The voices are still there, but they get buried under all of the actors & influencers who are heavily processed and marketed. Carpenters faced quite a bit of resistance from "cool kids" of the day, who dismissed them for their wholesome image, and the music back then was a lot better, so they had legitimate competition. Today, the masses don't seem to even care about actual music.
Karen Carpenter, had a voice that comes around once in a generation. She passed away from complications due to anerexia. Recommend - We've Only Just Begun and Close to You.
Certainly agree with your picks, Mark, but those are the early and biggest hits. A lifelong fan of theirs, I love Masquerade and Yesterday, Once More as well as of few of Karen's late solo tunes, such as I Know I Need to Be In Love.
I'm 63 years old, and Karen's voice STILL gives me "Chill bumps" when I hear her sing. I even get a little misty-eyed from time to time. Gone WAY too soon.
@@daseguin I guess you never listened to the long list of great tunes that Barbara Streisand has done. Her range was insanely great! I love Karen’s style and voice though clearly not the abilities that Barbara or even Whitney Houston had!
That is true on this selection the only live mic is for Karens singing. BUT it is not true on th-cam.com/video/yrsuLCF9FtI/w-d-xo.html It was part of the Ed Sullivan show filmed outside for the Nov. 8 1970 episode, which was taped at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center most audience were army wounded from Vietnam. She is also playing on their tour tapes see th-cam.com/video/XX3ANSbH6Lg/w-d-xo.html Their 1971 BBC tour.
She suffered from anorexia and died of heart failure. Her story is deeply sad and speaks to the pressures heaped on her both as a woman and a performer. Her voice is beyond special. I’m so sorry she left this world too soon. 💔 She and KD Lang…two voices to cherish.
I have yet to see anyone who's not impressed with Karen Carpenter's voice. I've watched many reaction videos from every corner and it doesn't matter their background or musical preference, they love Karen. What gets me is her breath control. She can hold a note so long so effortlessly. Plus that warm, perfect vibrato.
As a musical instrument, Karen's voice is amazing. Unfortunately, her handlers never let her stretch and sing some important songs. Just one sugary sweet song after another with terrible arrangements.
@@markmurphy558 Ummm...OK, you're not a fan of Richard, then. Got it. Fine. Check out, then, I Can Dream, Can't I, from the 1975 Horizon album. 1938 Sammy Fain big band ballad standard, orchestrated for Karen by 50s bandleader Billy May. It's celestial. There should have been, and had Karen lived doubtless would have been, at least one Carpenters standards album. That lady could sing a torch ballad like no one else, ever...
Beyonce who. Taylor sweet, Taylor sweat, Taylor Fast or something like that. I can't name a single song from either of them. VS. someone I've listened to since High school in the very early 70's. .
All the background vocals are Karen and Richard. Richard was and is a musical genius. He did all the arrangements and wrote all the scores for every instrument. He is responsible for the entire sound that lifted Karen's incredible voice. He knew exactly how to write and arrange the songs perfectly for her.
But there is one song she did as Carpenters and on her solo album "Make believe it's your first time". On the solo it was done with just a piano, bass, and drums. th-cam.com/video/TISFRYK9LNQ/w-d-xo.html the other had Richards touch and instruments. th-cam.com/video/gk3fExOEKdA/w-d-xo.html I much prefer Karens version.
"Close To You" is probably their most famous song. "We've Only Just Begun" "For All We Know" "Yesterday Once More" "Top Of The World" "Sing" 'Hurting Each Other" "This Masquerade" "Solitaire" "Goodbye To Love"....
ULTIMATE vocalist (not just a singer) who sang to the listener NOT at us, and master storyteller, who knew her "job" was to interpret the lyrics for us... As her brother, Richard, said "her voice was PHONO-GENIC" and it felt like she was singing to you and sitting in your lap...The most pure, rich, warm, intimate, movingly beautiful voice....
Karen was always humble when complimented on her voice...sheepish when complimented on her beauty....and delighted when complimented on her drumming! Karen was once in a creation. Karen Carpenter was just a singularly amazing singer. There was just not anybody like her. Superstar and Rainy Days hit #2 on the Billboard 100 and Both were #1 on the Billboard adult contemporary charts. Top Of The World, Solitaire, Goodbye To Love and any other song by Carpenters. Not 1 bad song.
