Unplugged

[Nemily]

Karen Carpenter’s voice is timeless, not of any age. As time goes by however, the accompaniments on the recordings are mostly stuck in the 70s. Richard must know this and I think his unwavering tinkering is mainly about finding ways to keep their music relevant. And he’s done pretty well to adapt with some of the mixes that have stood the test of time.

I also love the un-mixed recordings of Carpenters. But the interest of preservation, what else would freshen the sound of a Carpenters recording, to keep it fresh for generations to come. What accompaniments would you change (if any). Would you replace piano parts with acoustic guitars (I would love to hear an album release of Karen and an acoustic guitar) or would you keep the piano parts and do it with less production? Maybe replace the drummer with a drum machine (Richard don’t hear that).

I know, it’s almost sacrilege to even suggest these things, but the proof is in listening to the many hundreds of Karen’s isolated vocals from various tracks that are now out there and imagining the possibilities to keep things relevant.

One example, from the album A Kind of Hush, IMO the song You has so much potential yet is a little sleepy for on demand streaming. An acoustic guitar replacing the piano part only (the piano in a tad MOR in this song I think), keep the electric guitar part, this completely revamps a very pretty song.

 

[newvillefan]

One example, from the album A Kind of Hush, IMO the song You has so much potential yet is a little sleepy for on demand streaming.

The entire track needs a good clean up. Way too muddy.

 

[Murray]

Be careful Nemily. That's the kind of "sacrilege" that could get you excommunicated from the cult!

But, since you asked the question, here are my heretical thoughts on the subject:

If you want to make the Carpenters music "relevant" to the "on demand streaming" generation, then start by getting rid of everything but the vocals. Add in electronic, synthesized instruments, and computer generated "beats" and "loops". Speed up the tempo, apply "effects" to the vocals, and autotune the crap out of everything. Add a "guest" rapper, and make sure that he/she puts in a few expletives, to earn the coveted "Explicit" rating (that will draw in the streaming listeners like flies to honey). For the finishing touch, add lots of life-sucking compression. Now Carpenters would sound like all the other "music" that you hear on the radio, and the "sponsored" playlists on the streamers... suitable for listening through cheap earbuds, or as background noise through mono Bluetooth speakers.

*Note: The above paragraph was written with tongue firmly in cheek. So, put away your torches and pitchforks, and save the hot tar and feathers for another day.

IMHO, Carpenters music is as "relevant" today as it ever was, just the way it is!

 

[Nemily]

IMHO, Carpenters music is as "relevant" today as it ever was, just the way it is!

Oh boy @Murray, I know I know I know I lost my mind with thoughts of some of the catalog being released again. I really do wish it could be. But yea, Carpenters music has remained completely relevant just the way it is, of course and I was not implying it hasn't. You're made me laugh and brought me back to reality with the points you make. Spot on.

 

[Kyle Thomas]

I would love to see some experimentation with Karen's vocals against other backdrops. Take the Pentatonix version of "Do You Hear What I Hear?" that uses Whitney Houston's isolated vocal, or what Kygo did with "Higher Love." Obviously, these are more in the R&B and dance genre, which wouldn't be the way to go with Karen... but the principle is the same.

The question is: what songs would sound terrific with different instrumentation?

I've always thought a stripped down "Karen in a jazz lounge" vibe would go great, and I made this suggestion on another thread somewhere... an album filled with songs that are stripped down to their essence, perhaps just Karen's voice with the piano, or a few instruments (as if she were in a lounge with a jazz band). No harmonies or strings. Just that voice and those gorgeous melodies, given a new setting -- Norah Jones-like. "This Masquerade," "Ordinary Fool," "Yesterday Once More (TV version of Karen, with Richard on the piano) / segue into the "Make Your Own Kind of Music" medley of songs with Karen and piano only, if there's any possible way of getting a studio version of that selection), etc.

 

[JohnFB]

Karen against an instrumental background accompaniment consisting of piano (acoustic and/or digital), flute and cello - only.

I think the cello is the stringed instrument that matches her range and warm, resonant, burnished tone the closest. It would be wonderful to hear the interplay between her and someone like Yo Yo MA (or that guy - what's his name? - who plays cello for The Piano Guys).

 

[Without A Song]

I like the idea of reimagined Carpenters songs with just Karen's vocals and Richard's piano-playing. That's always been the core of their appeal to me: Karen's vocals and Richard's musical accompaniment, be it complex or simple in style!

