Other Female Singers
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70sFan
Well-Known Member
Since we Helen Reddy fans are popping up and finding a home on this site, I would have loved for Karen and Richard to record "Long Hard Climb". Yes, Helen's was spectacular, but I think Karen's vocals would have fit it perfectly. I was just thinking of it as I am listening to that particular Helen Reddy album.
Dave
Well-Known Member
"Long Hard Climb" is a Ron Davies-written song... Besides Helen Reddy, there's a version by Maria Muldaur (a female singer that I like) and a few others... Davies a fellow-artist on A&M Records (he made two albums, Silent Song Throughout The Land and UFO) even recorded it himself...
-- Dave
-- Dave
70sFan
Well-Known Member
Dave, Thank you, I love this type of song history.
Geographer
Well-Known Member
Other than Carpenters being my No. 1 favorite of all time recording artists, my No.2 is Gordon Lightfoot. I have only the entire catalogue of two artist(s): Carpenters and Gordon Lightfoot. Oh, how I'd love a Richard Carpenter/Gordon Lightfoot collaboration. What magic that'd be...but I'd probably be the only person on the planet to appreciate such a combination.
Jamesj75
Well-Known Member
I'd like that, too, Geographer! And why not! The circle is small...
Hey there 70sFan,
Karen and Richard recorded a few songs Helen Reddy had already recorded, namely, A Song for You and This Masquerade. While I adore Helen, I much prefer Karen and Richard's versions of these songs. I view both Carpenters and Helen Reddy as pure perfection, but very different musically. One Reddy song that I think would serve well as a "re-created" Carpenters tune would be A Winner in Your Eyes from Helen's last studio album -- 1983's "Imagination". (If you haven't heard this album, I highly suggest it. Although it was a commercial flop, it's received great reviews and it's my favorite.)
70sFan
Well-Known Member
Is she really 80??? I am so glad she was and is in our lifetime.
I know just what you guys are saying. Starting in the 1960's, she sang so many amazing standards with exquisite arrangements, but aside from a few individual tracks from that decade her voice just lacked that yearning, aching emotion that's a must for any person to be called a great singer. Like you said, Actorman, she's technically spectacular with how she uses her voice and her phrasing, control, and range are flawless, but it leaves me cold. When she belts (as she did all the time in the 1960s particularly) there's so much power but it feels empty emotionally. It doesn't give me goosebumps or move me for the most part. However, there are exceptions, like her performance of the song "People" is absolutely rich with emotional depth and resonance (the 1964 version featured on her album of the same name). She belts her heart out and even if you took away the instrumentals surrounding her I'm still incredibly moved by the sound of her voice here. Other 60s era performances that examples of what she can really do emotionally are "Draw Me a Circle" "When Time Goes By", "Just In Time", "My Coloring Book", "Jenny Rebecca" and a few others. Listen to those and tell me if you hear that feeling that I do.
Then in 1967 she records "A Christmas Album" which is absolute, gentle magic where every quality of her voice is used in service to making you feel each song. Also, there's no belting here, which is another reason for its greatness.
And yet despite my strong reservations for her 60's output she surprises me once I hear the 70's era songs. From 1970-1975 her voice finally had the magic that was lacking before. (Interestingly, the same time span that Karen was at her peak) For that five year period about, her voice was so full, rich, incredibly warm, and hugely, innately emotive. When she sang a lyric and when she belted it was done with a genuine yearning that gives me goosebumps and goes right to my soul. A part of it was that the material was much better now and more individualistic in terms of writing and arrangements than the 60's standards. I don't know what happened. Did something in her soul change during this period that was then reflected in her voice? I'm not sure, but I'm sure as hell glad it was recorded. She later gave some knockout performances on songs from her "Superman" album, and songs like "Songbird" and "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" are exceptional as well.
But then the 1980's came along and all that warm soulfulness was gone for the most part, again, like the 1960s, with the exception of a few individual tracks. She then got into schlock-y adult contemporary crap and for most of the remainder of her career she's been over-singing, cold, and totally lost her unique sense of phrasing which is a huge loss. Her last few albums have back some of that warmth and soul but it feels too late.
