Anne Murray and Karen Carpenter...similarities...differences

[cam89]

So I am a huge fan of Anne Murray...have grown up watching her specials and hearing her on Canadian radio...

I know she was on Make Your Own Kind of Music...also her idol Dusty Springfield was on the show too....and Anne, Dusty and Karen all cut I just Fall In Love Again as well....

She also sang a snippet of There's a Kind of Hush on a tv special with Dusty Springfield....

So if Dusty was on MYOKOM, did she interact with RC and KC...I know Karen was a fan...

And we know RC was a fan getting her to guest on Something in Your Eyes single....

Anyways, has anyone ever heard what Karen thought of Anne, or Richard thought of Anne...I have never seen an article where Anne talks about Karen, other than something about them always putting the same stuff out and that's why radio wouldn't play them, or something like that...

I love Anne's DANNY'S SONG and NOBODY LOVES ME LIKE YOU DO....Karen would have been a natural at that. Anne did cover Let Me Be The One....

So were both women contralto's? Like Anne could sing deep too but deeper than Karen? I always said that Anne sounded like an older cousin of Karen's and that Rita Coolidge was an older sister of Karen's in terms of vocal quality....

Another song Karen should have recorded was YOU NEEDED ME, a song tailored to her voice. I know she turned down You Light Up My life by Debby Boone....which turned out to be a monstrous blockbuster song! And Anne said that You Needed Me was passed to so many major artists that no one wanted....

Anyways my thoughts,
Cam

 

[GDBY2LV]

I love Anne Murray too. Great vocalist. Her version of “Fire and Rain” gives me chills. She hits the lowest part of her vocal register on that song. My favorite song by her is “Another Pot of Tea”. The key changes and use of the harp are beautiful. I was lucky enough to see her in concert 5 or 6 times over the years. She even gave me one of her famous yellow roses that she always handed out at the end of her concert, the last time I saw her perform. I was touched by her voice and sincerity. Her autobiography is a fun read. Her story about Dusty Springfield is quite amusing. That’s all I’ll say about that. She mentions Carpenters in her book “All of Me” a couple of times too. Just mainly about same event, or same song recording, nothing personal.

 

[Another Son]

I also like Anne Murray's voice a lot, have collected her albums since my teenage years and have seen her in concert three times. Something that always impresses me is that she has a great ear for picking great songs. Some of my favourites include 'Son of a Rotten Gambler', 'One Day I Walk', 'Cotton Jenny', 'Everything's Been Changed', 'Buffalo In the Park', 'I Just Fall in Love Again', 'Broken-Hearted Me', 'I Say a Little Prayer', 'Please Don't Sell Nova Scotia', 'Highly-Prized Possession' 'Let Sunshine Have It's Day', 'Ease Your Pain', 'Danny's Song', 'He Thinks I Still Care', 'You Made My Life a Song', 'Beautiful', 'Slow Fall', 'Life your Hearts to the Sun'.... too many to mention.

My favourite albums include 'Danny's Song', 'Highly Prized Possession', 'New Kind of Feeling', 'Croonin'' and 1996's 'Anne Murray'.

One difference between Anne Murray and Karen Carpenter is that although Anne sings the quiet, velvety love songs and country songs, you get the feeling that she is very much rooted in rock. If you collect her albums or have seen her in concert, there are songs where she really rocks it up and uses a strong, gritty, gravelly rock voice. I like that voice as much as the more famous silky smooth voice.

Incidentally, Anne recorded a number of the same songs as Carpenters. My memory is probably going to fail me now but some of them include the obvious 'I Just Fall In Love Again', plus 'I'll Never Fall in Love Again', 'Let Me Be the One', Reason to Believe', 'Get Together' and maybe a couple of others.

Anne Murray had a concert filmed at Talk of the Town in London and televised around the time that Carpenters had theirs televised, (which was 1974).

By the way, if you are a fan of Anne Murray, there have been poor-quality, cheap CD versions of the 1968 album, 'What About Me' sold on budget labels ever since CDs came into existence but a few years ago, a version with good sound quality, as if it had been remastered from the original tapes, was released. (I'm not sure if this is the version being streamed). This version of the album really stands up.

 

[cam89]

Her daughter Dawn Langstroth has a beautiful voice as well...she did a gorgeous duet on Nobody Loves Me Like You Do and I Just Fall In Love Again on her ANNE MURRAY AND FRIENDS tv Special....Olivia, Jan, kd and Martina McBride have all been Karen fans with Olivia being a close friend, and Emmylou Harris being photographed with a thin Karen in that pale blue dress with spaghetti straps and red circle on it....maybe Billboard Music Awards but I could be wrong.....

 

[GDBY2LV]

I really like Anne’s Classic Christmas dvd too.
It has her family singing along, with guest stars Barenaked Ladies and French Canadian crooner Roch Voisine on it. I play it every year during December. It’s out of print, but copies are available at various sites.

 

[cam89]

Yes, I've watched many of her specials....she also did WHEN I FALL IN LOVE....she really has a very lovely alto voice! She is revered here in Canada....people call her the Canadian Karen Carpenter....

 

[CarpentersToYou]

She is revered here in Canada....people call her the Canadian Karen Carpenter....

I have never once heard that.

 

[AM Matt]

Besides Canadian Anne Murray, there was also Canadian singer Charity Brown & Canadian singer Susan Jacks (Poppy Family) who tried to be Karen!!

 

[JayJayVA]

The only Anne Murray song I have on my current car playlist is "Hard As I Try" (1969). It's a real mellow tune that fits her voice perfectly & Karen could've done it well also.

 

[Mark-T]

Anne's version of "You Won't See Me" is still one of my favorites.

 

[AM Matt]

The late John Lennon liked Anne's version than The Beatles 1965 song. John told her that at the Grammy Awards in March of 1975.

 

[John Adam]

Anne's version of "You Won't See Me" is still one of my favorites.

Nice uptempo tune! Kind of a departure from her typical singles.
Ann (and Karen) both needed more uptempo material in their catalogs.

 

[GDBY2LV]

That’s the tune that made me a fan as well. I bought the Love Song lp and was happy that I not only got YWSM, but her great version of Kenny Loggins“ Love Song” as well. She had success with his“ Danny’s Song” too. My favorite Anne Murray song “Another Pot of Tea” is on that album too. It was only available on her Anthology cd set for years, until the 2/1 sets finally were released. Her Croonin’ and Country Cronin’ cds are excellent. Fun to sing along to those great old classic songs. Wish she hadn’t retired so soon. Life in Nova Scotia must be fine. It’s the only Canadian Province I’ve visited. Beautiful, great fresh crab and lobsters!

 

[Rachel]

I, too, have been a fan of Anne's since my teenage years. Certainly she is one of my Top 5 female vocalists. Only saw her in concert once. Had to be in the 1980s. If I had to pick a favorite song of hers it would be "Somebody's Always Saying Goodbye."

Once read she wanted to retire when her voice was still in its prime. She didn't want to still be giving concerts and not be at her best. Can't much fault her for that. Thank you, Anne, for all the great music. Nice thread, Cam.