What Song Would You Have Liked Karen To Record?

[JIM]

!@ Hey Cam, I know the song you
are talking about and will have to
look up the specs but I can hear
Karen singing it and the lyric
I've been to paradise but I've never been to me, almost reflect
Karens life, she had fame and fortune but never really been to
Karen. Pracilla is a great movie.
I always think of the Carpenters
when I hear Abba. I bought three
70's CD's at Target and I heard
MY Eyes Adored You for the first
time in decades. Of course I thought the Carpenters would have
done it better but I feel this way
about most all recordings.

Jim

[Rick Henry]

cam83 said:

Hi,
I was listening to this beautiful song sung by Charlene(don't know her last name yet) but the song is called I'VE NEVER BEEN TO ME...from the movie PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT. It's a beautiful song...I can just hear Karen singing this song. The girl that is singing, has some slight phrasings that remind me of Karen.

Cameron

Hi Cam! Charlene's last name is Duncan. But she just went by the name of Charlene. I have her first album which contains the hit "I've Never Been to Me" (which yes is very Karenesque - I will touch on this further). The album is named "Songs Of Love" and was released in 1976. There were two other songs that were pretty good "It Ain't Easy Coming Down" and "Freddie". "Freddie" was a dedication to late Freddie Prinze.

On the subject of Karenesque. In the mid to late 70's Karen Carpenter was one of the vocalists that many other female vocalists were judged by. So many were compared to Karen Carpenter such Anne Murray, Olivia newton-John, Charlene, Mary MacGregor and a host of others. All fine vocalists in their own right but of course not anywhere close to the quality and depth of Karen's voice. Karen truly did stand above the pack.

[Rick Henry]

JIM said:

I bought three
70's CD's at Target and I heard
MY Eyes Adored You for the first
time in decades. Of course I thought the Carpenters would have
done it better but I feel this way
about most all recordings.

Jim

You are so right about "My eyes Adored You". Frankie Valli did a great job with the song. But wow Karen could have really done a fantastic job with it.

I would have liked to hear Karen do Kiki Dee's parts with Elton John in "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" - now that would have been good lighthearted fun.
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[enigma]

I don't know if this was already mentioned but I feel Karen would have done a good job on the "My Heart Will Go On" song from the Titanic movie. I remember hearing that the producers had to continually get Celine to not belt out this song and I got to thinking Karen could easily give this song the soft romantic touch that it needed and I would loved to have heard Karen record it. Celine did finally get it right in the end and her version is very beautiful but I think Karen was the master at putting so much emotion into a song she would be a shoe in to put some extra chill factor on this song. It would be perfect for Karen. Sorry about the rambling.

&^ *%

[BethMosior]

Thinking of Movies, a song from " West Side Story" it would have been great to hear Karen sing, ' There's A Place For Us' WOW just thinking of Karen singing that song give's me that CHILL factor

[Rick Henry]

$? $?

I'm always thinking of songs Karen could have recorded for her solo album. Anyway seeing that she wanted to be upbeat and have fun with her solo. I think she would have been great singing Billy Joel's "It's Still Rock and Roll To Me". This song would have fit in quite well with "Still In Love with You" and "Making Love In The Afternoon". And would have been even more interesting since Billy Joel's band would be playing on it.

[cam83]

Another good song she could have done is MAKE LOVE TO ME by HELEN REDDY. I always thought that would have been a neat song for her to have recorded for her solo album.


Cam

[Rick Henry]

cam83 said:

Another good song she could have done is MAKE LOVE TO ME by HELEN REDDY. I always thought that would have been a neat song for her to have recorded for her solo album.


Cam

Good choice Cam! Yes, Karen could have done a bang up job of this song. Karen has the perfect voice for it. I love this song it's one of my favorites by Helen Reddy.

[enigma]

One song I would have loved to hear Karen do perhaps for a future solo record is Elton Johns I'm Still Standing. It would be a perfect theme song for Karen having survived Anorexia, Career ups and downs and several relationships. In also imagine what Karen could do for the background vocals on the records the original background vocals are good but I think Karen and Richard or just Karen could do so much more with these vocals and the song as a whole.

