YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

Karen was clearly the Voice of the Carpenters, & I love her, but some of you are being unfair to Richard. He wrote many of their biggest hits, AND did the arranging (including vocal overlays on albums, etc), AND he also, for example, picked "We've Only Just Begun" from a commercial, realizing its potential (a HUGE hit, played at the weddings of countless couples). He was also a decent piano player, & though not Mozart, played w/much sensitivity, adding greatly to their songs. Both were important

bookguitarguy 5 months ago

Thank you to richard and karen for creating such amazing and timeless music.

munster322 10 months ago

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Richard's next step was to put it in high gear,already realizing that Karen would never make it solo after years of failing.So he began pouring over 100's of songs written only by the best writters of the day to find the very best material that would make her a star.He also contributed some of his finest written songs that became some of their(her)biggest hits of all time.Everytime I hear a new know-nothing Richard trasher,I will slam your b.s. right back in your ignorant faces!

rematpac 1 year ago

a voice that captures one's heart!

strangely her voice attracts also male listeners

compares to other female singers.

thanks for posting!

giselaverzola2006 1 year ago

It was manager Jerry Weintraub who revamp the shows in 1976. He introduced theatricals acts (like Grease!!!), and put Richard in front of a big orchestra (his was The Conductor). Bullshit, they didn't realize that Karen was/is THE star. Publics want to see Karen, not Richard genius (uff!). I think Horizon is almost a Karen solo work, by then Carpenters concept was over.

FlyingMondongo 1 year ago 21

@FlyingMondongo This reply's a bit late, but I just saw it. I agree that "Horizon" (and "Passage") are Karen solo albums. A lot of the revamping was to satisfy Richard, as he was becoming more and more resentful of Karen "stealing" his stardom. I see and hear a Karen who was bored out of her mind at this point. She was tired of singing the same old songs over and over again.

improvguru 1 year ago 3

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@improvguru I would Love to know where you dreamed all these comments up. It was Karen over the years who on stage encouraged the audience to clap for Richard too. Richard wanted to be the guy behind the scences & has said this many times. Believe me I know this first hand. Richard is a great person & always put Karen & the band ahead of everything. Karen Loved doing the songs,but she liked her say in the order they ddid them. Superstar was best suited as an opener (long musical intro)

vmuto1 1 year ago

@vmuto1 Richard did NOT put Karen first. Terry Ellis is the one who has said that Richard opened the show with some orchestral playing after he threw a tantrum when introduced as "the piano player from The Carpenters." If Richard wanted to be the guy behind the scenes, then he should have stayed there. He did not need to be on stage; they could have found another piano player as they found another drummer. Speaking of , if Richard put Karen first, then she'd be drumming, as she WANTED TO.

improvguru 1 year ago

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@improvguru We can agree to disagree,as a little boy at the time, I never seen, or remember nothing like this happening on stage, or behind stage in the dressing rooms, or the long hall ways in the arenas. The Carpenters & the Band would be drinking some Coca Cola, or Nestea Ice Tea. Karen supported Cubby 100% it was a family atmosphere 99.9 % of the time. Do you know Richard, or Karen, just curious?

vmuto1 1 year ago

@vmuto1 I did not know them, no, but I have read any thing that I can find on them (mot that much, admittedly) and it's fairly common knowledge that Richard controlled Karen. He was jealous of her stardom, and afraid that she would leave him (as we discover with his reaction to her solo album.) I have no doubt that Karen supported Cubby, but she still thought of herself as the drummer and wanted to be there. She was a lot better than Cubby was , too. I don't really trust what Richard says.

improvguru 1 year ago 2

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@improvguru This will be my last post toward you.Richard did not controll Karen otherwise she would have listened to him and stopped taking laxatives.Karem relied on,depended on and very much gratefully followed his musical direction.He was NEVER JEALOUS of her stardom,but devoted his life into making her a star.He never had the slightest fear that she would ever leave him ever,she needed him as much as he needed her,People expect to hear at least 1 immortal song AFTER SO MANY.There were none!

rematpac 1 year ago

@rematpac There were none what? Would you like to spend your career being told what to sing and how to sing it? I can back up what I post with what I've read. If you have articles or books that we don't know about, send me the info. I will gladly read them. Karen was around to serve Richard's "stardom."

