⭐ Official Review [Album] "KAREN CARPENTER" (SP-4804/CD-0588)

[Vinylalbumcovers]

Richard thought he had the market cornered on layered vocal arrangements. He didn't and doesn't. Others do it very well too. Rod Temperton had used that sound already on 3 Heatwave records. Multitracked Johnny Wilder, Jr. is a thing of beauty. Rod's vocal arrangements are more rooted in Jazz while Richard's are rooted in choral styles. Rod arranged in his style, not Richard's.

Ed

 

[newvillefan]

Rod's vocal arrangements are more rooted in Jazz while Richard's are rooted in choral styles. Rod arranged in his style, not Richard's.

Couldn't agree more Ed! I think that's why I enjoy the album so much - her harmonies and vocal acrobatics are much more jazz-inflected than her other work. Some of the harmonies (most notably on 'If We Try' and 'If I Had You') feature some really strange chords which clash but also work really well and are nothing like what she ever did with her brother.

GaryAlan - thanks for posting that article, one of the best I have ever read regarding the solo album

 

[Chris Mills]

Richard & Rod had differing styles when using overdubs in the studio, only problem is, it's almost impossible to replicate that studio sound with a live performance. Karen sounded great live, but those backing vocals provided by the band, we're far from smooth.

 

[GaryAlan]

I love the line--in the above news article,-- "How do you lose an album?"
But, I also, recall that
"Ordinary Fool" and "Trying To Get The Feeling Again"
were misplaced/lost/not catalogued/discarded.
(Pick your verb)
Exactly how big was A&M Studios, at the time ?
How does any material recorded by Karen Carpenter, A&M's top-selling artist,
become misplaced/lost/not catalogued/discarded?

 

[Chris May]

I love the line--in the above news article,-- "How do you lose an album?"
But, I also, recall that
"Ordinary Fool" and "Trying To Get The Feeling Again"
were misplaced/lost/not catalogued/discarded.
(Pick your verb)
Exactly how big was A&M Studios, at the time ?
How does any material recorded by Karen Carpenter, A&M's top-selling artist,
become misplaced/lost/not catalogued/discarded?

You have to remember that just because a song idea was tracked, doesn't mean it was completed or near completed, nor does it mean that it was a guarantee that it would end up on whatever current album was being recorded. Look at it this way - you're set up in the studio, blocked time and you have your drums, bass, keyboards (in the Carpenters' case) and Karen in an isolation booth recording a work lead live during each take. You have some additional songs you like that could make the cut, and you utilize the studio time, musicians etc. If the song fails to get written on the tape legend inside the box (amongst the other 3 or possibly 4 on the tape already), then it doesn't get catalogued properly, to be discovered at a later date during a playback.

 

[newvillefan]

If the song fails to get written on the tape legend inside the box (amongst the other 3 or possibly 4 on the tape already), then it doesn't get catalogued properly, to be discovered at a later date during a playback.

That's exactly what happened in the case of 'Tryin' To Get The Feeling Again'. Richard discovered it on the multi-track tape containing 'Only Yesterday' when he was preparing tracks for the Japanese karaoke album in November, 1991.

 

[GaryAlan]

Thanks for elaborating upon this issue, both Chris May and Newvillefan!
Obviously, I am ignorant regarding the methods of tracking, and recording, and such--in Carpenters' case, or any other artist for that matter.
By the way, exactly what does that mean: to track a song?
So, I do very much appreciate the additional insight into these recording technicalities.

If someone would be so kind as to ascertain the truth (or not) of this Wikipedia entry (seems somewhat different from Richard Carpenter's Liner Notes):
"The Carpenters's version of "Tryin' To Get The Feeling Again" was recorded during the Horizon sessions in 1975, but it had been shelved as being "one too many ballads." Seven years after production wrapped on the song, Richard was looking for songs to include on Voice of the Heart, the first album released after Karen's untimely death from anorexia in February of 1983."
"According to Richard Carpenter, the basic uncompleted rhythm tracks were found at that time, but Karen's final production vocal intended for the release of the record had been recorded over and was gone. However, many years later a "work lead" was found hidden away on a master tape that also contained the song "Only Yesterday." (A work lead can easily be identified by such anomalies as Karen flipping a sheet of paper over at about 1:50 into the play time of the song as she sight reads and sings.) Richard felt that the vocal was good enough to finish production of the song and release it, as he did in 1995, almost 20 years after it was recorded."

