I know these interviews are out there. Stashed in a box in a closet somewhere. But the great Billy Rees goes to the trouble to find them and put them out there for all the carpenters fans to enjoy. You’ll never know how much we really appreciate you.
I just feel sad when I think there isn't anything left to see or hear from Karen. Enter Billy!! Early Christmas present for me!!! Love You Karen! We Miss You so Much. Thank You Billy!!!❤️
Thank you for posting this interview! Lots of revelatory info from Richard and Karen. Just sad they never got to try doing a movie musical, which Karen had wanted to do....
Hmmmm....With "Carpenters" having run its course, something different needed to happen, everyone knew that. "Passage" was an attempt to do that, as was "Karen Carpenter," but those ideas didn't work. "Made in America" was an attempt to stick to the "Carpenters" formula and milk it again, but that turned out how everyone knew it would: unsuccessful. Richard Carpenters "Time" was another attempt at something different, but didn't work. One thing we can learn from that: The Carpenters were an astronomically long shot that got astronomically lucky in 1970. That luck ran out in 1976 (with other factors), and the chance of them continuing with the same formula, or reinventing themselves in the pop field was just not going to happen. In retrospect we can see they needed to move on. TV was one avenue, but after "The Donny & Marie" show was over in 1982 that style of musical/comedy/variety was dead and would not come back until "American Idol" and "Dancing with the Stars" 30+ years later. Richard could not do disco, he couldn't punk, he really couldn't do New Wave, and can you imagine them trying to do grunge in 1987???? Hahahahah. Musical Theatre may have been an avenue, but what was happening in musical theatre at the time? Little Mermaid, Little Shop of Horrors, that's it. According to John Bettis, Richard did not really believe in himself as a songwriter and had to be pushed to write. Also we see that Richard was a bad judge of his own material, not seeing the potential of "Top of the World" nor "Only Yesterday," but over valuing the weak "I'm Caught Between Goodbye (and I Love You)." Anyway, other than movies, anything is a long step down from a successful Top 40 act. Music is a tough tough field and verrry few artists can maintain a career for even a decade. The oldies circuit was a perfect fit for them and seems the only path forward that would have worked.
45:30 When asked about a solo career: Karen: (Richard and I together) Just seems to work, it doesn't make sense to go looking anywhere else. Interviewer: And Richard do you feel the same way? Richard: OH YEAH!
Thanks! Really enjoyed hearing Karen’s thoughts at this point in the “story.” Awkward moment when asked about solo work…when we now know about the shelved album.
Thank You Billy for helping to keep our duo's legacy alive!
The great Billy Rees comes through again!!! Giving us another golden nugget from The Carpenters. Thank you, Billy.❤
I know these interviews are out there. Stashed in a box in a closet somewhere. But the great Billy Rees goes to the trouble to find them and put them out there for all the carpenters fans to enjoy. You’ll never know how much we really appreciate you.
Thank you Billy. God bless you. Amen 🙏❤️
I just feel sad when I think there isn't anything left to see or hear from Karen.
Enter Billy!!
Early Christmas present for me!!! Love You Karen!
We Miss You so Much.
Thank You Billy!!!❤️
Lovely song is “Yesterday once more “ right …? Thanks for sharing again buddy.( legionnaires Veterans USMC Vietnam war ) 🇺🇸🇫🇷🇨🇦🇬🇧
Thank you for posting this interview! Lots of revelatory info from Richard and Karen. Just sad they never got to try doing a movie musical, which Karen had wanted to do....
Hmmmm....With "Carpenters" having run its course, something different needed to happen, everyone knew that. "Passage" was an attempt to do that, as was "Karen Carpenter," but those ideas didn't work. "Made in America" was an attempt to stick to the "Carpenters" formula and milk it again, but that turned out how everyone knew it would: unsuccessful. Richard Carpenters "Time" was another attempt at something different, but didn't work. One thing we can learn from that: The Carpenters were an astronomically long shot that got astronomically lucky in 1970. That luck ran out in 1976 (with other factors), and the chance of them continuing with the same formula, or reinventing themselves in the pop field was just not going to happen. In retrospect we can see they needed to move on. TV was one avenue, but after "The Donny & Marie" show was over in 1982 that style of musical/comedy/variety was dead and would not come back until "American Idol" and "Dancing with the Stars" 30+ years later. Richard could not do disco, he couldn't punk, he really couldn't do New Wave, and can you imagine them trying to do grunge in 1987???? Hahahahah. Musical Theatre may have been an avenue, but what was happening in musical theatre at the time? Little Mermaid, Little Shop of Horrors, that's it. According to John Bettis, Richard did not really believe in himself as a songwriter and had to be pushed to write. Also we see that Richard was a bad judge of his own material, not seeing the potential of "Top of the World" nor "Only Yesterday," but over valuing the weak "I'm Caught Between Goodbye (and I Love You)." Anyway, other than movies, anything is a long step down from a successful Top 40 act. Music is a tough tough field and verrry few artists can maintain a career for even a decade. The oldies circuit was a perfect fit for them and seems the only path forward that would have worked.
45:30 When asked about a solo career:
Karen: (Richard and I together) Just seems to work, it doesn't make sense to go looking anywhere else.
Interviewer: And Richard do you feel the same way?
Richard: OH YEAH!
Thanks! Really enjoyed hearing Karen’s thoughts at this point in the “story.” Awkward moment when asked about solo work…when we now know about the shelved album.
Cheers Billy…one day we’ll meet 🍻
Question about a solo career for Karen comes up at 45:30
Questions about Karen's illness start at 10:40