Richard sang plenty. He's on all the earlier songs singing backing vocals sometimes 4 x tracked or more with Karen. He was the producer on most of their albums. People don't give him enough credit for their success.
I remember reading that on one of their songs there were 16 overdubbed vocal tracks. The reason their harmonies sound so good is that they are harmonizing with themselves, so they blend perfectly.
Richard's strength was his arranging - he was brilliant at it. A song that I think you would really enjoy would be "This Masquerade." It was a little bit of jazz and blues.
And from Time, which was one of Richard's few solo albums. He sings lead on much of that album, notably on When Time Was All We Had, where he multitracks himself into an a cappella choir...
Great Reaction! I was 14 when their first big hit "Close To You" was released, and I vividly remember hearing it for the first time, being in the car with my best friend, when mom was driving us to school one morning when we were in 9th grade. We instantly became fans of the Carpenters. Back in those days, teenagers listened to their favorite AM radio station CONSTANTLY and more often than not sang along to almost every song that came on. Out of all of the wonderful female singers of the 60's/70's/80's, Karen Carpenter was the ONE that I most admired and wanted to sound like! Out of all the Carpenters songs that I knew and loved, "Only Yesterday" is my favorite. Thank you so much for reacting to it! I thoroughly enjoy watching your reaction videos and I look forward to seeing more.
Pamela, same story but from a guy’s perspective. I was 14 just getting my first Sony all in one and Karen melted me. Close To You was my first real album, not kiddie or crappy. I didn’t buy records as my old RCA record player would chew them up, so only radio for current music. Lifelong fan and seeing young UA-camrs react does my heart good. I’m going to share an artist I’ve been following since October. I was a never anyone like Kacie ever again. Well, I’m in the never say never category now. Tori is 20, sings songs of our youth and does them supreme justice with honor. Did I say she’s a Carpenters superfan? She’s got way more memorabilia than me. She’s in the other major platforms and each has some unique differences for her library. Primarily Shorts but some full length and a couple original. If this works the link will provide a proof of concept. No, she is NOT lip syncing Karen. I hope you enjoy. Joe ua-cam.com/video/lzGAhBT-zTg/v-deo.htmlsi=YSCIBT-jpGPUenb8 .
@@jbs256 You are right about Tori! She has an amazing voice--and I don't think I have ever heard any other singer get that close to the unique qualities of Karen vocals! Thanks for sharing that link!
@@pamelapasechnick6899 I’m glad you agree. I find her amazing. Thing is she can cover Kacie’s best friend Olivia and do more than justice to her vocals. Anything she tries she just knocks it out of the park. Now she dropping her playing instruments She very recently dropped Crazy On You. She’s ❤️, most of them! Look for that video, same place. I find often, her I. G channel has longer cuts, that being one of them. Just add music to her name. She’s a rabbit hole of Shorts but does have a few long form songs and one self produced video; The Bacharach/David Medley. She’s an invited singer at The Carpenters 55th Anniversary Celebration in Downey, CA in April. I’m going. Be well and enjoy the time warp. Joe
Richard actually sings lead vocals on a few of their older songs like "Your Wonderful Parade" and "Piano Picker." He wrote "Only Yesterday" with lyricist John Bettis.
A favorite of mine she shares vocals with a children's choir. Sing. Originally written for Sesame Street, and covered by many, most notably the Carpenters which reached #3 on the hot 100. Among the orchestration, there are flute and trumpet parts that blend in nicely.
Bob Messenger does a fabulous flute solo on "This Masquerade" (on which Richard plays a wonderful jazz piano bit), so he was multi-talented. His sax solos were great! And Tony Peluso's guitar solos were always top-notch.
By 1975, music was beginning to lean towards disco and acts like The Carpenters was being left behind. Eventually, they did make a comeback in 1981 with the song "Touch Me When We're Dancing" which were their last top 20 song (charted to number 14 on Billboard, I believe). Unfortunately, Karen died 2 years later. If you want to hear Richard sing, you should react to his songs "Calling You're Name Again", and "I'm Still Not Over You". He also did a duet featuring Dusty Springfield with "Something In Your Eyes".
Jimmy Gordon on drums. It’s just PERFECTION and really did not get any better. The breadth of his entire body of work would be a near impossibility to quantify.
When you hear harmony on just about any Carpenters song, it is many more than two parts. I believe all the voices are Karen and Richard. Sometimes you have 2 or 3 tracks of each of them.
