Favorite Live Performances:

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BarryT60

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Hey Folks:
A recent reply from Song4You in a separate post, revealed a live performance of 'Rainy Days & Mondays, (a version I had never seen), which prompted an idea for a thread featuring our favorite 'live' recordings...
I have a few... but I'll start with this gem... Not one of my very favorite singles - but one that certainly ranks as a fave - in terms of live performances.... Enjoy! & I look forward to seeing and hearing yours! :)

 
...Valley Forge Music Fair/June?1975. No documentation availabe because I rode my bike to the shows. The stage was moving in a circle unless it was my head.
Karen came onstage in a white outfit with a skirt that separated. She took to the drums and played on "Only Yesterday" and that was one of the best moments of my life.
 
...Valley Forge Music Fair/June?1975. No documentation available because I rode my bike to the shows. The stage was moving in a circle unless it was my head.
Karen came onstage in a white outfit with a skirt that separated. She took to the drums and played on "Only Yesterday" and that was one of the best moments of my life.
OMG - a live version of Only Yesterday from 1975... Now, THAT would be awesome to see... THANKS for recalling the occasion here...
 
OMG - a live version of Only Yesterday from 1975... Now, THAT would be awesome to see... THANKS for recalling the occasion here...
...okBarryT60 I will bore you. Carpenters were playing a softball game in the vicinity.
I rode my bike to Sheraton Valley Forge and parked it. Hung out in the lobby and that is where I met Karen and Richard and a group. Got her autograph. She was SO nice to me. The rest went to the elevator. She looked like Bambi to me with her big, brown, beautiful eyes.
After the show I went out back to get my bike and a Limo pulled up. Karen lowered her rear seat window, raised her eyebrows at me as if she actually recognized me, smiledand the Limo drove off. Thank you.
 
...okBarryT60 I will bore you. Carpenters were playing a softball game in the vicinity.
I rode my bike to Sheraton Valley Forge and parked it. Hung out in the lobby and that is where I met Karen and Richard and a group. Got her autograph. She was SO nice to me. The rest went to the elevator. She looked like Bambi to me with her big, brown, beautiful eyes.
After the show I went out back to get my bike and a Limo pulled up. Karen lowered her rear seat window, raised her eyebrows at me as if she actually recognized me, smile and the Limo drove off. Thank you.
No 'boring' me with that one... Thanks SO MUCH for recounting the details... That last sentence was a killer.
 
Yes, Thanks so much for the first-hand account.
Always exciting to read description from someone who attended the concert!
I believe I have an audio copy of the performance of Only Yesterday from Valley Forge Music Fair 1975.
Until today, I had not known Karen was also drumming to this song in the concert.
Simply Incredible !
To meet Karen Carpenter, what great fortune.
A memory to cherish forever.
 
How is your recording GaryAlan? Is the sound good? How close is it to the record? So many questions...
 
Here's the 1975 audio for "Only Yesterday" at Valley Forge Music Fair. Yes, I was there too!



Harry


I like the way Richard used those few notes at the end to round off the song. . . the same motif he'd use a year later to close "AKOH".
 
Want to express thanks for that upload of Only Yesterday.
Incredible! Best Live version I have yet heard of the song.
Alas', it is not the same as the audio file I possess, I'll have to do some
research to try and figure out where/when it was performed.
(I know it is not from Japan or London, and is USA 1975 concert).
Too all attendees, what a treat.
 
Want to express thanks for that upload of Only Yesterday.
Incredible! Best Live version I have yet heard of the song.
Alas', it is not the same as the audio file I possess, I'll have to do some
research to try and figure out where/when it was performed.
(I know it is not from Japan or London, and is USA 1975 concert).
Too all attendees, what a treat.

Apparently April 22-27th Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, Music Theater 1975
 
Yeah, we had discussed going more than once, but opted for just the one time. I don't recall which actual day we attended.

Harry
 
My favorite live performance is one featured on Live at the Palladium: "From This Moment On." This George Gershwin classic features only piano and singer: Richard's dazzling piano work and Karen's mesmerizing, enunciative vocal, with the added highlight of a lengthy, impressive "kiss" in the phrasing of "kiss me goodnight."
 
My favorite live performance is one featured on Live at the Palladium: "From This Moment On." This George Gershwin classic features only piano and singer: Richard's dazzling piano work and Karen's mesmerizing, enunciative vocal, with the added highlight of a lengthy, impressive "kiss" in the phrasing of "kiss me goodnight."
Here ya go!! Check out 7:15 on this clip...
Incidentally, Karen seems more at ease with Steve Martin as host, than she ever seemed on other talk show clips...

 
Barry: Thanks a million for posting this video, which included the Carpenters' performance of "From This Moment On!" Believe it or not, thanks to you, I am seeing this for the first time --- I wasn't going to make believe it's my first time..., it really was my first time! :)

Anyway, this is extraordinary! A couple things jump out at me:
  1. As you note, Karen is so relaxed with Steve Martin, and having John Denver there doesn't hurt. I had read that Karen and Steve dated for a time. I have to wonder: what if?...
  2. Karen and Richard, themselves, discuss the controversy of "Carpenters" versus "the Carpenters." So both camps have something upon which to hang their hats! :edthumbs:
 
Karen's mesmerizing, enunciative vocal, with the added highlight of a lengthy, impressive "kiss" in the phrasing of "kiss me goodnight."

It's never been a favourite of mine but that line you mention is impressive because of the full octave jump that Karen does on the word "kiss". Not an easy line to sing especially considering the length of time she holds the note before going a full octave back down again.
 
I've always been a fan of this particular January 1977 performance, above,
From This Moment On;
though, generally, not a fan of the song .
However, I question the choice of performing this song on that particular show,
not to mention the oratory (Steve and Richard) 5:50-6:08, then,
Karen describes all the things that Richard does (6:08 to 6:29) --
and, then, to perform this song after that time does not showcase Richard's depths--
it only reinforces Karen's importance---as, this song is nothing without her.
(And, Richard did not arrange this song).
Did Richard forget the Seminar wherein he was referred to as 'piano player for the Carpenters'?
I'm sure there are those who will strongly disagree with my view, but, again, this
song--on this show--was not the way to get their career back on track in America.
Again, I love this performance from both, but another song should have been performed.
 
Hey Folks:
A recent reply from Song4You in a separate post, revealed a live performance of 'Rainy Days & Mondays, (a version I had never seen), which prompted an idea for a thread featuring our favorite 'live' recordings...
I have a few... but I'll start with this gem... Not one of my very favorite singles - but one that certainly ranks as a fave - in terms of live performances.... Enjoy! & I look forward to seeing and hearing yours! :)



Just...gorgeous. Her phrasing, as always, is impeccable. Thanks so much for sharing this. When it's this good, words are few.

Ed
 
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