Question abt Anne Murray and Karen Carpenter....

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I disagree regarding the duet album with Glen Campbell, I thought the two of them sounded nice together, especially I Say A Little Prayer, although I wasn't too keen on You And Me originally performed by Randy Newman and also sung by Jack Jones.
 
I think they are talking bout the DUETS album Anne does with women singers....which I adored! A great album and a hit!
 
By the way, that "Duets: Friends & Legends" CD was her last CD except Anne did two more Christmas duets with Michael Buble ("Baby, It's Cold Outside") & Diana Krall ("Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas") on Anne's 4th Christmas CD (both CD's from 2008). Matt Clark Sanford, MI
 
Anne's christmas album doesn't really count as it was a compilation album with 4 new songs (one recorded earlier). She herself states that her last album was the duets album. But just listen to all the keys changes to commodate for the other women with higher ranges, it's dreadful! The only tracks that work are: Nobody loves me like you do with her daughter....brilliant, the live version of When I fall in love with Celine dion recorded alot earlier. Anne spoke about that recording on a TV show last year, it was unrehearsted and Anne was really nervous about Celine going off and doing her own thing with the song. Danny's song with Martina McBride, A love song with kd Lang and Another Pot of tea with Emmylou Harris. Time don't run out on me and Daydream believer are absolutely dreadful! The album only sold well in Canada too, it didn't go gold in the US. The main problem with the album is that Anne's voice was giving up on her, she was 63, the magical age when most singers lose their voice. Karen would have been there now! But Anne was trained as a singer and knew her vocal abilities very well, that's why she retired and will never sing again.
 
For whatever it's worth, Anne's "Could I Have This Dance" was intended to be a duet with an unspecified male vocalist; she recorded it with the intention that roughly half of her lines would be dropped out in the final mix and replaced with his voice. Whether a deal with the other singer was never made, or the tracks were made (by who?) and scrapped; or her label simply thought it was OK "as is," I don't know. Anne herself was never happy with the record as she is singing at the lowest part of her range throughout.
 
The other singer was Kenny Rogers and after hearing Anne's version with herself singing both parts, Capitol records did not want the song recorded as a duet and told her to keep it the way they heard it. They were right as it did go on to win a Grammy. I've never heard Anne complain about singing low, her voice is infact lower than Karen's, the two women would have complained if the song was too high not low!
 
Anne also recorded "Silver Bells" on Elvis Presley's "Christmas Duets" in 2008. Matt Clark Sanford, MI
 
The other singer was Kenny Rogers and after hearing Anne's version with herself singing both parts, Capitol records did not want the song recorded as a duet and told her to keep it the way they heard it. They were right as it did go on to win a Grammy. I've never heard Anne complain about singing low, her voice is infact lower than Karen's, the two women would have complained if the song was too high not low!
All I can say about Anne Murray's comments about "Could I Have This Dance" is that I saw her make them on a TV talk show, probably an interview by Johnny Carson on "The Tonight Show."
 
I find most of Anne's material to be rather dull,but her 1983 "A Little Good News" album was fairly interesting-I had this on disc in the late 80's. She delved into some interesting material on this set: a slick synth-pop number: "That's Not The Way(it's Suposted Be)",some R&B: "When I Can't Have You",uptempo pop/rock with an electric guitar solo: "Heart Stealer" and a gorgeous rendition of the Kenny Loggins' ballad "The More We Try".
 
This is my favorite. Karen could have done wonders with this Nichols/Williams tune:



Could have made a nice bookend with "Close To You" given the line about birds singing.

Harry
 
Anne Murray dull!!!! Her choice of songs was much better than the Carpenters especially in the late 70's and early 80's. She made brilliant albums between 1978-1985. Practically all of them went gold or Platinum in the States.
 
Anne Murray dull!!!! Her choice of songs was much better than the Carpenters especially in the late 70's and early 80's. She made brilliant albums between 1978-1985. Practically all of them went gold or Platinum in the States.
There's no way to make an objective comparison between Anne Murray and KC-two totally different types of singers in two different genres.

Anne has made some great records-but,again,I personally find much of her material to be on the dull side-particularly tracks like "You Needed Me" and "Could I Have This Dance"(then again,I'm a jazz buff-it's hard for me to appreciate Country music,anyway.)

She would've been more interesting if she recorded more cuts like "Shadows In The Moonlight" and "Love You Out Of Your Mind"-and I think "Shadows" is probably one of her best recordings.
 
Interesting discussion.
Apparently, though, some have defined both vocalists as contralto.
This is amusing, as my Mother loves Anne Murray--she professes to dislike Karen Carpenter, though.
I, of course, love Karen Carpenter--and there are few (perhaps, no-) instances where I can listen to Anne Murray. Oh, her voice is fine,
but I never got into the 'arrangement' style of her music. (I'm more the Tammy Wynette country music style !)
And, jazz or country--both always on my palette.
 
