Anyone read this?

Modern Drummer, December 1983
Cubby O'Brien:
"When I joined the Carpenters, I had three days to learn the show with no music—only a tape. I walked around A&M Records with the tape to my ear, rehearsing and learning all the drum fills because Richard wanted to reproduce everything that either Karen or Hal Blaine had done,” he laughs, imitating a Hal Blaine fill in the air. “I was going crazy trying to learn all these fills and what song they went in and where. At that time Karen was playing too, and we were playing exactly the same fills on the same drums. We did that for a year or two with Karen still playing. She gradually got away from the drums, which was like pulling teeth. She loved to play, and at first, she hated being out front. When she came out front, her drumset disappeared and I more or less played everything. We did do one big Gershwin medley together where she had all the Hal Blaine tom-toms, timpani and bells, and we did a big drum number, trading fours and eights and such. I enjoyed playing their music and never got tired of it. As time went by and I played the show more and more, I changed a lot, but nobody even noticed it. I still did the fills that were important. If there was an obvious thing, like in ‘Close to You,’ where the drum fill was an obvious drum fill, it would stay that way because that was part of the record, and you don’t want to mess with that. "

Source:
Cubby O'Brien - Modern Drummer Magazine
 
I didn't know where to post this but could some of our US friends tell me if this video is available? I posted it a couple of years ago but it was blocked soon after yet someone has commented on it today, which leads me to believe it's available in at least some territories again :hmmm:

 
I didn't know where to post this but could some of our US friends tell me if this video is available? I posted it a couple of years ago but it was blocked soon after yet someone has commented on it today, which leads me to believe it's available in at least some territories again :hmmm:


It’s available in Canada. However it’s blocked through the forum; you have to go to YouTube directly.
 
I love Gayle Levant.....
My harp will go on: meet Gayle Levant, Hollywood's favourite string-plucker
Excerpt:
"I try to share my heart with everybody, whether they need me as a friend or they just they want me musically,” she says.
“I’m just living in gratitude. I’d love for future generations, when they look back on their lives, to have their hearts so full.”

Source:
My harp will go on: meet Gayle Levant, Hollywood's favourite string-plucker
 
Mourning the loss of Ric Ocasek - loved the Cars; his voice and delivery were so unique. In reading the appreciation in Rolling Stone today I was happy to learn he was a Carpenters fan:

Ric Ocasek was one of the all-time great American songwriters: the spirit of Buddy Holly in the body and mind of Mr. Spock, a new wave eccentric who always wanted to brush your rock & roll hair. That’s why the world is in mourning at the news of his death yesterday, at the age of 75. With the Cars, the Boston legend scored hit after hit, yet he also wrote vulnerable ballads about teen angst with his own distinctive blend of compassion and humor, plus his authentic geek-gulp of a voice. Who else could sing the line “alienation is the craze” and still sound cool? Nobody. “My taste was to always go for that mix, even back in the Sixties,” Ocasek once said. “I obviously was a huge fan of Dylan, but my other favorite band was the Velvet Underground. I always went for the left side of the music brain, too. I loved the Velvet Underground and the Carpenters.”

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Another Rolling Stone story with a similar reference:

“Ever a fan of pop—he had long admired the Carpenters, for instance, and had had a bit of a crush on Karen Carpenter—Ocasek eventually produced three Weezer albums, starting with their 1994 debut, and worked on albums by No Doubt and Nada Surf.”

The Mystery of Ric Ocasek: ‘He Tried for Happiness, But Underneath Was a Lot of Pain’
 
I didn't know where to post this but could some of our US friends tell me if this video is available? I posted it a couple of years ago but it was blocked soon after yet someone has commented on it today, which leads me to believe it's available in at least some territories again :hmmm:



Also able to watch this in Hawaii, but it directs you to watch on YouTube directly...........as in Canada. :)
 
I didn't know where to post this but could some of our US friends tell me if this video is available? I posted it a couple of years ago but it was blocked soon after yet someone has commented on it today, which leads me to believe it's available in at least some territories again :hmmm:



I can view it here in the UK (although again only directly on YouTube). Haven't seen this in years - will have to give it another watch as I recall it hinting at various parts of their story on which more information has emerged since it was made back in 1996.
 
I can view it here in the UK (although again only directly on YouTube). Haven't seen this in years - will have to give it another watch as I recall it hinting at various parts of their story on which more information has emerged since it was made back in 1996.

Thank you all for letting me know. Interesting because it was previously blocked worldwide!
 