Want to hear Richard on his own? Check out the 1987 Time solo album. Several guest performers (Dusty Springfield, Dionne Warwick, Scott Grimes, Herb Alpert), but much of the project has Richard singing lead, notably on When Time Was All We Had, where he revisits the multitracked backing vocals bigtime, turning himself into an a cappella choir...
Richard did sing lead in many of their album cuts. If you want to hear him, try "Piano Picker", "Drucilla Penny", "Saturday". "Your Wonderful Parade", "I Kept On Lovin You" just to name a few. Altho Richard is a good technical singer, he has a slight lisp, so singin lead vocals was not his forte.
Richard would have done very well in a Chet Baker mode of singing. (Which would have been magnificent on the Carpenters standards albums that should have happened...)
If you want to hear something different from The Carpenters, react to "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft" or, to a lesser degree, "Goodbye To Love". 😎
like the freshest breeze on a hot humid day, like the warmest hug, like seeing a old friend, the great scent of the most intoxicating of burning wood, etc.
Karen considered herself a drummer who sang. Even Phil Collins admired her drumming. I suggest you look for the Karen drum solo video. It's something! ❤
@@stevetournay6103 one of my personal faves. I recommend it often but usually let the reactor discover the path of greatness. But for you that knows, here’s a treat. This young artist I’ve been following since October. Last November she dropped her cover of The Medley! Yup! By herself! Just used a music track. The rest is her. Then last week this older guy liked it but thought she needed more Richard! (She actually does “Richard” in the song) so Jim, did all the Richard harmonies and triple tracked and mixed it in. The result is even better than the original which was hard to do. Enjoy the magic! Joe ua-cam.com/video/_mQCjHL3fiQ/v-deo.htmlsi=c2bDXwTKv_Sq5oXN .
I have mixed emotions on this one. It’s a spectacular song but a Karen is quite skinny. I’m writing this as I’m watching. The location was The Huntington, a home in the San Marino (adjacent to Pasadena) area of Los Angeles. It was a home that became a museum. I’ve driven by it but never visited it. Bob Messenger is the guy in Rainy Days that did the sax. He played sax in a ton of their songs. He also played flute and bass guitar. He was a triple threat. Now for Jim Gordon. That is a tragedy maybe equal to Karen but for different reasons. I’ll cut to the chase and let you do a deep dive if you want. He killed his mother. He was a fantastic and prolific drummer. A true tragic story of mental illness. Both Jim and Bob are gone. I don’t think you’ve done Goodbye To Love. There isn’t a specific video but was performed in their concerts so one should be available or just a music track. A keyword to base your research on is “Power Ballad” you will find more to talk about here. The overall sadness of the title and song is extra sad in that Karen was 22 singing it. Richard and John wrote it about Karen but didn’t admit to it. It’s a beautiful song but… Karen soars as does Tony Peluso on fuzz guitar. Tony is a big part of the back story. I love your journey into Carpenters. Keep on going. I hope this works. I’m going to leave a link to an short cover by a current 20 year old, covering the song. One day I hope you are able to do a dive into her library but for now just enjoy the Short. This is special as you will see. ua-cam.com/video/lzGAhBT-zTg/v-deo.htmlsi=YSCIBT-jpGPUenb8 .
Goodbye To Love was initially inspired by the title appearing in an old Bing Crosby movie, but the song itself was entirely Richard and John, and certainly does seem to have much to do with Karen. So do other lyrics John wrote for Carpenters, and even some of the covers Richard chose. Eve, from all the way back at the start of their career, is an example: Eve, I can't believe That you could mean what you just said Think of what you are How very far you are from being real Look into the mirror Nothing there to see Eve, I can't believe You'd really leave him Notice how her image saddens How lonely she's become Just once I'd like to see her happy Before the winter comes... That's my favourite of all Carpenters songs. Almost funereal in its melancholy. It was inspired by an episode of one of the old sci-fi shows Richard saw. Thanks for posting that lore about the band members. I had known none of that (except that Bob Messenger played flute)...
Oh, and if you react to Goodbye To Love, choose the studio audio. There is a live video version but an effect is laid over Peluso's guitar that pretty much wrecks it...