You don't know about Anorexia if you think that Karen would have listened to her brother and "stopped" it. One doesn't "stop" being anorectic. If she had lived, she still would be.

improvguru 1 year ago

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@improvguru Her song's on her solo album were great,in my opinion,but there were no immortal classics on it ,something that Karen and Richard achieved more than anyone in history a few short years earlier.So naturally,they expected to hear nothing less,but were disappointed.I also think they were way too hard on her,but not out of jealousy.It had more to do with money.Her brother did try to stop it but like all anorexics,she wouldn't listen.People are not born with it,they develop it .

rematpac 1 year ago

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@improvguru This will be my last post toward you.Richard did not controll Karen otherwise she would have listened to him and stopped taking laxatives.Karen relied on,depended on and very much gratefully followed his musical direction.He was NEVER JEALOUS of her stardom,but devoted his life into making her a star.He never had the slightest fear that she would ever leave him ever,she needed him as much as he needed her,People expect to hear at least 1 immortal song AFTER SO MANY.There were none!

rematpac 1 year ago

@rematpac Anorexia was Karen's method of GAINING control of her life, of trying to escape her family's clutches.

Are you by chance a personal friend of Richard's? You certainly seem very defensive of him, yet you cite zero evidence to back up what you write. My theories at least come from credible sources.

improvguru 1 year ago

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@improvguru Are you an expert on anorexia ,or did Karen tell you this herself? In Karen's own words,her losing weight had nothing to do with her family ,but it was all about the pressures of being a star.She said herself,in this business,you have to LOOK perfect.I have been there since Close to You .My only objective is TRUTH.The sudden desparate tone in your comment only gives away your fear of losing your arguement. and is bordering on irrationality and when that happens truth ceases to exist!

rematpac 1 year ago

@rematpac I nearly lost somebody I love to Anorexia, so yes, I do know a lot about it. You're right about nobody being born with the disease and Karen showed no tendencies, from all accounts, until later in her life. Karen never actually spoke publicly about WHY she developed Anorexia, but I highly doubt that it was about anybody telling her how she had to look. She was already beautiful.

You still haven't told me what newspapers, book, etc. you have your info from.

improvguru 1 year ago

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@improvguru I have a source infinitely more reliable than any book,magazine,or TV could ever come close to-I LIVED IT! The song Close to You changed my life from wanting to become a classical musician,which I had been seriously training for years,to wanting to make popular music instead.I even hated The Beatles in the 60's and made fun of people who liked them to their face.The Carpenter's became my one and only idols.My sources of info came as things happened during the earliest 70's.

rematpac 1 year ago

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@improvguru During the next several years of your life,and I'm not talking down to you,you will most likely go through the period of astonishment that most people go through when they begin to realize that they've been lied to about almost virtually everything in their lives,especially from books,magazines,and television.I even help write a historical book at a fairly early age and was shocked when our professional writer employer routinely had us simply make things up and revealed all pros do.

rematpac 1 year ago

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Respond to this video... I've told you mine: "Little Girl Blue" by Randy Schmidt and "Carpenters: The Untold Story" by Ray Coleman.

improvguru 1 year ago

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@improvguru Normally I would tear you limb from limb with your distortions of the truth,but you and I agree on probably the most important fact of The Carpenters:If they would have left her behind the drums as they should have,since it had absolutely no negative effect on her vocals(and most importantly that's what SHE WANTED),HAVING THE LOWER HALF OF HER BODY INADVERTANTLY COVERED BY THE DRUMSET,would have not given her a chance to obsess about her weight and she probably would be alive!

rematpac 1 year ago

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@improvguru That was Richard's biggest mistake.The only reason he ever threw any tantrums is because he devoted his whole life into making Karen a star,not himself.He worked just as hard or more so to make Karen a star.He1st stepped aside and tried to produce her as a solo star in the mid-60's for years,completely becoming anonymous.It didn't work .Nobody was interested and they were almost permanently dropped from AM records after they signed.Only Herb Albert was able to save them.

rematpac 1 year ago

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@improvguru Rich always put Karen 1st.Do you think this ,talented,hardworking musician from a loving and supportive middle class family was stupid?Of course he realized his sister was the key to success and he also loved her as a devoted brother.For years karen's solo career went NO WHERE.Richard finally realized she wasn't going to make it on her own and needed to put his best talent forward along with others to ever hope to succeed.Who wouldn't be insulted simply called their keyboardist?

rematpac 1 year ago

@rematpac Karen did not have a solo career "for years." She produced a couple of songs in 1966 (as you should know.) Karen was extremely driven to succeed. She was an artist, a dancer, and then a drummer. Don't you know that Agnes believed that Karen was merely Richard's "back up?" Karen wasn't interested in "hiding her lower half." this woman went on ONE diet between the ages of 5 and 24. She didn't have a body image problem. She played the drums because she loved them.

improvguru 1 year ago

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@improvguru You seem to keep changing the facts to suit your agenda whatever that is?Between 1966-68 Karen made so many recordings with Richard's help for her failed solo career that no one knows how many for sure because Karen denied making ANY during that time to her grave.Recently,these recordings have been surfacing somehow and there doesn't seem to be any end of them in sight.Karen was not an artist OR dancer,but a tomboy who played baseball while Richard stayed in and practiced piano .

rematpac 1 year ago

@rematpac Karen definitely was a tomboy baseball player, but she took dance lessons at a very early age She also developed quite the artistic interest, even winning a poster contest in grade 8. She was known for her impersonations of people as well. It's all in "Little Girl Blue." Read it.

