so much red in that painting?

Oh and by the way, nothing you do now is as good as what you used to do. Now give me more. Thanks, I love you.

I know he's eccentric - welcome to show business! Just my thoughts.

huh?
yes you are right...that was eccentric/strange!!
 
Exactly! And might I add "why did you kill treat poorly and cause the death of your sous chef? She did all the cooking anyway. But give us seconds, please."

and that was even more bizarre...almost crude in a weird way (just my thoughts on wishing I hadn't read that and the post before)
 
Trust me, I am NOT dissing the fans, especially the hardcore ones. I come to this site because I love hearing from people with such passion for music and for a specific artist. All I'm really trying to say is, it's about balance. :wink:
 
Wow I'm new to this site and forum, so many interesting view points and passionate fans. I've been a fan and collector since 1971. Karen and Richard were partly responsible for my 29 years in the retail end of the music industry. I would go to my local music store to read their Billboard Magazine to follow their singles on the charts. It lead to a part time job, then full time work for 29 yrs. selling hundreds of their lps,8-tracks,cassettes,and c.d.s. Most of all we sold an amazing amount of 45's, which everybody loved and I miss most of all. The day my Magic Lamp single came in the mail was one I will never forget. Going to Karen's memorial service in Downey at the Methodist Church was about the saddest. I'm so grateful for whatever Richard has decided to share with us, and though like others I crave more, I'm fine if he doesn't want to release anymore recording for whatever reasons. There are some bootlegs out there and on YouTube. Lots of articles etc. thank you so much Chris for getting Richard to even talk with you a couple of weeks ago. He no longer uses his own web site or hasn't updated it in years. I felt so fortunate to have had access to Karen's solo album about 6 years before it was eventually released. A Phil Ramone assistant gave it to me on a cassette back then. There were no CD burners or computers then. He told me, and his words not mine, that Karen was still being treated for anorexia and was very tired. It was hard for her to record the songs but got through it anyway. Richard and company just didn't care for most of what she had recorded so she went back and recorded another ten songs. Most of them were even worse, so they shelved it. Phil and his wife took Karen on a long needed trip to Mexico with them, but the damage was done. She never got over the rejection, the divorce, and Made in America wasn't the come back album they expected. As we all already know. Anyway I am so privelaged to have seen the six times in concert and for the wonderful legacy left for us to enjoy. Goodbye to Love can still make me cry. Thank you to all of you and your passion and keeping the memory alive. Also there is a Perry Como Christmas DVD just released last fall with early versions of their Christmas songs, and the original Perry/Carpenters Medley before Richard took out half of Perry's vocals. Enjoy!
 
Looks like this has turned into a debate about Karen's solo album, but oh well. Just looking at things from a "sales" standpoint, it's too bad she didn't do a country album. That would have been far enough from the Carpenters sound and people would have loved it -- look at how well their country-ish singles did. Or, she could have done an album of torch songs or standards -- although they veered into that territory a bit on Horizon.

The solo album, as is, sounded more like a "lesser" Carpenters album than a solo album, which is possibly another reason why the powers-that-be didn't like it.
 
Welcome, also, Ken.
I had been reading for many a year on this Carpenters A&M Forum, and finally decided to become an active member this year.
I am impressed with the passion and continued interest and expertise, which members of this forum hold for Carpenters.
You will not regret being part of a wonderful group of people who share, and keep alive, music and memories of our beloved duo.
 
Mike, I agree wholeheartedly with your first paragraph. Your last line, I couldn't disagree more. Lyrics an obvious difference, I find much of the album is so different than a Carpenters disc. Deep baselines, strong jazz undercurrents on most cuts, horns aplenty, and very flirty vocals by Karen. Contrasted with Richard's arrangements which are elegant but filled with choirs, strings, oboes, and very different lyric lines, they couldn't be more different. Don't get me wrong- I love them all, but to these ears, the styles and end result are worlds apart from each other.
 