Wish this beautiful woman had realized how beautiful she was and had found the true love she so richly deserved. Wanted to come back and add a couple of things. First, I would like to add Whitney Houston to the list of great female singers we lost too soon. Outstanding voice and singer. Second, concerning this song being their last top ten. If you look at the shots of Karen in the studio it seems she looks a little gaunt and thin. I believe this was the beginning of her problems. Soon Richard would have his own minor problems which he quickly corrected. Though Karen sought treatment, and much effort was put into helping her, sadly she succumbed to her problem. I think she was hurt deeply by a marriage that failed fast due to a husband that just wanted to use her. I'm certainly no authority and this is all speculation on my part. Suffice it to say, I wish and hope she knew that she was truly loved by millions, and still is!
As the 70s went on, the Carpenters were vilified as being too sweet and clean by hard-core rock and rollers. Thus, their popularity suffered greatly and they had a harder time getting #1 hits through no fault of their own.
Mid Seventies was not such a good time on the Billboard Top Ten for mellow and romantic music. Disco, Funk, Hard Rock, and Metal pushed out a whole bunch of Early Seventies Legends like America, Bread, Gordon Lightfoot, and eventually going into the Mid Eighties, even ,Neil Diamond. Middle Aged oeople loved The Carpenters but Youth not so much.
Richard sang plenty. He's on all the earlier songs singing backing vocals sometimes 4 x tracked or more with Karen. He was the producer on most of their albums. People don't give him enough credit for their success.
I remember reading that on one of their songs there were 16 overdubbed vocal tracks. The reason their harmonies sound so good is that they are harmonizing with themselves, so they blend perfectly.
Karen and Richard both said the money was in the basement, when Karen sang in her beautiful lower register it was so warm and soothing.
Nice choice. Richards' production skills were so tight and clean.
Karen and Richard sang the background as well. They went back into the studio and sang layers of background that were overlayed
The voice, the lyrics, the harmonies... Perfection.
The music of the Carpenters is timeless rip Karen Carpenter
Richard's strength was his arranging - he was brilliant at it. A song that I think you would really enjoy would be "This Masquerade." It was a little bit of jazz and blues.
His jazz piano solo was fabulous! As was Bob Messenger's flute solo.
Karen has just an amazing voice and drumming and Richard’s piano and beautiful arrangements. ❤❤
Karen was the main singer, but Richards "Waaa" game was bananas!
They did a lot of touring. Richard got frustrated with how many days they were traveling, leaving him less time for arranging new music.
Duet: Richard Carpenter and Dusty Springfield, “Sonething in Your Eyes”. Top Ten Adult Contemporary Hit from 1987.
And from Time, which was one of Richard's few solo albums. He sings lead on much of that album, notably on When Time Was All We Had, where he multitracks himself into an a cappella choir...
Solitaire and Masquerade ..You will hear another side of her.
Two really great songs!
Great Reaction! I was 14 when their first big hit "Close To You" was released, and I vividly remember hearing it for the first time, being in the car with my best friend, when mom was driving us to school one morning when we were in 9th grade. We instantly became fans of the Carpenters. Back in those days, teenagers listened to their favorite AM radio station CONSTANTLY and more often than not sang along to almost every song that came on. Out of all of the wonderful female singers of the 60's/70's/80's, Karen Carpenter was the ONE that I most admired and wanted to sound like! Out of all the Carpenters songs that I knew and loved, "Only Yesterday" is my favorite. Thank you so much for reacting to it! I thoroughly enjoy watching your reaction videos and I look forward to seeing more.
Pamela, same story but from a guy’s perspective. I was 14 just getting my first Sony all in one and Karen melted me. Close To You was my first real album, not kiddie or crappy. I didn’t buy records as my old RCA record player would chew them up, so only radio for current music. Lifelong fan and seeing young UA-camrs react does my heart good.
I’m going to share an artist I’ve been following since October. I was a never anyone like Kacie ever again. Well, I’m in the never say never category now. Tori is 20, sings songs of our youth and does them supreme justice with honor. Did I say she’s a Carpenters superfan? She’s got way more memorabilia than me. She’s in the other major platforms and each has some unique differences for her library. Primarily Shorts but some full length and a couple original. If this works the link will provide a proof of concept. No, she is NOT lip syncing Karen. I hope you enjoy.
Joe
ua-cam.com/video/lzGAhBT-zTg/v-deo.htmlsi=YSCIBT-jpGPUenb8
.
@@jbs256 You are right about Tori! She has an amazing voice--and I don't think I have ever heard any other singer get that close to the unique qualities of Karen vocals! Thanks for sharing that link!
