Karen's Solo album

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There's another Barry that I wish had produced Karen's album....Barry Gibb. Phil did the best he could with the hand he was dealt (in Jerry Moss' words, A&M weren't throwing him a lot of songs for the project) but Barry had that familial connection as he was also part of a family group so he understood that 'unspoken bond' that Karen had with her brother and at the same time he was/is also an outstanding producer. I think had the Bee Gees written songs for her album and Barry had produced it, A&M may have been faced with a product that was too good not to release.
...totally agree newvillefan. When I saw the photos of Karen with Barry and then much later with Andy, I figured this to be a perfect match. Would have been a smash.
 
There's another Barry that I wish had produced Karen's album....Barry Gibb. Phil did the best he could with the hand he was dealt (in Jerry Moss' words, A&M weren't throwing him a lot of songs for the project) but Barry had that familial connection as he was also part of a family group so he understood that 'unspoken bond' that Karen had with her brother and at the same time he was/is also an outstanding producer. I think had the Bee Gees written songs for her album and Barry had produced it, A&M may have been faced with a product that was too good not to release.
That's a brilliant idea. She was friendly with them too, I believe through Olivia Newton John. I've seen a nice photo of her and ONJ with the Gibb brothers at a film premier or something. Perhaps someone here has it and can post it? Not sure if their writing style would be effective with Karen's lower register. But it's interesting to think about.

Some here have also spoken of whom they would like to hear Karen duet with, if it hadn't been considered taboo for her to do so. But I also think how wonderful it would have been to hear a Carpenters (plural) collaboration with artists like Barry Manilow and the Bee Gees. With their combined talents it would have been something special, if all of those egos could fit in one studio. :wink:
 
This mockup proof of Karen's solo is on ebay now. We've seen small pictures of this one before. I'm still curious to know if this one is really from 1980 or not, as it does not match the description or colors that Mark saw at A&M. Mark what are your thoughts on this one? This proof looks very close in design to what ultimately appeared on the 1996 CD cover, except for a few changes and the logo of her name of course. Were there other choices in 1980 like this one featuring the grey/greenish look instead of the purple/blue hues or was this a later design in prep for the CD release? I wish we could hear from someone who worked on the project at the time.
KAREN CARPENTER Unreleased 1981 ALBUM COVER PROOF Cancelled Solo LP Carpenters »
 
No, this wasn't it, not in the greens at all. Instead it was the original photo with colorization in rose, lavender, and violets. The logo and layout look familiar however,
 
It was not a "sketch" of Karen at all, but instead, it was a photo (like the one we see in From the Top and Essential Collection) that had been colorized. Her face looked 100% normal and photographed.
 
I have to say, with all the wonderful photos that were taken for the solo album, the final artwork is terrible. Whatever the hues were meant to be, the picture of Karen as an insert on the LP jacket with an empty border around it and a tacky pink scrawled 'signature' doesn't do it for me. The back cover is just as bad - why does the picture have Karen with her head framed in a box?

I always pictured this photo being the back cover and mocked it up with the tracklist years ago (I've since found out that Remember When Lovin' Took All Night was the opening track on side B, not the last track on side A :)).

KC_zps0a563ece.jpg


Some of the photos taken of her were so classy and they could have done a much better job with it overall. I wonder if some of the other photos would have been used as sleeves for any tracks pulled as singles.
 
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This mockup proof of Karen's solo is on ebay now. We've seen small pictures of this one before. I'm still curious to know if this one is really from 1980 or not, as it does not match the description or colors that Mark saw at A&M. Mark what are your thoughts on this one? This proof looks very close in design to what ultimately appeared on the 1996 CD cover, except for a few changes and the logo of her name of course. Were there other choices in 1980 like this one featuring the grey/greenish look instead of the purple/blue hues or was this a later design in prep for the CD release? I wish we could hear from someone who worked on the project at the time.
KAREN CARPENTER Unreleased 1981 ALBUM COVER PROOF Cancelled Solo LP Carpenters »

The mock up on ebay looks identical to the one posted below...I don't recall ever seeing the proposed jacket in the rose, lavender and violet hues although they would have looked much better than what we eventually got.

