Kim Carnes 'Speaking Freely' (2003) - part 1

Ken Paulson: Welcome to "Speaking Freely." I'm Ken Paulson. We're delighted today to welcome the Grammy award-winning artist Kim Carnes.

Kim Carnes: Hey. [Applause] Thank you for having me. Hi, guys.

Paulson: You know, Kim, this show is about free expression in America and how important it is to honor the First Amendment. And, I've got a bone to pick with you.

Carnes: Oh, no.

Paulson: Going back to the earliest days of your career, you, you appeared in a film, "C'mon, Let's Live a Little."

Carnes: I'm gonna kill you right now at the start of the show.

Paulson: First threat today. Thats, ah — but that's freedom of speech as well, so, that's OK.

Carnes: You just had to get that in, didn't you?

Paulson: I want to share this synopsis with the audience. This is a movie starring Bobby Vee, who some of you will remember. [Reads] "The school rebel uses the folk singer to entice students into attending his rally on free speech, but then the folk singer rallies back and punches the radical who supported free speech in the nose. He then allows the dean to tell the student body the reasons why they don't need radical ideas like freedom of speech."

Carnes: Things have changed.

Paulson: What a subversive movie that was. And it didn't take. In 1967, nobody watched the movie, and no one took that message, and that's probably a good thing.

Carnes: Fortunately.

Paulson: Fortunately, a good thing.

Carnes: Yeah, yeah for a lot of reasons.

Paulson: Well, you were very young at the time and just beginning your career.

Carnes: I was very young. First acting job, last acting job. I definitely realized it was not for me.

Paulson: Well, things got a whole lot better for you.

Carnes: Yeah, they did.

Paulson: You got into music in a very big way. I wonder if you could talk a little bit about your first efforts to get into the music business.

Carnes: I sang. I had a duo — oh, gosh, going back to the seventh grade — with a friend of mine, Jane, and we were Kim and Jane. I played the piano, she played the bongos, and, and we sang. And really before we had our driver's licenses, we would have a friend in high school drive us — I grew up in Pasadena, California — drive us over to Hollywood, to Hollywood Boulevard, and we'd knock on the doors of record companies and really believed all we have to do is just find the right one, and we'll be off and running. And we did. We found a, a record company, and the gentleman said, "If you come back tomorrow night, bring us $250 —" I think that was the sum — "you could make a record." So, we were on our way to stardom. It was happenin. And we went home and borrowed money from our parents, promising to wash cars forever, whatever, and we went back to the studio the next night. I played the piano, and we sang, I think, four songs. And afterwards, he gave us a green vinyl acetate record that we were thrilled with until we took it home and played it probably four or five times, and then the quality went quickly downhill. It turned to very scratchy and was unplayable. But he also told us he was going to Australia for six months, and he'd be home and was gonna make us huge, big stars. Well, of course, we, after about three or four months, got antsy, went back to the studio to see, just in case, did he come home early, and, ah, it had turned into a travel agency, so — lesson number one. Also a lesson that you're not supposed to pay them. They're supposed to pay you to make the record.

Paulson: That's the theory, anyway.

Carnes: That was our first, first recording shot.

Paulson: Well, he didn't do it, but you went on to become a major star, and what was the first step? Who had the faith in you to go ahead and, and let you do your first album as a solo artist?

Carnes: Jimmy Bowen did. Jimmy signed me to my first publishing deal, and, we started making demos for publishing. And, really, the demos kind of gradually turned into, "Well, let's make an album." So, my very first album was produced by, by Bowen in Hollywood called Rest on Me.

Paulson: And, so, you really began as a songwriter.

Carnes: I did. I started getting cuts on other people's albums, before I started recording my own songs. And it was great, because as I was making records and waiting for them to happen, waiting to get a hit, songs were being recorded by other artists, so, that was really neat.

Paulson: It's interesting. Your career has been about writing songs for yourself, writing songs for others, and also picking out songs from other people that spoke to you. And, of course, one of your early hits was "More Love," written by one of the best, Smokey Robinson.

Carnes: Absolutely, yeah.

Paulson: And over time, you recorded a lot of terrific songwriters, in some cases giving lesser-known people exposure; in other cases, people like John Prine — introducing him to a different audience. (...)

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[skypilot722]

I've always loved Kim; always will. She's an amazing person as well as an amazing recording artist.

[fckimcarnes]

NEXT KIM CARNES' CONCERT:

APRIL 30, 2010 • Friday • 15th Annual Better Angels Key West Songwriters' Festival • San Carlos Institute • 516 Duval Street • Key West, FL 33040, USA • Phone: 305-294-3887 • Hours: 08:00 p.m. • $25.00

[Barry Orozco]

First of all, I wanna thank ya' for the videoanswer you did to me, It's amazing seein' Miss Carnes after almost more than 24 years. Once again, thanks for the interview and Miss Carnes keeps on seeing very healthy and powerful. God bless ya' and bless also Miss Carnes.