Karen and Richard sang their own backing vocals…they were some of the earliest to do that. So we always get perfectly harmonized backup vocals from them.
@@Spo-Dee-O-Dee BUT 6 more people could not have added a thing to the music. There is no one who could = their singing and it was not the Carpenters job to give others a job, it was their job to turn out the best music they could.
Karen was the drummer for the group before they pushed her up front to sing. She loved the drums and she was happiest when she was behind her kit. Of course, as a group they weren't going anywhere until after they pushed her up front, so there's that....
I often wonder if she would've been overall happier and less self-conscious if they would've allowed her to stay behind the drums... I'm "old" and lived through their popularity, dip, and her death - it still makes me so sad.
The Eagles. Don Henley often stayed behind the drums and sang. Look at their old concert videos of Hotel California. Why did she have to be pushed to the front? It's so sad.
Lyric of that one was written by their university choirmaster, Frank Pooler, when he was in the army in 1946. Richard set it to music around 1968 and the song was a hit Christmas single in 1970, later reappearing on the 1978 Christmas Portrait album.
Yes, Karen started as a drummer and never wanted to be a singer. But her brother Richard, had heard her sing, and when he started his band, he asked Karen to join his band, when she was 16-years old, and later on, when he wanted to send out demos to the recording companies, he had Karen to be the band's singer. Fortunately, A&M Records got a demo, and when Herb Alpert heard her voice, he signed them up on the spot. Herb tells some great stories about Karen, and how her singing effected him, calling Karen "the voice of angel." 50 Years later, Herb will tear up, and get very emotional when he talks about Karen. th-cam.com/video/Yv9y3UgES4g/w-d-xo.html
Karen Carpenter was actually an incredible drummer. Early in their career Karen sang from behind a drum kit. As the Carpenters gained popularity she stepped out to be up front and they used a touring drummer
I see so many people thinking this is about being sad. I don't think they get the line "What I've got they used to call the blues". You don't hear that term anymore and it's the real clue to it being depression.
Hey guys. It was an eating disorder that took Karen from us. I believe it was Anorexia. She struggled with eating disorders all her life. It was almost like losing a sister when she passed. Love your channel! I'd like to vote for "We've only just Begun" for your next Carpenters tune.
Actually partially actuate. The really sad part is Richard has said that she had beaten anorexia; however, her heart had already been too damaged, and that's how she passed. Her heart just gave out.
@@brucethrasher8551 ah... that part i didn't know. Thank you for the info. It seems so often to be the most amazing people who cant see what the whole world sees... just what amazing treasures they are to man kind.
Her ability to tell a story and take you to a place and feeling is incomparable. Her singing showed a maturity well beyond her years - a true old soul.
Everytime I hear her voice it brings a lump to my throat.so sad she left us so early in life but that voice will live on forever.41 years on and she is still number 1 for me.that voice just unforgettable ❤
The background vocals were actually Karen and Richard. Multi-track recording was brand new for the day. Richard was a genius at pioneering this method of recording songs.
Today's music can't hold a candle to the music I grew up with! It's so nice to see young folks learning to appreciate this type of talent and beauty. Karen was a fabulous jazz drummer before she started singing. She and her brother won the Hollywood Battle of the Bands with their jazz trio when she was just a teenager.
Karen Carpenter sang her soul, and that haunting truth had the ability to resonate with the people who had the good fortune to hear her then or now. It is our hearts and souls that resonate to her voice, the emotions, the sadness, the depth, the openness and vulnerability. All of that wrapped up in an amazing contralto/alto 3 octave voice. Of course, the poignancy is so evident given her sad life story - the fact that she dies so young from Anorexia Nervosa. One of the most beautiful natural voices ever!
Richard and Karen had a saying:"The Gold is in the basement." that meant when Karen sang in her low range so smooth, that's what really sold the song and the records. While other female singers were screaming in the high range, Karen did that "thang" she did so well in the lower range.
The way Karen could sing and play the drums was fantastic. If you watch her, she has a lot of unique fills and she is hardly even watching her hands, she just has a natural instinct.
