Karen & Richard's Very First Public Performance

[David A]

First, the usual caveat for folks like me who are relatively new to the forum - I searched as best I could for this in the forum but didn't find it. I'm confident it would have been discussed somehow, though.

Does anyone know what public performance (not for family or friends, for example, but for paying public or at least a large public group of people, probably introduced by a host/emcee) was the very FIRST where Karen & Richard were together performing, in any situation - part of a different band (like Spectrum or the Richard Carpenter trio)?

Second, very first public performance after they became the Carpenters?

I suspect this is either very hard to know, OR some of you are shaking your head and thinking "doesn't everyone know those answers?" I don't

 

[newvillefan]

Does anyone know what public performance (not for family or friends, for example, but for paying public or at least a large public group of people, probably introduced by a host/emcee) was the very FIRST where Karen & Richard were together performing, in any situation - part of a different band (like Spectrum or the Richard Carpenter trio)?

Probably the first performance of Richard and Karen in Furman Park shortly after arriving in Downey in 1963. Other than that it's impossible to tell, but if you're talking about a professional gig with paying customers I do think that would have been one of the gigs the newly-formed Richard Carpenter Trio performed in clubs in the mid to late 1960s.

 

[David A]

Thanks newvillefan. Yes, I left out one of the qualifiers - a professional appearance. I can no longer edit the post, it seems.

Heck, Richard might not even remember what their very first professional gig was. Although I've heard he has an amazing catalog of stuff, including from their earliest days; so he might.

 

[ars nova]

Thanks newvillefan. Yes, I left out one of the qualifiers - a professional appearance. I can no longer edit the post, it seems.

Heck, Richard might not even remember what their very first professional gig was. Although I've heard he has an amazing catalog of stuff, including from their earliest days; so he might.

I saw a clip where Richard was talking to a fan. the fan said he had seen carpenters before and told richard when and were. Richard thought a minute and said, " man, it was really raining that night ".
Richard knows when he and Karen had their professional gig.

 

[Carpe diem]

According to biographies and articles, didn't they play a lot of weddings, high school dances, and the Jolly Roger Restaurant? The duo in a way were like The Beatles making their bones in the "seedy" nightclubs of Hamburg. But in their case, it was the middle class happenings of late 1960s southern California. When The Carpenters signed with A&M in April/1969, they had been preforming in front of live audiences since 1966. If you want to include Karen's marching band halftime performances at Downey High School, you can throw that in too.

 

[Carpe diem]

sorry..."performing".

 

[David A]

A clarification I made in a subsequent post - I was unable to edit the first post after some time had passed - was that I was thinking of their appearances as professionals. Paid gigs. So no, would not include marching band or other "amateur" appearances.

 

[song4u]

I saw a clip where Richard was talking to a fan. the fan said he had seen carpenters before and told richard when and were. Richard thought a minute and said, " man, it was really raining that night ".
Richard knows when he and Karen had their professional gig.

Wow. Wish I had a memory like that!