On Twitter, someone posted Rolling Stones top 100 singers list from 2008 so now there are a lot of people tweeting about Karen being ranked so low on the list. Diane Warren tweeted about it - using the 'F' word quite a bit. I guess people think this is a new list or they just weren't aware of it. There's always a lot of interesting comments on Twitter if you look up Karen.
 
On Twitter, someone posted Rolling Stones top 100 singers list from 2008 so now there are a lot of people tweeting about Karen being ranked so low on the list. Diane Warren tweeted about it - using the 'F' word quite a bit. I guess people think this is a new list or they just weren't aware of it. There's always a lot of interesting comments on Twitter if you look up Karen.
Maybe the best answer to these bogus rankings (if it comes from Rolling Stone it's fraud by definition), as to the Carpenters, is to make the telling point that an artist's or group's performing contemporaries -- not phony armchair critics or journalists -- are the best judges of their excellence. And few performers have received greater plaudits and admiration from their superstar peers than Karen Carpenter has (and, as we here know, Richard rightfully shares in this for his enormous supportive role). Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Elton John, Madonna, K.D. Lang, Dyone Warwick, Shania Twain, renowned opera soprano Debbie Voigt (her testimony to Karen is especially edifying), Henry Mancini, and countless other musical greats have testified to Karen's status as among the greatest voices in our lifetime, certainly stratospheres above where Carpenters-denigrating Rolling Stone would relegate her. I will take their assessment over a phony Rolling Stone ranking any day of the week.
 
February 4, 1983: Karen Carpenter dies from anorexia
Beautiful, troubled Karen Carpenter was a true pop romantic. As one-half of the Seventies group the Carpenters (with her brother Richard), she anchored the band’s greatest love ballads as a lithe lead singer (“We’ve Only Just Begun,” “(They Long to Be) Close to You”) and as an impressive drummer.
Although she was widely beloved for her glamorous exterior (not to mention high-profile romances with Steve Martin and Tony Danza), Carpenter privately suffered from anorexia. She battled it for years before dying at age 32 from cardiac irregularities associated with the disease. Her death shocked the public and moved several public figures to come forward to discuss their own eating disorders. Carpenter’s family created a charity, the Carpenter Family Foundation, to research anorexia, bulimia, and other eating disorders. Her musical legacy endures as well: in 2008, Rolling Stone readers voted her one of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.

I just found this older article from Rolling Stone and thought it quite complimentary.
 
Stone Temple Pilots:
Stone Temple Pilots Tell the Stories Behind Their Classic Album 'Purple'
Excerpt:

"I know talking to Scott back then, our parents would plays us stuff like John Denver, Gordon Lightfoot and then a ton of country music like Emmylou Harris and Johnny Cash," the drummer tells Billboard. "As kids, that's what we heard growing up, Robert and Dean included. It all gets so absorbed into your DNA. There's no fear in saying how we wanted to channel that and put it in a song. In the same way, it was similar growing up on AM radio, which we all did as well, and hearing the Carpenters, Fleetwood Mac, Elton John and 10cc. Seventies pop radio was so fantastic in terms of the craft of songwriting and performance. Scott really knew how to sing and present that kinda stuff to us as well. You should have heard him back in the day when he'd sing Carpenters songs in the studio. It was like he really got it and really understood where it comes from deep inside."

Source:
Stone Temple Pilots Tell the Stories Behind Their Classic Album 'Purple'
 
"Everybody hates 'Karen'? Why my name is actually the best
The internet has it all wrong about the name “Karen.” Here's the proof...."
Excerpt:
Karen Carpenter, Drummer and Songbird
"The voice of Karen Carpenter, one half of the hugely popular sibling duo the Carpenters, was just heavenly. She and her brother, Richard, dominated radio stations in the ‘70s with pop songs like “Rainy Days and Mondays,” “On Top of the World” and “Close to You.” Not only did she sing like an angel, she also played the drums. She was off-the-charts cool. The tiny brunette who always wore pussy bows and bell bottoms radiated with so much talent. ... her legacy lives on. Karen was a gift. "
Source:
Everybody hates ‘Karen’? Why my name is actually the best
 
^^Karen was a hugely popular name of the Baby Boomer generation. It seemed every classroom I attended in public school had at least one "Karen" in it. Just as with the boys you would have a ton of Mark, Stephen, Daniel, and Michael. My wife's name is Karen, though I wasn't a fan of the duo when I married her 35 years ago.
 