People forget she was a drummer first and a singer second....She won Rock Drummer of the Year Award in '75, edging out Led Zeppelin's John Bonham, The Who's Keith Moon and The Beatles' Ringo Starr....
I'm not a drummer, but I've had drummers tell me (stunning vocals aside!), that she was a fantastic drummer. How can someone multitask that well?? World class talent.
What you need to understand is that she walked into the studio with the lyrics written on a napkin and she nailed the song in 1 take. Her voice was so beautiful and her life so sad
Smooth and velvety. Karen carpenter. When Whitney Houston says you have one of her favorite voices…..you can sing. To bad she died from a eating disorder. She thought she was overweight. God bless her.
Paul McCartney has said that Karen Carpenter had "the best female voice in the world: melodic, tuneful and distinctive". Karen has been called "one of the greatest voices of our lifetime" by Elton John. To me, she is the singer I'll picture in my mind if asked "the perfect 'American' voice". Her older brother, Richard Carpenter has said to be influenced by the "three B's"; the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and Burt Bacharach.
Karen Carpenter was at The Bistro, in Beverly Hills. As related by her friend, musician/record producer Nicky Chinn, John Lennon passed her in the restaurant, turned back and said, "I want to tell you, love, that you've got a fabulous voice."
I’m 59yo, I grew up listening to these great songs of the late 60’s and early 70’s on an old AM radio that my grandmother gave me. I had it on my head board of my bed and listened to them at bed time. I was 6,7,8 yo. I became a rocker/metal head but got a great base with these beautiful songs.
Karen Carpenter was an Angel 😇 sent from Heaven and left us way too soon! One of the most beautiful voices ever heard! The compositions are the direct result of her brother Richard Carpenter who really played to Karen’s strengths as a singer! I LOVE ❤️ the music of The Carpenters! RIP Karen! I’m a drummer and I tell you Karen was right in there with all the great jazz and rock drummers of her day! I loved that she played traditional grip with the left stick on the snare and the hand speed she demonstrated around the kit! Of course most know her for her outstanding alto vocals but don’t be fooled because Karen was also a marvelous drummer! I learned a lot by watching her performances! Hats off to Karen Carpenter: drummer and singer 🎤🥁extraordinaire!
Karen was a talent who didn't need any of today's electronic devices to make her sound great. No pitch correction, no harmonizer; just pure smooth vocals. And she was also a tremendous drummer. Just a talent that we lost way too early.
I'm so glad you reacted to that song... I'm 67 years old right now but I remember the carpenters when I was 14 or 15 years old... I became a fan of their songs and Karen's beautiful voice early on... She ended up dying of anorexia nervosa... She got to the point where she was denying her demons and eventually we lost this beautiful soul to that horrible disease... I still play her music a lot... The carpenters had some of the best music during that time and I still enjoy it today... Great reaction again , guys... See you on the next one... Keep Being Awesome !!!...
![เปิดบ้าน พี่ตูน Bodyslam หลังใหม่คนแรก ที่ภูเก็ต l [Nickynachat]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/flFwcmyDQSk/mqdefault.jpg)
I'll take Karen over any of today's singers. Just a pure, angelic natural voice.
This! 100%
You should listen to Angelina jordan, best female Vocalist of our generation at only 18 yrs old
@@primordialsimilarity6262 heard her. I'll take Karen.
@dialsimilarity6262Give me Lucy Thomas any day over Angelina Jordan...
The voices are still there, but they get buried under all of the actors & influencers who are heavily processed and marketed. Carpenters faced quite a bit of resistance from "cool kids" of the day, who dismissed them for their wholesome image, and the music back then was a lot better, so they had legitimate competition. Today, the masses don't seem to even care about actual music.
Karen Carpenter, had a voice that comes around once in a generation. She passed away from complications due to anerexia. Recommend - We've Only Just Begun and Close to You.
I found it odd that they didn't mention that when they are an exercise couple?
Certainly agree with your picks, Mark, but those are the early and biggest hits. A lifelong fan of theirs, I love Masquerade and Yesterday, Once More as well as of few of Karen's late solo tunes, such as I Know I Need to Be In Love.
