*Driftin' through the dreams we used to share ... *

Thirty years ago, Karen Carpenter passed away. As I’ve expressed before, I’ve been a long time Carpenters fan and Karen has always been quite special to me. I thought that in remembrance of this exceptional talent, I’d write a little bit about her solo album.

 

Now, Karen’s solo album is the source of some controversy among the Karen Carpenter fan community (and yes, I am a part of said community!). The story of Karen’s solo album is a bit tragic considering the album was ultimately shelved and wasn’t released until 13 years after Karen left this world. When Karen started her solo project, Richard was in rehab ridding himself of a sleeping pill addiction. Rather than remaining idle, she went out to New York, teamed up with producer, Phil Ramone (known for producing for Billy Joel and Paul Simon), and started work on an album. I’m sure it was an odd experience for Karen to be in the studio without her brother, but I bet it was also quite liberating for her to be breaking out of the Carpenters mold and doing something on her own.

 

The album didn’t come together quickly, taking well over a year to complete. After it was finished and Karen came back to LA, she was called into an intense meeting to discuss the release of the album. Despite the fact that Karen was rather proud of the record, the pressure and negative criticism from the label and Richard, Karen reluctantly allowed the album to be shelved.

 

In 1996, the album was released to little fanfare – though, I remember cutting out a small article out of a magazine that mentioned the album. And of course, in 1996, being deep in my Carpenters obsession, I picked up the CD from Camelot Music in the local mall. Upon first listen, I enjoyed it (except for the second track, “All Because of You” - a song that has since become a favorite). My favorite song from the album at that time was “If I Had You” – I loved all the intricate layers of harmonies and complex vocal arrangements.

 

I hadn’t listened to the album much for several years, but after getting the book Little Girl Blue, I felt the need to dust of the album and check it out again. As is typical of anytime you haven’t listened to something for a while, I heard much more than I had the first time around and heard it in a different way. The album is much different from the standard Carpenter albums – Karen is edgier here than she was as part of the Carpenters. She plays with a number of styles including disco, power pop, smooth jazz, and includes a couple tunes with a bit of a country lilt to them. While this album is not my favorite work of Karen’s, I do enjoy the songs.

 

The album opens with an upbeat disco tune, “Lovelines” (Karen was a fan of disco). The next song is “All Because of You”, which has become the most played song on my iPod of her solo songs. It’s an interesting song because it’s just Karen accompanied by an acoustic guitar – very limited production, which I dig. Karen’s performance is very intimate and sincere. “If I Had You” is all about the complex vocals – my favorite part is towards the end, when you’ve got about 16 Karen’s singing together. “Making Love In the Afternoon” is a sunny, light pop song that Peter Cetera contributes some background singing on. “If We Try” is a jazzy ballad and “Remember When Lovin’ Took All Night” is another disco infused song. “Still In Love With You” used to be my idea of what rock music was (at that age, I had very limited exposure to true rock music). And while it’s definitely not rock, it is a catchy power-pop song with some crunchy guitars. “My Body Keeps Changing My Mind” takes you back to some more disco, but the limited production version of “Make Believe It’s Your First Time” I feel is far superior to the later released Richard Carpenter arrangement. To me, when you’re dealing with such a rich, pure voice like Karen’s, there’s no need to add choirs and heavy orchestration… At least, not with such an intimate song. “Guess I Just Lost My Head” is a nice ballad with some lovely harmonies. “Still Crazy After All These Years” is a splendid cover of the Paul Simon ballad (For some reason, it always makes me envision Karen singing it leaning against a piano in a smoky bar – but that’s just me.) “Last One Singin’ the Blues” was notable for me when I first heard it because I was so excited about hearing Karen speaking a little at the beginning – instructing the band about taking it a bit slower this time. (I had never heard her speaking voice at this point, thus the novelty!)

 

Of course, there are also quite a few outtakes from her solo sessions that are floating around on the internet – and I’m rather intrigued by them as well. My favorites of the non-released tracks are the ballad “It’s Really You” and the edgy “Keep My Lovelight Burning”.

 

So… All in all, it’s a very pleasant listen, though I’ll admit to a number of the songs being a  bit dated. There’s definitely a 1979-1980 feel to the productions, but that is when they were recorded, so it should be expected. And while I’m not convinced the album would have been a smash hit, I do firmly believe it wouldn’t have been a flop and that it should have been released when originally intended. (And I do prefer her solo album to the following Carpenters album, Made In America). Of course, it’s hard to know how the release of the album would have changed the course of events in Karen or Richard’s lives, and I’m not going to play the “what if?” game now. I guess all we really need to remember is that Karen was a remarkable talent – both as a drummer and as a vocalist. Her voice was always rich, pure, and haunting and provided layers of longing, maturity, and vulnerability. She will always be remembered.