Analysis of Karen's Solo Album

This crosses my mind every time I listen to Karen's album...some points I'd like to make, for debate if anyone's up for it.

The Material

Just took weak? Whose idea was it to include 'All Because Of You'? It's probably one of my least favourite KC tracks ever? After hundreds and hundreds of demos, how did this make the final cut?
Is anything on record regarding Paul Simon's thoughts about Karen covering 'Still Crazy'?

Drum sound

The sound of the drums, whilst some of it is quite intricate, one the uptempo tracks seems buried in the mix. On 'Remember When Loving Took All Night', during the extended outro, I would have much preferred them to be louder. Given that Karen was a drummer, did she not have a hand in this, the mixdown etc?

Karen's Vocals

Why did Karen sign off the tracks like Lovelines, with her vocals and backing vocals so buried in the mix? Also her voice is sooo dry on songs like 'My Body Keeps Changing My Mind'. Was this just the style of the times? Richard's remix was much warmer, irrespective of the time it was recorded.

Outtakes

On what basis were the outtakes rejected? Specifically 'Love Making Love To You'? That song is finished, I heard rumours it was just too 'explicit' to make the final cut. Come on, with the other song titles on the album, it would have sat there perfectly, in my mind right after 'Still In Love With You'.

Sales

A few people have hinted this is the least successful album in their entire catalogue. I sometimes feel that had Richard put a little effort into promoting it, instead of releasing it just to appease fans, it would have done better.

I could go on and on...lol

Didn't it sell better than RC's solo album Time?

I've read somewhere that KC's solo album has sold over 1 million copies now!! That's some achievement considering the lack of promotion, I bet there are millions of people that bought carpenter's records who don't know that this album exists.

Wow if that's the case, that's some achievement!

If that is the case you-know-who is looking down and smiling just like she is in my avatar. Rightfully so!!!

According to Billboard info, although the number of copies of 'Karen Carpenter' is not mentioned, in November of 1990 (pre- 'Karen carpenter' Release of 1996), 'If I had You' reached number 18

Karen reportedly spent the standard $100,000 allotted by the record company, plus almost half a million of her own money on the album. It was shelved on 5 May 1980 until its release in 8 May 1996

After hundreds and hundreds of demos, how did "All because of you" make the final cut? Well, that I do not know but one of the reviews on amazon has the following to say about it "especially touching are her heartfelt and sincere readings of 'all because of you'"

Stephen

I like "All Because Of You" not only because of Karen's reading of it, but also because it sounds the most "modern" (like it could be used in the background of some TV show- Hollywood, ya listening?)

I agree with you, Chris. "Love Making Love To You" is my favorite from the solo sessions. And it would have got a lot of airplay, I believe, and attention! (And probably some 'letters' to the fan club.... )

^^ Definitely seductive sounding - at least until the chorus, IMHO.

Very interesting observations on Karen's solo album here... "I Love Makin' Love To You" was written by Ben Wiesman, Evie Sands & Ron Germinaro, and covered by a ton of artists (& I even remember a version that had a "different title" yet retained a lot of the same lyrics; trying to remember who it was by and where I heard it)...

-- Dave

I'll give you that one for sure. I also can't stand "Still In Love With You." It just sounds ridiculous. The lyric is pedestrian and the music isn't much to write home about either. The Russell Javors tunes should have been nixed altogether. Again, though, I'm sure they were included because they weren't what the public was expecting of them.

I think "Remember When Lovin' Took All Night" is just fine the way it is. Not hearing the "drowning drums" thing on that one. I think the sound of them suits the tune.

I don't know what they were thinking when they mixed "Lovelines." Richard got it right for sure. I don't like what he did with "My Body Keeps Changing My Mind." The solo album's mix is drier and I prefer that.

I agree that would have taken the place of "All Because Of You" nicely. Again, though, I'm no fan of "Still In Love With You" and it could have gone away.

Yeah, he didn't seem to do much in the way of promoting it. He just shoved it out there and moved on. A little promotion would have gone a long way.

Regarding the mix on "Lovelines" -- I'm in complete agreement that Richard's mix is superior thanks to the increased prominence of Karen's vocal. Richard needs to go back and do the same with his own production on "Want You Back in My Life Again" some day.

I really enjoyed listening to Karen's solo album, it sounded so different from anything she had recorded with Richard, and that of course was the whole point of the experiment, to showcase Karen's talent in a new light. I think it worked, I loved the raw sound quality to some of the tracks, no strings and horns, it had an "unplugged" feel to it which I loved. The vocal arrangements on some of the tracks are amazing, the amount of work that Karen must have put into this collection of songs should not be under estimated, she wanted it to be a winner.

Phil Ramone wanted this collection of songs to sound different, to attract a new audience, the mix although not perfect in places, sounded contemporary for 1979. I don't think it was important to create an album full of potentail singles, that wasn't the aim, in my opinion, not releasing this album in 1979 was a missed opportunity.

How do you do "phase cancellation" ??

Thanks Harry!!