Once in a generation? Name a singer in the generations since or before her who had a better voice?
My favorite: "Only Yesterday".
We’ve only just begun was the song we sang for our eighth grade graduation. Beautiful song.
I am 59 years old and to me Karen Carpenter is the best female vocalist ever.
I'm 63 years old, and Karen's voice STILL gives me "Chill bumps" when I hear her sing. I even get a little misty-eyed from time to time. Gone WAY too soon.
Same
Same❤
I'm 70 and remember loving her in High School.. She still brings a tear from songs I've heard hundreds of times before.
I am 72 and mostly into Hard Rock and Metal but anytime I listen to the Carpenters it brings out my other side hahaha@@MatthewPettyST1300
Can’t say it any better. And I’m a month shy of 63.
Greatest female voice of all time!
Her voice to me is like a time machine...each time I hear her voice it immediately takes me to a time when the world is all fine...Fantastic!!
Simply the best female singer I've ever heard
Nothing new to add. This woman's voice has held me captive for 54 years . . . No one comes close. I don't need to explain.
Barbara could go head to head and maybe come out on top!
@@joelliebler5690
Nah
@@daseguin I guess you never listened to the long list of great tunes that Barbara Streisand has done. Her range was insanely great! I love Karen’s style and voice though clearly not the abilities that Barbara or even Whitney Houston had!
@@joelliebler5690
🤣🤣🤣
Ok, Barbra, put down the phone, James is calling…
Karen's voice is haunting, melancholy, and bittersweet.
And gental all the same time.
She has the cleanest, most clear vocals I've ever heard in my life.
What always gets me is she's singing perfectly WHILE PLAYING THE DRUMS! I don't even know how to measure that level of talent.
That’s a very simple drum track, she isn’t playing Dream Theater.
@@headlibrarian1996But she could definitely do it if the music called for it.
@@headlibrarian1996 I saw them in concert in 1970 while she still played drums for the entire set. It was all live.
That is true on this selection the only live mic is for Karens singing. BUT it is not true on
th-cam.com/video/yrsuLCF9FtI/w-d-xo.html
It was part of the Ed Sullivan show filmed outside for the Nov. 8 1970 episode, which was taped at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center most audience were army wounded from Vietnam. She is also playing on their tour tapes see
th-cam.com/video/XX3ANSbH6Lg/w-d-xo.html
Their 1971 BBC tour.
Thanks for those links! First time seeing them@@A-whiter-shade-of-pale
She suffered from anorexia and died of heart failure. Her story is deeply sad and speaks to the pressures heaped on her both as a woman and a performer. Her voice is beyond special. I’m so sorry she left this world too soon. 💔 She and KD Lang…two voices to cherish.
I have yet to see anyone who's not impressed with Karen Carpenter's voice. I've watched many reaction videos from every corner and it doesn't matter their background or musical preference, they love Karen. What gets me is her breath control. She can hold a note so long so effortlessly. Plus that warm, perfect vibrato.
She had the purest voice and you could always understand her. She brought comfort to your ears.
As a musical instrument, Karen's voice is amazing. Unfortunately, her handlers never let her stretch and sing some important songs. Just one sugary sweet song after another with terrible arrangements.
@@markmurphy558 Ummm...OK, you're not a fan of Richard, then. Got it. Fine. Check out, then, I Can Dream, Can't I, from the 1975 Horizon album. 1938 Sammy Fain big band ballad standard, orchestrated for Karen by 50s bandleader Billy May. It's celestial. There should have been, and had Karen lived doubtless would have been, at least one Carpenters standards album. That lady could sing a torch ballad like no one else, ever...
I've seen critics diss KC's singing, actually.
They're wrong.
tori holub comes very close
She didn't do drugs she had an eating disorder that wore on her heart
When she died it was the first time many of us heard of anorexia
Yes. (Conversely Richard did develop an addiction...which, to his great credit, he kicked in 1979.)
No but she took a lot of laxatives as part of her eating disorder.
@@CheryworldI heard that eating disorders weren’t as well understood back then.
Granted I wasn’t born yet so correct me if I’m wrong
She did take numerous pills which did not do her any good. But the root problem was severe anorexia.
