*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.

It’s got you layin’ up nights, just waiting for the music to start…

My first Carpenters album. It's a
little worse for wear these days.

So… as is consistent with my music addiction, I have a tendency to make myself various CDs of the tunes I’m in the mood for during a week. And yes, I tend to make about 1 (sometimes 2) official mix CDs a week. This last week, I made a CD of the music I listened to the summer before I went into 9^th grade. Okay, so that’s been a little while ago and some people are impressed that I can remember the music I was listening to at that time, but music has always been an important part of my life and my life has definitely had a soundtrack. Besides, during my early teenage years, I didn’t have too big of a variety of music. At that time in my life, I mostly listened to the Carpenters and the Partridge Family – with a little bit of Judy Garland soundtracks, one Petula Clark CD, and The Beatles CD – Past Masters Vol. 2, because I wanted the song “Let It Be”.
 
Okay, so I was a bit of a dork. But honestly, I maintain my love for The Carpenters. The Carpenters have been a staple in my music collection for as far back as I can remember. I knew their albums because of my mother and I picked out my first “grownup album” out shortly after I turned 6. It was The Carpenters Singles 1969-1973. My favorite song became “Hurting Each Other” and I used to play it over and over. At 6, I obviously didn’t understand the feelings behind the song, but I knew it was a beautiful song – and I still love it. And there’s something about her voice when she’s singing just before the chorus “Oh why should it be”… It’s strange, but it’s one of those moments that I can listen to over and over.
 
So, yeah… My love for The Carpenters started ages ago and it ebbed and flowed during various stages in my life. I really only had the one album until my serious obsession began at age 11. I don’t really remember what kicked off the obsession, but I remember dusting off my old cassette tape and popping it into the stereo and I was hooked all over again. I listened to that tape so many times throughout that year and the following Christmas I got a CD player and a Carpenters two-disc compilation album: Yesterday Once More. That’s another album I listened to pretty much non-stop for months – my favorite song during that time was “Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft” – and this song kicked off my fixation for getting the album, Passage (which was out of print at the time). Over the following couple years, I sunk most of my allowance into buying Carpenters albums (though, The Partridge Family received a great deal of my allowance money as well… I had it bad for Keith Partridge). I think a lot of my favorite Carpenters songs during this time tended toward their non-hits: “Let Me Be The One” (from Carpenters), “Maybe It’s You” (from Close To You), “Love Me For What I Am” (from Horizon), “Boat to Sail” (from A Kind of Hush), “Where Do I Go From Here?” (from Lovelines), “I Can’t Make Music” (from Now and Then),  “I Won’t Last A Day Without You” (from A Song For You), and “Turn Away” (from Ticket to Ride)…

I learned quite a few of their songs on the piano during this time too. “Hurting Each Other” was the first song I learned by them. And I remember sitting at the piano with my headphones on, trying to play “Flat Baroque” along with the recording… Richard is a much better pianist than I am, let me tell you! I could play most of the “Bacharach/David Medley” with the recording though (and here’s another little music-related secret of mine: I kind of have a thing for medleys).

Somewhere along the line, during my high school years, I didn’t listen to them so much.  I didn’t seriously start listening to the Carpenters again until a few years back… I don’t really know why I didn’t… It might have been the “non-cool factor”, or maybe I had too much other music to listen to, or maybe I just burned myself out on them in my early teenage years. Whatever the reason, I looked them up on youtube a few years back and was hooked all over again. Being an adult at this point, I heard them again with fresh ears – and a new perspective. Yes, I knew all the songs like the back of my hand, but I heard them differently than I did before (and even found some songs I hadn’t known before – outtakes from Karen’s solo album). I had a better understanding of music and what real talent is. Now, I know they get a lot of crap. “They’re too sugary, too sentimental, too melodic”.  They’re definitely not rock and roll, but… I don’t know if I can really consider them a guilty pleasure because, really, I’m pretty proud of being a fan of theirs. I’m proud of knowing all their music!
 
So no, not a guilty pleasure (the Partridge Family on the other hand, might fall into that category - but that's a subject for another time…). Why not? Because, no matter what anyone says – they were extremely talented individuals. Karen’s voice is what always gets mentioned – and it rightfully should. It was incredible. She had nearly a 4 octave range. She had impeccable phrasing, resonance, and consistently perfect pitch. No vocalist has ever matched her vocal quality- the haunting, sadness and the natural mellowness. She never screeched (like so many vocalists are apt to these days). She always produced a lovely pure and rich tone.
 
But it wasn’t just Karen’s voice – She was an astounding drummer… after trying to play the drums, I became aware of just how fantastic she was and how much natural talent she possessed on the drums…  She’s also the whole reason I wanted to play the drums.
 
Of course, you can’t over look Richard’s contributions – and amazing pianist, composer, and arranger. It’s the combination of the 2 that make them what they are. And the layers and layers of Carpenters voices in each recording? Nothing can quite compare to that.
 
My Recommendations –
Albums: A Song For You, Close To You, and Carpenters
Songs:   Hurting Each Other
                Goodbye To Love
                Let Me Be The One
                We’ve Only Just Begun
                All You Get From Love Is A Love Song
      

And here’s a little clip from their appearance on The Tonight Show. Karen really rocked on the drums.