Disney Parks: 10 Male Celebrities You Didn't Know Worked At Disney Before They Were Famous, BY MADISON LENNON– NOV 10, 2019
"If the name Richard Carpenter doesn't ring a bell, surely the duo known as The Carpenters does. Richard is one half of the sibling musical act.
He got his start singing on Main Street in Disneyland, according to a cover story by Rolling Stone. He dressed in an ice-cream suit, and during his downtime, Richard would write lyrics on napkins. Richard composed many of The Carpenters hit songs along with their lyricist, John Bettis, who also worked with him at Disneyland. Tragically, Richard's sister and musical partner, Karen Carpenter, died in 1983. Richard is still active in the music industry. Earlier this year he interviewed with The Wall Street Journal and talked about helping to produce Carpenters With the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra."

Source:
Disney Parks: 10 Male Celebrities You Didn't Know Worked At Disney Before They Were Famous
 
In Praise of
'Rainbow Connection': The Little Song That Could

11/15/2019 Paul Grein
Excerpt:
" Carpenters, who had major hits with three songs that Williams wrote with his then-partner Roger Nichols ("We've Only Just Begun," "Rainy Days and Mondays" and "I Won't Last a Day Without You") recorded "Rainbow Connection" in 1980, but shelved it. Richard Carpenter finally released their lovely version on the 2004 collection As Time Goes By."

More:
In Praise of 'Rainbow Connection': The Little Song That Could
 
In Praise of
'Rainbow Connection': The Little Song That Could

11/15/2019 Paul Grein
Excerpt:
" Carpenters, who had major hits with three songs that Williams wrote with his then-partner Roger Nichols ("We've Only Just Begun," "Rainy Days and Mondays" and "I Won't Last a Day Without You") recorded "Rainbow Connection" in 1980, but shelved it. Richard Carpenter finally released their lovely version on the 2004 collection As Time Goes By."

More:
In Praise of 'Rainbow Connection': The Little Song That Could
I don't really like the arrangement of this one... Karen did a fantastic job though especially considering it's one she wasn't a fan of recording.
 
From this week's Billboard Magazine:
Album of the year: Joining Lizzo, Eilish, H.E.R. and Lil Nas X are Bon Iver's I,I, Lana Del Rey's Norman F***ing Rockwell!, Grande's Thank U, Next and Vampire Weekend's Father of the Bride. This is the first nomination in this category for all of these artists except H.E.R., who was nominated last year for her compilation, H.E.R.
H.E.R., 22, is just the third artist in Grammy history to amass two album of the year nominations at such a tender age. She follows Barbra Streisand (The Barbra Streisand Album, 1963, and People, 1964) and Karen Carpenter (Close to You, 1970, and Carpenters, 1971).
 
From this week's Billboard Magazine:
Album of the year: Joining Lizzo, Eilish, H.E.R. and Lil Nas X are Bon Iver's I,I, Lana Del Rey's Norman F***ing Rockwell!, Grande's Thank U, Next and Vampire Weekend's Father of the Bride. This is the first nomination in this category for all of these artists except H.E.R., who was nominated last year for her compilation, H.E.R.
H.E.R., 22, is just the third artist in Grammy history to amass two album of the year nominations at such a tender age. She follows Barbra Streisand (The Barbra Streisand Album, 1963, and People, 1964) and Karen Carpenter (Close to You, 1970, and Carpenters, 1971).
In another article dated November 19 on Billboard's website under the category "Podcast", they detail a new chart celebrating the top 125 musical performers in the history of the magazine. Carpenters come in at number 54 while the number 1 act is the Beatles.
 
This list is interesting, although, for my tastes, unusual:
Ranking Albums: The Carpenters..."In my opinion, all of their albums are great, but some are better than others. Anyways, without further-ado, let us begin. " ....From #14 to ....#3 Passage, #2 Made In America ( "a great album with several great songs" )
to.... #1 Voice of the Heart (" an absolutely amazing album ").
Here:
Ranking Albums: The Carpenters

A note:
Regards Lovelines, the author writes... "The album is a great example of Richard’s talent as a composer."
(Obviously in error, as none of the songs on this album were composed by Richard Carpenter).
 
A note:
Regards Lovelines, the author writes... "The album is a great example of Richard’s talent as a composer."
(Obviously in error, as none of the songs on this album were composed by Richard Carpenter).

No, but he did one HELLUVA job taking multiple genres and not only pulling them all together to sound like they belong to the same project, but that included finishing up several of the arrangements that sat on the shelf previously as tracks/work leads only. This one has always astounded me!
 
A totally weird ranking in my opinion. Hmmm
That’s what the forum is for I guess. How can A Song For You and Horizon not be the top 2?
Maybe to stir up some dialogue here.
 
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