No competition Karen Carpenter is the greatest singer of all time.
Beyonce who. Taylor sweet, Taylor sweat, Taylor Fast or something like that. I can't name a single song from either of them. VS. someone I've listened to since High school in the very early 70's. .
She had the most pleasant female voice I’ve ever heard. Smooth and effortless. Love the deep tones.
I've never heard anyone with a better voice.
Karen was also a very talented drummer.
All the background vocals are Karen and Richard. Richard was and is a musical genius. He did all the arrangements and wrote all the scores for every instrument. He is responsible for the entire sound that lifted Karen's incredible voice. He knew exactly how to write and arrange the songs perfectly for her.
But there is one song she did as Carpenters and on her solo album "Make believe it's your first time". On the solo it was done with just a piano, bass, and drums.
th-cam.com/video/TISFRYK9LNQ/w-d-xo.html
the other had Richards touch and instruments.
th-cam.com/video/gk3fExOEKdA/w-d-xo.html
I much prefer Karens version.
I sometimes feel Richard is underappreciated.... or at least overshadowed by Karen so often. He had a great voice, too and deserves a LOT of credit.
Its Karen who carried the duo...her voice can not be duplicated!
Karen is singing a sad song but her voice is warm and comforting like a hug!
I still miss the songs she never had a chance to sing.
"Close To You" is probably their most famous song. "We've Only Just Begun" "For All We Know" "Yesterday Once More" "Top Of The World" "Sing" 'Hurting Each Other" "This Masquerade" "Solitaire" "Goodbye To Love"....
All amazing! ❤
Also "Ticket to ride"
Apparently the Beatles gave her a 👍🏻, and John Lennon actually paid her a compliment, in person…
ULTIMATE vocalist (not just a singer) who sang to the listener NOT at us, and master storyteller, who knew her "job" was to interpret the lyrics for us... As her brother, Richard, said "her voice was PHONO-GENIC" and it felt like she was singing to you and sitting in your lap...The most pure, rich, warm, intimate, movingly beautiful voice....
Phonogenic, great word…
"What I've got they used to call the blues..." whoever wrote that line deserved an extra day off. Beyond perfection...
It's always been said about Karen Carpenter, that her true passion was playing the drums... and she enjoyed them far more, than she did singing.
The voice of a Angel and the soul of a Unicorn, Rest in Peace Karen, your never gone when your in a persons memory.
Karen was always humble when complimented on her voice...sheepish when complimented on her beauty....and delighted when complimented on her drumming! Karen was once in a creation. Karen Carpenter was just a singularly amazing singer. There was just not anybody like her. Superstar and Rainy Days hit #2 on the Billboard 100 and Both were #1 on the Billboard adult contemporary charts. Top Of The World, Solitaire, Goodbye To Love and any other song by Carpenters. Not 1 bad song.
Karen and Richard sang their own backing vocals…they were some of the earliest to do that. So we always get perfectly harmonized backup vocals from them.
Yes they overdubbed their voices multiple times to sound like they had a large group of backup singers
@@pjg58x Yes Richard learned to do that from Les Paul and Mary Ford who were doing it when Richard was born.
@@Spo-Dee-O-Dee BUT 6 more people could not have added a thing to the music. There is no one who could = their singing and it was not the Carpenters job to give others a job, it was their job to turn out the best music they could.
Karen was the drummer for the group before they pushed her up front to sing. She loved the drums and she was happiest when she was behind her kit. Of course, as a group they weren't going anywhere until after they pushed her up front, so there's that....
I often wonder if she would've been overall happier and less self-conscious if they would've allowed her to stay behind the drums... I'm "old" and lived through their popularity, dip, and her death - it still makes me so sad.
The Eagles. Don Henley often stayed behind the drums and sang. Look at their old concert videos of Hotel California. Why did she have to be pushed to the front? It's so sad.
Me too, every reaction I see to her makes me happy but with a touch of sadness, knowing what happened.
Their mother didn't help...Richard could do no wrong...Karen could do no right.
There's Karen Carpenter and then there's everyone else,,
My girlfriend and I saw The Carpenters back in 1972. They were just as fantastic live!
