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Post by Rick Henry on May 17, 2005 9:28:15 GMT -5
$&? $&? $&? Do you have any fond or good memories in connection with a Carpenters song? I have a few and will come back to share mine as right now I'm off to work.
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Post by beaner on May 17, 2005 15:15:04 GMT -5
I have a few: "Close to You" was the song they played for brother's wedding dance with his wife back in 1972.
When I went to see them in concert in 1973, my seat was way up but I walked down to the first and second rows to get a close up picture and Karen was singing "Jambalaya".
Finally, I had always planned on "We've Only Just Begun" for my wedding but I'm still single so that wasn't to be but still brings a fond memory and would still be the song if a wedding took place.
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Post by cam83 on May 17, 2005 15:54:04 GMT -5
Hi Beaner, Tell us what that concert was like...what songs...what was Karen wearing...what they sounded like...the reaction of the crowd...etc...
Cam
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Post by beaner on May 17, 2005 18:10:05 GMT -5
Gosh, that concert was so long ago but I do keep a few things vivid in my mine. I remember getting there and that I couldn't wait till it began. Karen and Richard came on stage and it was great.
From what I can remember about Richard, he sat at the piano most of the time. Karen, I believe, started at the drums. Now and Then had just come out that year and I think they started with the oldies medley. They also performed "Sing" with possibly the same group of children that sing on the song.
I loved watching Karen play the drums but when she came down in front to sing, I was off and running to go down lower to get a closer look and take a picture.
As I walked closer and closer I'm sure my mouth was open the entire time. She wore this flowered jumper type pant suit and was singing Jambalaya. I took three pictures and then just squatted there watching her every move. I looked into her eyes and that's where mine stayed until the ushers came and said I and the others had to move to let other people take pictures, but I was fortunate to be able to stay there for almost the whole song and she seemed to stay at the side of the stage where I was. Her hair had the wave or curl at her shoulders and she held the microphone in that special way like she always did. She was sooooo great!!
The only other thing I remember is after the concert, I waited a while by the underground ramp where they would have to drive out of. I would have stayed there all night just to get to see them but I was only 14 years old and my mother wanted to get going to try and avoid all the traffic.
What a high I was on. I shall always treasure that night for as long as I live.
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Post by cam83 on May 17, 2005 19:39:30 GMT -5
Thanks Beaner, That is sooo awesome!! Lucky you! Thanks for sharing!!
Cam
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Post by Rick Henry on May 17, 2005 22:42:06 GMT -5
Thanks Beaner for sharing your interesting story of the concert. Anyway I'm back to share some of my fond memories. First and foremost has to be "Bless The Beasts And Children". This is the song that caught my attention when it was played for me in early 1972. My best friend at that time (we were both 12 years old) played the record for me. It was the b-side of "Superstar". I remember him pulling the record out of the blue picture sleeve. And he said, "I'm going to play the b-side". He continued to say that he loved the a-side but thought the b-side was better. I fell in love with that song instantly. I remember it sounding sparkling and shimmering. With in the next few months I would come to own all the Carpenters album released at that point. "Love Me For What I Am" - Back in my high school days (being 1975 I was a freshman in a four year school). Anyway back in my high school days I was a curious sort and loved talking with strangers. I remember one day in the library I saw this blonde haired girl wearing thick glasses and awkward looking clothes. I decided to sit across from her and say hi. Of course you can not speak to loudly in the library so voices were kept hushed. I forget her name but remember she had an accent and that she had moved here to California from New Jersey just a year earlier. she had an accent. Somehow I got on to the subject of the Carpenters' recently released "Horizon" album. I mentioned how much I loved the album. She agreed and said it was a great record. I mentioned "Please Mr. Postman". But the song that really got us talking was "Love Me For What I Am". She said she thought that song was the best song on the album. I agreed I told her I really liked Karen's voice on this song. That I thought this was her best recording. I have several more memories to share and I will continue with more probably tomorrow.
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Post by smoothie2 on May 17, 2005 23:09:38 GMT -5
Wow Beaner! What wonderful memories...thanks for telling us about it! I like your memories too Rick..this is a good thread. During the time that Close to You came out on the radio, I wasn't quite even a teen then, but I had my 1st really big crush on a hi sch. guy... He went to the same church I did, and unlike many of the older guys his age, he didn't mind hanging out some with the younger crowd.... he was really friendly like that... Anyway, I'd sometimes wait on my folks to come out of church, but mostly, I'd wait and watch for Joey to come out. So, in my mind, Close to you seem to fit the way I felt about him... blondish hair....(moondust in his hair) blue eyes (golden starlight in his eyes) and yes, every girl in town seemed to follow him wherever he would go... BUT ..I don't think stars fell out of the sky nor birds followed him...ha.. >>>>>> A great friend I had growing up had For All We Know sung at her wedding ...about in '74.
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Post by Moe on May 18, 2005 1:04:28 GMT -5
I remember hearing "Solitaire" on the school bus almost every day to and from school back in 1975. (2nd grade, I think) I remember when our border collie, Lady, died, I didn't cry but went to my room and played the Ticket to Ride album a couple of times. "There's a Kind of Hush" was one of my first 45's, if not the first, I ever bought. We used to be able to take them to school and play them during the first hour. I thought I was pretty hot with my new record! I remember the girl next to me, Sherri, I think, said she didn't like the Carpenters. I should have smacked her a good one! (just kidding!)