@@pamelapasechnick6899 I’m glad you agree. I find her amazing. Thing is she can cover Kacie’s best friend Olivia and do more than justice to her vocals. Anything she tries she just knocks it out of the park. Now she dropping her playing instruments She very recently dropped Crazy On You. She’s ❤️, most of them! Look for that video, same place. I find often, her I. G channel has longer cuts, that being one of them. Just add music to her name. She’s a rabbit hole of Shorts but does have a few long form songs and one self produced video; The Bacharach/David Medley. She’s an invited singer at The Carpenters 55th Anniversary Celebration in Downey, CA in April. I’m going.
Be well and enjoy the time warp.
Joe
you should check out Yesterday Once More and Goodbye to Love.
And 40 more!! Saw them in 74...you??
Richard actually sings lead vocals on a few of their older songs like "Your Wonderful Parade" and "Piano Picker." He wrote "Only Yesterday" with lyricist John Bettis.
A favorite of mine she shares vocals with a children's choir. Sing. Originally written for Sesame Street, and covered by many, most notably the Carpenters which reached #3 on the hot 100.
Among the orchestration, there are flute and trumpet parts that blend in nicely.
Bob Messenger does a fabulous flute solo on "This Masquerade" (on which Richard plays a wonderful jazz piano bit), so he was multi-talented. His sax solos were great! And Tony Peluso's guitar solos were always top-notch.
By 1975, music was beginning to lean towards disco and acts like The Carpenters was being left behind. Eventually, they did make a comeback in 1981 with the song "Touch Me When We're Dancing" which were their last top 20 song (charted to number 14 on Billboard, I believe). Unfortunately, Karen died 2 years later.
If you want to hear Richard sing, you should react to his songs "Calling You're Name Again", and "I'm Still Not Over You". He also did a duet featuring Dusty Springfield with "Something In Your Eyes".
Yes. The Time CD was very interesting. When Time Was All We Had is exceptional, with Richard multitracking himself into an a cappella choir...
@@stevetournay6103 I very much enjoyed it as well, but the flugelhorn part felt a little jarring for me.
Jimmy Gordon on drums. It’s just PERFECTION and really did not get any better. The breadth of his entire body of work would be a near impossibility to quantify.
Nothing less than a masterpiece.
When you hear harmony on just about any Carpenters song, it is many more than two parts. I believe all the voices are Karen and Richard. Sometimes you have 2 or 3 tracks of each of them.
I encourage you to react to Karen Carpenters favorite song , " I need to be in love", there is a great live version of it on you tube.
Want to hear Richard on his own? Check out the 1987 Time solo album. Several guest performers (Dusty Springfield, Dionne Warwick, Scott Grimes, Herb Alpert), but much of the project has Richard singing lead, notably on When Time Was All We Had, where he revisits the multitracked backing vocals bigtime, turning himself into an a cappella choir...
Love that you love the Carpenters! You know music!
Richard did sing lead in many of their album cuts. If you want to hear him, try "Piano Picker", "Drucilla Penny", "Saturday". "Your Wonderful Parade", "I Kept On Lovin You" just to name a few. Altho Richard is a good technical singer, he has a slight lisp, so singin lead vocals was not his forte.
He was good enough...I think he should have done more
Richard would have done very well in a Chet Baker mode of singing. (Which would have been magnificent on the Carpenters standards albums that should have happened...)
If you want to hear something different from The Carpenters, react to "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft" or, to a lesser degree, "Goodbye To Love". 😎
That one is so much fun and really shows off Richard's arranging talents and creativity
Karen had a voice like dripping honey. So soothing.❤❤
like the freshest breeze on a hot humid day, like the warmest hug, like seeing a old friend, the great scent of the most intoxicating of burning wood, etc.
Karen considered herself a drummer who sang. Even Phil Collins admired her drumming. I suggest you look for the Karen drum solo video. It's something! ❤
There's more than one. Most impressive is the 1971 live outdoor Bacharach medley recorded for Ed Sullivan...
@@stevetournay6103 one of my personal faves. I recommend it often but usually let the reactor discover the path of greatness. But for you that knows, here’s a treat. This young artist I’ve been following since October. Last November she dropped her cover of The Medley! Yup! By herself! Just used a music track. The rest is her. Then last week this older guy liked it but thought she needed more Richard! (She actually does “Richard” in the song) so Jim, did all the Richard harmonies and triple tracked and mixed it in. The result is even better than the original which was hard to do. Enjoy the magic!
