Karen's best voice....

[beaner]

TEXT

Now, I realize we all love her voice at ANY time but if you HAD to choose, when do you think she sounded the best?

I say between the years of 1974-1978. In particular, the little ditty she sings called "Good Friends are for Keeps" is one I think she sounds particularly great on.
It's short, yes, but great.

[beaner]

Hello again,

What was supposed to be in bold but didn't come out correctly was the question?

WHAT PERIOD OF TIME DO YOU THINK KAREN SOUNDED HER BEST?

Then comes the rest of my post.

Hey Rick? How come it didn't come out bold when I clicked it? The word TEXT just appeared.

[Moe]

I think Karen's best voice is from the "Christmas Portrait" album. She used the power, the control, the subtlety, the vulnerability, the range, the innocence, and the wisdom that no one else can match.

I love the lower range of the Horizon album, but all things considered, I think the Christmas project is Karen's best vocal work.

[Mariah Andrews]

I think her best voice is during the "Passage" album, with 'Argentina', which version I think is better than Madonna's. (Speaking of Madonna, John Bettis wrote 'Crazy For You' and I wonder if Karen was alive, would she have sung that?) And a couple of others from that album I liked. Dammit, that was my favorite album until my dad stole it from me!!! I WANT IT BACK!!!!

[enigma]

I love Karens voice at any time as all you do but my favorite period was in the beginning the Offering-Carpenters period her voice was young a little lacking in confidence but with songs like Eve, Cresent Noon, Superstar etc her voice just chills me to the bone and sounds so innocent. I just adore her during this period. A near second would be on the Horizon album that lower register does the same thing to me. As you can see when it come to Karen and one specific favorite it is too difficult to pin it to one there is just so much to love.

[cam83]

Hi Guys,
I think the period that the VOICE OF THE HEART album was recorded from 1976-1982...her voice was refined and gorgeous with such grace and emotion in her style.

Cam

[Rob813]

Boy this is a very tough question. A lot of my preferences have to do with what was going on in my life at the time. I too liked the early Karen voice. When I first heard "Goodnight" from the From The Top box set I was blown away. I just love her power and innocence. Those two qualities I find astounding. While listening to Carpenters Gold, I love hearing the young Karen followed by the more mature Karen. I remember when I first listened to the album Ticked To Ride. The sound was so different from anything I had ever heard before. Every song seemed to pull me in and make me just fall in love with Karen and Richard.

[Rick Henry]

Her voice was excellent from the very beginning. But, I think her best period started in 1975, she was much more refined with songs like "Solitaire", "Desperado", "Love Me For What I Am" and she continued on and by 1978 she had the upper register completely developed. I think "Made In America" contained some of finest vocals, although the album on the whole isn't the Carpenters' strongest.

[beaner]

Not bad, so far a lot of you are between the years 1974 and 1978 which is what I picked.

Although, Enigma, you picked the early years and I do have to agree that Karen's early voice is very important. It was at this time that she would have to prove that she had a voice that would make it and indeed it was not only that but the confidence she portrayed to others even if she herself may have thought a bit differently, was well worth it. All of My Life is my favorite from early on.

Also, Ave Maria was between '74 and '78 and that's from "Christmas Portrait" which Moe picked.

On Passage, Two Sides is my favorite!!!

[Rob813]

Dave, I think after reading about what went on behind closed doors there's no question that the Carpenter family was way too controlling. I've seen the gentleman (I can't recall his name) who was the A&M P.R. guy for Great Britain talk about his love for Karen and how they stole away to be together when they were on tour. The Carpenter headquarters, as they were known, put a quick stop to that affair! Karen thought it was his doing. If only she had known.

They should have let Karen have some reins - to encourage her independance instead of suffocating her! Paul Williams (who wrote We've Only Just Begun and Rainy Days and Mondays among others) said he wished he and Karen could have gone off onsome type of bender so she'd have something to recover from.

I guess they didn't want to kill the golden goose! In the end, they did just that! Not intentionally of course. Anyway, enough of my anger. Rest in peace Karen. We love you always!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[beaner]

Hi there,

Rob, you spoke of the man from Britain who talked of how much Karen meant to him when they were dating.

I remember seeing him in one of the documentaries too and I'm usually good at first impressions and he strikes me as though he would have been very good for Karen. I really took a liking to him and you could tell that the love he spoke of was geniune for her.

Tom Burris, on the other hand, I got a quick impression of "trouble" when I first saw him and that was only a photo, no one ever got to hear from him. That's probably a good thing.

Anyway, I really wish Karen was able to pursue this man from Britain. He seemed very kind and just what Karen would need.

[karen69roland]

Hi Everybody...

beaner..., when you see ]TEXT[..., erase TEXT and write YOUR text in between..., it will be effective.

