Let's talk about Carpenters' Studio Musicians

[YesterdayOnceMore]

;D ;D

Okay, who can tell me which song(s) the great, unmatchable "percussionist" Paulinho da Costa played with Karen and Richard on? Was there one? More than one? Who else has Paulinho worked with? Who is he working with currently, and, though not exclusively, he does a lot of work with this particular artist.

;D ;D

[wisejester7]

Do you know how EXTENSIVE his work is??
There is sooo much work and oh so many artists and albums Paulinho was involved with.

Here is a link to the list for his album credits (the artist list is loooong):
www.paulinho.com/albums.htm

As for the Carpenters, here are a few of the songs Paulinho participated in:

From "Lovelines" - Kiss Me The Way You Did Last Night

From "Made In America" - Those Good Old Dreams, Strength Of A Woman, (Want You) Back In My Life Again, When You've Got What It Takes, Touch Me When We're Dancing

From "Voice Of The Heart" -





Please Mr. Postman ?? (I think ... still checking)

[YesterdayOnceMore]

;D ;D

I counted 321 artists! Man, I had no idea this guy was THAT popular, but knew he was one of the best.

Excellent sleuthing Wj7! Yes, you've nailed the tunes I know about.....he's an amazing man, truly. Talk about a tastful player....wow.

I have never compiled a list of all of the studio players who worked with the Carpenters. I think this might be an interesting exercise, if we can find them.

;D ;D

[Rick Henry]

Great topic...

da Costa came in for the Carpenters' last studio album "Made In America". Other than that he wasn't on any of their other works (with the exception of "kiss me..." which was an outtake for MIA).

I believe all the percussion on "Please Mr. Postman" was done by Karen - and of course arranged by Richard.

One of my favorite Carpenters related percussionists is Ralph McDonald who provided some of the amazing percussion work on Karen's solo album. McDonald also has quite an impressive list of credits. As with da Costa, Ralph McDonald is one of the most popular session percussionists in the music industry featured primarily on jazz recordings.

MacDonald had his own semi-hit in 1984 called "In The Name Of Love" which peaked at #58 and featured Bill Withers doing the lead vocal. Ralph macDonald did extensive work for Roberta Flack throughout the 70's and early 80's.

In the earlier Carpenters recordings I believe most of the percussion work was done by Karen Carpenter, Hal Blaine and Cubby O'Brien

[wisejester7]

I have yet to find any supporting evidence on Please Mr. Postman. : ( ............. so maybe that is not one of Paulinho's works.

[Rick Henry]

admin said:

Great topic...

da Costa came in for the Carpenters' last studio album "Made In America". Other than that he wasn't on any of their other works (with the exception of "kiss me..." which was an outtake for MIA).

I believe all the percussion on "Please Mr. Postman" was done by Karen - and of course arranged by Richard.

One of my favorite Carpenters related percussionists is Ralph McDonald who provided some of the amazing percussion work on Karen's solo album. McDonald also has quite an impressive list of credits. As with da Costa, Ralph McDonald is one of the most popular session percussionists in the music industry featured primarily on jazz recordings.

MacDonald had his own semi-hit in 1984 called "In The Name Of Love" which peaked at #58 and featured Bill Withers doing the lead vocal. Ralph macDonald did extensive work for Roberta Flack throughout the 70's and early 80's.

In the earlier Carpenters recordings I believe most of the percussion work was done by Karen Carpenter, Hal Blaine and Cubby O'Brien

All percussive and drum work on "Please Mr. Postman" was done by Karen. da Costa worked on only one Carpenters album which was "Made In America" and Ralph MacDonald worked only on Karen's solo album.

The album "Passage" feautred several different musicians on each track - this album must have featured the largest amount of musicans than any other Carpenters album.

I will come back with some of the names on "Passage" - and some of their backgrounds.