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Post by Rick Henry on May 18, 2005 1:30:58 GMT -5
%?? %?? Smoothie and Moe - I enjoyed reading your Carpenters memories. Moe I especially liked what you had to say about thinking you were pretty hot with your new record. I do still have a few more memories coming up. Will add them tomorrow as I'm almost ready to sign off soon. ;D ;D
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Post by cam83 on May 18, 2005 2:55:08 GMT -5
Hi Moe,
I would have SMACKED that girl myself!! How dare she...Well, maybe not physically smacked her...but EMOTIONALLY SMACKED her I would have done...LOL.
Cam
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Post by Rick Henry on May 18, 2005 11:19:47 GMT -5
Okay I do have many many fond memories in connection with Carpenters songs. After the album "A Kind Of Hush" was released in 1976 I was so taken by the song "Boat To Sail". I found this to be such a neat song. I just loved the lyrics and the different somewhat modern sound for the Carpenters. I loved it so much that I remember I was upstairs in my bedroom (I was only sixteen so I still lived at home with mom and dad). I was upstairs in my bedroom and I hollered down to my mom who was downstairs in the kitchen. I told her to listen to thsi song and I blasted "Boat To Sail" pretty loud throughout the house. My mom didn't respond to much but she did say it sounded really good. anyway for me it was just fun playing a Carpenters song that loud in the house. In late 1973 early 1974 my sister and I used to listen to the Singles 1969-1983 on 8-track repeatedly over and over again. I remember we were listening to "Ticket To Ride". And it came to the part where Karen says "the boy that's driving me mad is going away... ohhh..." which is at 2:54 on the CD. I must have perked up when Karen sang that "ohhh" because my sister commented, "oh you like that part". I said, "yeah, she has a neat voice". I still have about another five or six song memories. I will continue to share these.
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Post by cam83 on May 18, 2005 14:06:37 GMT -5
Hey Rick, Yes BOAT TO SAIL is an interesting neat song of the Carpenters. I remember in the Summer of 2000, I had bought the remastered cd's of the Carpenters, and would listen to them over and over again. My roommate, Tannis, was a tall, dark haired individual, who I found out, struggled with eating disorder issues. We would talk about Karen Carpenter but she wasn't too much of a fan. She was so into Mary J. Blige...I was like...WHO? Hadn't really heard of her...anyways, I made Tannis listen to BOAT TO SAIL from A KIND OF HUSH album, and she fell in love with that song...Which is amazing. Tannis learnt it so she could sing along to Karen...and amazingly, she could harmonize so well, and get Karen's inflections down so well, it was eerie. But neat. And sweet. SO anyways, she became a fan of Karen.
The neat thing, is I have met hundreds of people in the last 6 years, because I have lived in TOURIST towns in the Mountains(Rocky) and most of them will say, after knowing me, and us parting, that they think of me, everytime they hear a Carpenters song...and next time we talk, they always tell me that.
Cam
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Post by Rick Henry on May 19, 2005 9:33:27 GMT -5
Here are a few more memories. In late 1978 I was driving Eastbound on Chapman Avenue which leads up into the elite area of the Orange hills in Orange County California. I was up there at around 9 p.m. in the hills driving toward a friends house when all of a sudden this pretty song came on the radio and then Karen's voice. It was unmistakable Karen. A sudden rush came over me. It was a brand new song. I didn't even know the Carpenters had a new release out. This one came out of the blue. It was "I Believe You".The very next morning I went to my local record store and it was there the new Carpenters single. I of course bought it. That was the first and only time I heard IBY on the radio. From 1982 to 1984 I lived with three roommates. We were in a two story house. During the summer of 1983 we all decdied to go to the beach. We went to Newport Beach. Newport Beach was my hang out few years earlier during high school. Anyway since I was the one with all the records I was in charge of music for the day. I made a compilation tape fro the group. It had favorites like Blondie, Led Zeppelin, Lene Lovich, Anthony Moore, Beatles, War and of course Carpenters. This was just right after Karen's passing. I put "B'wana She No Home" on the cassette. After the song was over one of the roommates (Paula) said, "Go Karen, that is an awesome song!". she really liked the riveting jazz progressions and upbeat and authorative tempo of the song. After that we all went to Perry's Pizza for lunch.
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Post by Rick Henry on May 20, 2005 11:11:08 GMT -5
Back again with more fond memories... It had to have been in 1989. I was going out with a group of friends to a country music dance club. I myself don't know how to do any of those dances but it sounded like fun so I went with my friends. I remember when we walked in they were playing "Islands In The Sream" by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton. I really enjoyed the music. Then about a hour or so after we got there they played "Those Good Old Dreams". I just about feel off my stool. I had never heard a Carpenters song before in a night club. this was a first. Right as the song came on the people flocked to the dance floor and the floor was packed. People really seemed to enjoy this song tremendously. I didn't dance (of course I didn't dance once that night) but needless to say I was in country music heaven. Just after the release of "Horizon" in 1975 the same friend who played "Bless The Beasts And Children" for me. Played "Horizon" for me. I had it on 8-track tape at that point and didn't have the lyrics. Same with my friend. I remember when we got to the wonderful song (I'm Caught Between) Goodbye And I Love You". At the part where Karen sings "falling both ways nowhere to land". My friend commented that's an interesting lyric the way she says "falling boys with nowhere to land". After that for the next two months or so that's what I thought the lyric was until I bought the actual vinyl album with the lyrics. more memories to come...