Haven't heard the interview yet (but am planning to) - I would truly ask all the people out there posting to think of it this way....imagine you're a chef or a short story writer or a painter or a carpenter (the chair building kind). Everyone keeps asking you when will you give them something new, please give us something, please do this for us, we can't pay you but we're family and we honestly love you (which they do), please please please do it for us. And then when you spend however much time it takes to do it the way you think it should be done....is that it? I know you can do more. This isn't as good as the last dish you made. I like your old chairs, these suck. These ten are great, give me ten more right now. Why did you use so much salt in October of 1975? Why did you use so much red in that painting?

Oh and by the way, nothing you do now is as good as what you used to do. Now give me more. Thanks, I love you.

I know he's eccentric - welcome to show business! Just my thoughts.
I only came online for a few things: Johnny Depp, Tim Burton, and MySpace. I am like you and want to contribute to the world but do not know how.

Interview? Well, I hope you enjoy it.

It's funny, I had friends whose last names were Baker and Kirkman, like Carpenter and Sarah Brightman. I have names such as Work, Barber, and Long. In fact my Gramma's last name was Barber. From PA mostly..
 
Mike, I agree wholeheartedly with your first paragraph. Your last line, I couldn't disagree more. Lyrics an obvious difference, I find much of the album is so different than a Carpenters disc. Deep baselines, strong jazz undercurrents on most cuts, horns aplenty, and very flirty vocals by Karen. Contrasted with Richard's arrangements which are elegant but filled with choirs, strings, oboes, and very different lyric lines, they couldn't be more different. Don't get me wrong- I love them all, but to these ears, the styles and end result are worlds apart from each other.

Honestly, much like an actor becomes "typecast", I think Karen fell into the same trap. As long as she was Karen, her voice and vocal timbre mixed with all of the 4-part harmonies, it was still going to sound (somewhat) like sticking a square peg into a round hole when combining her DNA with the sounds produced by Phil. Not saying her talents didn't shine on the solo effort, but I personally have never thought the album had much commercial potential with any of the cuts that made it. The only track I wish would have been included was Love Makin' Love To You. I always thought that track might have done okay as a single. Just my $02. :D
 
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Honestly, much like an actor becomes "typecast", I think Karen fell into the same trap. As long as she was Karen, her voice and vocal timbre mixed with all of the 4-part harmonies, it was still going to sound (somewhat) like sticking a square peg into a round hole when combining her DNA with the sounds produced by Phil. Not saying her talents didn't shine on the solo effort, but I personally have never thought the album had much commercial potential with any of the cuts that made it. The only track I wish would have been included was Love Makin' Love To You. I always thought that track might have done okay as a single. Just my $02. :D

...and might I add If I Had You...that one I think could have done something as well...
 
So there you go....even if Karen had 1 or 2 hits off this album (which I feel she could of had) she was in no better or worse place than any other artist at that time...heck even Olivia only had 1 or 2 hits off some of her albums, not all of Olivia's albums had top ten hits....and this was Karen's first solo...they just didn't want to give it a chance...if this one didn't score her next one would have, could this have been the fear?
 
I will always maintain the album was shelved out of anxiety and deference to Richard. Their minds were made up long before the infamous playback session with Herb, Jerry and Richard.

There's no way they wouldn't or couldn't have liked something on the album. Not buying it.
 
I will always maintain the album was shelved out of anxiety and deference to Richard. Their minds were made up long before the infamous playback session with Herb, Jerry and Richard.

There's no way they wouldn't or couldn't have liked something on the album. Not buying it.