Karen's ONLY early solo recordings were "Looking For Love" and "All Of My Life," which she did for The Magic Lamp label. She denied them until 1976, when she finally admitted it.

improvguru 1 year ago

@improvguru One of the reasons that she may have done this (and notice that I write "may," as I am not saying that this is fact) is because Joe Osborn did not want Richard in his studio while he recorded Karen. She was always protecting Richard.

Do you think that Richard is lying when he says that there is virtually no more Karen or Carpenters recordings that the public hasn't heard? What are these "hundreds" of Karen recordings? Can you name them ? Post a link to them?

improvguru 1 year ago

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@improvguru My 2 brothers and I were forced to take dancing lessons every week throughout our entire earliest years.We all ended up hating dancing and none of us has ever danced once as an adult.What does making a poster have to do with artistic talent?Almost nothing.I'm not trying to be the man with an answer for everything,but my father just happened to be an extremely,unusually gifted artist and painter by profession.Yes I agree,from what I've seen she was a very good actor,but we all act.

rematpac 1 year ago

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@improvguru I just checked the internet to prove to you that there was a flood of early Karen song's that were previously unknown all sounding like her in the 60's.I started uploading them 6-8 months ago but then decided to delele them because there seem to be so many and they were only of historical importance to me.I can't find them now!Be happy,for once I don't claim to know the answer.But very little on youtube falls under public domain I suspect and it's only a matter of time before it goes

rematpac 1 year ago

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@rematpac Well it didn't take me long to prove I was right all along.I hope you don't think of this as a "Itold you so"silly contest,but as a FEARLESS search for the REAL truth.If you google Carpenter cds and find the cd set called ,"From the Top",the very 1st reviewer of it describes the entire 1st cd of the set consisting of recordings made from the 60's by Karen.

rematpac 1 year ago

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@improvguru Karen WAS Richard's back up(on the drums)until Agnes was the one that talked Karen into singing lead.You've turned everything upside down!Of course Karen wasn't interested in hiding her lower half,but if she could have stayed on the drums it most likely wouldn't have ever become an issue for her.Even though she was a little chubby,she was still very beautiful and could have cared less until the execs insisted she display her entire body to the world from head to toe when performing.

rematpac 1 year ago

@rematpac Agnes talked Karen into singing lead, did she? So every single person (including Richard) has lied over the years about how little Agnes cared about Karen? That Richard was her "golden child?"

Indeed, Karen should have been allowed to stay on the drums, but of course Richard wouldn't allow that to happen.

improvguru 1 year ago

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@improvguru Your late sources from people trying to eat and pay their rent years after what they say can be disputed are liars.Richard was her golden child only in the sense that at a young age he seriously set out to become a successful musician and practiced hours a day after school while Karen and the guys were out playing baseball.When Karen became a little older she wanted to become like her brother and picked a musical instument that his brother's future band would need and started working

rematpac 1 year ago

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@improvguru Alright ,I saw Richard and the rest admit to pressuring her off the drums due to audience pressure supposedly.I can hardly believe they were that stupid.Too bad Karen was't strong enough to refuse them.I want to read the book Little Girl Blue.All the great female singers have done versions of that song and Karen's is the best(Richard's unique arrangement helped).If you watch her sing that song in a video you can see what Richard was talking about when he said u could c thru her i's

rematpac 1 year ago

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@rematpac The video I saw years ago of her lipsyncing Little Girl Blue where you can see right through her glassy eyes looking like death is not on utube so don't bother looking for it.They may have taken it down for respect for her I don't know?

rematpac 1 year ago

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@improvguru Once that happens,the pressure is on.People judge you for how you look,not sound anymore.And they knit-pick about the slightest imperfection anywhere on your body.Karen spoke herself about this pressure and was greatly affected by it as we all know.No,she didn't go on one diet,but started taking up to 40 laxatives to trim down her weight in 1974.She didn't have a body problem image until it was forced upon her by the stress of stardom.She spent many hours perfecting drum technique.

rematpac 1 year ago

@improvguru I'M TRYING TO REMAIN AS POLITE AS POSSIBLE,BUT EVERYTIME I READ MORE OF YOUR OBSESSED PSYCHOTIC LIES ABOUT SOMETHING YOU KNOW LITTLE ABOUT I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO THINK.TELL YOUR STORY TO A PSYCHIATRIST AND SEE WHAT HE SAYS AND PLEASE TAKE HIS ADVICE!!

rematpac 1 year ago

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@rematpac You've written: "Isn't Horizon the 1st Carpenter's album that contained only 1 good song on the entire album,"Happy"?" Your bizarre comments are just that "bizarre comments". You are completely unable to understand that Karen has the right to start a solo career as she wanted. Richard was a talented musician, but what about Richard's career after Karen's dead? WHERE IS?