I also saw them in concert back in the 70s such a long, long time ago...sigh. Neil Sedaka opened for them.
I am envious, Bob Thomas! Can't even imagine how wonderful they were at a LIVE show!
I saw them in ‘72 also, they were fabulous.
I snuck backstage in 1975 and got to meet them both. It was such a thrill for my 17 yr old self and a memory I will always treasure.
You have not lived until you have heard Karen sing the cover "Song For You" by the incomparable Leon Russell.
They also have one of the greatest Christmas songs of all time, "Merry Christmas Darling".
Lyric of that one was written by their university choirmaster, Frank Pooler, when he was in the army in 1946. Richard set it to music around 1968 and the song was a hit Christmas single in 1970, later reappearing on the 1978 Christmas Portrait album.
@@stevetournay6103 The Christmas album is one of the greatest Christmas albums of all time.
She was also one of the best drummers out there!
Yes, Karen started as a drummer and never wanted to be a singer. But her brother Richard, had heard her sing, and when he started his band, he asked Karen to join his band, when she was 16-years old, and later on, when he wanted to send out demos to the recording companies, he had Karen to be the band's singer. Fortunately, A&M Records got a demo, and when Herb Alpert heard her voice, he signed them up on the spot. Herb tells some great stories about Karen, and how her singing effected him, calling Karen "the voice of angel." 50 Years later, Herb will tear up, and get very emotional when he talks about Karen.
th-cam.com/video/Yv9y3UgES4g/w-d-xo.html
Never forget Richard, they were a brother and sister TEAM, one couldn't have done it without the other
Richard was very good...Karen was exquisite...wake up!
@@dennislalka7965team work makes the dream work
Karen Carpenter was actually an incredible drummer. Early in their career Karen sang from behind a drum kit. As the Carpenters gained popularity she stepped out to be up front and they used a touring drummer
I'm sure others have mentioned this, but "We've Only Just Begun" was the theme of countless weddings back in the day.
Yep! My first husband and I sang it to each other at our wedding in 1975.
Karen just had an amazing voice you could also do "We Have Only Just Begun "
This was basically a song about depression and Karen's voice is one of the best ever. It's especially sad knowing what happened to her.
I see so many people thinking this is about being sad. I don't think they get the line "What I've got they used to call the blues". You don't hear that term anymore and it's the real clue to it being depression.
But, I love the part about “find the one who loves me”
Karen always said she was a drummer who sang
Hey guys. It was an eating disorder that took Karen from us. I believe it was Anorexia. She struggled with eating disorders all her life. It was almost like losing a sister when she passed.
Love your channel! I'd like to vote for "We've only just Begun" for your next Carpenters tune.
Actually partially actuate. The really sad part is Richard has said that she had beaten anorexia; however, her heart had already been too damaged, and that's how she passed. Her heart just gave out.
@@brucethrasher8551 ah... that part i didn't know. Thank you for the info. It seems so often to be the most amazing people who cant see what the whole world sees... just what amazing treasures they are to man kind.
Her ability to tell a story and take you to a place and feeling is incomparable. Her singing showed a maturity well beyond her years - a true old soul.
Absolutely, an old soul. I never thought of it that way.. brilliant!
The background vocals are Karen and Richard layered onto the track!
There is a video of her doing a drum solo which will blow you away and show just how talented she was.
Close to You and We’ve Only Just Begun are very good popular songs from the Carpenters
Karen struggled with anorexia. She had the voice of an angel.
The background vocals can't be anything else but amazing because they're doing them themselves 😉
Karen's voice is just perfection. The arrangements of any Carpenters song are also spectactular. Richard is a master musician.
We’ve Only Just Begun is another gem 💎 from The Carpenters.
Everytime I hear her voice it brings a lump to my throat.so sad she left us so early in life but that voice will live on forever.41 years on and she is still number 1 for me.that voice just unforgettable ❤
My favorite of all time.
Her enchanting voice captured the era
A fantastic voice and she sings effortlessly.
Like the fact that everyone calls Steve Perry, "The Voice", Karen was called, "One-Take Karen" because that's how she did pretty much everything !!!
Her voice was extraordinary. And her bro has a great voice too, his background vocals are beautiful
The background vocals were actually Karen and Richard. Multi-track recording was brand new for the day. Richard was a genius at pioneering this method of recording songs.