 

[Chris May]

Thanks for elaborating upon this issue, both Chris May and Newvillefan!
Obviously, I am ignorant regarding the methods of tracking, and recording, and such--in Carpenters' case, or any other artist for that matter.
By the way, exactly what does that mean: to track a song?
So, I do very much appreciate the additional insight into these recording technicalities.

If someone would be so kind as to ascertain the truth (or not) of this Wikipedia entry (seems somewhat different from Richard Carpenter's Liner Notes):
"The Carpenters's version of "Tryin' To Get The Feeling Again" was recorded during the Horizon sessions in 1975, but it had been shelved as being "one too many ballads." Seven years after production wrapped on the song, Richard was looking for songs to include on Voice of the Heart, the first album released after Karen's untimely death from anorexia in February of 1983."
"According to Richard Carpenter, the basic uncompleted rhythm tracks were found at that time, but Karen's final production vocal intended for the release of the record had been recorded over and was gone. However, many years later a "work lead" was found hidden away on a master tape that also contained the song "Only Yesterday." (A work lead can easily be identified by such anomalies as Karen flipping a sheet of paper over at about 1:50 into the play time of the song as she sight reads and sings.) Richard felt that the vocal was good enough to finish production of the song and release it, as he did in 1995, almost 20 years after it was recorded."

Hmmmm...I don't remember ever reading that Karen had completed a master lead vocal. Those were always recorded on the same reel of tape as the rest of the instrumentation and vocals, and if anything, the work lead would have been subsequently recorded over by other vocals or instruments. To my knowledge the song was always an incomplete "track", which simply means basic rhythm instrumentation and a scratch/work lead vocal, to be further completed and finished. The song - having never been catalogued - was believed to be lost years later, only to be found again when Richard pulled the master containing Only Yesterday. It was then he was able to add more instrumentation to the existing tracks (a.k.a. track which means rhythm tracks and work lead) in order to complete the song and mix for release. Sorry...hope that all made sense!

 

[arthowson]

That's exactly what happened in the case of 'Tryin' To Get The Feeling Again'. Richard discovered it on the multi-track tape containing 'Only Yesterday' when he was preparing tracks for the Japanese karaoke album in November, 1991.

always wondered why only yesterday was not on the karaoke album

 

[GaryAlan]

Thanks, again, Chris for the explanatory post.
I would have been petrified to record over anything ever uttered by Karen Carpenter.
One in a Million Voice, I'd be oh so very careful in the recording studio with Master Tapes, and such.
Yes, Arthowson, I ,too, have wondered why Only Yesterday was not part of the Original Master Karaoke Album.
That would be a good question for Richard Carpenter.

 

[Harry]

Thanks, again, Chris for the explanatory post.
I would have been petrified to record over anything ever uttered by Karen Carpenter.
One in a Million Voice, I'd be oh so very careful in the recording studio with Master Tapes, and such.

That's all well and good - but EVERY UTTERANCE, EVERY SONG, EVERY WORK LEAD that Karen put to tape was done when she was alive - with ZERO forethought that she'd be dead in a decade. Some of that stuff was considered as disposable as that recording on your answering machine - because she could always do it again and make another.

Harry

 

[GaryAlan]

Exactly Harry,
I completely understand what you are saying.
Again, I fail to clarify my outlook, for which I apologize.
As has been reiterated by Richard Carpenter and John Bettis, they were aware of Karen Carpenter's supreme
instrument, a truly unique instrument.
In interviews and biographical material, they do not fail to say how they realized--at that time, mind you---
(and thus they said they would never take for granted) Karen Carpenter's absolutely One-of A-Kind-Voice.
I, perhaps should be more forthcoming: at what point in time did those individuals who worked with Karen on a
professional level, who knew what she meant for all music--then, and for all time, cease to treat her GIFT as a Unique Instrument
instead of merely one of a commercial, money-making endeavor for the record company?
Don't misunderstand me--I'm not necessarily implying that she was taken for granted, but,
even as a youngster in 1973, when I first stumbled upon her Voice---I knew,then, that this lady was absolutely priceless.
And, that feeling never left my consciousness. Not Ever.