Mark-T
Well-Known Member
In general, I agree, Charlie D. Streisand leaves me cold for most of her recorded output. Exceptions would be "For All We Know" the 40s standard not the Carpenters song, and "Tomorrow" from Annie. I do love the song "Superman" but that is mostly due to the string arrangement. "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" duet is pretty strong as well. I'm not a show tune guy, so much of her records are not of interest.
Timmerman
Well-Known Member
I agree with you on the 1970-1975 period Charlie D. While I'm a huge Streisand fan, that is my favourite period in her recording career.
Partly it has to do with the material being more current and perhaps with the fact that she was working with people her age (or younger) for the first time in those years. She made a comment about this in her retrospective "Just For The Record..." box set. Also, it might have something to do with the birth of her son in December 1966. She didn't record much in the period (1967-1969), mostly soundtracks (Funny Girl, Hello Dolly) and the album "What About Today?" (on which she covers The Beatles' "Goodnight"). I'm not sure whether the change you're hearing had already started then.
Interestingly, I remember reading that she had a cold during the recording of "A Christmas Album". I certainly find her voice sounds slightly different on that album compared to all her others from around that time.
I know that after the birth of her son her voice deepened, due to the hormonal changes of her pregnancy and you can hear this starting with 'Simply Streisand' and the Christmas album. It sounds a bit richer and more measured (this partly has to do with Barbra not having the strength to belt too often after the pregnancy, which is why those two albums have a tranquility to them compared to her previous albums). There were some great songs/performances on What About Today? but she really hit her musical and vocal stride starting with 'Stoney End'. I love orchestrated standards, it's just that in Barbra's case, for me, she puts her spectacular technique before putting emotion into what she is singing. Like I said, there are a few standouts when this isn't the case, but for the most part her 60s output feels soulless to me. And I love Barbra, as a person and as a singer/performer, it's just that her discography is disjointed in some ways and not the most consistent. It's interesting too that she looks back on those early 70s pop days with a mere shrug it seems; she's implied and I think spoke directly about how that part of her recording career was mostly just a good commercial move and not really that personally important to her. She seemed mostly drawn to Broadway stuff even after the 60s and she thinks that her pop period distracted her from that. And you think of all the covers she could have sang from all the great songwriters - Bob Dylan, McCartney, John Phillips and hell, Richard Carpenter, plus many more and she didn't seem interested in exploring those contemporary gems.
Do you have a favorite album of Barbra's?
ScottyB
Well-Known Member
I just want to say, before I go any further on this, that I consider Karen Carpenter to be the finest female vocalist that I have had the pleasure of knowing in my lifetime. However, as a youth growing up in the 70's, I had a definite affection for Olivia Newton-John. I guess it really all started for me with her was when she came out with Have You Never Been Mellow. I had heard of all her previous hits, but this was the one that got me hooked on her. I started to collect all of her works up to that point, and continued to do so right up to this day. I didn't really give too much attention to the works of the Carpenters outside of their hit singles. Being adolescent, I guess I never truly appreciated all the talent that was involved in their creation. Don't get me wrong, there was always someone in the family of mine who was in the possession of the latest Carpenters single throughout the 70's. But, as for me, I was ga-ga over Olivia, as were so many other early teen boys of my generation. I collected Olivia, not the Carpenters. But, as the years passed, and I began to appreciate things a little differently than I had as a youth, I started to discover how well-crafted the music of the Carpenters was. Karen's vocals and Richard's arrangements were particularly stirring. And in listening to all those ON-J albums from the 70's that I had collected through the 70's, I definitely realized that most of them were mediocre, at best (the exceptions: If You Love Me, Let Me Know and Have You Never Been Mellow, in my mind, were her finest albums of that period). For the most part, today, I can enjoy every Carpenters album from start to finish. I can't say that about every ON-J album I own. There are only 2 other artists, in my collection, that I can say that about: and that's The Beatles and Tears For Fears.