Now, the man, a lot of you are talking about, is John Adrian an A&M executive in Britain.
I don't necessary believe or not believe what he says happened or not happened..., it just never happened.
If she wanted to get..., let's say, married, I think she would have. I think she was strong enough to make her own decisions(except for the release of her solo album).

And now for the voice question...
Karen had very mature voice tone at a tender age..., there's not a lot of people who are that gifted. I mean, to me, she doesn't sound like a 20 year old young woman on *Close To You* or *We've Only Just Begun*..., she sounds more mature than that.

Her voice was near perfection '73 and up and the more she got older, the more her voice tone got thinner or should I say..., delicate.

Of couse, if you ask me at what time her voice was *ultimate*..., I would have to go with my favorite album of all time..., *Christmas Portrait*..., the masterpiece.


[glow=red,2,300]I love you Karen...[/glow][shadow=red,left,300] [/shadow]

[shadow=red,left,300]Roland C.[/shadow]
[shadow=red,left,300] [/shadow]

[Rob813]

I really don't believe Karen could have married John Adrian. Her family, at the time, was pulling all the strings. Karen's ensnarement by anorexia was probably caused by her having little if any control over her life. People use their control of food intake as the solo means of having control over their lives. Eventually Karen began pushing her family away, but it came too late. She had been suffering from anorexia from at least 1974. Emotionally healthy people do not suffer from anorexia. Karen's parents and Richard exerted far too much influence over her. It just was not healthy or "normal" for them to do this to her. Of course it wasn't intentional; family dynamics are never simple - there is always layers of secrecy and multliple intentions on the part of each family member toward another. Outsiders (from the family) saw what was going on but were really powerless to do anything about it.

I believe the only way a person learns about themself and about life is to try different things, make mistakes and be allowed to learn from those mistakes. There's really no other way. To a large degree Karen was not allowed to do this.

[Rick Henry]

Hi all...

Roland I like your use of the icons and such. Very good.


Beaner to use the special tricks click on one of the emblems above such as the M with the arrow next to it, which is called marquee and you will have moving text - like the star at the top of this message. In between the brackets you will see the word TEXT (as Roland had stated). Replace the word text with whichever word or words you want. Or if you want to put an icon in there, click your mouse between the brackets, erase the word text, keep your mouse between the brackets and click on one of the icons and than you will have a moving icon.
]TEXT[/


back to the topic of best voice. I'd have to say the single most song that displays Karen's abilities best would have to be "Solitaire" or "Desperado", in both songs her voice is bold and strong, and she uses her entire range from the deep dark tones to the crystal clear higher voice.

[Rob813]

Once again Rick I think you are 100% correct. Those two songs are excellent examples of Karen's ability to use her entire voice low to high with complete ease on one individual song. I'm not a singer, but those who are, tell me how difficult this is to do. I know Karen didn't care for "Solitaire", but it is an incredible song. She said it drags, but I don't hear that at all. The tempo of the song (in my opinion) is exactly right. "Desperado" is so extraordinary that I'm surprised it was never released as a single. I know Linda Ronstadt has covered it also, but Karen blows her version out of the water. Anyway, once again, Rick you've nailed it!

[Will]

Rick said:

Her voice was excellent from the very beginning. But, I think her best period started in 1975, she was much more refined with songs like "Solitaire", "Desperado", "Love Me For What I Am" and she continued on and by 1978 she had the upper register completely developed. I think "Made In America" contained some of finest vocals, although the album on the whole isn't the Carpenters' strongest.

My immediate thought was 'I Can Dream Can't I' from Horizon and I do believe it is the best (at least that I've heard) representation of her voice as a musical instrument. I've heard a lot of singing in my time and I've never heard anyone come close to what she accomplishes in this song.

But reading over some of the above comments I realize we can answer this question in many ways.

I quote Rick above because I drove my car for several hours today and took several Carpenter CDs with me. I haven't listened all that much to the Made In America album so I listened to it first. I liked it so much that I played it over and over. I finally replaced it with another CD shortly before the end of my journey. My test for quality is if I want to listen to it over and over -- it passed the test.

I like most if not all of the songs. Beechwood is upbeat and I like that. Several of the songs contain very meaningful lyrics so hard to find in most songs.

I must say it is now one of my favorites. It must be good -- Horizon was sitting there next to me and never made it into the player. And you know how I feel about Horizon.

[Rob813]

Will, that's what's so great about Carpenter songs. You can play them again and again and they always seem fresh and new. I must have listened to a large number of their songs more than a hundred times and I never, ever get tired of them. Each listen reveals something new, a nuance here, a harmony there. This is pure pleasure to me! I just can't say that about any other artist I've enjoyed and repeatedly listen to.

[Will]

Rob813,

I agree. I think it's the variety on MIA that kept and keeps me entertained.

They cover some tough subjects in their lyrics, too.