⭐ Official Review [Album] "KAREN CARPENTER" (SP-4804/CD-0588)
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GaryAlan
Well-Known Member
Probably not 'new' to many here,
but has anyone made
a comparison of Evie Sand's "Love Making Love To You" (it is on youtube)
to Karen Carpenter's rendition (also on youtube)?
My own (biased) comparison:
Karen Carpenter's interpretation is incredible and the song sparkles.
And, remember, Evie Sands is one of the song's composer/performer.
According to Billboard (page 21), August,16, 1975 Evie Sands' received heavy promotion for her song (Capitol Records).
but has anyone made
a comparison of Evie Sand's "Love Making Love To You" (it is on youtube)
to Karen Carpenter's rendition (also on youtube)?
My own (biased) comparison:
Karen Carpenter's interpretation is incredible and the song sparkles.
And, remember, Evie Sands is one of the song's composer/performer.
According to Billboard (page 21), August,16, 1975 Evie Sands' received heavy promotion for her song (Capitol Records).
GaryAlan
Well-Known Member
July 12,1979 Sarasota Herald Tribune:
" (Phil) Ramone is doing some preliminary studio recording with Karen Carpenter,
whose old image Ramone variously describes as 'Miss Virgin America' and 'Miss Clean Goody Two Shoes'.
"I'm trying to take the syrup out," says Ramone.
"I tell her, look, you're twenty-eight, one day your brother's going to retire and
your Mother won't be standing right behind you."
"You don't necessarily have to make a sexual statement,but you do have to make some statement of reality."
Source:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...L0qAAAAIBAJ&sjid=oGcEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5251,5218164
" (Phil) Ramone is doing some preliminary studio recording with Karen Carpenter,
whose old image Ramone variously describes as 'Miss Virgin America' and 'Miss Clean Goody Two Shoes'.
"I'm trying to take the syrup out," says Ramone.
"I tell her, look, you're twenty-eight, one day your brother's going to retire and
your Mother won't be standing right behind you."
"You don't necessarily have to make a sexual statement,but you do have to make some statement of reality."
Source:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...L0qAAAAIBAJ&sjid=oGcEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5251,5218164
newvillefan
I Know My First Name Is Stephen
I find this statement from Phil bizarre. Richard, retire? Agnes, not there meddling in the background? What was Phil thinking?
GaryAlan
Well-Known Member
And, this, too:
Coleman, page 271: "..To everybody's credit, the record was stopped."
Coleman,page 272: ".. She went home to her apartment to think through her formal response,
then she returned to A&M with a surprise, She said she wanted to continue with the idea of a solo album."
And,
"...with no new Carpenters' product, yet, they had no leverage with A&M to reclaim it (debt for production of solo album).
Their sales had slid, and with no new album imminent, their was nothing against which A&M could offset the solo record's
expenditure." (page 273-4).
Pardon me:
Vocals and audio recording for the upcoming Music, Music, Music was done in studio D (March 2 and May 13, 1980 ), and
work was begun (May 1980, FCN#67) on the forthcoming Made In America--where did the money for all of those expenditures appear from?
Again, this makes no sense to me!
Coleman, page 271: "..To everybody's credit, the record was stopped."
Coleman,page 272: ".. She went home to her apartment to think through her formal response,
then she returned to A&M with a surprise, She said she wanted to continue with the idea of a solo album."
And,
"...with no new Carpenters' product, yet, they had no leverage with A&M to reclaim it (debt for production of solo album).
Their sales had slid, and with no new album imminent, their was nothing against which A&M could offset the solo record's
expenditure." (page 273-4).
Pardon me:
Vocals and audio recording for the upcoming Music, Music, Music was done in studio D (March 2 and May 13, 1980 ), and
work was begun (May 1980, FCN#67) on the forthcoming Made In America--where did the money for all of those expenditures appear from?
Again, this makes no sense to me!
GaryAlan
Well-Known Member
Oh, well, guess I found my answer (page 96) in the Coleman Biography, as to
Why Derek Green was asked to fly from UK to NY to listen to Karen's initial Playbacks:
"Derek Green--shrewd, feisty, enthusiastic for the rock lifestyle."
"..the arrival of the Carpenters' signaled death." (to A&M's label integrity)
"..they were contrary to his true taste in music."
