Karen & The Carpenters Family Choir

[LongAgo]

Many of the threads I read here are critical of the use of the OK Chorale in CARPENTERS recordings. I think we all would prefer the stacked back up harmonies that Richard and Karen were able to create that made their sound so rich and full. The amount of time and work that went into stacking those harmonies must have seemed endless and taxing at times. Even before Karen's passing, it seems it became easier to just bring in the choir. But as professional as the choir was, that sound never came close to the tight harmonies of our brother and sister duo. That sound we all know was pure magic!

For sometime, I've thought about Karen's unfinished lead vocals and what could be done with them. I'd love to see what kind of magic Richard and his musical children could create by forming the Carpenters Family Choir and over dubbing and blending their voices into a musical pyramid complimenting Karen's lead vocals. With the technology available today, our musical maestro could certainly blend together a family sound fitting to bookend a career of 50 years of magic!

I can dream, can't I?

 

[Without A Song]

I had the same idea in the "Falling tor Love" thread. Not just for unreleased Karen lead vocals, but also for leads Richard apparently recorded in the early 1980s, such as "Fool Me" and "Some Guys Have All The Luck."

 

[newvillefan]

I had the same idea in the "Falling tor Love" thread. Not just for unreleased Karen lead vocals, but also for leads Richard apparently recorded in the early 1980s, such as "Fool Me" and "Some Guys Have All The Luck."

I have to say, what on Earth was Richard thinking, recording leads for Carpenters tracks in 1982?

 

[Without A Song]

Given his performances on "Without A Song" and "You'll Never Know," both presumably in 1980, I see nothing wrong with Richard having pursued more vocal leads soon afterward. Many fans, myself included, have long enjoyed the occasional tracks where Richard either shares a lead with Karen or handles the job by himself.

In fact, we know that Richard was planning to do two lead vocals on the planned next album after "Made in America" because the duo's fan club newsletter said so in response to someone asking why Richard doesn't sing anymore like he did on the early Carpenters albums. The irony in this question is that while Richard did indeed sing very little on his own on Carpenters albums following "Now & Then," he did a considerable amount of singing on the specials the duo made by themselves and with others, such as Perry Como and Dorothy Hamill.

I like it when Richard sings lead on Carpenters songs because it adds another dimension to the duo's sound. Granted, this may not be to everyone's liking and that's fine. To each their own.

And here's another reason to want to hear unreleased Carpenters tracks with Richard singing lead. They may feature Karen in some capacity. If not vocally then perhaps instrumentally.

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

Yeah, Carpenters was always far more about Karen than it was about Richard. I'd venture a guess that most didn't want Richard leads. At his very best, he is a competent singer. His best leads were on the very first album and even then, Karen easily outshined him. He was completely out of her league as a singer and had no business singing lead on an album with the greatest female pop singer who ever lived (IMHO). I'm sure even he'd freely admit that. I didn't want or need anyone, not even him, "adding dimension" to the sound (with all due respect). Even on the things he sang lead on that I like, I'd toss them in a second if it meant another song with Karen leading. Karen should have been the lead singer at all times. She was far too good to sing background for anyone at anytime - certainly not Richard.

Ed