FlyingMondongo 1 year ago

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@FlyingMondongo There's no hidden secret there.Richard himself is the 1st to admit that his career as he knew it was completely over after Karen died.Richard was instrumental to Karen's success up until the Horizon album.Richard admits himself that because of his Qualude addiction,by 1976 he even had a hard time even writing his name.There is nothing bizzarre about my comments.There isn't 1 other song on that album that is good as the song Happy.

rematpac 1 year ago

@improvguru I don't see "Passage" like a Karen's solo work because of its lack of an stylistic concept. At that time Richard was totally bewildered about what the public wanted to listen. For the rest of your comment, I completely agree.

FlyingMondongo 1 year ago

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@FlyingMondongo Isn't Horizon the 1st Carpenter's album that contained only 1 good song on the entire album,"Happy"? I lived through The Carpenters since Close to You hit the radio waves. Whenever I hear a self-appointed expert talk about them like he actually knows any real facts it really erks me.I am quit willing to confess that Karen was the greatest pop singer that will ever live,but the fact is that without Richard she never would have even thought of becoming a musician!

rematpac 1 year ago

i've found the footage that goes with the first cd i ever bought, when i was 14!!( was produced the year i was born!) 20 years later i'm still humming carpeneters tunes at work

fasidon04 1 year ago

It's unfortunate that whoever reworked Carpenters live show directed Karen to sound like Julie Andrews. Nothing wrong with Ms. Andrews, but Karen's intimate readings of songs like "Rainy Days" is one of the things which set her apart from the rest of the pack. Their act was way too glitzy and loungy. And I wish Cubby would shut up on the drums and let Karen play them.

improvguru 1 year ago

@improvguru I AGREE

valkour22 1 year ago

@improvguru, certainly it was disrespectful to have cubby play along with Karen, as if she couldn't make it or what she did were not enough!!! Certainly the new show should have been more in the line of Horizon, more mature music and arrangements, not so Disneysque all the time. You don't need to go whorish like today´s divas do, just simply recognize you´re not 20 anymore!!!

weatherly84 1 year ago

@improvguru Hey I totally agree with you on the drum part. I just want to tell that guy to calm down on the drums. Easy on the cymbals cowboy! Just let Karen play-em!

taberkuku 1 year ago

I saw The Carpenters live in London twice. Pure class and magic. I miss Karen's voice; It really was the voice of an angel.

mikeysussex 1 year ago

@mikeysussex you're so lucky you were able to see them perform, twice at that!

chuyfitz 1 year ago

@chuyfitz i second that!

No1KCfan6 1 year ago

i cant watch this without tears,SO GOOD

valkour22 1 year ago

Every time I listen to her voice I realize how wonderful she sang!

elvinfano 1 year ago 2

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One of the greatest female voices ever showcased on the planet. This wonderful lady sang like an angel from 1969 to 1983. Her brother Richard was also amazing to recognize his sister's vocal talent and to create a world of music which allowed the everyone to enjoy in a timeless style. Thanks !!!

ahfaxthis 2 years ago

Couldnt have put it better myself

Davallew 2 years ago

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she was to weak to perform let alone take a bow,thats why.

liljon71 2 years ago

Karen you are so precious and so beautiful... Why Richard is taking all the vows?

carpentermanuel 2 years ago 22

@carpentermanuel Didn't he write the music?

wordgrrl71 7 months ago

best music of all time.....

paulmanson 2 years ago

Richard's mike is turned up way too high.

infinera06 2 years ago

@infinera06 Most definitely. The sound man should have been shot.

TheOrontes 1 year ago

Seguramente era todo un deleite verlos!

KCalita 2 years ago

Gracias por poner este video, ya lo tenía antes en Favoritos pero lo quitaron.

Zagalchino 3 years ago

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Sorry, I can't get enough of this. Should give Richard credit for the arrangements, production & conducting of this Showcase of Karen. She still lives in my spirit- lovely angel. God, you know they were all so great.

pennymusicMAma 4 years ago