With all this talk (again) about Karen's solo album it really had me thinking the last couple of days. Let's be honest - let's go back to the first time we ever heard a Carpenters song or recording; that moment when it was like an awakening and we'd stumbled across what we all thought was the "GREATEST thing since sliced bread"! Karen's vocals, Richard and Karen's lush overdubbed harmonies and those impeccable arrangements - as if these two were created to be together. NOW, put all of that out of memory and pretend that never happened. If the FIRST thing you heard of Karen's was a cut from the solo album, would you have had the same reaction?! I can honestly say that for me it was not even close. Did I love hearing Karen's voice, and all of the overdubbing etc?! YES!!! It was Karen! But, having been in music my whole life, I've just adapted to instinctively knowing to some extent when something is bar none and when it isn't. Those instances are rare. I really in my heart of hearts believe that to some extent, Herb and Jerry really felt the same way. As for Richard, I can't say, but I just don't think the solo album had nearly the same captivating chemistry, contrary to popular opinion. :shake:
 
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I just don't think the solo album had nearly the same captivating chemistry, contrary to popular opinion. :shake:

I think that's precisely the reason why some people really like it though - it's so different from anything she'd done before. She could never have recreated the same chemistry she had with Richard so I embrace that fact and just enjoy it for what it was and what it stood for. As I think Frenda says in Randy's book, you had to just divorce yourself from the fact she wasn't surrounded by the usual musical tapestry and just move forward with it. Had it been released, some fans would probably have hated it, some would have been tepid and some would probably have absolutely loved it.
 
With all this talk (again) about Karen's solo album it really had me thinking the last couple of days. Let's be honest - let's go back to the first time we ever heard a Carpenters song or recording; that moment when it was like an awakening and we'd stumbled across what we all thought was the "GREATEST thing since sliced bread"! Karen's vocals, Richard and Karen's lush overdubbed harmonies and those impeccable arrangements - as if these two were created to be together. NOW, put all of that out of memory and pretend that never happened. If the FIRST thing you heard of Karen's was a cut from the solo album, would you have had the same reaction?! I can honestly say that for me it was not even close. Did I love hearing Karen's voice, and all of the overdubbing etc?! YES!!! It was Karen! But, having been in music my whole life, I've just adapted to instinctively knowing to some extent when something is bar none and when it isn't. Those instances are rare. I really in my heart of hearts believe that to some extent, Herb and Jerry really felt the same way. As for Richard, I can't say, but I just don't think the solo album had nearly the same captivating chemistry, contrary to popular opinion. :shake:

As others have said, this was Karen's first solo album. We can never know, sadly, what may have came after had Karen lived and I don't think she was trying to sound like Karen from the Carpenters. Karen wanted to be Karen and the album was the result. Had it been released it may have had some commercial success and one or two singles with respectable places in the charts - of course we can never know, but even if this album isn't to everyone's taste then her 2nd, 3rd and 4th solo albums could have been.

As far as hearing one of Karen's solo tracks for the first time and trying to imagine I'd not heard her before, I think there's plenty there to draw me in and to keep listening.

I appreciate the commercial angle to any release, but it's a shame nonetheless that more can't be made of this album.
 
Mike, I agree wholeheartedly with your first paragraph. Your last line, I couldn't disagree more. Lyrics an obvious difference, I find much of the album is so different than a Carpenters disc. Deep baselines, strong jazz undercurrents on most cuts, horns aplenty, and very flirty vocals by Karen. Contrasted with Richard's arrangements which are elegant but filled with choirs, strings, oboes, and very different lyric lines, they couldn't be more different. Don't get me wrong- I love them all, but to these ears, the styles and end result are worlds apart from each other.

I agree that it's different, but I guess my point was that it wasn't "enough different." The main problem (if you could call it a problem!) is that Karen's voice was SO distinctive, and the Carpenters hits were SO pervasive, that no matter what she did, the casual listener would probably think oh, that's a Carpenters song. Uber-fans of course could tell the difference in a heartbeat, but people like that probably only made up a few percent of their total record-buying audience.
 
I think to she would have done a few videos all dolled up, she could have inspired some folks to give her (and her music) another look- in more ways than one.
 
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