Carpenters - Mr. A & Mr. M Documentary - Part One (2021)
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- Опубліковано 9 гру 2021
- A clip of the Carpenters' segment from Part One of the new documentary series "Mr A & Mr M: The Story of A&M Records" which includes some rare footage of Richard & Karen in the studio plus a clip of a rarely seen early performance of their "Bacharach/David Medley".
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50 plus years later, their musical legacy still lives on and Karen's voice is as golden as ever.
Love Karens voice ! She has a beautiful voice ! Its so sad that she died so young ! She is sadly missed rest in peace Karen !
Karen was a amazing,her talent was so natural,she is missed.I was lucky enough to have grown up with the Carpenters, their music will last forever,RIP Karen.
The first time I heard Close to You on the radio I was 12 or 13. I didn't know who was singing, but I remember thinking her voice sounds like an angel. Now over 50 years later I see I was not alone.
She was the gift from God. Our Lord was very good to us, when he gave us Karen Carpenter.
"On the day that you were born the Angels got together and decided to Create a Dream Come True!" As Richard himself said it... "Here was this girl with this Magical voice." I don't think I'll ever hear that voice and not feel an ache in my heart. 💔 I'll always wonder what might have been. This was wonderful... thank you for sharing! 💖
Herb Alpert was the one describing her voice as magical.
Karen Carpenter really was and still is the best and most talented female vocalist ever!
My Dad took me my siter and our friends to a Carpenters concert in 1970. I cherish the memory.
She’s such a beautiful and gorgeous woman! Her dying, tears my heart a little.
Extraordinary! 1:25 "Knowing When to Leave" 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 performance was first time I'd seen this clip. Her beautiful tone, effortless delivery & precision execution always melts me into a pile of mush 😥
Bru, if you've not seen it, you'll want to check out the Carpenters at Walter Reed: ua-cam.com/video/6103rLcXJ7w/v-deo.html... my favorite live clip of Karen in 1970-71...
@@catherder78 Can you supply a different link please? That one shows as "private" and won't play.
@@TheLarryBrown Let's try this one: ua-cam.com/video/IDFK8p27-H4/v-deo.html
That clip looks like it was from very late 1970 possibly early 71. Karen looks nice in the outfit in the medley clip.
It's so funny seeing the cassette player at the video start. We had the same portable years back. Also Karen's use of the words " dug it" takes you back to the days of Rowan and Martin's Laugh In. Great time machine tape!
She was so hip. She seems so contemporary and timeless.
@@monilaninetynine3811 No doubt she had a personality we'll never see in song videos or formal tv/radio interviews.
That wasn't a cassette player. It was a Craig™ portable reel to reel. My father had the same machine. It came out in 1969.
It's Such A Loss Too The World This Young Beautiful Lady Gave From Her Heart And Soul She Was Trying So Hard To Find Something In Her Life Too Hold On To But She Never Got The Chance That's What Is So Sad Much Love To You Karen RIP💔
Karen. Voice. Got. Me through a abusive childhood in 1970s im. 55..steal listen to. X mas record from. Carpenter
I know back in the seventies when my dad first gave me the 8th track of the Carpenters I was just mesmerised
Love them🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩
Thankfully, Herb was knocked out by their sound
Thank you for this Billy 🥰
Rainy days and Mondays was not on the tapes at A&M
Thanks for getting this directly from Herb! Yes it sounded like she was sitting right next to us while she sang a song.She filled the room with her voice.She told Herb drums when asked what she was really good at.Ha! No diva there. Karen's warm voice while singing and speaking along with her smile,comedic side,great dancing, drumming and bass guitar just fascinated me since day one and still does.Karen is the only singer I can listen to for more than 2-3 hrs a day. I feel badly that her leaving at such a young age she didn't get to experience everything she wanted to.She gave us so much joy! She deserved better.
Love this, haven’t seen episode 2 yet
Love this. Thank you for uploading, Billy.
She was such a doll
Yes, Karen has a magical voice! And in my humble opinion, she is the greatest female vocalist in the history of music. But, why did you take away her drums? Still expecting a logical answer. 😎
During concerts (as Karen would still play drums in the studio on certain tracks) people had been asking "Who is that singing?" and "Where is that voice coming from?" So the people at the concerts wanted Karen to come up front. It was mentioned to Karen and as Karen explained it to me in late 1978 or early 1979 that after they mentioned it, Karen thought about it and then she agreed that if she was in the audience listening that she would want to see who was singing too. So Karen agreed originally to take front stage during the slow numbers while originally Jim Squeglia would fill in on drums for the slow numbers and Karen would go back behind the drums and sing and play for the faster numbers. This was around 1971 to 1972. In 1973, Cubby O'Brien came on and Karen moved up front totally with a spot in the show for Karen to do a drum duo (solo?) with Cubby during the show. Karen wasn't actually 'forced' up front as the story went, but Karen did agree during concerts that people wanted to see who was singing and so Karen took front stage as the singer. In the studio, Karen would still add drum tracks to some songs and such but she was more of a concert drummer and Hal Blaine was more of a studio type drummer. On stage it is about keeping the steady rhythm and beat and such. In the studio it is about the sound. Karen could play well but at times she would hit the drum a little off center or be a little heavy or light or such and it wouldn't be 'dead on' sound wise at times.
