I Can't Make Music sounds similar to era of A Kind of Hush album 1976

cam89

Well-Known Member
Hi All,
I was just listening to I Can't Make Music and she is so brilliant in it. The best cut off the NOW AND THEN album, showcasing her vocals it seems like never before, which got me to thinking it sounds so similar to the 1976 A Kind of Hush album and her vocals there....almost like a singer-songwriter type of album....wouldn't that have been fantastic to just have her in an album with just her and piano or very sparse instruments and just her vocal.

I was actually listening on youtube to Jewel's FOOLISH GAMES which always reminded me of Karen in certain parts, and then chose to listen to I Can't Make Music....a breathtaking beautiful song with pain and loss and reflection....

Which is why A Kind of Hush album has always been my favourite. The songs were so personal to me, during Sept 1988 when I was 16 years old, our family was breaking up and an investigation of abuse allegations were brought upon my adopted father, and so this collection of songs hit to my very inner soul...You, One More Time, I Have You....although I could not stand I Need to Be In Love....soooo boring in my mind, although now I think it is a nice song....

My thoughts,
Cam
 
"I Can't Make Music" has always been a personal stand out for me. I'm glad to see someone shine a light on it and give it some attention. I agree, a collection of stripped down songs just focusing on Karen's voice would be a very special gift! It's also very unlikely to happen...
 
A Karen vocal - Richard piano album would have been perfect... Yes we all love the "Carpenters sound " with the lush arrangements and overdubs. But just listen to "One More Time" - absolutely gorgeous !
 
A Karen vocal - Richard piano album would have been perfect... Yes we all love the "Carpenters sound " with the lush arrangements and overdubs. But just listen to "One More Time" - absolutely gorgeous !

The piano/vocal setting almost always produced magic - 'Sometimes' and the Zodiac medley from the Make Your Own Kind of Music TV show were further evidence of this. Sometimes less really was more.
 
It does not always work, though. The song
From This Moment On, never did spark my interest, and that is simply piano and Karen's vocals.
On the other hand, I Can't Make Music is one of the best.
 
It does not always work, though. The song
From This Moment On, never did spark my interest, and that is simply piano and Karen's vocals.
On the other hand, I Can't Make Music is one of the best.

'From This Moment On' was a show tune though, so even with just a piano was always going to have a very different feel from tracks like 'I Can't Make Music' or 'One More Time'. As a song it wasn't intimate in that way.
 
I never understood the fascination with From This Moment On.
As rightly pointed-out, it is not "intimate" in the way that One More Time or I Can't Make Music, is.
And, yet, we got the former song in concerts (1976) and even on television (Tonight Show Live).
The later two, on the other hand, would have been incredible if performed 'live' in- concert or tv- audiences.
 
I think as much as it’s Richard excellent piano playing it’s also Karen’s tremendous vocal ability. It’s one of those songs that the listener and viewer (video) get to see “both” of their talents. A missed opportunity for this video to be left out of MMM.

There are also outtakes from this performance too.
 
If I needed evidence of Richard's piano prowess, I turn to the early Dancing In The Streets
(from All-American College Show) or This Masquerade, or even Warsaw Concerto.
Even the earlier Strangers In The Night has a spark which FTMO lacks (piano-wise).
From This Moment On, which we can see and hear in various incarnations (1976, 1978, 1980),
has never resonated with me. It is fine, to be sure, mostly because of the Karen vocals,
but, an attention-getter for me--it is not.
 
If I was at one of their concerts back in 1976, I would much prefer FTMO as opposed to the Warsaw Concerto. I've never quite figured that one out. Smack dab in the middle of a "pop music" concert, you insert this cumbersome 11-minute classical piano piece. That would be my signal to take a bathroom/snack bar break.
 
If I was at one of their concerts back in 1976, I would much prefer FTMO as opposed to the Warsaw Concerto. I've never quite figured that one out. Smack dab in the middle of a "pop music" concert, you insert this cumbersome 11-minute classical piano piece. That would be my signal to take a bathroom/snack bar break.

I get that it’s there to display his talent but it’s a bore, and I can imagine all those crowds hearing it in the middle of a pop concert feeling the same.
 
I think From This Moment On is to show off Richard on the piano, and the song is just an addition.

I posted this a while ago but it's worth seeing it again. For those who enjoy classical music...one can appreciate how gifted Richard is on piano. Take a listen to this pianist play the classical version the ending is just like Carpenters. How many of you can play like this? Richard doesn't get a lot of love here but he is a gifted pianist. If I could play like Richard here, I'd be smiling too.



 
Hi All,
I was just listening to I Can't Make Music and she is so brilliant in it. The best cut off the NOW AND THEN album, showcasing her vocals it seems like never before, which got me to thinking it sounds so similar to the 1976 A Kind of Hush album and her vocals there....almost like a singer-songwriter type of album....wouldn't that have been fantastic to just have her in an album with just her and piano or very sparse instruments and just her vocal.

I was actually listening on youtube to Jewel's FOOLISH GAMES which always reminded me of Karen in certain parts, and then chose to listen to I Can't Make Music....a breathtaking beautiful song with pain and loss and reflection....

Which is why A Kind of Hush album has always been my favourite. The songs were so personal to me, during Sept 1988 when I was 16 years old, our family was breaking up and an investigation of abuse allegations were brought upon my adopted father, and so this collection of songs hit to my very inner soul...You, One More Time, I Have You....although I could not stand I Need to Be In Love....soooo boring in my mind, although now I think it is a nice song....

My thoughts,
Cam
This morning I decided to listen to I Can't Make Music because of this thread. I remember not really paying much attention to this one for some reason. And years ago I read a ridiculous critical review of the Now and Then album and they used the name of the song to really put down the group. Sadly I let that turn me off a bit from the song. Anyway... The song is so beautiful! The instrumental at the end is really perfect. Wow! Definitely a new favorite of mine.
Also, I am a fan of the Kind of Hush album too... 🙃
 
I posted this a while ago but it's worth seeing it again. For those who enjoy classical music...one can appreciate how gifted Richard is on piano. Take a listen to this pianist play the classical version the ending is just like Carpenters. How many of you can play like this? Richard doesn't get a lot of love here but he is a gifted pianist. If I could play like Richard here, I'd be smiling too.




Thanks for posting. I would say however, that Richard is better than the guy in the video. He is a little “poundy” (is that even a word?) or it may be the piano he is playing. Not good tone.

Jonathan
 
FROM THIS MOMENT ON is a very interesting offering from two musical geniuses. It was clearly done to showcase Richard's talents. As a dedicated, loving and devoted fan for 50 years, "interesting" has always been the best and only word Ive used to describe this musical mash up. That said, FTMO is a perfect CARPENTERS example (one of a few) showing: "just because you can - doesn't mean you should". That said... can you imagine how successful this mash up would have been if performed by anyone else??
 
As with Karen's vocals, Richard Carpenter offers many different sides to his keyboard performances:
Dancing In The Street, Strangers In The Night, Warsaw Concerto, Dizzy Fingers, From This Moment On.....
to name only a few.
Richard Carpenter:
Dizzy Fingers: "I had played this 1923 Zez Confrey ragtime classic as a solo for many a year. Now I would be accompanied by an orchestra and I knew just the chart I wanted: the Roger Van Epps arrangement used by pianist Carmen Cavallaro in the 1956 film, The Eddy Duchin Story."
From This Moment On: "this clever treatment is the work of Ken Welch."
 
What I've been trying to track down again is the remix of I Can't Make Music with the pitched-down harmonica.
 
Back
Top Bottom