Post by cam83 on Oct 30, 2003 1:12:55 GMT -5
Their music could be described as wonderful, but I prefer the word MAGICAL...their style of music has never been imitated, although many have tried, but failed...her voice, some say was one ina million, but I prefer to say, One in a Trillion!!! Creamy- voiced, crystalline, honey, dulcet, limpid, easy, crystal-voiced, smooth, soft, clear are all the words used to describe her voice...the best female alto and contralto in the world...There has never been another voice like hers since on February 4th, 1983 the music world lost the best female vocalist of her time...and it seems, we have never fully recovered. How could a voice like hers be replaced? She sang songs of love...needing to be in love...and saying goodbye to love. She carried a generation thru a turbulent time during the 1970's with her heaven sent voice, truly the voice of an angel.
Along with her very gifted and talented brother Richard Carpenter, who knew how to bring the very best out of her voice and let it have center stage in a song. Richard had an exceptional track record with choosing the right songs for her voice...songs like SUPERSTAR, SING, HURTING EACH OTHER, THERE'S A KIND OF HUSH, and PLEASE MR. POSTMAN become more known by the Carpenters then by the origional artists themselves...and this is something to be thankful for...what a gift they had! In addition, he also wrote many signature Carpenters' tunes like I NEED TO BE IN LOVE, GOODBYE TO LOVE, MAYBE IT'S YOU, YESTERDAY ONCE MORE and TOP OF THE WORLD among others...He is the mastermind behind the Carpenters sound, but then again, Karen also contributed greatly to the Carpenters' success.
Besides having a heavenly voice, she played drums and since her days, many female drummers grew in abundance due to the success of Karen Carpenter...Karen also played bass guitar on a few of the early recordings...and Karen is named on many albums and singles ASSOCIATE PRODUCER with Richard who is PRODUCER. They were definately a team, joining their lush harmonies together...and surprising to many, is that all the voices on many of their albums is just Karen and Richard overdubbing...I'LL NEVER FALL IN LOVE AGAIN on their 1970 breakthrough album features a 39 voice choir, which is Rich and Karen and it sounds so unique...a fresh new sound.
They were stunningly successful, for it seemed that anything that they touched turned to gold and platinum, winnning awards, sold-out tours, highly rated television specials, and millions of fans the world over...especially in Japan, U.K and of course, the U.S. As time has passed, Karen Carpenter has somewaht become something of a legend. The girl from Downey, became a superstar, but she still remained as down to earth...unaffected by fame and fortune, and kept her girl next door status. Her contemporaries regarded her as a wonderful singer...among them...Barbra Streisand, Perry Como, Bette Midler, Burt Bacharach, Barry Manilow, Dionne Warwick, Elvis Presley, Petula Clark, Phoebe Snow, Olivia Newton-John, the Beatles...and others...as well as nowadays...artists like Shania Twain, Sandi Patty, Jann Arden, Reba McEntire, Mandy Moore, Carnie Wilson(of Wilson Phillips), Candi(of Candi and the Backbeat), Sonic Youth, Sheryl Crow, k.d. Lang, Madonna, Matthew Sweet all regard her as an extremely gifted, talented singer and drummer.
Sadly though, part of Karen's appeal lay in the fact that with her long struggle with anorexia nervosa, she was a human woman who had human frailties just like the rest of us...and had the ability to be vulnerable in such an insecure world. She too, wanted to be loved and accepted. Although she was a millionairess, and had a loyal following, she needed more...she needed to be loved, to give herself to someone wholly and fully. Maybe the fact that thru the sadness she felt it was able to come thru in her music which gave her some credibility...she was suffering and so we could definately relate.
When she died so suddenly at the age of 32 on February 4th, 1983, the entire world were able to connect the words ANOREXIA NERVOSA to the name KAREN CARPENTER. Suddenly this bizarre disease had a name to go along with it. This unknown eating disorder now became well known, but people were shocked at why would a person starve themselves to death? Who in their right mind could or would do that to themselves? Thru her demise, the word ANOREXIA let the world know that anorexia was not just some fad diet, but that it was a very dangerous and lethel diet. More importantly, thru her death, she saved thousands and thousands of lives.
The television movie on the CBS network on January 1, 1989 titled THE KAREN CARPENTER STORY proved that their was a lot of fascination with the music of the Carpenters but also with the details surrounding Karen's tragic death in 1983...as a result, this movie hit the top of the Neilson Ratings and became the 2nd most watched Television Movie of the Year...it was able to show people the seriousness of bulimia and anorexia...it was reported that the actress Tracey Gold of the hit tv sitcom GROWING PAINS suffered from anorexia and in an effort to help her conquer anorexia, her parents made her watch the movie about Karen Carpenter...Tracey Gold is now winning her fight with anorexia...she is the happy mother of 2 children...sadly, Karen did not get her wish of having children...
What a gift she had though...a marvelous, fantastical, magical, musical legacy she gave us...filling our hearts and lives with such an honest, unfailingly pure, silky voice. When she sang, everyone stopped to hear this voice of an angel, who sang from the heart...SOLITAIRE, RAINY DAYS AND MONDAYS, SUPERSTAR, TOP OF THE WORLD, TICKET TO RIDE, I WON'T LAST A DAY WITHOUT YOU, ONLY YESTERDAY, CLOSE TO YOU, HURTING EACH OTHER, JAMBALAYA, SING, YESTERDAY ONCE MORE, FOR ALL WE KNOW, TOUCH ME WHEN WE'RE DANCING, IT'S GOING TO TAKE SOME TIME, GOODBYE TO LOVE, WE'VE ONLY JUST BEGUN... these are some songs of theirs that made it huge on the Pop Charts, but also that are now immortalized in the category of standards...such gems of songs..."We've only just begun to live...white lace and promises, a kiss for luck and we're on our way...and yes, we've just begun..."