"..cynical about the Carpenters' in private."
And, yet:
"My God, Karen's Voice!" ( He says "Now''--1994)
"..use their (Carpenters) strengths (sic. Karen's voice) to aid his company's (A&M) strategy.
(263) "..it would be good news for any of us who were making money out of it (solo album)."
(271) "Trusting Green's ears...Moss asked him to fly in to NY to hear the initial playback.."
Terry Ellis--page 176---" Heb Alpert was the only person there (A&M) of whom Karen and Richard spoke with any fondness."
Why Derek Green was asked to fly from UK to NY to listen to Karen's initial Playbacks:
"Derek Green--shrewd, feisty, enthusiastic for the rock lifestyle."
"..the arrival of the Carpenters' signaled death." (to A&M's label integrity)
"..they were contrary to his true taste in music."
"..cynical about the Carpenters' in private."
And, yet:
"My God, Karen's Voice!" ( He says "Now''--1994)
"..use their (Carpenters) strengths (sic. Karen's voice) to aid his company's (A&M) strategy.
(263) "..it would be good news for any of us who were making money out of it (solo album)."
(271) "Trusting Green's ears...Moss asked him to fly in to NY to hear the initial playback.."
Terry Ellis--page 176---" Heb Alpert was the only person there (A&M) of whom Karen and Richard spoke with any fondness."
Okay I'm going to throw my penny's worth in, I totally disagree about the solo albums, Richard's is good, Karen's is dreadful. I can't even listen to it anymore. The only songs that sound any good are the one's Richard re did on later Carpenters albums. Phil Ramone's versions are as John Bettis states, totally wrong in every way. How can you not love 'I'm still not over you' which should have been the Time single.
Rick-An Ordinary Fool
Well-Known Member
I find this statement from Phil bizarre. Richard, retire? Agnes, not there meddling in the background? What was Phil thinking?
I didn't find that weird at all....I think it all goes in hand with what Phil was trying to accomplish with her going solo, it was sorta a liberation in getting Karen out on her own and creating her own identity that was her's and her's alone. I would think one of the things he asked Karen was, what are you looking to do with her solo album? what do you want to make? This wasn't Phil saying here are the songs ok now Karen just sing them, this was a joint effort. I think he was just trying to say that she was what....29? at that point and it was time for her to make decisions on her own without the help from her family. I would bet a lot of this helped her self esteem creating a project the way she wanted all on her own, something she was proud to have accomplished yet, it's just sad that every thing she worked hard to do could be all undone at final playback in LA.
GaryAlan
Well-Known Member
Notwithstanding the myriad emotions stirred up by Karen's solo effort,
it seems to me that the use of the term "devolve" when applied to the circumstance is
an unhappy choice of words:
take a look at one dictionary:
"When things devolve, they deteriorate, degenerate, fall apart, go to the dogs, and generally end up worse."
It appears to me--and, I may be wrong---that the very happy circumstance that Karen Carpenter's efforts did not
go to the 'dustbin of history', rather justifies its' continued fervent interest among fans.
True enough, almost any discussion of Carpenters' total musical output eventually strays into this territory--
of Karen Carpenters' solo album.
I fail to understand why that foray is inherently negative--or, bad.
No Carpenters' album is an island unto itself. Each subsequent recording builds upon that which preceded it.
The album was recorded after Passage and Portrait, and before Made In America:
Naturally, discussion of those albums would provoke comparisons to Karen's recorded output of 1979-1980.
Both members of the duo recorded their respective solo albums: naturally, discussion of those albums overlap.
Karen recorded as a solo artist for Magic Lamp, then a solo LP for A&M: naturally, discussions would overlap.
The circumstances surrounding the recording, production, marketing, cancellation, ad infinitum...
of the solo album are at times ambiguous and contradictory--thus, raising more questions than it answers.
No other product in the totality of the Carpenters' career is surrounded by more controversy.
Rather than decry its continual source of questions and discussion, one would do well to revel in its longevity.
it seems to me that the use of the term "devolve" when applied to the circumstance is
an unhappy choice of words:
take a look at one dictionary:
"When things devolve, they deteriorate, degenerate, fall apart, go to the dogs, and generally end up worse."
It appears to me--and, I may be wrong---that the very happy circumstance that Karen Carpenter's efforts did not
go to the 'dustbin of history', rather justifies its' continued fervent interest among fans.