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Post by Rick Henry on May 27, 2005 11:47:54 GMT -5
%?? $% %?? It must have been sometime in 1972. Possibly late 1972. We (my family) had the Carpenters' "Close To You" album on 8-track. It soon became known as my 8-track because I played it so much. Anyway my sister and I would sing along with this one regularly holding whatever we could to use as a fake microphone. I used a shoe once. We just started cracking up over that one. One time we were singing along to "We've Only Just Begun". The song really hit me. I thought wow this is a great song. I really enjoyed the certain pulse of energy in this beautiful song. ***** Back in the 70's I used to visit a music store in the Orange Mall called Pedrini's. They had a full selection of music books and sheet music for individual songs. Of course I would always check out the Carpenters books. There were several at that point in time. I bought a few of them. Somehow most of them have been lost or misplaced. Although I still have the "Horizon" music book. I would always check out the individual song sheet music. They had every single Carpenters hit available in sheet music. I wish I would have bought these as some of them had pictures that I haven't seen since. I remember one time seeing sheet music for the song "You" from the album "A Kind Of Hush". I was so excited about this because I loved the song so much and thought it would make a great single. Unfortunately they never did release it as a single. But the song was still popular enough that they released the sheet music. A few more memories left to come...
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Post by beaner on May 27, 2005 13:24:15 GMT -5
I can remember when I joined the fan club and waited until the next newsletter arrived. Being so young, I loved getting mail. A few years later when I turned 16 and had my first job I was even more excited because I was now able to buy souveniers from the fan club with my own money. My life was so filled with the Carpenters. I would have so much fun filling my bedroom with momentos and memorabilia all around. It was also exciting to not just receive item I ordered but to receive a personal note from Ev or Rosina. I enjoyed that very much.
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Post by smoothie2 on May 27, 2005 23:29:08 GMT -5
I remember hearing "Solitaire" on the school bus almost every day to and from school back in 1975. (2nd grade, I think) I remember when our border collie, Lady, died, I didn't cry but went to my room and played the Ticket to Ride album a couple of times. "There's a Kind of Hush" was one of my first 45's, if not the first, I ever bought. We used to be able to take them to school and play them during the first hour. I thought I was pretty hot with my new record! I remember the girl next to me, Sherri, I think, said she didn't like the Carpenters. I should have smacked her a good one! (just kidding!) Felt I just had to say that I also recall that it was a special deal for me to take my suitcase type record player (which I got as a gift) to school when I was in Jr. hi and take records and friends would also bring some and we played them during the lunch hour. At that point, I only had the LP Close to you, and it was so special I didn't want to take it to school ...afraid I'd break it....Anyway, for some reason, I never owned one of the C's singles, although I had and still do, several singles by other folks. In any case, I recall one of my friends while we were riding on the bus after school, she had a little radio, and "Please Mr. Postman" played....and we both commented how much we loved that one. It was so upbeat. I lived 12 mi. out in the country, so it was a long bus ride home.
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Post by smoothie2 on May 27, 2005 23:40:22 GMT -5
Back again with more fond memories... It had to have been in 1989. I was going out with a group of friends to a country music dance club. I myself don't know how to do any of those dances but it sounded like fun so I went with my friends. I remember when we walked in they were playing "Islands In The Sream" by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton. I really enjoyed the music. Then about a hour or so after we got there they played "Those Good Old Dreams". I just about feel off my stool. I had never heard a Carpenters song before in a night club. this was a first. Right as the song came on the people flocked to the dance floor and the floor was packed. People really seemed to enjoy this song tremendously. I didn't dance (of course I didn't dance once that night) but needless to say I was in country music heaven. Just after the release of "Horizon" in 1975 the same friend who played "Bless The Beasts And Children" for me. Played "Horizon" for me. I had it on 8-track tape at that point and didn't have the lyrics. Same with my friend. I remember when we got to the wonderful song (I'm Caught Between) Goodbye And I Love You". At the part where Karen sings "falling both ways nowhere to land". My friend commented that's an interesting lyric the way she says "falling boys with nowhere to land". After that for the next two months or so that's what I thought the lyric was until I bought the actual vinyl album with the lyrics. more memories to come... Ha...Rick...that's cute about the lyrics thing. There's a church song (kid's song really) called His Banner Over Us is Love'... the lyrics are: >>>>"He invites us in to His BANQUET TABLE and His banner over us is love..." >>>My nephew when he was about 6 thot everyone was saying "He invites in to His BAKED POTATO"... ha...(ok...sorry that's not a Carps. song , but I gotta kick out of it.
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