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Karen's Solo album

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close2u said:
Karen signed several of those photos (approx. 11x14) and gave them to her friends -- I know Itchie has one, as does Frenda, her matron of honor. Itchie's story matches what she said in the 1996 NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE feature about the solo album... how when Karen saw the proofs from the Mougin photo session she exclaimed "I look PRETTY! I really look pretty..."

I am sure I have said this before, but my feeling about the solo album is that Karen could have taken public rejection of her work long before the rejection of those she knew and loved. Herb Alpert felt A KIND OF HUSH was inferior but trusted the Carpenters and released it anyway. Karen's solo album was deemed unreleasable. Reactions were pretty brutal, from what I have been told.

Unsure about the cardboard cut-outs... never heard that anywhere but this book mentioned above...

Randy
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Thank you, Randy!! Do you mean it was not LP jacket that Mark saw?

Sakura
 
I have seen a photo taken at A&M in 1980 which showed the original artwork mock-up for Karen's album and it was almost exactly as released in 1996 (right down to that "colored pencil" treatment on the photo), with the exception of Karen's name... originally it was to be a larger "swirly" font.

The signed photo "To Itchie" is just that -- a large photo, not a record sleeve. It is the same photo from the VOICE OF THE HEART cover, but the dimensions are not 12x12 like an LP cover. Karen gave the photo to each person in a clear Lucite frame.
 
The photo I have is a color copy enlargement and it actually quite dull. It may just be my copy. It just showed front and back... did not show and gatefold or inside photos. If I can find it I will scan it and post.
 
Dear SakuraSYayoi,
The book from which I took the quote is:
The Good Reading Company
PO Box 3382
Glendale, CA 91221-0382
USA
I am not sure if it is still in print but I can find out for you if you would like me to.
 
Thanks, Jim! I don't know Ronald, but an old member is Ronald's friend. And I think she said the book was out of print years ago and there was only a few at Ronald's. It must be expensive now, I cannot afford.

Sakura
 
During the 1970s, Ellis dated singer Karen Carpenter, she also lived with him for a short time. However differences in lifestyle proved to be too much of a gap for the couple to sustain a viable relationship. He was also approached by Karen's brother Richard as a possible replacement for the Carpenters then manager Sherwin Bash. However it was considered to be a conflict of interest between Chrysalis (his label) and A&M (The Carpenters label.) So he declined the offer. Not to mention Debbie Harry of Blondie was considered to be one of Karen Carpenter's main rivals at the time.
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I wonder if Karen had any communication with Terry regarding her solo album and also wonder if he could have amped it up and released it on his own label.
 
We hugged for long time, then I looked
into her eyes. I saw something sad in her eyes, they were kind of pink, I saw a tear from her eyes
I said, “Karen you ok?“ She said, “yes I'm just so happy”. We sat on the steps of A&M and talked
for about 3 or 4 hours.
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Louis Johnson from Rick Henry's book.
Louis Johnson played bass guitar on Karen's solo album. Does anyone know on which tracks he played for 'Carpenters?'
 
The jacket I saw did not have the colored pencil look. Hmm. Maybe what I saw was a test version or alternate version?
 
We hugged and she called me a couple of times
after that. Then, I didn’t hear from her for a few weeks and the next thing I knew she was gone,
she went to Heaven. I was one of the last people to talk with her I believe.
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Song4U this is what I am trying to figure out. It seems to me that it was sessions after her solo sessions and maybe she asked Louis to play on a 'Carpenters' album. I have been searching track listings but can't find one where he is listed as bass player. I got this from Rick Henry's ebook on interviews. http://www.lulu.com/account/downloads.php
 
I want Deka-jake from the artwork that Mark saw.


I don't know what ebook is....
For Carpenters? Around Thanksgiving Day of 1982 Karen's solo might be thought again. 4 years ago I read an interview with Richard done in the middle of '90s, suggesting the solo.

Sakura
 
Do you know when this took place?
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Louis did not play on any Carpenters album, only Karen's solo. He came in on the second round of recording. After that infamous listening party in early 1980 they went in to record a few more songs and rerecord some of the songs already done. At this point Richard was in and out of the studio with KC's solo recordings.
Rick
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I never knew this and thought it may be of interest to more than myself.
 
I think she actually did pass out. If you recall, she also passed out after taking one quaalude at Phil Ramone's house just before she went to bed. The paramedics had to come and monitor her. She fainted in the kitchen, and Phil Ramone carried her to the couch until the paramedics got there.
According to Phil, Karen looked good and ate like everyone else when the sessions began in May, 1979, but she took a nosedive after being home for a short visit to L.A.
He thought she suffered from 'the Downey conflict'....meaning Karen's Mom had probably given her a hard time about the album while home. He said when she returned from L.A., he was faced with 'a Biafra child"....in reference to her skeletal figure.
Very sad all around.
 
My only advice on listening to ANY "intimate" or "one-on-one" moments with KC during the months/years after her passing is to say "don't believe everything you read."
Case in point: Hal Blaine! Oh. And do not forget the hair dresser that said she (KC) was "busy writing new songs."
While some sources (Itchy, Olivia, etc) hold great creditability, others just make my eye brow rise.
And as a fellow anorexic, I find it almost unimaginable to "break down" and cry because "I'm so happy..." Especially to someone working for me.
While KC was warm, loving and caring to those she knew, I suspect her feelings were much more in check and under (her own) strict control to those not in her intimate circle.
I do not want to say "hog-wash" but....
 
I thought that, as she sat outside A & M for 3-4 hours and cried 'because she was so happy' was because it was no longer 'her' solo, and it was a 'ruse' for lack of a better word. Also, I hope that you are dealing well with your own eating issues Dave60640. :thumbsup:
 
The story is getting diluted here. Karen did not cry for 3-4 hours....she just got teary-eyed with Louis Johnson upon meeting him as she was walking in the studio and she was walking out. She didn't break down at all during their meeting. My source is the Johnson interview.
Though I wasn't there myself, I do believe Phil Ramone, Itchy Ramone as well as Liberty Devitto, and all the other musicians who worked on the record. I DON'T believe Richard on this subject because his version of events has changed several times over the years.
The best place to learn the real story is via The New York Times article from 1996, as well as the interviews with musicians and writers.
 
We sat on the steps of A&M and talked
for about 3 or 4 hours. She told me her life story and I told her mines. Then I said ...
Click to expand...
I was one of the last people to talk with her I believe.
Click to expand...
quotes taken from Louis Johnson interview
I never claimed that Karen cried for 3-4 hours. All of those tears would have diluted anything. I was going by the Louis Johnson interview.
I thought that, as she sat outside A & M for 3-4 hours and cried 'because she was so happy' was because it was no longer 'her' solo,
Click to expand...
I can see how some may have confused this part of my post.
 
LOL>>>>
Yeah, that would be a good cry.
Either way, Karen got screwed royally on ths solo project, and I'm sure it did lasting damage to her already fragile psyche. The album was AWESOME, and it would have done at LEAST reasonably well. Just what Karen (and Richard) needed at the time.
 
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