True enough, almost any discussion of Carpenters' total musical output eventually strays into this territory--
of Karen Carpenters' solo album.
I fail to understand why that foray is inherently negative--or, bad.
No Carpenters' album is an island unto itself. Each subsequent recording builds upon that which preceded it.
The album was recorded after Passage and Portrait, and before Made In America:
Naturally, discussion of those albums would provoke comparisons to Karen's recorded output of 1979-1980.
Both members of the duo recorded their respective solo albums: naturally, discussion of those albums overlap.
Karen recorded as a solo artist for Magic Lamp, then a solo LP for A&M: naturally, discussions would overlap.
The circumstances surrounding the recording, production, marketing, cancellation, ad infinitum...
of the solo album are at times ambiguous and contradictory--thus, raising more questions than it answers.
No other product in the totality of the Carpenters' career is surrounded by more controversy.
Rather than decry its continual source of questions and discussion, one would do well to revel in its longevity.
GaryAlan
Well-Known Member
No opinion, just some quotes/statistics:
1977: A&M Vice President Bob Faed- "costs $300,000. to create a chart-topping album,before the first album is sold"
(December 3,1977 Passage at#49 after 7 weeks.)
1979-79: "A&M spent $580,500. in a four week advertising venture in Britain for Carpenters' The Singles 1974-1978"--it went top 5." (Billboard)
1979-1980: Karen Carpenter spent the customary $100,000 plus $400,000 of her own money, for the solo project. (Coleman)
1980-1981: Made In America is most expensive album for Carpenters to produce.(Fan Club Newsletters)
(August 14,1981 #52 at 8 weeks.)
1977: A&M Vice President Bob Faed- "costs $300,000. to create a chart-topping album,before the first album is sold"
(December 3,1977 Passage at#49 after 7 weeks.)
1979-79: "A&M spent $580,500. in a four week advertising venture in Britain for Carpenters' The Singles 1974-1978"--it went top 5." (Billboard)
1979-1980: Karen Carpenter spent the customary $100,000 plus $400,000 of her own money, for the solo project. (Coleman)
1980-1981: Made In America is most expensive album for Carpenters to produce.(Fan Club Newsletters)
(August 14,1981 #52 at 8 weeks.)
Dave
Well-Known Member
What was good about this album was how straight-forward it was in production values...
Karen, although heavily-heavy-handed through the guidance of Phil Ramone (and sometimes Richard) still wasn't needlessly buried in any sorts of excess recording methods, rhythms or technology...
It was simply laid-out, and the material very well-chosen... The only fault was just Karen not being able to see the entire project through...
-- Dave
Karen, although heavily-heavy-handed through the guidance of Phil Ramone (and sometimes Richard) still wasn't needlessly buried in any sorts of excess recording methods, rhythms or technology...
It was simply laid-out, and the material very well-chosen... The only fault was just Karen not being able to see the entire project through...
-- Dave
GaryAlan
Well-Known Member
Here is a review from The Daily Gazette, October 20, 1996 author JD Considine) :
Record Releases--
Karen Carpenter
"Had Karen Carpenter simply dropped out of the record business all those years ago, the unexpected release
of her long-shelved 1980 solo album, "Karen Carpenter" would have been a curiosity, at best--an intriguing footnote
to the Carpenters' revival that has been gaining ground for the past five years. But because Carpenter died in 1983,of
complications brought on by anorexia, it's hard not to find a certain poignancy in "Karen Carpenter".
To begin with, it's hard at this distance to understand why the label bosses declined to release the album the first time
around. True, the material does tend toward the extremes, bouncing between low-key introspection and funk-fed ebullience
faster than the average Carpenters' fan might expect. But, that's hardly a fatal flaw; if anything, it will likely leave
modern listeners impressed at her musical breadth.
After all, who would have imagined she'd have been capable of something as daring as "If I Had You", which marries jazzily
sophisticated vocal harmonies with high-gloss funk groove as slick as anything Michael Jackson was working with.
Or that she could toss off a performance as subtle and soulful as "Last One Singin' the Blues". Even though there are some
clunkers--she's just a tad too sweet to cut a convincing version of "Still Crazy After All These Years"--"Karen Carpenter"
is a better album than even devoted fans could have imagined."
