Lucy O'Brien's Ten Essential Karen Carpenter Tracks - Mar 11, 2023

1969

Well-Known Member
Since this article is really about the music, I posted here in the regular forum..... will also post this in the 'Lead Sister' book thread within Insider Forum for reference.



Tome On The Range

Songs For You: Lucy O’Brien’s Ten Essential Karen Carpenter Tracks

Lucy O'Brien , March 11th, 2023 09:30


 
Last edited:
Quite a wide variety of tracks have been shown here, illustrating (part of) the breadth of Karen’s, (and Richard’s), abilities and repertoire.

You can certainly see a link between the first four. I like the choice to begin with ‘Looking for Love’ and ‘All I Can Do’. They both present that strong and energetic drumming style topped with exuberant vocals, ‘All I Can Do’ backed by those trademark but Avantgarde b.vs.

Can I say that, (spoiler), the idea that ‘B’Wana She No Home’ provided a springboard into and possibly an inspiration for the solo album is an interesting one that opens the book. (I think that connection has been discussed on the forum in years past).

There’s ‘Crescent Noon’ with its Cal State vocals and classical influences, ‘Another Song’ with its interesting structure and morphing from ages-old classical melody intro to jazz fusion piece and the powerful ‘Road Ode’. This is a good list of songs that express Karen’s and Richard’s musicality in a slightly different way from their hits.

It’s a shame that Richard wasn’t actually named as the composer of the music for the songs he wrote.

I have a question. Isn’t it widely understood that Karen lip-synced to pre-recorded vocals while Ella sang live, for their duet? That’s what I understood. It doesn’t suggest otherwise here but it does elsewhere…..
 
I have a question. Isn’t it widely understood that Karen lip-synced to pre-recorded vocals while Ella sang live, for their duet? That’s what I understood. It doesn’t suggest otherwise here but it doe’s elsewhere…..

Yes it’s been pretty well documented.
 
Thanks, Newvillefan.

Knowing that Karen was lip-syncing and Ella would have heard her vocal several times on previous takes for the video before saying, “You be sounding like me”, I’ve always taken it while watching that ‘outtakes’ video that Ella was responding to Karen’s desperation to end the takes. E.g. Karen was more or less saying that they got the take, didn’t they, and weren’t they done? Ella responded with “You be sounding like me”, in that she got frustrated with endless takes, too. She wasn’t saying that Karen was phrasing and singing like her. At least, that’s my interpretation.

A bit knit-picky, I know, and I guess that Lucy O’Brien can interpret and communicate the scene however she likes.

She’s chosen a great list of ten songs, anyway.
 
...

She’s chosen a great list of ten songs, anyway.
I'm afraid I have to respectfully disagree - it's "early stuff" & "edgey stuff" but it's not the heart & soul of their mainline repertoire, and it's hardly demonstrative of Karen's off-the-charts talent & versatility - I do like the inclusion of "Road Ode", a good song that had the potential to be a great one with the right modifications, but it too is more of a group effort than a Karen showcase. And any list of songs by her that is at all legitimately representative of her MUST always include "Rainy Days and Mondays", one of the truly great vocal performances in Pop/Rock history...
 
These are not my ‘heart and soul’ choices, either. If I am following along, the author is providing here 10 deep cuts/personal favorite tracks that frame excerpts she highlights as ‘standout moments’ in the book? This is a great idea for a Thread though,10 essential vocal performances by Karen. I very much like your vocal performance pick for Rainy Days & Mondays to showcase Karen. I would add For All We Know, Merry Christmas Darling (1970) and Superstar. Narrowing down to 10 may be a bit daunting and I wonder how many of our lists would mirror each other.
 
I'm afraid I have to respectfully disagree - it's "early stuff" & "edgey stuff" but it's not the heart & soul of their mainline repertoire, and it's hardly demonstrative of Karen's off-the-charts talent & versatility - I do like the inclusion of "Road Ode", a good song that had the potential to be a great one with the right modifications, but it too is more of a group effort than a Karen showcase. And any list of songs by her that is at all legitimately representative of her MUST always include "Rainy Days and Mondays", one of the truly great vocal performances in Pop/Rock history...
Yes, I 100% agree that these aren’t THE ten essential Carpenters / Karen Carpenter recordings overall, JohnFB, but I thought that the blurb, (without re-reading it), qualified that this list was focusing upon tracks other than their hits and better-known songs. I think it does present another dimension to Karen & Richard’s music that people who only own their ‘hits’ compilations might not be aware of, and it illustrates part of the route they took, to arrive at their sound.

I really like their ‘Ticket to Ride’ album and their pre-Carpenters recordings. I don’t have time to or just haven’t listened to Carpenters music much in the last couple of years, except the ‘Ticket to Ride’ album, which I enjoy a lot. I still love their later music, though, and am sure to return to it. Looking forward to retiring, so that I have more downtime! 😁
 
These are not my ‘heart and soul’ choices, either. If I am following along, the author is providing here 10 deep cuts/personal favorite tracks that frame excerpts she highlights as ‘standout moments’ in the book? This is a great idea for a Thread though,10 essential vocal performances by Karen. I very much like your vocal performance pick for Rainy Days & Mondays to showcase Karen. I would add For All We Know, Merry Christmas Darling (1970) and Superstar. Narrowing down to 10 may be a bit daunting and I wonder how many of our lists would mirror each other.
Yes, clearly Superstar and RD&M should be on a Top 10 Karen list as well as a 10 Ten Carpenters list. (My personal preference between those two is Superstar, but RD&M is also quite fine, both tracks demonstrating a wonderful blend of power and nuance.) Those lists do (and should) diverge, however, and for O'Brien's purposes (which I take to mean that she is trying to find a seam in the story that focuses on Karen's perspective within the maelstrom of the band's success) it's perfectly suitable. The arguments will rage here about early vs. late, the solo LP (which O'Brien--as she should--includes here), and certain tracks that seem to push some strange buttons in these parts (!!!), but it's an interesting list nonetheless, even if it's not the classic "greatest" Carpenters list that any of us might create.

From the old Top 20 poll we conducted here some years back, Superstar and RD&M tied for first, with Only Yesterday (an O'Brien pick) right behind them in third place. Road Ode was tied with Yesterday Once More at eighth (that was a pretty strong double-sided single!), Another Song was twelfth, Crescent Noon rounded out the top twenty. Some of O'Brien's other picks did not get much love in that poll (All I Can Do, Ella/Karen medley--with Karen's If I Had You also getting a couple of votes.) Looking for Love is clearly of historical interest to O'Brien in telling her story, so we should (IMO) leave some leeway for the author to make her/his case. It is a fascinating early glimpse at Karen just before her transformation into one of the great vocal legends in pop music history.
 
Back
Top Bottom