Louis Johnson...

[Rick Henry]

I have some really good news to share...

I am now in the process of interviewing Louis Johnson. He's the guy who provided the funk-filled jazz bass guitar on Karen's solo album.

Louis Johnson is half of that popular A&M sibling duo called Brother's Johnson. They had a few huge hits in the 70's and 80's; including "I'll Be Good To you", "Strawberry Letter 23" and "Stomp!".

Louis has worked quite a bit with Rod Temperton (Temperton was a major contributor to Karen's album). Louis is Temperton have also worked on Michael Jackson's "Thriller" and "Off The Wall" albums as well as Quincy Jones' "The dude" album.

Louis has also been associated in works with Bob James (Bob James created several of the orchestrations and arrangements for Karen's album).

This is really exciting as soon we will have yet another angle and viewpoint from an actual person who was there working on Karen's excellent solo album.

The Louis Johnson interview should be completed within about one week. But this interview will remain in my vault for a big project I am working on with a partner. Though, I will share bits and pieces of the interview.

To date I have interviewed:

Russell Javors (Karen solo)
Liberty DeVitto (Karen solo)
Rob Mounsey (Karen solo)
Steve Eaton
Randy Sparks
Dee Long (Klaatu)
Palma Pascale
Chris Christian
Randy Schmidt

All these interviews are currently waiting in my vault for work on a project which hopefully will see the light of day in the next few months.

[wisejester7]

Good catch, Rick. And good luck with your project!! I hope to be able to 'read' it soon.

[enigma]

Yes Rick iit would be nice to be able to acess these interviews at some point at our own leasure and perhaps have them somewhere permanently on this forum or somewhere else we can link to.Anyhow this latest interview should be interesting I always like to get viewpoints on what really went on when Karens solo record was being made. Look forward to reading it when you post it Rick

[YesterdayOnceMore]

Good news, Rick. Thanks for sharing with us. This ought to be interesting. You do great interviews, as we know.

Thanks for letting us know about it.
Tim

[Rick Henry]

Hello all...

Here's an update on the Louis Johnson interview...

Louis is a really interesting man. He has a lot to say, but he says it short but very informative pieces. He is intense in his thoughts in a very down to earth way.

My interview with him is happening different form the others as it's happening in short pieces at a time. The others all happened pretty much in one or two emails (well with the exception of Palma Pascale). So, right now I am in the process of emailing back and forth with him and pretty much asking him one or two questions at a time. I originally came up with 25 questions, but the interview has completely taken a different direction and I am coming up with questions as we go along.

I will share some of what he's had to say in this interview. He's made a very interesting comparison between Karen Carpenter and Bjork.

I have decided that once I am finished with the Louis Johnson interview I am going to put together a "highlights" of all the Rick Henry Carpenters/Karen Carpenter interviews exclusively for the internet. The interviews in their entirety will remain in my vaults for the special project coming up (hopefully) by the beginning of 2009.

Louis Johnson giving bass guitar lesson: Click Here

Louis Johnson in a television interview: Click Here

Louis Johnson going crazy on the bass guitar: Click Here

Brothers Johnson playing their huge hit "Stomp": Click Here
Louis is in the red t-shirt. this song was recorded at the same time as Karen's solo album was being recorded.

[Rick Henry]

Jun 20, 2008 21:41:54 GMT -5 Rick Henry said:

Hello all...

Here's an update on the Louis Johnson interview...

Louis is a really interesting man. He has a lot to say, but he says it short but very informative pieces. He is intense in his thoughts in a very down to earth way.

My interview with him is happening different form the others as it's happening in short pieces at a time. The others all happened pretty much in one or two emails (well with the exception of Palma Pascale). So, right now I am in the process of emailing back and forth with him and pretty much asking him one or two questions at a time. I originally came up with 25 questions, but the interview has completely taken a different direction and I am coming up with questions as we go along.

I will share some of what he's had to say in this interview. He's made a very interesting comparison between Karen Carpenter and Bjork.

I have decided that once I am finished with the Louis Johnson interview I am going to put together a "highlights" of all the Rick Henry Carpenters/Karen Carpenter interviews exclusively for the internet. The interviews in their entirety will remain in my vaults for the special project coming up (hopefully) by the beginning of 2009.