Insights and Sounds: Thirty Years Without Karen Carpenter- and a Look at Her Solo Album »
 
The Karen Carpenter solo project really divides Carpenters fans, love or hate it, the debate continues, and so it should. Amazing to think the solo project was conceived at what was the lowest point of their career, Richard in rehab and Karen on a path of self destruction.

1979 should have a year of celebration for Richard and Karen, they had achieved so much with A&M Records in those ten years. The solo project presented too many unknowns for A&M in LA, who were they really trying to protect? Richard or Karen? We will never know, we can speculate and dissect every little bit of evidence, but one thing that can't be denied is the amount of interest the solo project has raised. This has never ceased to amaze me as the project almost seemed destined to remain locked in the vaults for ever.

I do celebrate what Karen tried to achieve during her project with Phil Ramone, it was filled with hope and deserved to be heard, and luckily we eventually did get to hear it.
 
The mock up on ebay looks identical to the one posted below...I don't recall ever seeing the proposed jacket in the rose, lavender and violet hues although they would have looked much better than what we eventually got.

Insights and Sounds: Thirty Years Without Karen Carpenter- and a Look at Her Solo Album »

You can use this link, and the spacing of it all looks much better:
Insights and Sounds: Thirty Years Without Karen Carpenter- and a Look at Her Solo Album »
 
Excellent link. And as always Karen's photos are Ever so beautiful. They should have used those photos for the album instead of the Fouled up version. Nevetheless i have the Cd myself and i still enjoy listening to it today and had it been released as planned in 1980 i would be 13 and i probably would have bought the album even back then.
 
The 1996 artwork was just so boring. :sleeping:Why not use the pretty 1980 version instead of that blah green color? Never could quite figure that out. :hmmm:
I Couldn't Agree More but that is a sad consequence of A&M being gutted By Polygram and Later universal. ( in the sense there were different staff people between1980 and 1996). IMO had Herb and Jerry stayed a little longer perhaps they might have presented the album " True to it's Original intent" of course again Just my opinion. However let's still be thankful it was even released to begin with.
 
The 1996 artwork was just so boring. :sleeping:Why not use the pretty 1980 version instead of that blah green color? Never could quite figure that out. :hmmm:

I have a theory (that could be completely off-base) that since A&M (or more properly in 1996 - A&M's successors) really didn't care about the 1996 release (i.e. not expecting it to do much 13 years later) they weren't going to waste photos on it that could be repurposed for future "Carpenters" compilations instead. I'm sure more 1980 photos will show up on future Carpenters material (not KC material) at some point, perhaps for the 50th. I do NOT believe that the "artwork" (I wouldn't call them photographs, considering how they messed them up) used in 1996 was what either Karen or A&M originally envisioned on the solo album. Somebody in marketing made the decision in 1996 to mess up the photos by touching them up with the green coloring for what reason. After all, KC looks great in all the 1980 photos, particularly in the ones they went with in '96, why not just go with the actual photos? But they didn't. The design of the album is beyond bland.
 
I always thought the Voice of the Heart photo was going to be the cover for the solo album? I must be mistaken.
 
I always thought the Voice of the Heart photo was going to be the cover for the solo album? I must be mistaken.
It was written in one of the major newspapers that it was the white sweatshirt photo that was to become the album cover. Karen also gave Itchie Ramone a signed copy of this album artwork (same cover as VOTH minus the C logo) she showed it on entertainment tonight segment. Itchie would be the only one that could tell us more information, I thought Chris May was going to interview her?
 
It was written in one of the major newspapers that it was the white sweatshirt photo that was to become the album cover. Karen also gave Itchie Ramone a signed copy of this album artwork (same cover as VOTH minus the C logo) she showed it on entertainment tonight segment. Itchie would be the only one that could tell us more information, I thought Chris May was going to interview her?

One of the fan club newsletters in the 80s stated that the VOTH cover was the original album cover and even posted a picture of it.
 
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