LanceCampeau7 months ago
It was the whole production (and not just her voice) that made The Carpenters so special... the level of musicality and detail in their catalog of recordings is on level that is rarely seen today. Its genuinely timeless.
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Lance you are so right. The level of musicality that she and her brother brought to their recordings and concerts was astounding. There is a 1976 BBC live concert of theirs on YouTube. (One of the few concerts of the Carpenters recorded for posterity). I couldn't detect one missed note by either Karen, Richard or the band the entire show. The choreography was perfect. That show demonstrates the noble art of music performed at the highest level. Then when you consider that her singing voice was imo the best there ever was, then they were truly something very special. Their music will be playing for hundreds of years by true connoisseurs of the art.
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The magic of the Carpenters is reflected in the synergy of two talents (brother and sister) where the brother let his sister take the center stage and he used his composing and arranging skills to craft tailor-made songs solely for Karen.
We may never see this breadth of a recording catalog of this quality from an artist again because of the lack of recognition that is bestowed upon talent such as Richard Carpenter, Arif Mardin, and Clive Davis. If you review their backgrounds you will find they are all very literate and bring a wealth of knowledge to the profession.
Each of them 'stood on the shoulders of giants' and created timeless catalogs of music.
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completely agree with you,lance. It was Richard's genius in production,sound and arrangments combined with the voice of an angel on earth that made the Carpenters music unique. And cant forget the musicality of Joe osborne on bass gtr and on Hal blaine on drums...the best of all best studio musicians of the Wrecking crew!
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100% agreed. Back then it was art. Now it's "let's throw some lyrics together, come up with some music for it, and see how it sells"
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