I was wondering: When it comes to recordings - and that includes all musical genres - what are the chances of the world being treated once again to a collaboration of two siblings of the calibre of Richard and Karen Carpenter?
To come to some reasonable answer, I've considered questions such as "Where do K and R rank in their respective areas?"; "How should we measure 'success'?; "How many artists have a sibling who is at all musical, let alone good, let alone great?".
There are a number of family affairs who have achieved musical fame but there has to be some measure of objectiveness otherwise it may just boil down to personal favourites. Anyway, my thoughts......
(i) Rankings on the world stage (greatest quality in bold)
Richard: Pianist - No question, Superb.
Songwriter - Not the world's most prolific, but his hits attest to Excellence.
Arranger - Simply Brilliant.
Producer - Wonderful.
Vocals - As a soloist, unranked. In harmony, Perfect in terms of blending with sibling's.
Karen: Drummer - Excellent not only technically, but ideally suited to the Carpenters' softer style.
Vocals - Lead: True Greatness, transcending Excellence; having few peers.
- Harmonies: As per Richard.
I think if they'd fallen even a little short in a few of these areas, things would have turned out differently.
(ii) Measuring success
In the North American market, not just successful, but THE #1 sellers in the 70s.
Global reach - Hugely popular in Japan, and mainstay of best-seller charts worldwide.
At the top of their artistic and commercial game for about 5 years; other artists / groups have endured for longer, but the Cs have long tail of fandom (including 'converts') now stretching into a fifth decade.
Ability to appeal to a broad demographic, across multiple genres (pop/soft rock, adult contemporary, country).
Continue to garner the highest respect from many of music's 'greats'.
(iii) Having musical siblings
Not easy to measure, but having an anywhere-near or almost-as-good sibling can only be a very small percentage even in families who have an artist of note.
Putting all these factors together, although there has been a number of outstanding sibling acts, we may have witnessed in the Carpenters something uncommon that, if ever equalled (and I'd argue the Bee Gees fit the bill, substituting songwriting greatness for K's lead vocals), going forward they'll still be very hard to beat.
To come to some reasonable answer, I've considered questions such as "Where do K and R rank in their respective areas?"; "How should we measure 'success'?; "How many artists have a sibling who is at all musical, let alone good, let alone great?".
There are a number of family affairs who have achieved musical fame but there has to be some measure of objectiveness otherwise it may just boil down to personal favourites. Anyway, my thoughts......
(i) Rankings on the world stage (greatest quality in bold)
Richard: Pianist - No question, Superb.
Songwriter - Not the world's most prolific, but his hits attest to Excellence.
Arranger - Simply Brilliant.
Producer - Wonderful.
Vocals - As a soloist, unranked. In harmony, Perfect in terms of blending with sibling's.
Karen: Drummer - Excellent not only technically, but ideally suited to the Carpenters' softer style.
Vocals - Lead: True Greatness, transcending Excellence; having few peers.
- Harmonies: As per Richard.
I think if they'd fallen even a little short in a few of these areas, things would have turned out differently.
(ii) Measuring success
In the North American market, not just successful, but THE #1 sellers in the 70s.
Global reach - Hugely popular in Japan, and mainstay of best-seller charts worldwide.
At the top of their artistic and commercial game for about 5 years; other artists / groups have endured for longer, but the Cs have long tail of fandom (including 'converts') now stretching into a fifth decade.
Ability to appeal to a broad demographic, across multiple genres (pop/soft rock, adult contemporary, country).
Continue to garner the highest respect from many of music's 'greats'.
(iii) Having musical siblings
Not easy to measure, but having an anywhere-near or almost-as-good sibling can only be a very small percentage even in families who have an artist of note.
Putting all these factors together, although there has been a number of outstanding sibling acts, we may have witnessed in the Carpenters something uncommon that, if ever equalled (and I'd argue the Bee Gees fit the bill, substituting songwriting greatness for K's lead vocals), going forward they'll still be very hard to beat.
