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1971. "Superstar" - sung once from a napkin. The results: absolute, unquestionable perfection.
In a broader sense, Karen's voice has always been a marvel to listen to, but more often than not I find myself enjoying her vocals a bit more during the 1969 - 1975 period.
Oh, man. This is like having to pick one kid as your favorite because I love every period of Karen’s career.
If I had to pick 3, I’d choose:
1970- The first time we heard the Karen we all know and love. Her vocals had matured drastically in less than a year. Prime examples would be ‘We’ve Only Just Begun’ and ‘Baby It’s You’. Karen was 19-20 and she was already in complete control of her talents.
1975- Pick ANYTHING from ‘Horizon’ and there you have it. Powerhouse, deep, resonant and affecting.
1978: ‘Christmas Portrait’ tracks and all the other outtakes from the same year display her talents beautifully. Also, take a listen to the 1978 ‘Hits Medley’ from 1978. She sounds as stunning as ever. And her ‘scat’ singing while Tony does his guitar solo on ‘Goodbye To Love’ is simply fantastic.
I think she sounded great all the time... throughout her entire career never once heard a bum note from Ms. C.
Ticket To Ride ‘69
Yep, Horizon does drag a bit - I don't think the track order helps.Her Horizon vocals are just too soft for me. It’s like she took her foot off the gas and went for more restrained, husky vocals, for the most part, sacrificing vocal stridency. It’s like she “breathes” the lines she’s singing, instead of singing in her hard voice (which was always quite soft anyway). Yes, it’s in keeping with the sublime texture of that album, but to my ears it also adds to the “dragginess” Richard complains about. Her 1978 vocals on the standards and the Christmas tracks regain the stridency and strength that is largely missing on Horizon.
After Horizon though I never felt her voice sounded quite the same somehow. It was still great and but just not quite so warm, smooth or rich somehow (although there are moments when I can hear it on later albums - It's Christmas Time/Sleep Well Little Children, I Believe You, and Slow Dance until the final "someone like you" which has always bugged me for some reason). And her final "Alleluia" in Christ Is Born gets me everytime.
Horizon is surreal almost in the way it was engineered and sounds like Karen just woke up in the middle of the night to lull you to sleep.
In tracks like Desperado and Tryin' To Get The Feeling she uses both of these sides of her voice but she seems to play around a bit more (for example the "At an-y moment" line in TTGTFA - which were the first words I ever heard her sing and I was hooked from then on)
I should leave you but a laaahhuuuuv ewww ooohhh"
For me it was the "Horizon" album - 1975 - where both Richard and Karen had reached the point where the spontaneous talent and creativity were in equal measure to their professional polish. Usually, after this point in an artist's career, the quality of their work tends to suffer because the creative process starts to become more deliberate and less spontaneous. It can be argued that the peak was actually the "A Song For You" album, or "Now and Then", but for me, it was "Horizon" where the musicianship and production were nearly perfect.
Usually, after this point in an artist's career, the quality of their work tends to suffer because the creative process starts to become more deliberate and less spontaneous.
Don’t forget the dynamic vocals on ‘Desperado’ if you really want to hear Karen belting it out.