Louis Johnson giving bass guitar lesson: Click Here

Louis Johnson in a television interview: Click Here

Louis Johnson going crazy on the bass guitar: Click Here

Brothers Johnson playing their huge hit "Stomp": Click Here
Louis is in the red t-shirt. this song was recorded at the same time as Karen's solo album was being recorded.

Earlier this morning I logged into my email box to find two new emails from Louis Johnson. This time he touched on some of the racial tensions which still existed in the 70's. I found this quite interesting. He mentioned that Karen was very open and affirming to all people no matter the color of your skin. We emailed back and forth a bit to discover that both Louis and I feel that all people are equal and worthy regardless of race or any other aspect of the persons overall make up.

[carpentersgermany]

Jun 21, 2008 14:27:06 GMT -5 Rick Henry said:

Jun 20, 2008 21:41:54 GMT -5 Rick Henry said:

Hello all...

Here's an update on the Louis Johnson interview...

Louis is a really interesting man. He has a lot to say, but he says it short but very informative pieces. He is intense in his thoughts in a very down to earth way.

My interview with him is happening different form the others as it's happening in short pieces at a time. The others all happened pretty much in one or two emails (well with the exception of Palma Pascale). So, right now I am in the process of emailing back and forth with him and pretty much asking him one or two questions at a time. I originally came up with 25 questions, but the interview has completely taken a different direction and I am coming up with questions as we go along.

I will share some of what he's had to say in this interview. He's made a very interesting comparison between Karen Carpenter and Bjork.

I have decided that once I am finished with the Louis Johnson interview I am going to put together a "highlights" of all the Rick Henry Carpenters/Karen Carpenter interviews exclusively for the internet. The interviews in their entirety will remain in my vaults for the special project coming up (hopefully) by the beginning of 2009.

Louis Johnson giving bass guitar lesson: Click Here

Louis Johnson in a television interview: Click Here

Louis Johnson going crazy on the bass guitar: Click Here

Brothers Johnson playing their huge hit "Stomp": Click Here
Louis is in the red t-shirt. this song was recorded at the same time as Karen's solo album was being recorded.

Earlier this morning I logged into my email box to find two new emails from Louis Johnson. This time he touched on some of the racial tensions which still existed in the 70's. I found this quite interesting. He mentioned that Karen was very open and affirming to all people no matter the color of your skin. We emailed back and forth a bit to discover that both Louis and I feel that all people are equal and worthy regardless of race or any other aspect of the persons overall make up.

Thank you for sharing these information! I think the interview and the special project you're talking about are very exciting. I'm looking forward to hear more.. Especially about the Karen Carpenter - Bjork - Comparison!!

It's so great to read that Karen was open to all people.. Anything else would have been a big surprise for me (not only for me I guess), but it's cool to get the affirmation of someone who knew Karen.
Concerning the last sentence of you, Rick, please read my post on the "Different Light" section!

[goodjeans]

I can't wait to read this interview.

[BethMosior]

coooooooool thanx for the info

[Rick Henry]

Hey all... thanks for the good response on this new work.

I still have a few questions to ask Louis Johnson (he calls me sir in all our emails).

After I'm done with his interview I will be putting together some of all the interviews I've done to share with everyone on the internet.

[smoothie2]

Just superb! I haven't read or listened through all you've posted so far, but sounds like a great project (s)
in the works. To be able to connect with someone who worked with Karen is just fantastic!

[Rick Henry]

Jul 1, 2008 22:47:36 GMT -5 smoothie2 said:

Just superb! I haven't read or listened through all you've posted so far, but sounds like a great project (s)
in the works. To be able to connect with someone who worked with Karen is just fantastic!

Louis Johnson is a very interesting man. I have all the parts of his interview now... I just need to take the time to put it all together.

Since, I've met Louis I have really enjoyed a renewed interest in the music of the Brother's Johnson, especially "Strawberry Letter 23". I'm a big fan of funk/soul/R&B music. I guess that's why I love Karen's solo album so much because she put elements of funk into her brand of jazz/pop music.