🌟
@@adriandowningiii8395 that's a great comment! And I agree. That having been said, when we listen to This Masquerade, Sing, and Yesterday Once More, it's Karen on the drums. In fact, on the Now and Then album, she played drums on every song but Jambalaya (the great Hal Blaine did play drums on that track). Also Ticket to Ride and some other favorites of mine (love her jazz chops on Mr. Guder). This Masquerade is my personal favorite of her studio drum work... both she and Richard were incredible musicians...
I totally agree with the decision to have Karen come out and be a "front man." Any act needs a front man, and Karen made a great front man, who knew?, and she loved performing and being a star. People want to question that decision and vilify it and say it contributed to her problems, which is true it did, but who could have ever foreseen that? At the time, moving her to the front was the right decision for all involved. The only downside was she didn't get to play drums, which she missed, but it was a small price to pay to be a star and anyway she still got to play drums in concert, but as a star rather than a background drummer. What was a mistake is to have her not play on the recordings. She was a fabulous talent, was a perfectionist, was an ambitious student of the drums, and was a great drummer. To whatever extent her style needed polish to adapt to the needs of recording she could have done it. The style Hal uses on their recordings is simplistic, she would have played any of that easily. What she would have brought that would have been better than Hal is her own musical voice, which as we know is stuffed and jam packed with unique magic. All the creativity she uses in her singing could have been present in the drum tracks and made them "Carpenters artisty" rather than "anonymous nobody session musician." It doesn't matter how much better is Hal than Karen. Liberace is way better than Richard, but Richard brings his own musical voice that we all love so much and Liberace would not bring that, even if he is better.
In the studio, Hal Blaine played the drums, along with the "Wrecking Crew" musicians. This allowed Karen to concentate sololy on her singing.
omg that voice. she was a gift from heaven.
That last clip of her in this segment, she looked so good. Her weight was right. She looked very healthy and attractive.
The black and white clip of Richard at 05:00, is from a press conference at the Southern Cross Hotel in Melbourne, Australia on May 23,1972.
That was great. I wonder what song was on that tape Herb listened to? Wonder if it is on UA-cam? He is absolutely right about her voice. It feels like she is in the room with you. I heard Richard on a recent interview that she would sing into the Neumann microphone with her mouth very close to the covering which you are supposedly not to do. I guess it worked. I also saw a clip from the Get Back movie by Peter Jackson with George Harrison talking about using the certain Neumann model microphone. I think I found the sercret to The Carpenters and Beatles success!!!! haha. To end this little post I do love the Carpenters version of Ticket to Ride and also Karen singing Nowhere Man. I heard her mention in an interview once that John Lennon walked up to her at a restaurant in Los Angeles and told her that he liked her singing and walked away. A moment in history. It makes me a little sad thinking of the destiny in store for them when they were so young and vibrant. However authentic heartfelt videos like this one bring her back to life for a few moments to shine a little light on the current world and show us all how truly gifted she was as a musician./singer. The only thing that surpasses the genius and insight of Richard in finding and putting together all the music and arrangements for The Carpenters is the grace and dignity he has shown over the years for not only losing a fellow musician ....band member/singer but foremost his sister and friend. THanks for the timeless music and songs...The Carpenters!!!
This is lovely!
Extremely lovely and perfect voice
Amazing post , thanks ‼️ 🌟
Thanks for posting!
Just Wow!!
I grew up with the carpenters but not in their time karen was alive but my grandma would always play them and i would sit and listen they was just so good!
Angelical Voice female and Golden drummer ,with angelical Spirit.
Remembering Karen Carpenter born on March 2, 1950. She was an American singer and drummer who, along with her elder brother Richard, was part of the duo the Carpenters. With a distinctive three-octave contralto vocal range, she was praised by her peers as one of the greatest singers ever. - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Carpenter#The_Carpenters
That smile...
Nuclear ☢️ ☢️ ☢️
Thanks so much for this Billy!! d:-)b Any idea what show the Bacharach/David medley was from? It looks like it's from 1970...maybe The Tonight Show? Maybe even the Virginia Graham Show? I also love the little outtakes from the AYGFLIALS promo film at the end
Wonderful!!
I wish Richard would do a piano and vocal album. Nothing more than piano and Karen. Bliss.
Yes he could do it if he wanted to, but would rather engage the Philharmonic Orchestra to "enhance" the instrumentals in Superstar & their other hits. All said, it's no better than the originals, as far as listening pleasure.
Just Karen & a piano would've been pure bliss! 💖
It's funny that Karen thought she was a great drummer (she was) and just an okay singer. She was a great drummer but she was the GREATEST singer.
Indisputably!
Beautiful ❤
Her voice as Herb said WAS PHONOGENIC
At 4:05, look how tiny she was! You never really think about this! With that incredible voice she comes across as being six feet tall!
Being a young woman and seeing your image constantly on television must have been difficult.
From what show was the performance of “Knowing When to Leave”?
