The Carpenters[1][2] were an American vocal and instrumental duo consisting of siblings Karen and Richard Carpenter.
Producing a distinctively soft musical style, they became among the best-selling music artists of all time.
During their 14-year career, the Carpenters recorded 11 albums, 31 singles, five television specials, and a short-lived television series.
Their career ended in 1983 by Karen's death from heart failure brought on by complications of anorexia.
Extensive news coverage surrounding the circumstances of her death increased public awareness of eating disorders.[3][4]
The duo's brand of melodic pop produced a record-breaking run of hit recordings on the American Top 40 and Adult Contemporary charts, and they became leading sellers in the soft rock, easy listening and adult contemporary genres.
The Carpenters had three No. 1 singles and five No. 2 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and fifteen No. 1 hits on the Adult Contemporary chart.
In addition, they had twelve top 10 singles. To date, the Carpenters' album and single sales total more than 100 million units.[5]
The Carpenters
Karen and Richard Carpenter at the White House, August 1, 1972
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1969–83 |
| Labels | A&M |
| Associated acts | The Richard Carpenter Trio |
| Website | richardandkarencarpenter.com |
| Past members |
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Musical and lyrical style
Richard Carpenter was the creative force behind the Carpenter sound.[6]An accomplished keyboard player, composer and arranger, music critic Daniel Levitin called Richard Carpenter "one of the most gifted arrangers to emerge in popular music."[7]
In a period when contemporary music was dominated by heavy rock, their smooth harmonies were not in step with the trends of the day.[8]
The sound the Carpenters were going for was rich and melodic, along the same vein as the harmonies found in their contemporaries The Beach Boys and the The Mamas & the Papas, but with greater fullness and orchestration.[9]
Most of Richard's arrangements were classical in style, with frequent use of strings and occasional brass and woodwind instruments as well.
Richard's work with Karen was heavily influenced by the music of Les Paul, whose overdubbing of the voice of partner Mary Ford allowed her to be used as both the lead and harmonizing vocals.[8]
By use of multi-tracked recordings, Richard was able to use Karen and himself for the harmonies to back Karen's lead. The overdubbed background harmonies were distinctive to the Carpenters, but it was the soulful, engaging sound of Karen's lead voice that made them so recognizable.
Karen did not possess a powerful singing voice, but when miked closely she conveyed a great deal of feeling. Tight miking required perfect pitch, which came easily to her.
Richard Coles, a musician and broadcaster, commented: "No singer is so closely miked up so unforgivingly as Karen Carpenter. That is frightening for singers because the closer the microphone the more unforgiving it is in exposing the weaknesses in a singer's voice."[9]
Karen's contralto voice was warm and distinctive. Though her vocal range spanned three octaves,[10] Richard arranged their music to take advantage of the rich quality of Karen's lower range.[11]
Many of the Carpenters' songs are in the keys of D ("You", "There's a Kind of Hush (All Over the World)"), E flat ("Only Yesterday"), E ("Hurting Each Other", "Yesterday Once More"), F ("I'll Never Fall in Love Again"), and G ("And When He Smiles", "Reason to Believe", "For All We Know", "You'll Love Me").[12]
Richard is best known for his use of the Wurlitzer electric piano, whose sound he described as "warm" and "beautiful".
He also played the grand piano, Hammond organ, synthesizer and even the harpsichord with the band.
In the recording studio he often would overdub his acoustic piano parts with a Wurlitzer electric piano to thicken the sound.
From the mid-1970s Richard also used Fender Rhodes pianos. While touring he often would have a grand piano as well as both a Rhodes and a Wurlitzer electric piano on stage for different songs.
Karen was an accomplished drummer, and initially playing drums was her sole role in her musical performances with her brother.
When it became apparent to Richard that she had a beautiful and distinctive singing voice she began to sing for the group in addition to playing the drums.
Before 1974 Karen played the drums for all their songs. According to Richard, she considered herself a "drummer who sang".[13]
However Karen's vocals soon became the centerpiece of the group's performances, and at 5'4" in stature performing behind her drum kit made it difficult for her to be seen. It was soon apparent to Richard and their manager that the audience wanted to see more of Karen.
Although unwilling, she eventually agreed to sing the ballads standing up front, returning back to her drums for the lesser known songs.
As the group's popularity increased, demand for Karen's vocals overshadowed her drumming. Gradually she played the drums less.
By the time their album A Kind of Hush was released in 1976 she had not played the drums for the studio sessions at all;[14] though she continued to play some during concerts.
