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Post by Rick Henry on Jan 3, 2008 21:54:26 GMT -5
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Post by beaner on Jan 5, 2008 7:04:02 GMT -5
Personally, I don't have anyone that didn't like the Carpenters and now do but I do have a co-worker that didn't listen to them much at all. Since, I've been bringing in burned cds with songs I think she and her husband (she sings and he plays piano) would like to do and they now do at least 3 Carpenters songs because she likes it.
Maybe small, but I do think she likes them a bit more now.
Beaner
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Post by Rick Henry on Jan 5, 2008 11:18:10 GMT -5
 I have a friend (I spoken about on this forum before... I've called him Yaleman... as his great great grandfather (not sure of how many greats are in there) is Elihu Yale... a founder of Yale University). Anyway Yaleman absolutely abhorred Carpenters... he called them absolutely annoying. I had been friends with him for about three years when I finally found this out. We were riding along in my car and the song "Sing" came on the radio and I mentioned how much I loved Karen's voice. That's when he commented how much he was annoyed by her voice. He also mentioned that he thought "Sing" was one of the worst songs ever made. In my mind I thought I am going to introduce him to some songs that will change his mind (as I knew and realized that "Sing" is not necessarily the song to use to win a person over to Carpenters). A few weeks later I made a CD with various songs on it from different albums and different styles. The disc started out with "Look To your Dreams" - again not the right song to win this listener over... even I had to agree the song was way too mushy... he refused to listen to Carpenters. So, I advanced to the next song "B'wana She No Home" right from the opening line his ears perked up. He really liked the strong bass and rhythm tracks and really liked Karen's voice. He commented that if he had to listen to Carpenters that this one was not too bad of a song. I played "Sailing On The Tide" for him... he rejected it instantly... well what can we say "Sailing On The Tide" is an outtake... so it really isn't one of Carpenters' better efforts. Then came "Only Yesterday"... he said he completely forgot about this song and asked me to turn the volume up... he said he really likes "Only Yesterday". I also played "Please Mr. Postman" this was another he asked to turn up the volume. "Sweet Sweet Smile" was another that surprised him and he really liked it. I played "I Have You" but that was instantly rejected as he said too too much fluff... I had to agree. He really enjoyed "Road Ode" commenting that it was a very powerful song... same with "Solitaire" he mentioned that it was a heavy song and really liked it. He was blown away by "Desperado" saying that wow he never realized what a powerful singer Karen was. I played "Now" and he said "weak"... I agreed knowing that it really isn't one of Karen's strongest vocals. I played "Boat To Sail" and he commented on the layered sound and that it really sounded great. I finished with "Aurora" and he loved that one. After I played an entire disc of songs he either had never heard or had forgot about he mentioned that Carpenters aren't all that bad and he said he really liked "Road Ode", "Please Mr. Postman" and "Only Yesterday". But he asked me not to ever play that "shalalalala" song (which would be "Yesterday Once More") or "Sing" again... I guess he'll never like "Sing" or "Yesterday Once More"... and I can understand why... "la, la, la, la, la, la, la,la... So Yaleman isn't ever going to go out and buy a Carpenters disc... but now he at least speaks favorable of Carpenters and he also thinks Karen's solo album is pretty good... but does not like either of Richard's solo albums... oh well Karen was the voice. |
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Post by GoodOldDreams on Jan 5, 2008 15:25:52 GMT -5
A "friend of a friend" of mine was somewhat familiar with some of the Carpenters' hits on the radio during their heydays, but never seemed to express a strong interest in their music until fairly recently when he watched the PBS documentary "Close to You: Remembering the Carpenters" and apparently was moved by their life stories and music upon closer scrutiny. He bought what he thought was a recording of the Carpenters' greatest hits from a second-hand store, but was disappointed when it proved to be otherwise. (Not knowing exactly what he bought, I think it was most likely the "If I were a Carpenter" CD or some other tribute recording.) He learned through our mutual friend that I am big fan of Carpenters' music, and asked if I would do the favor of getting a recording of their "greatest hits" for him.
I explained to him that while there are compilations of their singles floating around out there, I would not necessarily equate them with their "greatest hits" for me personally, as there are so much more in their repertoire of songs beyond those. I asked him what are some of his favorites as a basis of making customized recommendations of songs for him to hear, and he mentioned in particular "Rainy Days and Mondays." From this and my own perceptions of his affinity for more sophisticated music and lyrics, I selected from a good cross-section of their songs from the reflective "Rainy Days and Mondays", "Ordinary Fool" and "Crescent Noon" to the sparingly beautiful "Make Believe It's Your First time" (Karen's solo version) and "One More Time" to the hopeful "We've Only Just Begun" and "Those Good Old Dreams" to the jazzy "This Masquerade" and "B'wana She No Home" to the surprising "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" and "If I Had You" to the cheery as well as the more wistful selections from their Christmas albums, essentially well over 40 songs in all. He was amazed by how much I know about the Carpenters and, as I had hoped, this all became a big "hit" for him. I am glad to have been instrumental in expanding his awareness and appreciation of Carpenters' music.
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Post by Rick Henry on Jan 6, 2008 21:57:54 GMT -5
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