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As singer or producer/arranger?
An Old-Fashione Christmas
Say Yeah!
Toyland
We got some of his solo vocal on “Collected” and “Ultimate Collection”.I think I understand some of Richard's actions; I don't think he has released on a carpenters' collection, his solo vocal unless karen is somehow involved in the recording. I respect his choice, however, TOYLAND is just perfect and should be released somewhere.
now that I have made this statement, I realize karen was not a part of the recording of the song AN OLD FASHIONED CHRISTMAS or the overture that opened the album.
so much for my thoughtfully constructed investigation into the mind of my genius fan-crush......baby
^^Ed, you always have strong comments which adds spice to this forum. Appreciated! Your new avatar is "interesting" to say the least...Getting ready for Thanksgiving?
HA! Thanks! The avatar is courtesy of @Harry's collection of A&M sleeves. He posted it in the "45rpm sleeve" thread in the "Small Circle" forum and I loved it. It was the one I hadn't seen before.
Ed
Calling Occupants, Yesterday Once More and Superstar... And of course, Close To You.
I first thought this thread would be about Richard's best lead vocal... So here's mine: "You'll Never Know" recorded in 1980 when the duo were so excited about the music on "Music, Music, Music" that they recorded them (even the one's recorded by the guests) for a disc each for their personal collections, a lot of which was released on "As Time Goes By". This is one of the few sadly not yet released. With a bit of work, tidying it up a bit, this would sound beautiful:
I really do enjoy the manner in which Richard sings at Karen's wedding (he begins at 1:33):
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Qpsfsve4H8
Is anyone else as bothered by his lisp as I am? I always found that to be his main issue as a lead singer. He's wonderful doing BV's and the way he blended with Karen on those multi-part harmonies was legendary. His lead singing, on the other hand, is absolutely mediocre. The only times I have really enjoyed him being up front were him singing Daddy's Home in concert for the Oldies medley and his parts on the Grease medley, especially the Yesterday Once More reprise at the end. I don't know if it's the phrasing or what, but he always reminds me of Rick Moranis as Seymour in Little Shop Of Horrors. Maybe it's the glasses.As singer: Absolutely nothing. That's not his gift.
Is anyone else as bothered by his lisp as I am? I always found that to be his main issue as a lead singer. He's wonderful doing BV's and the way he blended with Karen on those multi-part harmonies was legendary. His lead singing, on the other hand, is absolutely mediocre. The only times I have really enjoyed him being up front were him singing Daddy's Home in concert for the Oldies medley and his parts on the Grease medley, especially the Yesterday Once More reprise at the end. I don't know if it's the phrasing or what, but he always reminds me of Rick Moranis as Seymour in Little Shop Of Horrors. Maybe it's the glasses.
As a composer:
Several, but those that I have in my favorites: ''One Love'', ''Yesterday Once More'', ''Only Yesterday', ''Touch Me When We're Dancing'', ''All Of My Life'', ''Eve'', ''Looking For Love'', ''You'll Love Me''.
Richard didn't write "Touch Me". FYI.
Ed
I totally agree. I have said it often over the years when comparing K&R's musical talents. There are two types of talent when it comes to music, or a lot of other things for that matter: Natural and acquired. Karen's was more natural while Richard's was more acquired. He learned pitch, vibrato, etc. through vocal lessons in college but for Karen, she just opened her mouth and out came the most beautiful sound to ever come out of a human face. Richard just didn't have enough of that natural vocal quality to do any more than carry a tune, although he blended very well in harmonies and overdubbing.He just doesn't have that gift. The lisp isn't a huge deal for me but his tone is just rather unremarkable and dull. He never sounds more than passable on anything. As @TheOneBeatleManiac said, "I Kept on Loving You" is as good as he ever got. The others range from okay to dreadful ("Who Do You Love" is completely dreadful and "Say Yeah!" is right behind it).
Ed
I totally agree. I have said it often over the years when comparing K&R's musical talents. There are two types of talent when it comes to music, or a lot of other things for that matter: Natural and acquired. Karen's was more natural while Richard's was more acquired. He learned pitch, vibrato, etc. through vocal lessons in college but for Karen, she just opened her mouth and out came the most beautiful sound to ever come out of a human face. Richard just didn't have enough of that natural vocal quality to do any more than carry a tune, although he blended very well in harmonies and overdubbing.