Anyone read this?

A Nod to Carpenters' Christmas Portrait:
Source:http://www.classichitsandoldies.com...ed-on-new-christmas-album-by-michael-w-smith/
New Christmas Album by Michael W. Smith
"The album features orchestral accompaniment by the London Symphony Orchestra, with arrangements byDavid Hamilton, who co-produced the record with Smith and Robert Deaton.
Smith and Deaton used The Carpenters‘ 1978 holiday album Christmas Portrait as the inspiration for The Spirit of Christmas. The new record features three thematic sections — the first celebrating the start of the Christmas season, the second focusing on the importance of family and faith in relation to the holiday and the third commemorating the birth of Jesus."
 
Found an interesting interview with harpist Gayle Levant:
"...The record world, which is where my heart has always been,was such a major part of who I am today.
Starting with the Carpenters, when they first started their career,having done everything with them.
I've got so many little side stories.."
Entire Interview here:
http://www.salviharpsinc.com/images/Levant_interview.pdf

It must have been such an honour to be included in all those Carpenter recording sessions....and Gayle played harp in all of them! That takes some beating. There is something magical about the harp, must be one of the truly classical instruments that still exists in modern times.
 
Here is an (excerpt from) interview with Hal Blaine, 2005 Modern Drummer:

(Hal) :"The other group was The Carpenters. I did most of their records too.

MD: How was Karen as a drummer?

Hal: I’ve always said there’s nothing wrong with female drummers. There are some fine female drummers out there, but to me Karen always looked like a little high school kid sitting behind drums. She rushed a bit, but that’s because she didn’t have that kind of training. It was just her and her brother. When I first met them they were two little chubby kids wearing Western clothing. Joe Osborn, the great bass player, brought them to me and said, “You’ve got to produce these kids, they’re so good.” I said, “Joe, when do we have time?” We were in the middle of a Neil Diamond date. Karen was very nice, but there was just no way. And right after that A&M signed them.

Here is the entire interview:
http://www.moderndrummer.com/site/2005/07/hal-blaine-2/#_
 
Yeah, Hal has also stated that he's the guy who accidentally discovered Karen's deep voice by asking her to sing lower during the taping of 'Close To You'. Richard commented on that once by saying, 'Don't believe everything you hear'. :)
 
Chris, I'm right there with you.
Hal Blaine-even in the above posting from Modern Drummer--does not
answer the question put to him, saying: "Karen rushed a bit."
What , exactly, is "..that kind of training..."?
Surely, Hal Blaine could have provided more insight into Karen, the drummer.
I read another interview where he is asked the difference between a session (studio) drummer
and a concert (live) drummer.
He came up with words to the effect that you can 'party' after the concert
and that studio drumming is 'just' the music.
That does not give me any insight as to why Karen was not kept in the studio, as drummer, also.
 
Hal hadn't always been so coy about Karen's drumming abilities. In a much earlier interview for the same magazine, he was more forthcoming:

"Karen was very knowledgeable about the drums and was a very good drummer, there's no doubt about that. Some of the things we did together were not easy."


And, commenting on his presence in the studio:

"The idea of getting me was to actually get her off the drums, and in order to do that, they needed a strong drummer."

http://www.scribd.com/doc/184203506/Modern-Drummer-043 (page 104)
 
Hal Blaine was asked a beautifully leading question ("How was Karen as a drummer?") and at that point he should have been effusive in his praise for Karen. After all, not only had she been deceased, but it was the Carpenters who gave him the gig, and he himself would have known it was a tremendous personal and professional sacrifice for Karen to have given up both her seat to him, and in doing so - her heart - for the benefit of the group. Yet all we got from him was his stereotype of how females should appear behind the drums ("little high school kid", "chubby kid", "Western clothing") and, as for her drumming, that "she rushed a bit", because "she didn't have that kind of training".

It's almost as though we were sitting in on a private conversation with management back in around '73 when they were deciding what to do with Karen's and the Carpenters' image and production. Which was not what was asked.

Ungracious, tactless - and dare I say - ungrateful. As a drummer, he could have said a dozen wonderful things about her.
 
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Yup, I never much care for Hal Blaine's choice of words. Not to mention, in another interview, his selective memory and/or lame (IMO) attempt at taking credit for Karen singing in her lower register. He claimed he encouraged her to sing lower on the "Close to You" album. Odd, then, that she was already singing in that range on "Offering/Ticket to Ride"?:rolleyes:
 
Here is Entertainment Weekly's review of the Coleman Biography:
Link: http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,301658,00.html

Reviewed by D.A. Ball on Apr 01, 1994

Karen and Richard Carpenter had more hits than any other male/female pop duo in history. And even though their records still sell, this hardly justifies Ray Coleman's devoted assertions in The Carpenters: The Untold Story, An Authorized Biography that their ''contribution to popular music will stand forever.'' Despite his having interviewed dozens of people, and having had the full cooperation of Richard, Coleman's ''untold story'' mostly plods, offering just a few interesting tidbits-such as Karen's petty wars with Richard's girlfriends, and Richard's insistence on changing the lyrics of ''Superstar'' from ''I can hardly wait to sleep with you again'' to ''wait to be with you again.'' But Coleman provides little insight into what made the duo tick or the sad fate of the girl with the beautiful voice. C
 