The first song Karen sang in that medley of Bacharach-David hit songs is a very difficult song to sing because the singer has to sing the exact words perfectly and rapidly similar to the difficulty singers experience trying to sing the song, "Promises, Promises"! Both of those Bacharach-David songs are easy to screw-up vocally! Dionne Warwick made singing "Promises, Promises" look easy just like Karen Carpenter made singing that first song in the medley look easy - but it definitely is not easy!
❤KC
The two-part documentary circled back to the Carpenters' story in Part 2, with a segment on the loss of Karen.
Thanks Ray, I just watched it this morning, will be uploading it soon!
its sad she developed a negative body image of herself, and starved herself in an effort to be thin. That type of behavior didnt have a name to it back then.
Karen has a Present in his Voice...it was and it is Beautiful...by the way She was a perfect Drummer...She is the Universum the Number One.
*her voice
Not crazy about the way Herbie says, this girl with this magical voice thought she was a drummer. Back then, women were whatever men said they were. If any guy drummed like she did, they would be called legendary drummers. Notice how it was Karen's voice that got them the record deals with both Magic Lamp and A&M. It had nothing to do with Richard's arrrangements at that time.
That was then this is now
I'd say it just all came together. Like many great things in the human race, doesn't really matter make it female etc..
That's because a magical voice is worth several millions time more than any drumming. Pop hierarchy is singer, guitarist, keyboardist, and waaaaay below that is bass, and then at the very bottom is drummer, right after, I don't know, trombone player. It's like having a goose that lays golden eggs and saying that it would make a good pillow. A great singer is a star, a great drummer is a nobody. Your drummer can get hit by a bus the day before The Tonight Show and you can go down to Guitar Center and find two dozen guys that can do the job tomorrow. True that her drumming talents are overlooked because she's a female. That's just a fact of life, go deal with it. That's not fair but that's the way it has always been and always will be..so what? Nothing can change that, and it's not only men, women also have an anti-female bias. You are one of many that wants to downplay Richard's contributions. Yes, Karen is a great singer, but what female singer has ever made it anywhere without a (male) producer? None. Gloria has Emilio, Celine has Angelil, Leslie Gore has Quincy Jones, Shania Twain has Mutt Lange, the girls of ABBA have their husband production team, Marie Osmond has Mike Curb, Mariah and Thalia have Tommy Mottola, Diana Ross has Berry Gordy and on and on. Yes it was her voice that got the deal, but it was Richard's reimagining of "Close to You" that got the hit and that's what made them stars. Karen sang on their entire first album, including "Help" and "Ticket to Ride," and what happened? Absolutely nothing. Those didn't even crack the top 40. Why not? Because she was green? Because she hadn't yet found her sound? Because those weren't great songs? No...it was because it takes more than her great voice to make a hit. It also took some other stuff, just the right song, just the right arrangement, and a lot of other magic. It's not just her voice!!!!!! I don't understand how anyone like you can listen to something as stupendous as Richard's invention "The Carpenters Sound" and not see how fabulous and valuable was his work. And what was Karen doing while Richard was inventing that? She was playing softball outside while he spent tedious hours and days and weeks getting that exactly right. Richard is a genius and he WAS the Carpenters, just as much or more so than was she. It's just as true that without him there would have been no Carpenters, just as much as without her. Even so, he wasn't perfect, and after 1976 he decided to back off on his efforts and the result is some lousy tracks that are missing his magic touch (a touch that came with high sacrifice to his life) and her voice, no matter how magical. can not save those tracks.
I think your suggestion of sexism is misplaced. It had nothing to do with whether she was a good drummer or not. Early days and Karen saw her main talent as a drummer and her vocals as secondary. Coaxing her out from the drums to be the front person took some persuading. People who knew her say she never really understood the vocal talent she had. Herb recognized that it was the combination of her voice and Richard's arranging talents that would bring them success, and of course the right songs. Mahalo.
@@TheLarryBrown.Correct! Even a magnificent singer like Karen Carpenter can't, as the old expression goes, "make a silk purse out of a sow's ear"! A perfect example of that fact is "Beachwood-45789" originally released by The Marvelettes. Even Karen's superb singing couldn't turn that absolute clunker of a song into a masterpiece!
I would love to know which song/songs were on that tape. Nice mini-doc.
Don't Be Afraid was one of the songs on it
You gotta feel for RCA Records turning down Carpenters, however they did get Elvis, Herb Alpert made a genius signing there, don't bother finding the new Bob Dylan, I never liked the old one, but as I often say 'just because I don't like it doesn't mean it's not brilliant', Carpenters music will continue being listened to for another 50 years, I'm not sure Lizzo, Cardi B and her W.A.P will still be on the radio in 50 years.
The first song Karen sang in that medley of Bacharach-David hit songs is a very difficult song to sing because the singer has to sing the exact words perfectly and rapidly similar to the difficulty singers experience trying to sing the song, "Promises, Promises"! Both of those Bacharach-David songs are easy to screw-up vocally! Dionne Warwick made singing "Promises, Promises" look easy just like Karen Carpenter made singing that first song in the medley look easy - but it definitely is not easy!