Source:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...8GBGAAAAIBAJ&sjid=yegMAAAAIBAJ&pg=972,4967216
Record Releases--
Karen Carpenter
"Had Karen Carpenter simply dropped out of the record business all those years ago, the unexpected release
of her long-shelved 1980 solo album, "Karen Carpenter" would have been a curiosity, at best--an intriguing footnote
to the Carpenters' revival that has been gaining ground for the past five years. But because Carpenter died in 1983,of
complications brought on by anorexia, it's hard not to find a certain poignancy in "Karen Carpenter".
To begin with, it's hard at this distance to understand why the label bosses declined to release the album the first time
around. True, the material does tend toward the extremes, bouncing between low-key introspection and funk-fed ebullience
faster than the average Carpenters' fan might expect. But, that's hardly a fatal flaw; if anything, it will likely leave
modern listeners impressed at her musical breadth.
After all, who would have imagined she'd have been capable of something as daring as "If I Had You", which marries jazzily
sophisticated vocal harmonies with high-gloss funk groove as slick as anything Michael Jackson was working with.
Or that she could toss off a performance as subtle and soulful as "Last One Singin' the Blues". Even though there are some
clunkers--she's just a tad too sweet to cut a convincing version of "Still Crazy After All These Years"--"Karen Carpenter"
is a better album than even devoted fans could have imagined."
Source:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...8GBGAAAAIBAJ&sjid=yegMAAAAIBAJ&pg=972,4967216
newvillefan
I Know My First Name Is Stephen
Always great to see this song singled out for praise - to me it's the flagship of the whole album.
GaryAlan
Well-Known Member
In regards the above review, and its singling out of the song "If I Had You":
While I do enjoy Richard Carpenter's later mix (well,later than 1979, but earlier than 1996) of this song
(for the 1989 Lovelines album), it seems to me that had the song not have been tackled by Karen first-- for her solo project--with
arrangement by Bob James, then the blueprint for the entire song would never have existed.
For someone who felt there was "no hit" on the album, it is already apparent that the above mentioned song, along with
"Make Believe It's Your First Time", must have hit a chord somewhere in Richard's musical mind.
And, so many others, too--"Something's Missing" ---why no finishing touches on that one?
How could "Last One Singing the Blues" not have affected someone during playbacks?
The more I brood about it, the angrier I feel---Thus, I can not begin to know how Karen Carpenter must have felt.
Devastation, I suppose.
Same for Phil Ramone.
Long story short:
(I know, I'm sounding like a broken record)
What is the truth behind the cancellation?
While I do enjoy Richard Carpenter's later mix (well,later than 1979, but earlier than 1996) of this song
(for the 1989 Lovelines album), it seems to me that had the song not have been tackled by Karen first-- for her solo project--with
arrangement by Bob James, then the blueprint for the entire song would never have existed.
For someone who felt there was "no hit" on the album, it is already apparent that the above mentioned song, along with
"Make Believe It's Your First Time", must have hit a chord somewhere in Richard's musical mind.
And, so many others, too--"Something's Missing" ---why no finishing touches on that one?
How could "Last One Singing the Blues" not have affected someone during playbacks?
The more I brood about it, the angrier I feel---Thus, I can not begin to know how Karen Carpenter must have felt.
Devastation, I suppose.
Same for Phil Ramone.
Long story short:
(I know, I'm sounding like a broken record)
What is the truth behind the cancellation?
Rick-An Ordinary Fool
Well-Known Member
Yes, a quote screaming to be placed into a signature.
byline
Well-Known Member
The answer for "Something's Missing" is easy; it was not included on the official album (and how I wish it had been). I guess I'm the odd one out on "Last One Singing the Blues." It just doesn't affect me the same way that so many of Karen's other songs do. Dunno why. I think it gets back to that personal taste thing. Karen's best solo work, just for my tastes, is "If I Had You," "If We Try" and "Something's Missing." As for the truth behind the cancellation, I don't think we'll ever know the entire truth because so many of the main players are no longer with us. The truth basically gets down to whose words you believe ... and that's what we are left with.
GaryAlan
Well-Known Member
Unless I am reading (incorrectly) between the lines, as written, "Last One Singing the Blues" is basically a work lead?
"The bonus track is unmixed, and was one of several that might have been finished." (Phil Ramone, Liner Notes.)