Yup, I never much care for Hal Blaine's choice of words. Not to mention, in another interview, his selective memory and/or lame (IMO) attempt at taking credit for Karen singing in her lower register. He claimed he encouraged her to sing lower on the "Close to You" album. Odd, then, that she was already singing in that range on "Offering/Ticket to Ride"?:rolleyes:

Hal Blaine is a legendary drummer, without question--and one of the kings of the session players...but he's fallen victim to what several Wrecking Crew folks have done in the wake of being valorized--they've started to overstate their actual contributions to the creative process.

That said, it would be really interesting to hear those early versions of "Close to You" just to get a better sense of how it evolved into the track we all know and love so well. My suspicion is that Hal Blaine's contribution to that evolution came not in the control booth, but on the drummer's stool.
 
I actually do think "D.A. Ball" had a point with the Coleman bio- obviously I do think the Carpenters' music stands the test of time, but frankly, the writing style DOES plod. It's a valuable resource, to be sure, and I'm glad he did it, but it really *doesn't* go in-depth of what made them "tick." And from "Little Girl Blue," we know why.
 
Hal Blaine is a legendary drummer, without question--and one of the kings of the session players...but he's fallen victim to what several Wrecking Crew folks have done in the wake of being valorized--they've started to overstate their actual contributions to the creative process.

That said, it would be really interesting to hear those early versions of "Close to You" just to get a better sense of how it evolved into the track we all know and love so well. My suspicion is that Hal Blaine's contribution to that evolution came not in the control booth, but on the drummer's stool.
Buddy Rich is even more legendary-and he had high praise for Karen as a drummer.

There's an anecdote that Karen went to see Buddy at one of his shows,and met him backstage.He is said to have told her that she was his favorite drummer.

By the way,Welcome to the forum.
 
Addendum:
In a Modern Drummer Article, Cubby O'Brien is quoted thus:
"I remember one time when Karen and I went to see Buddy's band. I knew Buddy fairly well,
so before the show I took her backstage to meet him. I said, "Buddy, this is Karen Carpenter.
He said "Karen Carpenter, do you know that you are one of my favorite drummers".
As tough as he could be on drummers, he always respected someone who could play the
instrument well."
Source: Woman Drummers, A History (Smith,2014, page 121).
 
Thanks, Mr. J. It's a great place and I'm honored to be here with so many knowledgeable, dedicated people (who also have excellent taste!!)
:whistle:

One of the things I really love about "Offering (Ticket to Ride)" is that it's Karen doing the drumming. She's not exactly messing things up, now, is she? While she's clearly more of a jazz player (and what's wrong with that?), she had little or no difficulty playing whatever was called for on those tracks, including some pretty straight-ahead rock drumming on "Clancy" (and then makes a very deft shift when the song goes into its jazzier coda).

Do we know whether she played drums on the earlier versions of "Close to You"? Was that part of the evolution of the track, or was that decision made before they went in to cut the record?

GaryAlan, thanks for the quote and referencing that book--I'm definitely interested in getting a copy. The entertainment industry (music and film in particular) has made it awfully difficult for women to assume roles with power and responsibility...even as a big star, Karen was clearly victimized by that tendency.
 
When men are successful and powerful it's admired. When women are, well we know what they're called.
 
Here are interesting tidbits from the Billboard Magazine's 1973 Carpenters' Tribute:

"The master tape is sometimes completely taken apart and remixed all over again after the LP has already been finished once."

"Prototype Carpenters album, on average, takes three months to complete and costs $50,000 to make."
 
An interesting quote from Richard Carpenter:
"Bacharach's demo for "Close To You" was straight eighths..Yeah! I changed the beat entirely
around to accomadate Karen's knack for rhythmic punctuation. You can hear it in her drum fills
and in her vocal delivery."
(page 221, Turn Up The Radio, by Kubernik,2014, Santa Monica Press)

Why, then, Hal Blaine in the studio on this song?
Am I missing something?
 
I think I read somewhere that Karen taught Hal the drum parts she made up for the song. I STILL think she should've played on their records...
 
I often wonder if Rich and Karen ever sat down and said, "maybe it's time for a solo album…" Here's what we're looking to accomplish…

Karen: If I'm new and accomplished, WE'RE new again.
Richard: Then we'll go out on tour again with a fresh new audience.
Karen: and Mom will approve, because RC will approve
Richard: Right, win.. win.

Instead, we're left to believe that Karen recorded all of this amazing stuff and Richard was stuck in rehab. There HAS to be more to the story. I can't imagine Richard not wanting to know what Karen was doing all of those months in NYC.
 
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