Rick Beato Carpenters video

A&M Retro

Well-Known Member
A friend of mine forwarded me this video a couple of days ago. Rick Beato is an accomplished musician, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and music teacher. His You Tube posts are usually deeply rooted in the rock music idiom. So, seeing a Carpenters episode was quite a big surprise. Check it out! Rick's post is going to open lots of eyes and ears to Carpenters music that many have undoubtedly not heard....until now.




 
Kind of amazing that he even though he is a guitar guy, his "top five" Carpenters songs didn't include "Goodbye to Love." I thought SURE that would be his #1 choice, but it wasn't. He gives a lot of praise to Karen's voice and doesn't ignore Richard's contributions, either, giving high praise to the production quality of the records. His knowledge of our favorite duo is solid, if (possibly) not "complete!"
 
I was expecting 'Goodbye To Love' to be included, as well. I also think he could review the '73 remix of 'Ticket To Ride' and 'Only Yesterday'. While he's at it, he could cover 'This Masquerade', 'A Song For You', 'Hurting Each Other', 'Calling Occupants' and 'All You Get From Love Is A Love Song'. All good contenders. Who knows? Maybe we can talk him into doing a second segment on them. There are so many good tracks he could review, as this first one just tapped the surface.
 
Interesting watch; however, he didn't seem to know Richard did the arranging and contributed to background vocals rather than just being the "piano player."
Yes, Geographer. That is also what got my attention. He mentioned that a "session leader" (I believe) is the one who would typically do the arranging, and he seemed to be most impressed with the arrangements. But he neglected to identify Richard as that "arranger."

I, personally, would have spent more time gushing over Karen's vocals. And I have a better answer to the chat question about whether they would have used auto-tune: No, They didn't need to do so. Karen had perfect pitch. Her voice was perfection. Why use auto-tune?!?! It's similar to when Garry Kasparov beat a computer at chess. We should never underestimate a person's talent or intellect.

But I should add that Mr. Beato was quite complimentary and respectful of the Carpenters, and I'm thrilled he chose them as a topic for analysis.
 
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Yes, Geographer. That is also what got my attention. He mentioned that a "session leader" (I believe) is the one who would typically do the arranging, and he seemed to be most impressed with the arrangements. But he neglected to identify Richard as that "arranger."

I, personally, would have spent more time gushing over Karen's vocals. And I have a better answer to the chat question about whether they would have used auto-tune: No, They didn't need to do so. Karen had perfect pitch. Her voice was perfection. Why use auto-tune?!?! It's similar to when Garry Kasparov beat a computer at chess. We should never underestimate a person's talent or intellect.

But I should add that Mr. Beato was quite complimentary and respectful of the Carpenters, and I'm thrilled he chose them as a topic for analysis.
Yes! You hit on other points I picked up on but didn't comment. Good analysis of his analysis!
 
Thank you, Geographer. Your comments spurred me to chime in. Beato is clearly an expert on music technicality, with his thoughts on "line movement," "B minor 7," "dominant 7 sus 4," and "C major over D": all out of my wheelhouse, but I get his drift --- and the big picture!
 
I remember hearing the story of Richard being totally annoyed when he was introduced as the piano player for the Carpenters at a some type of record company media event.
 
Occasionally his videos, which are SO detail heavy, will leave out one very important detail. Like his video about Sergio Mendes’ “Never Gonna Let You Go,” he was halfway through the song before he remembered to announce who the artist was. It took somebody in the live stream chat to remind him to mention it.
 
Kind of amazing that he even though he is a guitar guy, his "top five" Carpenters songs didn't include "Goodbye to Love." I thought SURE that would be his #1 choice, but it wasn't. He gives a lot of praise to Karen's voice and doesn't ignore Richard's contributions, either, giving high praise to the production quality of the records. His knowledge of our favorite duo is solid, if (possibly) not "complete!"
He could have chosen any of the songs he played samples from, but I think - all things considered - he chose the right one: "Close to You". A song I never particularly cared for that much thinking it was too simplistic and juvenile - until after years of neglect I heard it again, and it was like the first time, and quite an amazing revelation - this is a work of "restrained genius", and not just Karen's clean, calm, precise vocal, but also Richard's brilliant arrangement and the controlled playing of the session men, The Wrecking Crew - a Classic song in that it gets better and one discovers new delights each time one listens to it.
 
I've seen some of his other videos and they're all good - especially one in which he analyzes Jim Croce's song "Operator" - my only complaint about this one is that near the end he makes some off-hand remark about liking Karen's double-tracking at the end of "Close" - disappointing...
 
He could have chosen any of the songs he played samples from, but I think - all things considered - he chose the right one
Well there is no right or wrong. I was just surprised he didn't mention "Goodbye to Love" because that song is so famous for its guitar parts, + Rick Beato is a known guitar guy, that's all. Makes me wonder if he listened a ways into their catalog and missed a few things along the way.
 
... Makes me wonder if he listened a ways into their catalog and missed a few things along the way.
I had the same impression - he seemed to be relying on vague, distant and incomplete memories rather than detailed, up-to-date research into their catalog and their recording techniques - as mentioned by someone above he didn't seem all that familiar with Richard's colossal role as an arranger/orchestrator, nor with how their complex background harmonies were created...