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

I like this too. Richard’s productions generally overdone (my shocking opinion…) so stripping it back to just his playing and her vocal would reveal the tunes in all their glory. His playing is gorgeous as is her singing.

Ed

 

[ars nova]

there are 20 to 30 karen carpenter solo tracks; if you want to experiment with different " karen " sounds, manipulate them. hands off " carpenters " product. would you want someone jacking around with your life's work?

 

[Randy M]

I've heard so many god awful remixes, remakes, do-overs, re-imagined, updated, etc. With the exception of a few artists, I always want to go back to the originals. I do appreciate when a greatest hits album says "the original songs."

 

[Randy M]

I would love to see some experimentation with Karen's vocals against other backdrops. Take the Pentatonix version of "Do You Hear What I Hear?" that uses Whitney Houston's isolated vocal, or what Kygo did with "Higher Love." Obviously, these are more in the R&B and dance genre, which wouldn't be the way to go with Karen... but the principle is the same.

The question is: what songs would sound terrific with different instrumentation?

I've always thought a stripped down "Karen in a jazz lounge" vibe would go great, and I made this suggestion on another thread somewhere... an album filled with songs that are stripped down to their essence, perhaps just Karen's voice with the piano, or a few instruments (as if she were in a lounge with a jazz band). No harmonies or strings. Just that voice and those gorgeous melodies, given a new setting -- Norah Jones-like. "This Masquerade," "Ordinary Fool," "Yesterday Once More (TV version of Karen, with Richard on the piano) / segue into the "Make Your Own Kind of Music" medley of songs with Karen and piano only, if there's any possible way of getting a studio version of that selection), etc.

What Kygo did to Whitney Houston & Higher Love is the same sound as Kygo's remix of Nick Jonas' Remind Me To Forget. (Remind me to forget Kygo's remix.) Kygo starts out with the artist's vocal then slowly begins overlaying the songs with his "Kygo sound" and then overwhelms the vocal into the background. Kygo would bury Karen's voice. Almighty Records remixes bury their artists in some sort of stadium sound. They are popular and one should always go where the money is.

 

[Tom_P]

Be careful what you wish for! Apologies if this has already been uploaded!

Carpenters - Top of the World (Matt Pop summer mix)

 

[newvillefan]

Be careful what you wish for! Apologies if this has already been uploaded!

Carpenters - Top of the World (Matt Pop summer mix)

This one is superb. The original featured Karen’s vocal but I think was blocked so he re-recorded it with another vocalist. She is pretty close to Karen I’d say, especially in the verses. And the arrangement is amazing.

 

[motownboy]

Myself and others have been advocating for years for Richard to do an "unplugged" Carpenters release. He can take their studio vocals from any of the songs. They don't necessarily have to be the "hits", and record new stripped down arrangements. It would be great for him to do this while he is still around to do so. He could have the pick of the best old-school and current musicians to work with. He lives close to L.A., which makes it easier to do as opposed to flying to London as he did for the RPO album.

@Chris May - Do you know if Richard has ever considered doing an "unplugged" Carpenters release like this?

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

Myself and others have been advocating for years for Richard to do an "unplugged" Carpenters release. He can take their studio vocals from any of the songs. They don't necessarily have to be the "hits", and record new stripped down arrangements. It would be great for him to do this while he is still around to do so. He could have the pick of the best old-school and current musicians to work with. He lives close to L.A., which makes it easier to do as opposed to flying to London as he did for the RPO album.

@Chris May - Do you know if Richard has ever considered doing an "unplugged" Carpenters release li

I'm not Chris, of course, but that would require him to de-emphasize himself. I doubt he'd ever go for that, though I'm certain many of us would love to hear something like that.

Ed

 

[1969]

Myself and others have been advocating for years for Richard to do an "unplugged" Carpenters release. He can take their studio vocals from any of the songs. They don't necessarily have to be the "hits", and record new stripped down arrangements. It would be great for him to do this while he is still around to do so. He could have the pick of the best old-school and current musicians to work with. He lives close to L.A., which makes it easier to do as opposed to flying to London as he did for the RPO album.

No other musicians needed. No other instruments. I'd go for just pure Karen with Richard accompanying her on piano like how he did on Thank You Rock 'n' Roll. He did a great job with Mindi when she sang Little Altar Boy, too.

 

[Matthew S]

No other musicians needed. No other instruments. I'd go for just pure Karen with Richard accompanying her on piano like how he did on Thank You Rock 'n' Roll. He did a great job with Mindi when she sang Little Altar Boy, too.