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

Anyone interested in another review?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/4705653/Karens-final-battle.html

Karen's final battle
Neil McCormick tells the strange tale of how Karen Carpenter's solo album lay unreleased for 16 years
12:00AM GMT 02 Nov 1996

NEXT Monday, A&M releases a record described as Karen Carpenter's long lost solo album. Which raises the question, how do you lose an album? It is not the kind of thing you leave on the bus.
The truth, astonishingly, is that it was lost on purpose. And there are those who appear to wish it had remained so. Heavily criticised at the time by Karen's brother and musical partner, Richard Carpenter, it was rejected by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss (the A and M in A&M Records) and consigned to the vaults, where it has remained since Karen's untimely death in 1983.
The music business is not beyond using tragedy to sell records, so an original album by the most popular female singer of the Seventies (the Carpenters back catalogue has sold more than 90 million worldwide) must have seemed a potential gold mine. Yet Richard Carpenter steadfastly blocked the album's release for 13 years. He only finally acquiesced, according to his manager Sherwin Bash, "when fans and writers kept begging him for this last piece of her legacy".
What, you may wonder, could Karen have done that was so offensive? Had she gone punk? Made a comedy record? Sung out of tune?
In fact, her many admirers will be relieved to hear, the album, simply titledKaren Carpenter, is reassuringly bland. As might be expected from a solo project, Karen attempted to stretch her wings, but, while she flirts with some contemporary styles, she never strays too far from the middle of the road. With accomplished producer Phil Ramone behind the controls (a role he fulfilled for Barbra Streisand, Billy Joel and Paul Simon) and Billy Joel's band backing her, the album features some lightly disco-flavoured pop, a touch of gentle rock and, predictably enough, an abundance of ballads. Karen never sings a note out of place and fills the arrangements with her trademark harmonies.
The sticking point appears to have been Karen's tentative attempt to shed her virginal image. Come-hither titles such as Making Love in the Afternoon, Remember When Lovin' Took All Night and Make Believe It's Your First Time display a sexual awareness that had never been part of the Carpenters' repertoire.

"Phil's idea of maturity was to have her singing explicit lyrics," Richard complained to the Carpenters' biographer Ray Coleman. "Paul Williams wrote fine lyrics for Rainy Days and Mondays and We've Only Just Begun without any gratuitous reference to sex. Ramone had her singingMy Body Keeps Changing My Mind. Is that supposed to be mature?"
Ever since they first hit number one in 1970 with Close to You, the Carpenters had been the cleanest-cut kids in pop. They had a delicately homespun, easy-listening sound, in which Richard's sympathetic string arrangements underpinned Karen's crystal-clear voice. Rejecting the hedonism of rock and disco in favour of perpetual smiles and old-fashioned values, the siblings appeared as a kind of wholesome, boy-and-girl next door. President Nixon, for whom they performed in 1974, said, "The Carpenters represent all that is true and best in America."
Of course, in hindsight, Nixon may not be considered the greatest of character witnesses. Much like the disgraced President himself, there was a dark underbelly to the Carpenters' version of the American Dream. Richard became addicted to "downers" (Quaaludes), while Karen fell prey to anorexia nervosa. Locked in a relationship with her brother that was intense and controlling, Karen took it out on herself, starving slowly to death while singing about being On Top of the World.
When Richard went into drug rehabilitation in 1979, Karen decided to record a solo album. According to many close to the duo (including their lawyer, Werner Wolfen) Richard behaved as though it were an act of treason. Karen's best friend, Frenda Franklin, sees it from another perspective: "This wasn't just an album," she says. "It was her Emancipation Declaration." The 29-year-old Karen had hoped the record would create a more sophisticated, grown-up image. Scheduled for release in early 1980, it was treated by A&M as a potential blockbuster. Until they heard it.
A routine playback for the label heads, at which Richard Carpenter was also in attendance, proved to be a disaster. Richard claimed the songs were weak, the keys too high for Karen's voice and accused her producer of stealing the Carpenters' sound. Although the official line is that Karen decided to shelve the album in order to concentrate on a new Carpenters project, few remember it quite that way. "Why is this happening?" she asked Phil Ramone. "What did I do wrong?"
Ramone has reflected that there was "a tremendous paternal feeling from the label towards the Carpenters. Maybe we had taken their little daughter into too many risky areas". Instead, Richard and Karen went to work onMade in America. A commercial failure on its release in 1981, it was the last Carpenters album in Karen's lifetime. Less than two years later, at the age of 32, she died of complications from anorexia.
Just as the tragedy of her life has brought the precise sadness of her many ballads into focus, lending them the flavour of white suburban blues, so the breezy optimism in evidence on her solo album is equally bittersweet. It is a minor work, certainly, but one that clearly meant a great deal to the singer. Confident, adult and upbeat, it leaves you wondering what might have been had she been allowed to develop as a solo artist.
On the final track, Last One Singin' the Blues, she could be addressing her brother when she pleads, "I don't really wanna be the last one singin' the blues." Sadly, this is the lost album of a woman who never really found herself.