And since he started the samples with "Begun" I was sure that was his pick - and I would have been completely happy with that - there were indisputable reasons why the Carps considered that their "Signature Song"...
 
I had the same impression - he seemed to be relying on vague, distant and incomplete memories rather than detailed, up-to-date research into their catalog and their recording techniques - as mentioned by someone above he didn't seem all that familiar with Richard's colossal role as an arranger/orchestrator, nor with how their complex background harmonies were created...

And since he started the samples with "Begun" I was sure that was his pick - and I would have been completely happy with that - there were indisputable reasons why the Carps considered that their "Signature Song"...

He literally spends quite a bit of time talking about the music based on what he's hearing on the spot. This isn't about research; it doesn't need to be. He doesn't know who's playing bass on "Superstar" (until someone tells him in the chat) but, again, that's just not the point. Most will focus all their time on Karen's voice. Rick didn't just do that and he gave props to the arrangements left and right. The uncomfortable truth one must face is that when people think of Carpenters', they think of Karen and Karen only. That's just the reality of the situation and Richard is well aware of this. We kinda need to be too.

Ed
 
... The uncomfortable truth one must face is that when people think of Carpenters', they think of Karen and Karen only. That's just the reality of the situation and Richard is well aware of this. We kinda need to be too.

Ed
Well, we here are all very much aware of just how dominating Karen is in any discussion about Carpenters - and most of us prefer it that way - it's not an "uncomfortable truth" at all - but we're also well aware of Richard's talent as a pianist and arranger and his immense importance to their success, and acknowledge it (although maybe not as often as we should) - and we know and discuss how they created those complex and beautiful background harmonies which were such a big part of the appeal of their songs - but I think it's fair to expect that any so-called music expert who takes on the monumental task of trying to decide which Carpenters' song was their best would, among other things, be well aware what and how much Richard contributed and how those incredible harmonies were crafted...and talk about them in more detail than he did.
 
Interesting watch; however, he didn't seem to know Richard did the arranging and contributed to background vocals rather than just being the "piano player."
Yes... This disappointed me... I am surprised, given Rick Beato's musical knowledge that he didn't know or understand Richard's contribution to the Carpenters' sound. While he seems to have a genuine respect for the Carpenters' music, it is disappointing that he didn't do more research on their music.
 
Well, we here are all very much aware of just how dominating Karen is in any discussion about Carpenters - and most of us prefer it that way - it's not an "uncomfortable truth" at all - but we're also well aware of Richard's talent as a pianist and arranger and his immense importance to their success, and acknowledge it (although maybe not as often as we should) - and we know and discuss how they created those complex and beautiful background harmonies which were such a big part of the appeal of their songs - but I think it's fair to expect that any so-called music expert who takes on the monumental task of trying to decide which Carpenters' song was their best would, among other things, be well aware what and how much Richard contributed and how those incredible harmonies were crafted...and talk about them in more detail than he did.

These forums are populated by raging super fans so of course we know all the details - but major and minor. We're the kind that bristle when someone calls them "The Carpenters." Rick isn't that. Heck, a lot of people aren't that. He didn't come at it from a super fan's POV; he came at it from a "musician appreciating music" POV. He doesn't need to know what Richard did or didn't do; he's just appreciating the music. Anyone that shines a light on Carpenters is perfectly okay in my book. That he doesn't seem to know that Richard did all the arrangements is not a deal breaker for me.

Ed
 
These forums are populated by raging super fans so of course we know all the details - but major and minor. We're the kind that bristle when someone calls them "The Carpenters." Rick isn't that. Heck, a lot of people aren't that. He didn't come at it from a super fan's POV; he came at it from a "musician appreciating music" POV. He doesn't need to know what Richard did or didn't do; he's just appreciating the music. Anyone that shines a light on Carpenters is perfectly okay in my book. That he doesn't seem to know that Richard did all the arrangements is not a deal breaker for me.

Ed
Absolutely my sentiments, as well! Let's not kick a gift horse in the mouth. Rick Beato has got a lot of 'street cred' and he knows music and the business very well. On top of that, he's undoubtedly introducing key Carpenters tracks to many people for the first time. And that makes his post (with a MASSIVE audience) very valuable indeed.
 
I'm just surprised with all the info out there about them, especially after Karen's passing, that Rick didn't already know about Richard's significant contributions to the duo's success.
 
I'm just surprised with all the info out there about them, especially after Karen's passing, that Rick didn't already know about Richard's significant contributions to the duo's success.
Yes, the publicity for their music is great and I am thankful - he had a lot of highly complimentary things to say about the music and the background harmonies and the instrumentation and the arrangements - and Karen's "buttery" voice. But, I was surprised too. It just would have been extra nice if he knew and acknowledged Richard's indispensable part in that music, and those harmonies and those arrangements...not necessary, but really nice. I did my part to inform (or remind) him of these essential Carpenter facts with a couple of short comments under the video on YT...

Here's another Rick video - this one with singer/songwriter Mary Spender - in which they discuss (and rave about) Jim Croce's great 70s hit song "Operator" - the lyrics of the song and the accompanying guitar work are everything they claim...

 
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