Also, on the album, Rod Temperton is credited with 'Vocal Acrobatics'--on all tracks.
So, while Bob James arranged "If I Had You" instrument-wise,
Rod Temperton created the vocal acrobatics to accompany the instrumentation.
(I do not know 'how' this entire process works, so forgive my ignorance).
In the recording process for this album, does anyone know if Phil Ramone 'built it up in stages',
or, did the musicians and Karen do the songs 'all at once'? Or, some combination--given the overdubs.
I'd be interested to know the date 'Last One' was recorded, as compared to the timing of 'Rainbow Connection' (also,a work-lead).
Some random thoughts as I listen, again, to the album.
"The bonus track is unmixed, and was one of several that might have been finished." (Phil Ramone, Liner Notes.)
Also, on the album, Rod Temperton is credited with 'Vocal Acrobatics'--on all tracks.
So, while Bob James arranged "If I Had You" instrument-wise,
Rod Temperton created the vocal acrobatics to accompany the instrumentation.
(I do not know 'how' this entire process works, so forgive my ignorance).
In the recording process for this album, does anyone know if Phil Ramone 'built it up in stages',
or, did the musicians and Karen do the songs 'all at once'? Or, some combination--given the overdubs.
I'd be interested to know the date 'Last One' was recorded, as compared to the timing of 'Rainbow Connection' (also,a work-lead).
Some random thoughts as I listen, again, to the album.
Vinylalbumcovers
Ah am so steel een luv weeth yoo
Yep. That's it. Rod Temperton did all the vocal arrangements. It's his style on everything so I can easily tell it's him on everything.
Yep. The rhythm section would have recorded first. After that, it can go many ways. Karen records a lead, the strings are recorded, the brass is recorded, and solos can be overdubbed.
For "Last One...", Karen says at the beginning of the track, "just a zinch slower" so she's there while the band is playing and she's singing along with a "work lead. This was likely a demo with polish intended to be added later (a master lead likely being among the polished items).
Ed
Vinylalbumcovers
Ah am so steel een luv weeth yoo
I just listened to this again. I come away only feeling how desperately this tune needs Karen. He even does this in something resembling Karen's key. He imparts almost no emotion his vocals because what lead vocal chops he had were gone by this time. Musically, he's done this approach ad-nauseum so no need to hear it again, really. The vocal arrangement, as always, redeems this and makes it listenable. Karen would shred this but, again, it's nothing I'd need to hear. They'd already done this sort of thing better in other tunes. Clearly, Richard had no clue how to move on musically. He went dance one or twice ("Say Yeah!" the real dance track) or mined the same tired soundscapes. Karen, for her part (with Phil, Rod, and Bob), mined totally different territory. They went urbane without being plastic. R&B, Jazz, Rock, Disco, and sophisticated Pop were the areas mined for her album. Even the vocal arrangement style was different. Gone were the choral allusions and in came the jazz chords. Karen and company kinda went everywhere and Richard stayed in one place. Richard's record was easier to market from a musical perspective but it isn't any fun. The two fun cuts on "Time" sound utterly forced (Scott Grimes' yelp at the beginning of "That's What I Believe" is just ridiculous). Karen's is much harder because it goes everywhere but her experimentation is much more joyous.
Ed
Last edited:
newvillefan
I Know My First Name Is Stephen
That's true. It's one song they tried that they abandoned somewhere along the way, but the basic work lead exists along with a bare rhythm track, so it went on the album as a bonus track. I often wonder if Richard prevented Phil from adding another song like 'Something's Missing' as a bonus track, because at one point he was talking about going back in and finishing it.
That's also true. Phil put this team together knowing they all had something great they could bring to the table. Rod actually wrote tracks specifically for Karen's solo LP and was upset when she initially didn't select his demos. At Phil's urging she eventually chose 'If We Try' (probably the bluesiest vocal on the record) and 'Lovelines' (after Karen urged Phil to find her an uptempo number she could open the album with.
I love 'Last One Singin' as well. A great way to finish off the album, although there is something quite sad about it as well in hindsight, given what happened to the project.