Along with her very gifted and talented brother Richard Carpenter, who knew how to bring the very best out of her voice and let it have center stage in a song. Richard had an exceptional track record with choosing the right songs for her voice...songs like SUPERSTAR, SING, HURTING EACH OTHER, THERE'S A KIND OF HUSH, and PLEASE MR. POSTMAN become more known by the Carpenters then by the origional artists themselves...and this is something to be thankful for...what a gift they had! In addition, he also wrote many signature Carpenters' tunes like I NEED TO BE IN LOVE, GOODBYE TO LOVE, MAYBE IT'S YOU, YESTERDAY ONCE MORE and TOP OF THE WORLD among others...He is the mastermind behind the Carpenters sound, but then again, Karen also contributed greatly to the Carpenters' success.
Besides having a heavenly voice, she played drums and since her days, many female drummers grew in abundance due to the success of Karen Carpenter...Karen also played bass guitar on a few of the early recordings...and Karen is named on many albums and singles ASSOCIATE PRODUCER with Richard who is PRODUCER. They were definately a team, joining their lush harmonies together...and surprising to many, is that all the voices on many of their albums is just Karen and Richard overdubbing...I'LL NEVER FALL IN LOVE AGAIN on their 1970 breakthrough album features a 39 voice choir, which is Rich and Karen and it sounds so unique...a fresh new sound.
They were stunningly successful, for it seemed that anything that they touched turned to gold and platinum, winnning awards, sold-out tours, highly rated television specials, and millions of fans the world over...especially in Japan, U.K and of course, the U.S. As time has passed, Karen Carpenter has somewaht become something of a legend. The girl from Downey, became a superstar, but she still remained as down to earth...unaffected by fame and fortune, and kept her girl next door status. Her contemporaries regarded her as a wonderful singer...among them...Barbra Streisand, Perry Como, Bette Midler, Burt Bacharach, Barry Manilow, Dionne Warwick, Elvis Presley, Petula Clark, Phoebe Snow, Olivia Newton-John, the Beatles...and others...as well as nowadays...artists like Shania Twain, Sandi Patty, Jann Arden, Reba McEntire, Mandy Moore, Carnie Wilson(of Wilson Phillips), Candi(of Candi and the Backbeat), Sonic Youth, Sheryl Crow, k.d. Lang, Madonna, Matthew Sweet all regard her as an extremely gifted, talented singer and drummer.
Sadly though, part of Karen's appeal lay in the fact that with her long struggle with anorexia nervosa, she was a human woman who had human frailties just like the rest of us...and had the ability to be vulnerable in such an insecure world. She too, wanted to be loved and accepted. Although she was a millionairess, and had a loyal following, she needed more...she needed to be loved, to give herself to someone wholly and fully. Maybe the fact that thru the sadness she felt it was able to come thru in her music which gave her some credibility...she was suffering and so we could definately relate.
When she died so suddenly at the age of 32 on February 4th, 1983, the entire world were able to connect the words ANOREXIA NERVOSA to the name KAREN CARPENTER. Suddenly this bizarre disease had a name to go along with it. This unknown eating disorder now became well known, but people were shocked at why would a person starve themselves to death? Who in their right mind could or would do that to themselves? Thru her demise, the word ANOREXIA let the world know that anorexia was not just some fad diet, but that it was a very dangerous and lethel diet. More importantly, thru her death, she saved thousands and thousands of lives.
The television movie on the CBS network on January 1, 1989 titled THE KAREN CARPENTER STORY proved that their was a lot of fascination with the music of the Carpenters but also with the details surrounding Karen's tragic death in 1983...as a result, this movie hit the top of the Neilson Ratings and became the 2nd most watched Television Movie of the Year...it was able to show people the seriousness of bulimia and anorexia...it was reported that the actress Tracey Gold of the hit tv sitcom GROWING PAINS suffered from anorexia and in an effort to help her conquer anorexia, her parents made her watch the movie about Karen Carpenter...Tracey Gold is now winning her fight with anorexia...she is the happy mother of 2 children...sadly, Karen did not get her wish of having children...
What a gift she had though...a marvelous, fantastical, magical, musical legacy she gave us...filling our hearts and lives with such an honest, unfailingly pure, silky voice. When she sang, everyone stopped to hear this voice of an angel, who sang from the heart...SOLITAIRE, RAINY DAYS AND MONDAYS, SUPERSTAR, TOP OF THE WORLD, TICKET TO RIDE, I WON'T LAST A DAY WITHOUT YOU, ONLY YESTERDAY, CLOSE TO YOU, HURTING EACH OTHER, JAMBALAYA, SING, YESTERDAY ONCE MORE, FOR ALL WE KNOW, TOUCH ME WHEN WE'RE DANCING, IT'S GOING TO TAKE SOME TIME, GOODBYE TO LOVE, WE'VE ONLY JUST BEGUN... these are some songs of theirs that made it huge on the Pop Charts, but also that are now immortalized in the category of standards...such gems of songs..."We've only just begun to live...white lace and promises, a kiss for luck and we're on our way...and yes, we've just begun..."