Joe
ua-cam.com/video/_mQCjHL3fiQ/v-deo.htmlsi=c2bDXwTKv_Sq5oXN
.
If you want to hear Richard singing, you should react 'I Kept on Loving You. He was singing with Karen on drums.
I have mixed emotions on this one. It’s a spectacular song but a Karen is quite skinny. I’m writing this as I’m watching. The location was The Huntington, a home in the San Marino (adjacent to Pasadena) area of Los Angeles. It was a home that became a museum. I’ve driven by it but never visited it. Bob Messenger is the guy in Rainy Days that did the sax. He played sax in a ton of their songs. He also played flute and bass guitar. He was a triple threat. Now for Jim Gordon. That is a tragedy maybe equal to Karen but for different reasons. I’ll cut to the chase and let you do a deep dive if you want. He killed his mother. He was a fantastic and prolific drummer. A true tragic story of mental illness. Both Jim and Bob are gone.
I don’t think you’ve done Goodbye To Love. There isn’t a specific video but was performed in their concerts so one should be available or just a music track. A keyword to base your research on is “Power Ballad” you will find more to talk about here. The overall sadness of the title and song is extra sad in that Karen was 22 singing it. Richard and John wrote it about Karen but didn’t admit to it. It’s a beautiful song but… Karen soars as does Tony Peluso on fuzz guitar. Tony is a big part of the back story.
I love your journey into Carpenters. Keep on going. I hope this works. I’m going to leave a link to an short cover by a current 20 year old, covering the song. One day I hope you are able to do a dive into her library but for now just enjoy the Short. This is special as you will see.
ua-cam.com/video/lzGAhBT-zTg/v-deo.htmlsi=YSCIBT-jpGPUenb8
.
And Karen's mother was responsible for her death! Telling Karen to not eat too many cookies when she was young!!
Goodbye To Love was initially inspired by the title appearing in an old Bing Crosby movie, but the song itself was entirely Richard and John, and certainly does seem to have much to do with Karen. So do other lyrics John wrote for Carpenters, and even some of the covers Richard chose. Eve, from all the way back at the start of their career, is an example:
Eve, I can't believe
That you could mean what you just said
Think of what you are
How very far you are from being real
Look into the mirror
Nothing there to see
Eve, I can't believe
You'd really leave him
Notice how her image saddens
How lonely she's become
Just once I'd like to see her happy
Before the winter comes...
That's my favourite of all Carpenters songs. Almost funereal in its melancholy. It was inspired by an episode of one of the old sci-fi shows Richard saw.
Thanks for posting that lore about the band members. I had known none of that (except that Bob Messenger played flute)...
Oh, and if you react to Goodbye To Love, choose the studio audio. There is a live video version but an effect is laid over Peluso's guitar that pretty much wrecks it...
I think you should react to their only country hit Sweet sweet smile from 1976, it's upbeat and Karen is really good.
Check out "Ordinary Fool"
❤
Karen was so talented ❤️
Richard really SHONE...
Wish this beautiful woman had realized how beautiful she was and had found the true love she so richly deserved.
Wanted to come back and add a couple of things. First, I would like to add Whitney Houston to the list of great female singers we lost too soon. Outstanding voice and singer. Second, concerning this song being their last top ten. If you look at the shots of Karen in the studio it seems she looks a little gaunt and thin. I believe this was the beginning of her problems. Soon Richard would have his own minor problems which he quickly corrected. Though Karen sought treatment, and much effort was put into helping her, sadly she succumbed to her problem. I think she was hurt deeply by a marriage that failed fast due to a husband that just wanted to use her. I'm certainly no authority and this is all speculation on my part. Suffice it to say, I wish and hope she knew that she was truly loved by millions, and still is!
Keep goun with Karen!! Saw them in 74!!
As the 70s went on, the Carpenters were vilified as being too sweet and clean by hard-core rock and rollers. Thus, their popularity suffered greatly and they had a harder time getting #1 hits through no fault of their own.
Mid Seventies was not such a good time on the Billboard Top Ten for mellow and romantic music. Disco, Funk, Hard Rock, and Metal pushed out a whole bunch of Early Seventies Legends like America, Bread, Gordon Lightfoot, and eventually going into the Mid Eighties, even ,Neil Diamond. Middle Aged oeople loved The Carpenters but Youth not so much.
Bro, they didnt break up ..she died!!!!
Yeah, that was an odd slip, since he knows that perfectly well...