Gary, thanks for the Daily Gazette review. It's nice to see that the album did attract some positive reviews on its release that pick up on what I feel are some of the album's strengths. It rather reminded me of Rolling Stone's quite positive review of Lovelines from 1990 that singled out the four solo tracks as highlights and gives quite an insightful perspective on their potential. Don't know if it's been posted here before, so here it is:
Where have you gone, Spiro Agnew? Our nation clamors for 1972: Donny Osmond lands a Number Three single, Chris Evert and Jimmy Connors cause the greatest stir at the U.S. Open, and The Karen Carpenter Story hits near the top of the Nielsen ratings. Though the TV movie ended with the singer's death in 1983, Lovelines offers the fantasy sequel: Karen lives, goes out on her own and becomes reasonably ... hip.
Karen did in fact make one solo album in 1980, with many of the musicians who had just finished working on Michael Jackson's Off the Wall; it was produced by the Quincy Jones of the East Coast, Phil Ramone. Four of those unreleased cuts surface on Lovelines, and they are liberating. Ramone recorded her in leaner, decidedly unsaccharine settings and, in effect, got rid of her music's otherwise characteristic bad aftertaste. As Karen's cozy contralto pulses through the come-hither "Lovelines," the hearth-warm "If We Try" (both written by Rod Temperton, whose credits also include "Rock With You" and "Thriller") and the saltier "If I Had You," her vocals come damn close to soulful. Listening to them, it becomes apparent why singers like Chrissie Hynde, Madonna and Gloria Estefan have "come out of the closet" and admitted they were Karen fans.
Richard Carpenter has apparently deemed the rest of the solo album inappropriate for release (among the still-shelved tracks are a Cars-like rocker, "I'm Still in Love With You," and a mad disco romp, "My Body Keeps Changing My Mind"), but at least he had the sense to tone down his usual Disneyesque flourishes and milky choirs for the rest of Lovelines, which consists of unreleased Carpenters tracks recorded between 1977 and 1980. The best of these are "Where Do I Go From Here?" and "You're the One," which both reaffirm that Karen was the finest ballad singer of the 1970s: No one could fill up, and out, a melody or cut to the blood and guts of the ickiest love song as she could. In fact, voices like Karen Carpenter's never really go out of style; Lovelines reveals just a few of the avenues that would have been open to her. But sadly, the Seventies never really ended for Karen Carpenter; she died before she could shed the goody-two-shoes image that shrouded her immense talent. As such, Lovelines becomes her essential epitaph. (RS 571)
ROB HOERBURGER
http://archive.today/3pRDn#selection-677.0-672.7
Gary, thanks for the Daily Gazette review. It's nice to see that the album did attract some positive reviews on its release that pick up on what I feel are some of the album's strengths. It rather reminded me of Rolling Stone's quite positive review of Lovelines from 1990 that singled out the four solo tracks as highlights and gives quite an insightful perspective on their potential. Don't know if it's been posted here before, so here it is:
Where have you gone, Spiro Agnew? Our nation clamors for 1972: Donny Osmond lands a Number Three single, Chris Evert and Jimmy Connors cause the greatest stir at the U.S. Open, and The Karen Carpenter Story hits near the top of the Nielsen ratings. Though the TV movie ended with the singer's death in 1983, Lovelines offers the fantasy sequel: Karen lives, goes out on her own and becomes reasonably ... hip.
Karen did in fact make one solo album in 1980, with many of the musicians who had just finished working on Michael Jackson's Off the Wall; it was produced by the Quincy Jones of the East Coast, Phil Ramone. Four of those unreleased cuts surface on Lovelines, and they are liberating. Ramone recorded her in leaner, decidedly unsaccharine settings and, in effect, got rid of her music's otherwise characteristic bad aftertaste. As Karen's cozy contralto pulses through the come-hither "Lovelines," the hearth-warm "If We Try" (both written by Rod Temperton, whose credits also include "Rock With You" and "Thriller") and the saltier "If I Had You," her vocals come damn close to soulful. Listening to them, it becomes apparent why singers like Chrissie Hynde, Madonna and Gloria Estefan have "come out of the closet" and admitted they were Karen fans.