Thanks Gary for this article, I'd never seen that one and nicely written.

"On the final track, Last One Singin' the Blues, she could be addressing her brother when she pleads, "I don't really wanna be the last one singin' the blues." Sadly, this is the lost album of a woman who never really found herself."

I never thought of it like this before, interesting analogy.

 

[newvillefan]

Source:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...EgrAAAAIBAJ&sjid=29UEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1534,5621388

Some things I read still continue to amaze me - I shook my head as I was reading this passage from the above news article that GaryAlan posted:

The cover of Miss Carpenter [for 'Voice Of The Heart'] was taken in New York in late 1979 or early '80, her brother says. "I wanted to take 1979 off. We had been on a breakneck schedule for many years. I was getting a little tired and wanted to recharge. Karen didn't and she thought about a solo album. It was fine with me. Phil Ramone was going to produce. He's in New York and she's in Los Angeles. It was supposed to be recorded and released before I was ready to go back to work. It was never finished. But that album is why the picture exists". He hasn't touched any of that recording, Carpenter says, and he doesn't expect it to be released.

It makes me wonder if Richard said 'it was never finished' because at the time he had no intention of ever releasing the solo album, therefore he could use this as the main excuse to anyone who asked him. We all know now that it was complete and ready for release by February 1980, before they got started on the next television special and album, so Karen had fulfilled her end of the deal and delivered a completed product that wouldn't interfere with the Carpenters. Richard later said to Ray Coleman that it could have come out while they were recording what became 'Made In America'. Add to that the fact that he was emphatically not fine about her recording solo and the whole thing sounds like another gloss over of the real story, something we've seen time and time again from those close to (or within) the Carpenters camp. I often think of her solo record as the bastard child of the Carpenters' album family, a fate it doesn't deserve.

 

[A&Mguyfromwayback]

Of course it was finished. Phil & Karen delivered it and the A&M staff in New York loved it. But at the same time, what Richard said is also technically true. If all the top brass of the record company thought for whatever reason that it wasn't suitable for release and new songs would have to be recorded for it to be right - well, that's not 'finished'. And there you have the frustration of the whole thing......

 

[GaryAlan]

The 2002 BBC documentary--Close To You--also, has some interesting things regarding the album.
The BBC documentary--Only Yesterday,2007,--also, has some interesting things regarding the album.
BBC's Living Famously from 2003--,also,has some interesting things regarding the album.
(The last available for purchase from The Film Collectors Society of America).
Also, Herb Alpert, in the Living Famously documentary, when asked about the solo album
responded thus (part 5, 8:10): "..I don't exactly remember why..." (sic- why it was shelved).
An interesting exercise is collating all of the various responses to the solo album, in the separate documentaries,
to gain an over-all perspective by various individuals. (Time-consuming as it is).

 

[newvillefan]

An interesting exercise is collating all of the various responses to the solo album, in the separate documentaries,
to gain an over-all perspective by various individuals. (Time-consuming as it is).

I did the analysis in this very thread, reposting it here for you (and here's the link to page 2 if you want to wander back through the various responses):

To date, I've heard the following reasons or arguments used by various people as justification for it not being put out, so it's no surprise there's always a swirl of debate around what led to it being shelved:

1. "I'm sure she wasn't real comfortable with it" - Herb Alpert
2. "We looked at each other and we knew we had a dog from a commercial sense" - Derek Green (with Jerry Moss)
3. "Herb and Jerry did not want it released and that was the bottom line" - Richard Carpenter
4. "I don't really remember the reason why [it wasn't released]" - Herb Alpert
5. "[Karen] knew [Richard] didn't like the fact that she was doing it; she was afraid he wouldn't like the sound" - C.J. Cuticello
6. "Richard decided that he wanted to get going with the Carpenters again - and the label got behind him on that" - Phil Ramone

...and the biggest smokescreen of them all...

7. "I'm not totally happy with it" - Karen Carpenter

There just doesn't seem to be a common party line - from anyone!

