(Dear Karen): "One Fine Day"

[JayJayVA]

Dear Karen Carpenter,

If no one ever told you - you did a great job singing and drumming the song "One Fine Day" (Now and Then). Your vocals are exquisite and effortless - your drumming a perfect balance to the beat of the tune. You are so talented and this performance showcases your unique gifts. You get a golden ticket!

This song gets a repeat play in my car almost daily. Great job!

Signed, a fan (in the year 2020)

 

[Mark-T]

I wish there were a full length version of this!

 

[GDBY2LV]

I do too. My favorite song in the medley by far.

 

[John Adam]

I like the Carpenters and Carole King's version of One Fine Day. Karen recorded so many bits and pieces of songs over the years. It's really sad there are not full versions of all these songs! We would of had another album maybe?

 

[cam89]

I wish Richard would take AURORA and segue a bridge to EVENTIDE....with a beautiful vocal by him of harmonies bridging the two...

 

[cam89]

I've always loved JOHNNY ANGEL...her vocals are outstanding and the harmonies....didn't Phil Spector come in when they were recording the Now and Then medley and said something like...Unbelievable?

 

[Carpenters-in-the-crib]

I wish Richard would take AURORA and segue a bridge to EVENTIDE....with a beautiful vocal by him of harmonies bridging the two...

That is a fantastic idea! Taking an orchestra and linking the two would be awesome. Pitch it to Richard.....

 

[Carpe diem]

Yes, she really shines on that song. "What memories, what memories!".

 

[A&M Retro]

If you think about it, most of what we’re hearing on ‘One Fine Day’ is Karen alone!

She handles the vocals, all the background parts AND the drums. She was a dynamo. And the same can be said for most of the tracks on ‘Now And Then’. The quad mix shows off Karen’s handiwork like no other.

 

[GDBY2LV]

It’s like multi Karens singing at the same time. You hear the layers of overdubs like nowhere else except the YOM Reprise.

 

[Sabar]

I also wish there were full length versions of Our Day Will Come and End of the World. Even more than that, I wish they recorded a full length version of A House is Not a Home. But that's a bit beyond the topic of the Now and Then medley.

 

[Sabar]

I'm sure I'm not the only one who has noticed that many (most) of the songs on the Now and Then medley were hits from 1963. I wonder if that had something to do with it being the year they moved to California. Were they particularly impressionable at that time, given the trauma of moving? Or maybe it was just a good year for music. It was certainly a good year for me, since its when I entered the world!

 

[Harry]

People are on average, most affected by the pop music they listened to and liked at the age of 14.

 

[Sabar]

People are on average, most affected by the pop music they listened to and liked at the age of 14.

Ah yes, I recall hearing a news radio segment about that phenomenon. The researchers claim that the music you hear when the hormones start flowing through your system, gets seared in your brain.

 

[Carpe diem]

People are on average, most affected by the pop music they listened to and liked at the age of 14.

That must explain why I can remember exactly when and where I was when I heard THAT VOICE singing Close To You (for the first time) in the summer of 1970 at the age of 13 (close enough to your hypothesis Harry ?).

 

[Mark-T]

I would agree with that Harry, although there have been additional times when a song/artist caught my attention and changed by listening habits and favorites. Beyond Carpenters, I had that happen with Olivia's "Have You Never Been Mellow", Whitney Houston's "Saving All My Love for You", Amy Grant's "Baby Baby", Gloria Estefan's "Con Los Anos Que Me Quedan", Jeremy Camp's "I Still Believe", Michael Buble's "Home", and in the category of coming late to the party, Sting's "Nothing 'bout Me" about 10 years after original its release.

 

[Harry]

Oh, there's nothing to say that one can't find much to love at other ages, it's just that studies have been done and show that most people are really fond of the music they listened to at age fourteen. My own personal story fits that - at age fourteen I was introduced to the Tijuana Brass and am still an uber-fan after all these years.

That doesn't preclude the facts that I also love Carpenters from the 70s, and even The Corrs from the 90s, 2000s.

 

[Martin Medrano]

So today i went into audacity and tried to remove the vocals from one fine day to see what it would sound like and i found out that you can hear the background vocals more. You all should try it. Its a nice sound.

 

[CraigGA]

I can listen to music of the 70‘s like no other decade. I prefer the early 70’s but can take it all. There is more to this era than disco, and so many talented singers and great music existed during these years. And my sister claims the same adoration about her era of the 80’s. I think I’ll listen to Now and Then this morning. It fits perfectly into Saturday morning!

 

[Harry]

So today i went into audacity and tried to remove the vocals from one fine day to see what it would sound like and i found out that you can hear the background vocals more. You all should try it. Its a nice sound.

This works better with the original NOW & THEN version rather than the echo-laden remix from 1997.

 

[Carpe diem]

I can listen to music of the 70‘s like no other decade. I prefer the early 70’s but can take it all. There is more to this era than disco, and so many talented singers and great music existed during these years. And my sister claims the same adoration about her era of the 80’s. I think I’ll listen to Now and Then this morning. It fits perfectly into Saturday morning!

Agree with your view of the 70s. A great decade for music despite the abomination that was disco. And I might add a very good decade for motion pictures as well; Patton, The Godfather I & II, Chinatown, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, The French Connection, Annie Hall, the list goes on and on...Overall, a great decade of creativity.