&^ *%

[JIM]

!@ Hi all!
Enigma had mentioned
a few more upbeat songs and one
that came to mind was The Doobie
Brothers What A Fool Believes. Its
a great song when it comes to vocal
harmonies which the Carpenters as
far as groups go took vocal harmonies to a level of excellence
that can never be reproduced. A
slow song that I like by the Letterman is Memories which is a
great vocal centered recording when
it comes to Harmonies.

Jim

[JIM]

Since Olivia and Karen were
friends Hoplessly Devoted would
have made a great tribute song on
MIA. I am so glad that Beechwood
45789 was included om MIA its a
great pick me up song. The video
is a bit odd but still fun.

Jim

[YesterdayOnceMore]

Rick said:

I'm always thinking of songs Karen could have recorded for her solo album. Anyway seeing that she wanted to be upbeat and have fun with her solo. I think she would have been great singing Billy Joel's "It's Still Rock and Roll To Me". This song would have fit in quite well with "Still In Love with You" and "Making Love In The Afternoon". And would have been even more interesting since Billy Joel's band would be playing on it.

??#
Gotta agree with you on this one, Rick! It would be very cool to have heard KC do her own version of this one.

[Rick Henry]

YesterdayOnceMore said:

Gotta agree with you on this one, Rick! It would be very cool to have heard KC do her own version of this one.

Yes, Tim, KC could have done a bang up job with "It's Still Rock And Roll to Me". She always did really well with those upbeat tunes.

Another one I think she could have sung well is the Coasters' "Poison Ivy". I can just imagine the harmony vocals and all. This is perfect for Carpenters.

[YesterdayOnceMore]

??#
Several of you have mentioned Helen Reddy tunes, and there's one in particular, that I think Karen would have done so beautifully - Bette Midler actually recorded it for Beaches, too. It's a lovely ballad called "I think It's Going To Rain Today." It's done sort of robatto - i.e., in one's own time - (I'm not at all sure I spelled that right! ) and I think it's a perfect vehicle not only for Karen's voice, but her style, as well. Reminds me in a way, stylistically, of Sometimes, though it's a much simpler song, regarding the instrumental backing. Very light, but very powerful.
Tim
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[cam83]

I think Karen would have been marvelous doing a soothing album for babies...of lullabies and such. her voice is def so soothing and lovely.

Cam

[JIM]

!@ Yes Tim, Hellen Ready sang in
a similar style that Karen would
have, of course, surpassed but I speak to a biased
group. I am sure I have mentioned
this tune before but You And Me Against The World by Hellen Ready(sp) Another song that I feel
would have made a pefect cover for
MIA is Starbucks Moonlight it has
a Boat To Sail feel but more upbeat. I am not sure if I actually
read this somwhere but Madonnas, T his Use To Be Our Playground was inteaded to sound like Karen. I know it sounds very close to me.

JIM

[JIM]

!@ Forgive me Cam, I just noticed
that you mentioned Helen Ready. Tim
is the Boss Man. I have to list one
more which I am sure I have before
Crystal Gayle, 3oClock In The Morning.

Jim

[Rick Henry]

cam83 said:

I think Karen would have been marvelous doing a soothing album for babies...of lullabies and such. her voice is def so soothing and lovely.

Cam

Yes, Cam a lullabies album by Karen would have been beautiful.

Jim. "You And Me Against The World" is a natural for Karen. This song I think would have fit well on "Horizon" as it has that same feel as some of the tracks on that album.

You are right Tim, you are speaking to a biased group here. Helen reddy was a fine vocalist but Karen Carpenter was (and still is) a "great" vocalist. One of the all-time best.

I think the Madonna song you are referring to is "Crazy For You" which was co-written by non other than Carpenters lyricist John Bettis. Also Rob Mounsey who wrote "Guess I Just Lost My Head" and played keyboards on that song for Karen's solo album had a hand in "Crazy For You".

And yes, Jim Crystal Gayle's "Talking In Your Sleep" would have been a perfect fit for Karen - maybe for her solo album. I could just hear a fabulous musical arrangement by Bob James on this one with a slight hint of jazz instrumentation and Karen's sweet voice.

Earlier I mentioned ELO's "Can't Get It Out Of My Head" as being a great choice for Karen - she could really sing the world out of this song with a great Peter Knight orchestration. But now I have another ELO song that I think would be great for Karen and that is "Telephone Line". This is yet another beautiful ELO melody which I feel is perfect for Karen's voice. I would have loved to see Karen collaborate with Jeff Lynne the leader of ELO. That would have been a great team.