Other Female Singers

The song "Temma Harbour" debuted on the Billboard Top 40 back on March 28, 1970 at # 40. The next week it moved to # 39 & the final week, same position at # 39 then dropped out of the charts. The song was released on 45 single in MONO BUT until late 1972 when "Those Were The Days" (Greatest Hits) when it was released in STEREO for the first time. Matt Clark Sanford, MI
 
Karen would of made the other definitive version of this!
But I actually like Harriet. It's amazing how her voice can be Karen-sounding!

 
I really like Joni's later husky voice. It brings something epic to this song she wrote when she was too young to really live the lyric.
Could Karen have sung a song like this with an orchestra. I think so. :)

 
Somehow it occurred to me how similarly themed "Temma Harbour" is to Sergio Mendes' "Pretty World", both in words and music.
 
Karen would of made the other definitive version of this!
But I actually like Harriet. It's amazing how her voice can be Karen-sounding!


This is one of my most favorite tracks from Harriet. For me it has Karen written all over it...the way she softly sings the lyrics and takes her time hanging on each word. I can almost hear how Karen would have inserted her vocal fry on certain phrases.
 
I really like Joni's later husky voice. It brings something epic to this song she wrote when she was too young to really live the lyric.
Could Karen have sung a song like this with an orchestra. I think so. :)



I really like this song, I'm so use to hearing Judy's version that I never took the time to listen to Joni's. I really like how she slowed the tempo down making it more introspective and melancholy....it really allows the listener to linger on each word. I like her lower vocals here perfect for this song.

I have always loved the lyrics to this song:

"I've looked at love from both sides now
From give and take and still somehow
It's love's illusions I recall

I really don't know love at all"
 
This is one of my most favorite tracks from Harriet. For me it has Karen written all over it..

Ditto, Rick! I also think this is a phenomenal song, including the version by the original recording artists, 10cc. Even their arrangement seems to scream out "Carpenters!" Lately, I find myself being so much more appreciative of, well, everything! "It's just a silly phase I'm going through...." In all seriousness, I'm appreciate the great people here at this forum and our shared enthusiasm of Carpenters, Harriet et al. It's been a pleasure --- sincerely.
 
NOT punk singer Patti Smith BUT pop rock singer Patty Smyth (formerly of Scandal) late 1992 song "Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough" (duet with Don Henley) is a great song!! Matt Clark Sanford, MI
 
I know Patsy Cline has been mentioned before but what an outstanding contralto voice she possessed! She comes in #2 on my list of all time great female pop singers. All of her songs are great, but I particularly like this one;

 
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Linda Ronstadt:
You started to perform standards in 1983, well before that became a bankable trend. How much resistance did you face at first?
LR:
"Oh my God! The president of my record company came over to my house and said, “You’re going to destroy your career.”
I couldn’t even hear him. I wanted to sing those songs so bad, I think I would have died if I didn’t.
But I didn’t do them all that well. I never sang with an orchestra before. I could have done much better if I’d had it on the road first."

More:
Linda Ronstadt, Retired From Singing, Is Still a Glorious Voice
Linda Ronstadt on the sound of her life
 
Has Emmylou Harris ever been showcased on this thread? I'm not seeing it. A peer of Karen's and a vastly underrated vocalist IMHO. Emmylou, here is your tribute. I love this song and she performs it live and in her prime (1976);





emmylou-harris-karen-carpenterg5473lsupplied-by-photos-inccredit-image-D8B0H0.jpg
 
The Judy Garland biopic is set to be released Sept 27. Just how good a vocalist was she? Check out this performance of Over The Rainbow recorded at the age of 21:


 
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Flicking through the TV channels the other evening I stumbled across an 80s music channel that was playing Fairground Attraction, fronted by Eddie Reader. I'd forgotten how good her voice is. Below, an example of Fairground Attraction and her solo stuff...



 
For many years I’ve always thought Leslie Pearl, the writer of Karen’s solo track My Body Keeps Changing My Mind, was a man. Yesterday I found out that Leslie is actually a female vocalist and songwriter who has the most beautiful voice. She recorded two albums, in 1977 and 1982 and had a top 40 hit with the song “If The Love Fits Wear It”. What a great, little known gem of a song. The harmonies in the choruses are very Carpenter-esque. I’m listening to its parent album “Words and Music” (1982) now and it’s an absolute joy, quite similar to Karen’s solo album in arrangement, orchestration and production.




Leslie Pearl - Wikipedia
 
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...Yesterday I found out that Leslie is actually a female vocalist and songwriter who has the most beautiful voice....

Stephen, so glad you brought this singer --- and single, "If the Love Fits Wear It" --- to our attention. Thank you! I certainly remember the song and enjoy it. The song is very "Carpenter-esque," as you mention. I also hear similarities to Carole King.

And I will be downloading and listening to this song henceforth...
 
I absolutely remember this song. And, Serious XM radio plays it semi-regularly. It reminds me, though, of a particular Simpson's episode where Milhouse's father had a mid-life crisis and tries to start a singing career with the song "Can I Borrow a Feeling." I always wondered if the writers got their inspiration from this Leslie Pearl song.
 
For many years I’ve always thought Leslie Pearl, the writer of Karen’s solo track My Body Keeps Changing My Mind, was a man. Yesterday I found out that Leslie is actually a female vocalist and songwriter who has the most beautiful voice. She recorded two albums, in 1977 and 1982 and had a top 40 hit with the song “If The Love Fits Wear It”. What a great, little known gem of a song. The harmonies in the choruses are very Carpenter-esque. I’m listening to its parent album “Words and Music” (1982) now and it’s an absolute joy, quite similar to Karen’s solo album in arrangement, orchestration and production.




Leslie Pearl - Wikipedia

I hear this song quite often on "Carpenters Radio" on Pandora.
 
For many years I’ve always thought Leslie Pearl, the writer of Karen’s solo track My Body Keeps Changing My Mind, was a man. Yesterday I found out that Leslie is actually a female vocalist and songwriter who has the most beautiful voice. She recorded two albums, in 1977 and 1982 and had a top 40 hit with the song “If The Love Fits Wear It”. What a great, little known gem of a song. The harmonies in the choruses are very Carpenter-esque. I’m listening to its parent album “Words and Music” (1982) now and it’s an absolute joy, quite similar to Karen’s solo album in arrangement, orchestration and production.




Leslie Pearl - Wikipedia

I bought this single when it entered the Billboard Charts.
She certainly knows how to write catchy songs with hooks.
 
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