Karen Carpenter Solo Sessions - Continued
- Thread starter leadmister
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Rick-An Ordinary Fool
Well-Known Member
This last one was issued in her A&M Press Kit for her solo album. It is a glossy 8x10 and it is the clearest photo I’ve ever seen of this pose. There is much more definition to the chair and her skin tones (although it’s B/W) than this photo above. It has the A&M logo and her name at the bottom much like all the other A&M press photos released on an 8x10 from Carpenters.Yep - it was published in the original 'From The Top' square box set booklet in 1991.
newvillefan
I Know My First Name Is Stephen
Apologies for the over-analytics on the photos but I'm like that when it comes to wanting the perfect version of a long sought-after photograph - and thanks to fellow members like Murray I now have that
A video game sounds great - how about Karen as Lara Croft?
Rick-An Ordinary Fool
Well-Known Member
Is that one of those 3” singles?This single from Japan wasn't issued until the album was out in 1996. It used these photos:
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newvillefan
I Know My First Name Is Stephen
No wonder at all - when the official line had always been that the album was never completed, but then all of a sudden these 'official' solo album photos started appearing that clearly made fans realise this was a lot more of a close-run thing than had been made apparent. I'm guessing the biggest surprise of all to many was when it was made public that the album had even been designated a catalogue number. It really did get that close to a release.
Rick-An Ordinary Fool
Well-Known Member
Like I mentioned earlier, it’s like A&M and all the powers at be teased the public with photos and songs from her album but they would NOT give us the album. LOL I’m not begrudging anyone but it’s like if her album was never going to be released why keep teasing us with songs and photos. I just have to assume decisions made back then became softer with time and they knew her album needed to be released and it finally was in 1996. It’s interesting to discuss how it all came about leading up to that year 1996.
newvillefan
I Know My First Name Is Stephen
The back cover always confused me. Is Karen standing on the seat of that purple chair? If not, it looks like she's elevated a few feet off the ground. It was a regular sized chair but she looks about 10 feet tall in comparison.
byline
Well-Known Member
Question: In this photo, we can see Karen's pants beneath her jacket, and then they seem to disappear underneath some sort of cover. It looks like she's leaning onto the armrest while kneeling with her knees on the seat cushion, legs extended behind her. Is there a blanket covering her legs? And if so, why? I'm curious as to why they'd want to cover up her legs.
Rick-An Ordinary Fool
Well-Known Member
I like this photo and pose but I’d like it more if it a natural color photo and wasn’t colorized like this which is made to match what the front looks like.
Rick-An Ordinary Fool
Well-Known Member
This was given to me and another outtake from her photo sessions, here you can see she is wearing pants.
newvillefan
I Know My First Name Is Stephen
This was given to me and another outtake from her photo sessions, here you can see she is wearing pants.
Wow! That's the clearest version of that photo I've ever seen.
Rick-An Ordinary Fool
Well-Known Member
It was scanned but not the best. Still a photo of a photo. I have another but not that great. Didn’t she take a Valium to relax her or something I read as she was nervous during this photo shoot.
byline
Well-Known Member
In Randy's book, Itchie said she could see that Karen was very nervous, so she crushed up a Valium and slipped it into her tea. It seemed to have the calming effect Itchie was hoping for.
byline
Well-Known Member
I think what I'm seeing in the other photo is the line of the chair cushion reflected by light. It seems to cut across Karen's leg, but I don't think it actually does.This was given to me and another outtake from her photo sessions, here you can see she is wearing pants.
newvillefan
I Know My First Name Is Stephen
That's right, it's the arm of the chair you're seeing I think.
byline
Well-Known Member
No, it's actually higher up and slightly to our left of the armrest. You can see the outline of tufting, faintly illuminated by light, in the chair's back cushion. When I look at it, it seems to cut across Karen's legs, which is what made me think her legs were covered with something. But I think it's just that her pants are dark, and blend in with the shadows of the chair seat, so they "disappear" under that line of tufting. I'll bet I wouldn't make that mistake with the original photograph because it would be so much clearer.
Chris
Well-Known Member
I've thought about the very same thing.
I agree with you. That area where her legs are, down on the seat of the chair, seem to all blend together because of the dark colors once turned into black & white. The dark purple chair, the black leather pants and her red socks are all colors that turn darker in b&w, particularly in the shadows.
JohnFB
She was born to belong to the lines of a song...
I would have definitely bought that - although I would have preferred that the numbering of the songs was reversed - but I guess it didn't matter, they were both on there.This single from Japan wasn't issued until the album was out in 1996. It used these photos:
Rick-An Ordinary Fool
Well-Known Member
I agree. If Make Believe was ever decided to be a single off her solo album it should not have been the 1st or 2nd single. Or just b side only. She needed 2 strong uptempo first singles to get radio play.
Did Phil ever mention what we’re going to be the singles?
Rick-An Ordinary Fool
Well-Known Member
Don’t you think at playback with A&M present they asked so which one will be the first single? What did Karen say?
A great question for Chris M. what exactly happens on a playback like her solo album. Obviously they don’t all sit there and listen to the entire album, right? It’s being played back on a tape machine through a sound system? They jump around to 30 seconds a song or they only choose 2 or 3 full songs to play? I’ve often wondered what playback of the album really meant.
A great question for Chris M. what exactly happens on a playback like her solo album. Obviously they don’t all sit there and listen to the entire album, right? It’s being played back on a tape machine through a sound system? They jump around to 30 seconds a song or they only choose 2 or 3 full songs to play? I’ve often wondered what playback of the album really meant.
newvillefan
I Know My First Name Is Stephen
It depends on the audience and label. Playback usually means playing the finished album back in its final running order. Often the label execs will sit and listen through the entire thing and make comments like which tracks would make good singles. Other times, the album will be playing in the background while the label, production team and artist in question celebrate with drinks in a more party-like atmosphere. This is more how it went down in NYC at the first playback of Karen's album, and it's also what happened at the playback of Frida's solo album 'Something's Going On'. I've heard of instances where execs have broken into applause after certain tracks have finished. I'm guessing this didn't happen with Herb, Jerry and Richard though
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