Richard Carpenter has apparently deemed the rest of the solo album inappropriate for release (among the still-shelved tracks are a Cars-like rocker, "I'm Still in Love With You," and a mad disco romp, "My Body Keeps Changing My Mind"), but at least he had the sense to tone down his usual Disneyesque flourishes and milky choirs for the rest of Lovelines, which consists of unreleased Carpenters tracks recorded between 1977 and 1980. The best of these are "Where Do I Go From Here?" and "You're the One," which both reaffirm that Karen was the finest ballad singer of the 1970s: No one could fill up, and out, a melody or cut to the blood and guts of the ickiest love song as she could. In fact, voices like Karen Carpenter's never really go out of style; Lovelines reveals just a few of the avenues that would have been open to her. But sadly, the Seventies never really ended for Karen Carpenter; she died before she could shed the goody-two-shoes image that shrouded her immense talent. As such, Lovelines becomes her essential epitaph. (RS 571)
ROB HOERBURGER
http://archive.today/3pRDn#selection-677.0-672.7
GaryAlan
Well-Known Member
Thanks, all, for the answers to questions which I have posted.
Appreciate everyone's input!
Quite frankly, I am rather fascinated with the 1979-1981 period in Carpenters' career,
as the available information is scanty, at best.
The Carpenters' Fan Club Newsletters slow
down to a trickle, after 1977--compared to the earlier 1971-1976 period.
Of course, it is now documented that Richard Carpenter was doing the sleeping pills---
but,and correct me, and/or change my thinking on this----that, in itself does not account for
Richard Carpenters' near desertion of their career:
(Karen: "...he was in the worst state during Horizon sessions."----this is late 1974 to early 1975).
(Richard: Liner Notes I posted for Christmas Portrait, he blames lack of input on Hush and Passage for same.)
So, my reckoning: 1975-1980 is in need of historiographic , detailed, analysis---The late 1970 to mid-1975 period is already
fairly well represented.
(N.B.: About Historiography:
The sometimes conflicting objectives pursued by those writing on it over time,
and the way in which such factors shape our understanding of the actual event.
A historiographic essay thus asks you to explore several sometimes contradictory sources on one event.)
Appreciate everyone's input!
Quite frankly, I am rather fascinated with the 1979-1981 period in Carpenters' career,
as the available information is scanty, at best.
The Carpenters' Fan Club Newsletters slow
down to a trickle, after 1977--compared to the earlier 1971-1976 period.
Of course, it is now documented that Richard Carpenter was doing the sleeping pills---
but,and correct me, and/or change my thinking on this----that, in itself does not account for
Richard Carpenters' near desertion of their career:
(Karen: "...he was in the worst state during Horizon sessions."----this is late 1974 to early 1975).
(Richard: Liner Notes I posted for Christmas Portrait, he blames lack of input on Hush and Passage for same.)
So, my reckoning: 1975-1980 is in need of historiographic , detailed, analysis---The late 1970 to mid-1975 period is already
fairly well represented.
(N.B.: About Historiography:
The sometimes conflicting objectives pursued by those writing on it over time,
and the way in which such factors shape our understanding of the actual event.
A historiographic essay thus asks you to explore several sometimes contradictory sources on one event.)
Rick-An Ordinary Fool
Well-Known Member
I was just listening to the Larry King radio show from 1987 and a caller asked Richard if he would ever release Karen's solo album. Richard said no. He said it was almost completed but Karen was just not happy and decided to shelve it, he said, I have heard it and of course it is very good but A&M never wished to release it and I will not let it out.
Interesting discussion 9 years before it finally came out....I still wonder what made them release it 9 years later, what changed in 96 it couldn't have been that A&M thought it was going to be a money maker, the material was dated back to 1980 surely they knew that, A&M was not in the business to appease the fan base, so something changed and it couldn't have been about the money. So if Richard was respecting Karen's wishes to not release it all these years, then A&M over rode that respect and convinced Richard to release it? or Richard was in charge and told A&M let's release it. I guess it doesn't matter since we have it but it still makes you wonder what changed, especially after hearing this radio program.
Interesting discussion 9 years before it finally came out....I still wonder what made them release it 9 years later, what changed in 96 it couldn't have been that A&M thought it was going to be a money maker, the material was dated back to 1980 surely they knew that, A&M was not in the business to appease the fan base, so something changed and it couldn't have been about the money. So if Richard was respecting Karen's wishes to not release it all these years, then A&M over rode that respect and convinced Richard to release it? or Richard was in charge and told A&M let's release it. I guess it doesn't matter since we have it but it still makes you wonder what changed, especially after hearing this radio program.
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