Richard once said, on the VH1 special, that "she and Phil played the album for the powers that be at A&M - and I wasn't there for this one". We know now this is simply not true. He was there, along with Herb and Jerry. I still don't understand this contradiction to this day and I simply can't believe he didn't have some say in its shelving for this reason.

 

[Jeff]

It's been a while since I've chanted the travesty 'at Karen's BEHEST '. At Karen' behest she decided to burn $400K to while away Richard's 6 week TX incarceration. Makes perfect sense doncha think? $400,000 going up in flames is substantiated somewhere. I'm all about the hunch somebody will doc source.

Rollin Rollin Rollin obnoxious me a-Rollin and juz lovin the beatin I'm giving that ol dead horse. Here at my behest I'll continue to bring greater focus ala microscope.

Jeff

 

[GaryAlan]

Newvillefan, Thank You for bringing this (your analysis) to my attention.
Homework for today is alleviated!
And, as I suspected, and you correctly pointed out, a common 'party-line' seems to be absent.
Interesting: how the same folks who claim that "Made In America" is commercially viable, refuse to
give the same consideration to Karen's solo album.
She was comfortable enough to record those songs; obviously, the powers- that- be were simply uncomfortable
in releasing those songs.
In the end,
Karen is correct (Ramone's quote from 1983): "That album's f.....g great."

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

I read an article today online about her solo album titled, "Close To You, Karen comes home to The Carpenters with posthumous release"
It basically talked about what we already know but at the end of the article, it mentions that Richard had called Karen Ichiuju Ramone to tell her that he is releasing the album and asked her if there had been any dedication. Karen Ramone unearthed her notes and found the dedication we see on the insert. Karen Ramone is then quoted as saying: "Karen knew the Carpenters needed more of an edge and by dedicating the album to Richard she was saying, 'Here I did this for you and me, Accept me, because I did this for both of us'."

I found that really interesting coming from Karen Ramone (who was probably the closest to Karen during the making of her solo album) this is really some personal information and I think it lends credence again that Karen Carpenter was indeed wanting and looking for ways to branch out in the music industry and get back in the spotlight with radio.

 

[byline]

These recollections don't make much sense. Paul Simon would have to be nuts to have made such nasty comments to Karen's face, with his OWN producer, Phil Ramone (and band) sitting there. Something doesn't ring true. It's possible he said something negative, but I highly doubt it was said in such a blunt, hurtful way. And those words would have equally stung Phil Ramone. Just sounds goofy to me.

Also, keep in mind that Glenn Berger is thinking back to something that happened in 1979. The memory plays tricks on people. I understand he was there and we weren't, but it doesn't seem very plausible. Furthermore, Karen LOVED the album despite what anyone else said. The article claims she shelved it due to Simon's comments. That's simply not true.

I don't think Glenn says outright that the album was shelved for that reason. He points out that Karen was devastated by Paul's comments. Then he points out that the album was shelved, and Karen never recovered from her eating disorder. He doesn't paint an explicit "cause and effect" between the two, though I think writing it in the way that he did indicates that Paul's comments may have been a contributing factor. If Paul did indeed say this to Karen, with others within earshot (as Glenn obviously was), then that means the word would have likely gotten out to others. Knowing that someone of Paul Simon's stature made these comments could very well have spread to Herb and Jerry, which may have influenced their opinion of the album upon hearing it.

I can't imagine that Glenn made this up. You don't forget someone like Paul Simon walking in and saying something like that. He wouldn't be confusing Paul Simon with someone else. Having said that, bear in mind also that this may well have been during the early album sessions. Glenn notes that he engineered part of the album, but not all of it. So let's say this is early on, and Paul heard a couple of the disco tracks that Karen was working on. I can see him being put off by those. Other sources have said Paul made positive comments about the album. So maybe he came back later and heard, for example, "If I Had You." I can see him reacting to that far more positively, but maybe Glenn wasn't there to hear that. All Glenn heard was that negative feedback, and of course it ties in with his overall analysis of why Phil Ramone was so successful with his singers, because that kind of negativity never would have been part of his approach. That's also why that section of the article is titled, "Things You Should Never Say To Your Artist." It's really a very good article about the psychology of working with creative musicians in the studio and coaxing the best out of them.

 

[byline]

There are a few tracks I like, such as "Without You."

I don't know why on earth I typed that. The song I meant was "If I Had You."

