March 2nd Flashback. Rollingstone.com
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Sabar
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Better late than never. Keep it coming!
--“Blessed with one of the purest, most naturally expressive instruments ever committed to record, Karen’s contralto vocals were distinguished by an unusually low timbre, giving everything she sang a warm, enveloping quality.”
--“a perfect example of the pristinely gorgeous voice with which she delivered nearly every performance in her all-too-brief lifetime.”
--“Blessed with one of the purest, most naturally expressive instruments ever committed to record, Karen’s contralto vocals were distinguished by an unusually low timbre, giving everything she sang a warm, enveloping quality.”
--“a perfect example of the pristinely gorgeous voice with which she delivered nearly every performance in her all-too-brief lifetime.”
That link doesn't work for me, for some reason.... I get a "Navigation cancelled" message.
You can paste the whole article here though.
You can paste the whole article here though.
goodjeans
Well-Known Member
HOMEMUSICCOUNTRY MUSIC
MARCH 2, 2018 7:43PM ET
Flashback: Karen Carpenter Takes Country Music to the White House
During a 1973 visit to Washington, the singer, who would have turned 68 on March 2nd, sang a future country-pop classic with brother Richard
By
STEPHEN L. BETTS
Karen Carpenter was born in New Haven, Connecticut, on March 2nd, 1950. Raised in California, she would have turned 68 on March 2nd. Sadly, a battle with anorexia nervosa led to heart failure and she died February 4th, 1983, at age 32.
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/beatles-music-10-things-you-didnt-know-14778/
Blessed with one of the purest, most naturally expressive instruments ever committed to record, Karen’s contralto vocals were distinguished by an unusually low timbre, giving nearly everything she sang a warm, enveloping quality. Her range also allowed her to tackle a wide array of material, including country music. Although the Carpenters only had a single entry on the country charts with their 1978 Top Ten hit “Sweet, Sweet Smile,” written by “Angel of the Morning” singer Juice Newton with Otha Young, their Number One 1973 pop hit “Top of the World,” awash in steel guitar, should have been a crossover smash, coming as it did just ahead of other (albeit controversial) genre-hopping songs by Olivia Newton-John and John Denver.
The singer’s takes on such country tunes as Hank Williams’ “Jambalaya (on the Bayou),” the Skeeter Davis hit “The End of the World” and the Eagles’ “Desperado” were hints of what could have been a second act for Karen. But Carpenter’s influence on singers of all genres, including country music, has certainly increased in the time since her passing. Last December, singer-songwriter Brandy Clark covered the Carpenters’ holiday classic “Merry Christmas, Darling,” and in 1984, duo Mickey Gilley and Charly McClain cut their version of the 1981 Carpenters hit “Touch Me When We’re Dancing.” In 1986, it would top the country chart in a version by Alabama.
Singer Lynn Anderson, who had a Number One country hit and Top Five pop entry with “Rose Garden” in 1970, reached Number Two on the country chart with “Top of the World,” a move which led the duo to release their version, originally featured on the 1972 LP A Song for You as a single. It quickly topped the pop survey, seven months after they had taken the song to another prestigious location. In May 1973, with President Richard Nixon in his last, beleaguered year in the White House, the duo performed at an event honoring the state visit of West German Chancellor Willy Brandt.
In the above clip, following an introduction of “Top of the World” by Richard, the band kicks in with Karen letting out a playful off-camera “yee-haw” from behind the drum kit, an expression she repeats at the end of the song. The rest of the tune, however, is serious business and a perfect example of the pristinely gorgeous voice with which she delivered nearly every performance in her all-too-brief lifetime. "
The link to which the author refers is Carpenters appearance at the White House, Nixon era.
MARCH 2, 2018 7:43PM ET
Flashback: Karen Carpenter Takes Country Music to the White House
During a 1973 visit to Washington, the singer, who would have turned 68 on March 2nd, sang a future country-pop classic with brother Richard
By
STEPHEN L. BETTS
Karen Carpenter was born in New Haven, Connecticut, on March 2nd, 1950. Raised in California, she would have turned 68 on March 2nd. Sadly, a battle with anorexia nervosa led to heart failure and she died February 4th, 1983, at age 32.
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/beatles-music-10-things-you-didnt-know-14778/
Blessed with one of the purest, most naturally expressive instruments ever committed to record, Karen’s contralto vocals were distinguished by an unusually low timbre, giving nearly everything she sang a warm, enveloping quality. Her range also allowed her to tackle a wide array of material, including country music. Although the Carpenters only had a single entry on the country charts with their 1978 Top Ten hit “Sweet, Sweet Smile,” written by “Angel of the Morning” singer Juice Newton with Otha Young, their Number One 1973 pop hit “Top of the World,” awash in steel guitar, should have been a crossover smash, coming as it did just ahead of other (albeit controversial) genre-hopping songs by Olivia Newton-John and John Denver.
The singer’s takes on such country tunes as Hank Williams’ “Jambalaya (on the Bayou),” the Skeeter Davis hit “The End of the World” and the Eagles’ “Desperado” were hints of what could have been a second act for Karen. But Carpenter’s influence on singers of all genres, including country music, has certainly increased in the time since her passing. Last December, singer-songwriter Brandy Clark covered the Carpenters’ holiday classic “Merry Christmas, Darling,” and in 1984, duo Mickey Gilley and Charly McClain cut their version of the 1981 Carpenters hit “Touch Me When We’re Dancing.” In 1986, it would top the country chart in a version by Alabama.
Singer Lynn Anderson, who had a Number One country hit and Top Five pop entry with “Rose Garden” in 1970, reached Number Two on the country chart with “Top of the World,” a move which led the duo to release their version, originally featured on the 1972 LP A Song for You as a single. It quickly topped the pop survey, seven months after they had taken the song to another prestigious location. In May 1973, with President Richard Nixon in his last, beleaguered year in the White House, the duo performed at an event honoring the state visit of West German Chancellor Willy Brandt.
In the above clip, following an introduction of “Top of the World” by Richard, the band kicks in with Karen letting out a playful off-camera “yee-haw” from behind the drum kit, an expression she repeats at the end of the song. The rest of the tune, however, is serious business and a perfect example of the pristinely gorgeous voice with which she delivered nearly every performance in her all-too-brief lifetime. "
The link to which the author refers is Carpenters appearance at the White House, Nixon era.
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