Which is why the first few bars of WOJB with only Karen and piano are so beautiful.

 

[Kyle Thomas]

There's so much that could be done this way now... Just imagine this amazing vocal from "Desperado" with just Richard on the piano...

 

[JohnFB]

Which is why the first few bars of WOJB with only Karen and piano are so beautiful.

Same with RD&M...

 

[Nemily]

No other musicians needed. No other instruments. I'd go for just pure Karen with Richard accompanying her on piano like how he did on Thank You Rock 'n' Roll.

@1969 I had never seen this full segment, what a treat, thanks! These impromptu conversations between each other with unplugged medleys and songs are spectacular.

 

[Matthew S]

No other musicians needed. No other instruments. I'd go for just pure Karen with Richard accompanying her on piano like how he did on Thank You Rock 'n' Roll. He did a great job with Mindi when she sang Little Altar Boy, too.

And I listened again to “Sometimes” a few times last night. What an amazing piece to showcase both of their talents. Piano and voice only.

 

[newvillefan]

I’m not a big fan of this idea. It could only work really well if Karen was still around to reimagine and re-record her vocal performances for each track. You can’t really have a solo piano tinkling along to Karen’s original vocals on ‘We’ve Only Just Begun’ or ‘Rainy Days And Mondays’ when she’s belting out the choruses and/or her voice is double tracked. It would be too jarring.

 

[JohnFB]

I’m not a big fan of this idea. It could only work really well if Karen was still around to reimagine and re-record her vocal performances for each track. You can’t really have a solo piano tinkling along to Karen’s original vocals on ‘We’ve Only Just Begun’ or ‘Rainy Days And Mondays’ when she’s belting out the choruses and/or her voice is double tracked. It would be too jarring.

Well, singers have been "belting out" the lyrics of songs to solo piano accompaniment since, as the old geezers like to say, Hector was a pup - as far as the double tracking goes you know what the hell they can do with that abomination...

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

I’m not a big fan of this idea. It could only work really well if Karen was still around to reimagine and re-record her vocal performances for each track. You can’t really have a solo piano tinkling along to Karen’s original vocals on ‘We’ve Only Just Begun’ or ‘Rainy Days And Mondays’ when she’s belting out the choruses and/or her voice is double tracked. It would be too jarring.

Honestly, I agree. Depending on what one is singing to, it informs the choices they make, tonal quality, intentionality, and power they sing with. Even the emotion expressed is directly informed by what the singer is reacting to or singing on top of. Taking her voice almost entirely out of the environment she sang to initially would just be weird. This is why I abhor "cadaver duets" - songs done where one artist sings along to a dead person's vocal. None of them sound right (no, not even Nat and Natalie) because their voices are completely removed from the environment that influenced the vocal we got in the first place.

Karen's vocals all come from at least rhythm tracking dates (for scratch vocal tunes we got) and likely nearly finished tracks for most of what we got. Karen's vocals in all cases would likely be different if she were reacting to just a piano. Further, I still think Richard seems to love his "more is more" production approach and I doubt he'd be cool with stripping that away anyway.

Ed

 

[JohnFB]

Honestly, I agree. Depending on what one is singing to, it informs the choices they make, tonal quality, intentionality, and power they sing with. Even the emotion expressed is directly informed by what the singer is reacting to or singing on top of. Taking her voice almost entirely out of the environment she sang to initially would just be weird...

Yes, this is all true for most singers, especially if they're singing in front of a medium to large size orchestral ensemble (maybe even incl. choral accompaniment)...but this is not always, or necessarily the case, especially for an accomplished and talented singer who is used to, or experienced with, singing with smaller groups also...

Karen's vocals all come from at least rhythm tracking dates (for scratch vocal tunes we got) and likely nearly finished tracks for most of what we got.

I'm not sure Ed what you mean here - could you restate this please...are you saying that - as I always understood it - that she usually (mostly?) recorded her vocals to a pre-recorded rhythm
track only (base, drums and piano) - if true, most of the rest of the accompaniment (orchestra, chorus, backing vocal) were recorded later and she never heard them when she was laying down her lead vocal track, and thus they had no influence on how she sang a song...unless perhaps if Richard went over the arrangement verbally or on his piano beforehand.

Karen vocals in all cases would likely be different if she were reacting to just a piano.

If what I describe above is the case then I say that, conversely, her vocals might have been different if she had been accompanyed by the full musical ensemble while recording them...maybe...

Ed