Both Anne & Karen are contralto's, but I always use the team 'alto', i think most people do. I don't see how anyone could place their voices anywhere esle. Any lower they both would sound like a man, and both women couldn't sing much above an octave above middle c, unless in falsetto!(Something that neither did that often). Style wise Karen and Anne are exactly the same!!! This is why when you check under listings....'people who also brought the Carpenters brought Anne Murray'. Anne was country / pop, and the Carpenters were 'pop' often driving into country , and both were also huge on the 'Adult contemporary chart, infact both are in the top 10 artists of all time on that chart. If they weren't similar how would they end up on the same type of chart? ' Karen often listened to and sang country songs, wasn't 'Sweet Sweet smile' her choice. And what about 'Top of the world', 'Jambalaya', 'Reason to believe', 'Those good old dreams' do I need to go on! Also didn't Karen also audition for Kenny Rogers in the late 60's. Anne has an amazing voice, in fact she is one of the most respected female singers of all time, just read around in other performers books, interviews etc. It was said that if Anne Murray recorded a song noone esle would touch it as they could not compete. Infact over the years I would say I have read of more singers rating Anne than Karen as a great singer. Didn't John Lennon also say that Anne made the best ever cover of a Beatles song!
 
Karen has been complimented the world over, by so many of the greats....and great entertainers and ppl in the business....John Lennon, Barbra Streisand, Neil Sedaka, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Ella Fitzgerald, Perry Como, Andy Williams, Debby Boone, Cherry Boone, Mandy Moore, Celine Dion, Shania Twain, Jann Arden, Martina McBride, Reba McEntire, Luther Vandross, The Corrs, Dionne Warwick, Gwen Stefani, Sonic Youth, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Toni Tenille, Olivia Newton-John, Burt Bacharach, Henry Mancini, Paul Williams, Bread, John Davidson, kd Lang....it's been said Anne is the Karen Carpenter of Canada. Anne has a nice voice, but I feel that Karen was way better at expressing emotion...she had a beautiful 3-4 octave range. RC says 3, and Karen herself said 4....I think a voice like Karen's she could have sung anything....and done a great job! She had a one in a million type of voice! I always thought, Rita Coolidge, sounded like an older sister to Karen....and Anne sounded like a distant cousin to Karen....
 
Both Anne & Karen are contralto's, but I always use the team 'alto', i think most people do. I don't see how anyone could place their voices anywhere esle. Any lower they both would sound like a man, and both women couldn't sing much above an octave above middle c, unless in falsetto!(Something that neither did that often). Style wise Karen and Anne are exactly the same!!! This is why when you check under listings....'people who also brought the Carpenters brought Anne Murray'. Anne was country / pop, and the Carpenters were 'pop' often driving into country , and both were also huge on the 'Adult contemporary chart, infact both are in the top 10 artists of all time on that chart. If they weren't similar how would they end up on the same type of chart? ' Karen often listened to and sang country songs, wasn't 'Sweet Sweet smile' her choice. And what about 'Top of the world', 'Jambalaya', 'Reason to believe', 'Those good old dreams' do I need to go on! Also didn't Karen also audition for Kenny Rogers in the late 60's. Anne has an amazing voice, in fact she is one of the most respected female singers of all time, just read around in other performers books, interviews etc. It was said that if Anne Murray recorded a song noone esle would touch it as they could not compete. Infact over the years I would say I have read of more singers rating Anne than Karen as a great singer. Didn't John Lennon also say that Anne made the best ever cover of a Beatles song!
No- Anne and KC weren't "exactly the same,stylewise". I've heard many of Anne's albums-and she is basically a Country singer,and she sings like a country singer.Anne is actually more similar to Reba McEntire,Juice Newton,Crystal Gayle & Bonnie Raitt.

Karen's vocal style and Richard's arrangement's/production style were more similar to the great jazz/classic pop singers of the 50's & 60's: Billie Holiday,Nancy Wilson,Sarah Vaughan & Rosemary Clooney.

Karen recorded a few Country flavored tracks,and several tracks feature some steel guitar accents-but that doesn't make it Country music!

The instrumentation on Anne's recordings was totally different from K&R's. K&R's recordings,generally speaking,feature electric piano,improvised sax,flute and trumpet solos(all jazz instruments) and a full big-band orchestra on several recordings.

I agree that Anne has an excellent voice,and she's made some excellent records-but,that doesn't make her comparable to KC.And,the fact that they both had hits on the Adult Contemporary charts doesn't mean anything-the AC chart encompasses a wide variety of artists and styles.
 
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