From spring 1976 onward the tours would include a drum medley for Karen to play, and a piano solo number was included for Richard.[15]
Karen made a final return to studio drumming for the track "When It's Gone (It's Just Gone)" on the album Made in America, albeit in tandem with Nashville session drummer Larrie Londin.
She also provided percussion in tandem with Paulinho da Costa on the song "Those Good Old Dreams".
Pre-Carpenters
1946–64: Childhood
The Carpenters were both born at Grace-New Haven Hospital (now called Yale-New Haven Hospital) in New Haven, Connecticut, to parents Harold and Agnes.[16]Richard Lynn was born on October 15, 1946, and Karen Anne followed on March 2, 1950.[17] Richard was a quiet child who spent most of his time in the house listening to records and playing the piano.[18]
Karen, on the other hand, was friendly and outgoing; she liked to play sports, including softball with the neighborhood kids, but she also spent a lot of time listening to music.[18]
In June 1963, the Carpenter family moved to the Los Angeles suburb of Downey, California.[19][20]
In the fall of 1964, Richard enrolled at California State College at Long Beach where he met future songwriting partner John Bettis; Wesley Jacobs, a friend who played the bass and tuba for the Richard Carpenter Trio; and Frank Pooler, with whom Richard would collaborate to create the Christmas standard "Merry Christmas Darling" in 1966.[21]
That same fall, Karen enrolled at Downey High School, where she found she had a knack for playing the drums.[19][22]
Friend and fellow band member Frankie Chavez inspired Karen to play the drums. She would often borrow Chavez's drum kit when he taught her. "She and Frankie … must have worked down the rudiments, the cadences, and the press-rolls for hours", recalls Richard.
When Karen finally got a Ludwig drum kit from her parents in late 1964, she was able to play it professionally, in what Richard had described in their documentary, Close to You: Remembering the Carpenters, as "exotic time signatures".[23][13]
1965–68: The Richard Carpenter Trio and Spectrum
By 1965, Karen had been practicing the drums for a year, and Richard was refining his piano techniques with Pooler as his teacher.In late 1965 Richard teamed up with classmate and friend Wes Jacobs, who played tuba and stand-up bass. With his sister playing drums, the three formed a jazz trio.[21]
In mid-1966 the Richard Carpenter Trio entered the Hollywood Bowl annual Battle of the Bands. They played an instrumental version of "The Girl from Ipanema" and their own piece titled "Iced Tea".
The trio won the Battle of the Bands on June 24, 1966, and were signed up by RCA Records.[19]
They recorded songs such as The Beatles' "Every Little Thing" and Frank Sinatra's "Strangers in the Night" for RCA.
An RCA committee reviewed their recordings and chose not to produce them, and the Richard Carpenter Trio were released from RCA.
In 1991, some twenty-five years later, a couple of these recordings were released as part of a "From The Top" boxed set of Carpenters material.[24]
Later in 1966, Karen tagged along at a late-night session in the garage studio of Los Angeles bassist Joe Osborn, and joined future Carpenters collaborator and lyricist John Bettis at a demo session where Richard was to accompany an auditioning trumpet player.[13][25]
Asked to sing, Karen performed for Osborn, who said "Never mind the trumpet player; this chubby little girl can sing."[26]
Osborn signed Karen by herself as a singer to his fledgling label, Magic Lamp Records, and the label put out a single featuring two of Richard's compositions, "Looking for Love" and "I'll Be Yours".
The single was not a hit, and the label soon became defunct. However, Osborn let Karen and Richard continue to use his studio to record demo tapes.[27]
In 1967, Richard and Karen teamed up with four other student musicians from Long Beach State to form a band called "Spectrum".[13][28]
The group often performed at the Whisky a Go Go.[27][29] Spectrum member John Bettis worked with the Carpenters until Karen's death in 1983, composing many songs with Richard.
In 1968, Spectrum disbanded, and Wes Jacobs of the Richard Carpenter Trio left for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.[30]
Richard and Karen received an offer to be on the television program Your All American College Show in mid-1968.
Their performance of June 22, 1968 was Richard's and Karen's first television appearance, with bassist Bill Sissoyev recruited for this appearance and their other appearances on the show in 1968.[5]
During this time Richard and Karen continued to refine their craft and produced demo tapes in Joe Osborn's garage. One of these was heard by A&M Records' Herb Alpert, who was intrigued by Karen's voice.
The A&M co-owner signed them to a record contract. Said Richard: "We signed with A&M.
In came Herb and he shook our hands and said in so many words 'It was a pleasure to meet you. Let's hope we have some hits.' "[26]
Source: Wikipedia.org For More of the Carpenters Click
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