 

[Rumbahbah]

I don't think Glenn says outright that the album was shelved for that reason. He points out that Karen was devastated by Paul's comments. Then he points out that the album was shelved, and Karen never recovered from her eating disorder. He doesn't paint an explicit "cause and effect" between the two, though I think writing it in the way that he did indicates that Paul's comments may have been a contributing factor. If Paul did indeed say this to Karen, with others within earshot (as Glenn obviously was), then that means the word would have likely gotten out to others. Knowing that someone of Paul Simon's stature made these comments could very well have spread to Herb and Jerry, which may have influenced their opinion of the album upon hearing it.

I can't imagine that Glenn made this up. You don't forget someone like Paul Simon walking in and saying something like that. He wouldn't be confusing Paul Simon with someone else. Having said that, bear in mind also that this may well have been during the early album sessions. Glenn notes that he engineered part of the album, but not all of it. So let's say this is early on, and Paul heard a couple of the disco tracks that Karen was working on. I can see him being put off by those. Other sources have said Paul made positive comments about the album. So maybe he came back later and heard, for example, "If I Had You." I can see him reacting to that far more positively, but maybe Glenn wasn't there to hear that. All Glenn heard was that negative feedback, and of course it ties in with his overall analysis of why Phil Ramone was so successful with his singers, because that kind of negativity never would have been part of his approach. That's also why that section of the article is titled, "Things You Should Never Say To Your Artist." It's really a very good article about the psychology of working with creative musicians in the studio and coaxing the best out of them.

Must have missed the earlier posts about Paul Simon's alleged comments. I have to say I don't believe that he said those things - it's completely out of kilter with everything else we know about how the sessions in New York went, plus Karen recorded two of Paul's songs for the album, so it's hard to imagine her a) still wanting to do them after he'd said such things and putting one of those songs in the final tracklist and b) him saying them when she had indeed recorded some of his own material, as he'd then be denigrating his own songs. Moreover, from a sheer professional courtesy point of view, I can't imagine one artist being so tactless about another artist's work to their face, especially when both artists use the same producer.

The whole thing smacks more of the style of general criticism often levelled at the solo album by those who don't like it. Paul's alleged comments imply that the whole album was a style that didn't suit Karen, which is odd as the album has many styles, but it does tie in with the old chestnut frequently dragged up that it was all disco and all sounded like 'My Body Keeps Changing My Mind'. I can't help but think that someone's extended that line of reasoning into a quote.

This does raise an interesting point though - I think it's been documented that Karen went back several times in 1979 to California and took some of the recordings she's done with her. Presumably she played them to various people when she was there. Given that this album was a new venture and clearly wasn't going to be a same old sound again (plus that it took nearly a year to finish), it does seem hard to imagine that no one at A&M ever heard or asked to hear any of the material while the album was being prepared.

 

[newvillefan]

This does raise an interesting point though - I think it's been documented that Karen went back several times in 1979 to California and took some of the recordings she's done with her. Presumably she played them to various people when she was there. Given that this album was a new venture and clearly wasn't going to be a same old sound again (plus that it took nearly a year to finish), it does seem hard to imagine that no one at A&M ever heard or asked to hear any of the material while the album was being prepared.

It's on record that Karen 'previewed' her material with a number of people, including friends CJ and Debbie Cuticello, Frenda Leffler and her parents. What's not clear is whether anyone from the label ever asked for a sneak preview of what she was up to. I don't recall reading anywhere where that's been confirmed.

 

[byline]

Must have missed the earlier posts about Paul Simon's alleged comments. I have to say I don't believe that he said those things - it's completely out of kilter with everything else we know about how the sessions in New York went, plus Karen recorded two of Paul's songs for the album, so it's hard to imagine her a) still wanting to do them after he'd said such things and putting one of those songs in the final tracklist and b) him saying them when she had indeed recorded some of his own material, as he'd then be denigrating his own songs. Moreover, from a sheer professional courtesy point of view, I can't imagine one artist being so tactless about another artist's work to their face, especially when both artists use the same producer.

So, do you think he invented this? I confess I did find these comments surprising, but wonder if they'd been supressed from the public out of respect for Karen. Do you think Glenn would make this up? I find that surprising, especially in this litigious age. But if someone were to find that to be the case, I would be happy to be wrong ... and yes, I agree that if true, it's quite tactless. Glenn said as much in his assessment of the quote. I still wonder if it's plausible that he said this when the album was in its early stages, then heard more material at a later date which he liked better. Hard to say unless Paul Simon, himself, weighs in!