JAZZ4JEFF
Active Member
Each week, Toni Tennille writes a blog for her web site. She often tells inside stories of their career and the famous people they have encountered. This week, she remembers Karen & Richard: 
Let me share a few memories of Karen and Richard Carpenter with you.
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Shortly after Daryl and I signed with A&M Records in 1974, we made our first visit to the famed studios on La Brea in Los Angeles, to take a look at the recording facilities that would be available to us. The facility was famed, not only because it was the home of A&M Records, but because it was formerly owned by the great comic silent film star, Charlie Chaplin, and many of the buildings remained from those days.
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A&M was like a college campus, with recording artists from labels other than A&M also using the terrific recording studios there. You might run into artists like Joni Mitchell as you strolled the grounds. In fact, I almost fell over one day at A&M when I was washing my hands in the Ladies Room, and Joni Mitchell emerged from the stall next to the one I had been occupying. We said hello to each other, and I casually exited the room, and immediately went to find Daryl to tell him I had met the great Joni Mitchell. Im certain to this day she has no idea she ever met me.
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Karen and Richard Carpenter had been making hits for A&M for a couple of years before we arrived. They were truly superstars of the A&M lot. I remember that Daryl and I were so impressed when we saw TWO of the very limited, very precious parking spaces with their names on them. Richard always drove some wonderful, perfectly detailed, shiny automobile. I remember in particular a Mercedes sports car, gleaming patent leather black, often parked in his space.
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Every now and then, I would catch a glimpse of Karen or Richard, and we would acknowledge each other with a wave or a nod, but rarely did we speak at any length. Karen and Richard were very reserved, and I certainly dont blame them. At this stage in their careers, privacy was a luxury, and we never wanted to intrude. Also, they may have had reservations about this new duo on the A&M lot.
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We ended up sharing the same management team, and the same wonderful recording engineer, Roger Young. Im not going to name their managers, because I believe they were at least partially responsible for Karens struggle with anorexia. I could be wrong about this, but remember what Ive told you...they dont call it show BUSINESS for nothing, and it can be tough and mean.
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When Daryl and I knew Karen....and, remember, we were just the most casual of acquaintances.....she was NEVER heavy or CLOSE to fat. She was rather pear-shaped, as a lot of women are. As I am, in fact. She was slender from the waist up, and carried most of her weight, which appeared perfectly normal to me, in her hips. When you are pear-shaped, if you are not careful with what you wear, you can APPEAR to be a bit heavy, especially on television, which can add about 10 pounds to anyones frame.
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I believe Karens management team suggested to her that she needed to lose some weight so she would look better on television. Arghhh!!!! It makes me so angry just to think of it. Karen took that suggestion and ran with it, dropping weight like crazy so she would look thin. We watched her shrink, and it was horrifying. She was never, ever FAT!!!!! She was normal. Not good enough for the idiots who advised her.
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Karen often wore clothes on stage that totally disguised her body. I remember once, when her anorexia was well-entrenched, Daryl and I attended one of the Capenters shows in Las Vegas. It was a lovely show, with Karens gorgeous, warm voice filling the room. After the show, Daryl and I went backstage to say hello, and as I hugged her, I had to force myself not to let her see the shock that went through me when I realized that all I could feel through her robe was BONES! It was like hugging a skeleton.
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I left that show so angry, and so fearful for Karens health and the future of that lovely person and her exquisite voice. I was angry again, and filled with an incredible sorrow when I learned of her death. She was an artist...she was fragile....and this stupid business, with its focus on superficial things, killed her. Even today, when I hear her voice on the radio, I am filled with a sadness....now muted by time...but still there. She was so young. She could have still been sharing that lovely voice with us today.
-
Well...sorry I had to vent!!! It is no secret I hate the business side of show biz.
Let me share a few memories of Karen and Richard Carpenter with you.
-
Shortly after Daryl and I signed with A&M Records in 1974, we made our first visit to the famed studios on La Brea in Los Angeles, to take a look at the recording facilities that would be available to us. The facility was famed, not only because it was the home of A&M Records, but because it was formerly owned by the great comic silent film star, Charlie Chaplin, and many of the buildings remained from those days.
-
A&M was like a college campus, with recording artists from labels other than A&M also using the terrific recording studios there. You might run into artists like Joni Mitchell as you strolled the grounds. In fact, I almost fell over one day at A&M when I was washing my hands in the Ladies Room, and Joni Mitchell emerged from the stall next to the one I had been occupying. We said hello to each other, and I casually exited the room, and immediately went to find Daryl to tell him I had met the great Joni Mitchell. Im certain to this day she has no idea she ever met me.
-
Karen and Richard Carpenter had been making hits for A&M for a couple of years before we arrived. They were truly superstars of the A&M lot. I remember that Daryl and I were so impressed when we saw TWO of the very limited, very precious parking spaces with their names on them. Richard always drove some wonderful, perfectly detailed, shiny automobile. I remember in particular a Mercedes sports car, gleaming patent leather black, often parked in his space.
-
Every now and then, I would catch a glimpse of Karen or Richard, and we would acknowledge each other with a wave or a nod, but rarely did we speak at any length. Karen and Richard were very reserved, and I certainly dont blame them. At this stage in their careers, privacy was a luxury, and we never wanted to intrude. Also, they may have had reservations about this new duo on the A&M lot.
-
We ended up sharing the same management team, and the same wonderful recording engineer, Roger Young. Im not going to name their managers, because I believe they were at least partially responsible for Karens struggle with anorexia. I could be wrong about this, but remember what Ive told you...they dont call it show BUSINESS for nothing, and it can be tough and mean.
-
When Daryl and I knew Karen....and, remember, we were just the most casual of acquaintances.....she was NEVER heavy or CLOSE to fat. She was rather pear-shaped, as a lot of women are. As I am, in fact. She was slender from the waist up, and carried most of her weight, which appeared perfectly normal to me, in her hips. When you are pear-shaped, if you are not careful with what you wear, you can APPEAR to be a bit heavy, especially on television, which can add about 10 pounds to anyones frame.
-
I believe Karens management team suggested to her that she needed to lose some weight so she would look better on television. Arghhh!!!! It makes me so angry just to think of it. Karen took that suggestion and ran with it, dropping weight like crazy so she would look thin. We watched her shrink, and it was horrifying. She was never, ever FAT!!!!! She was normal. Not good enough for the idiots who advised her.
-
Karen often wore clothes on stage that totally disguised her body. I remember once, when her anorexia was well-entrenched, Daryl and I attended one of the Capenters shows in Las Vegas. It was a lovely show, with Karens gorgeous, warm voice filling the room. After the show, Daryl and I went backstage to say hello, and as I hugged her, I had to force myself not to let her see the shock that went through me when I realized that all I could feel through her robe was BONES! It was like hugging a skeleton.
-
I left that show so angry, and so fearful for Karens health and the future of that lovely person and her exquisite voice. I was angry again, and filled with an incredible sorrow when I learned of her death. She was an artist...she was fragile....and this stupid business, with its focus on superficial things, killed her. Even today, when I hear her voice on the radio, I am filled with a sadness....now muted by time...but still there. She was so young. She could have still been sharing that lovely voice with us today.
-
Well...sorry I had to vent!!! It is no secret I hate the business side of show biz.
