Karen and Who...? Like Nat and and daughter Natalie

[Vinylalbumcovers]

I'd love to see the release of "Dancing the Old Fashioned Way" - but without John Davidson and someone like Michael Buble instead. The best duets are those that were meant to be duets from the beginning, not ones where it's obvious that a star's song was altered for another vocal (such as Barry Manilow's horrible "I Believe in You and Me" with the late Whitney Houston).

Many fell into this trap after Nat & Natalie. Natalie’s effort was a hit and it made people feel like it was okay to do. IMHO it isn’t. Natalie’s sounds about as good as this kind of thing ever will. Sadder, many people remember the “duet” version instead of Nat’a vastly superior original.

The entirety of Barry’s album is truly awful and I don’t know what he was thinking. There’s not one moment of emotional honesty in it - something he’s always excelled at. It’s his very worst. Even the album art is terrible.

Ed

 

[David A]

Many fell into this trap...[SNIP]

Ed

Trap? Hmmmm. In any event, we will never hear this with Karen, for all the reasons we know. Still, can be fun to speculate what this or that singer might sound like, with Karen. If done well, this would be a trap I'd set off willingly.

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

Trap? Hmmmm. In any event, we will never hear this with Karen, for all the reasons we know. Still, can be fun to speculate what this or that singer might sound like, with Karen. If done well, this would be a trap I'd set off willingly.

I’m only interested in duets where both participants are alive. There’s really no way to do it well as they can’t both feed off of each other in a meaningful way. Natalie’s only kinda works and that’s because she’s Nat’s daughter. It mostly just sounds disembodied. They all do. I wish Karen has done more duets but I wouldn’t want them this way.

Ed

 

[David A]

I’m only interested in duets where both participants are alive. There’s really no way to do it well as they can’t both feed off of each other in a meaningful way. Natalie’s only kinda works and that’s because she’s Nat’s daughter. It mostly just sounds disembodied. They all do. I wish Karen has done more duets but I wouldn’t want them this way.

Ed

I hear you...I'm just open to most anything where I can hear Karen's amazing voice in a way I haven't heard before. An idea such as "disembodied" is the kind of emotional resonance that happens because one has foreknowledge of the fact that one of the participants is no longer with us, methinks. That doesn't invalidate your view; it helps me understand it.

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

I hear you...I'm just open to most anything where I can hear Karen's amazing voice in a way I haven't heard before. An idea such as "disembodied" is the kind of emotional resonance that happens because one has foreknowledge of the fact that one of the participants is no longer with us, methinks. That doesn't invalidate your view; it helps me understand it.

I honestly don't think it's that's simple for me. When someone "duets" with someone who has passed, several things are happening. First, the person who's passed away is generally recorded on analog tape whereas the living "duet" partner is recording digitally. Secondly, the artist/producer who wasn't in the studio with the deceased is making decisions about the way both of them sound. Thirdly, the engineers are doing the same thing. They can't all be of the same mind as the original artist/producer was when the deceased vocalist's recording was made. It's a virtual impossibility.

In this case, Karen isn't around to give anyone her take on why she did what she did. Further, her energy isn't really present. It was in the original recording but couldn't be in a "created duet" situation. She could control how she sounded on her recording. In a "created duet", she can't. Based on the vocalist "duetting" with her, she cannot make vocal magic with them because her vocal is set in stone. It can't be adjusted. She can't make new decisions and follow new feelings. The "duet" partner, while being able to react to what he or she is hearing, can't really either as they'll have knowledge of the vocal track to which they'll be singing, thus creating an imbalance that's impossible to overcome.

Ed

 

[Harry]

The best duets with Karen happen in my car when I harmonize with her!

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

The best duets with Karen happen in my car when I harmonize with her!

Ha! I am forever singing along with the part just beneath her lead on everything. I’m amazing!

Ed

 

[GDBY2LV]

Ditto!!!!!!