Today's music can't hold a candle to the music I grew up with! It's so nice to see young folks learning to appreciate this type of talent and beauty. Karen was a fabulous jazz drummer before she started singing. She and her brother won the Hollywood Battle of the Bands with their jazz trio when she was just a teenager.
A TRUE ANGEL SENT TO EARTH!!!!! I LOVED HER WHEN I WAS 6 IM 60 NOW AND STILL LOVE HER!!!
Her voice always gives my soul a hug it didn't know it needed!
Very well said.
Karen Carpenter sang her soul, and that haunting truth had the ability to resonate with the people who had the good fortune to hear her then or now. It is our hearts and souls that resonate to her voice, the emotions, the sadness, the depth, the openness and vulnerability. All of that wrapped up in an amazing contralto/alto 3 octave voice. Of course, the poignancy is so evident given her sad life story - the fact that she dies so young from Anorexia Nervosa. One of the most beautiful natural voices ever!
There is Karen Carpenter and then there is everyone else. She stands alone!!
Karen and Richard did all of their own background vocals, that is why those vocals are so tight!
Richard and Karen had a saying:"The Gold is in the basement." that meant when Karen sang in her low range so smooth, that's what really sold the song and the records. While other female singers were screaming in the high range, Karen did that "thang" she did so well in the lower range.
Such a beautiful lady, perfection, always loved the Carpenters they were amazing
Her voice will melt butter.
Her voice is considered are rare voice in the vocal world.
The way Karen could sing and play the drums was fantastic. If you watch her, she has a lot of unique fills and she is hardly even watching her hands, she just has a natural instinct.
No one ever reacts to their song, “Sing,” much more upbeat in lyrics and still one of their best.
a superb drum artist too ! A pure voice before any enhancements of tech.
I'm so glad I grew up with such great music. Nothing now compares or has longevity!
The Carpenters "This Masquerade" is incredibly beautiful.
No auto tune, just amazing talent
You guys know this is song....keep going with her!! She was no. 1.
Karen and richard have some real gems in their catalogue.
Try Goodbye to Love. Fantastic guitar solo in that one too.
No auto-tune, just talent.
Another great Paul Williams tune. R I.P. Karen Carpenter ✌️❤️🙏🙏🙏
RIP KAREN !!! You Were and are LOVED😊
People forget she was a drummer first and a singer second....She won Rock Drummer of the Year Award in '75, edging out Led Zeppelin's John Bonham, The Who's Keith Moon and The Beatles' Ringo Starr....
I'm not a drummer, but I've had drummers tell me (stunning vocals aside!), that she was a fantastic drummer. How can someone multitask that well?? World class talent.
What you need to understand is that she walked into the studio with the lyrics written on a napkin and she nailed the song in 1 take. Her voice was so beautiful and her life so sad
No singer I have ever heard in my sixty-one years created so much emotion with their voice alone.
She hits and holds the low notes effortlessly
She's also a fantastic drummer...she has a video playing the drums...PERFECTION!!
Beautiful voice and drumming at the same time.
Smooth and velvety. Karen carpenter. When Whitney Houston says you have one of her favorite voices…..you can sing. To bad she died from a eating disorder. She thought she was overweight. God bless her.
Karen was so talented and was a great drummer.
Paul McCartney has said that Karen Carpenter had "the best female voice in the world: melodic, tuneful and distinctive". Karen has been called "one of the greatest voices of our lifetime" by Elton John. To me, she is the singer I'll picture in my mind if asked "the perfect 'American' voice".
Her older brother, Richard Carpenter has said to be influenced by the "three B's"; the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and Burt Bacharach.
Karen Carpenter was at The Bistro, in Beverly Hills. As related by her friend, musician/record producer Nicky Chinn, John Lennon passed her in the restaurant, turned back and said, "I want to tell you, love, that you've got a fabulous voice."
I’m 59yo, I grew up listening to these great songs of the late 60’s and early 70’s on an old AM radio that my grandmother gave me. I had it on my head board of my bed and listened to them at bed time. I was 6,7,8 yo. I became a rocker/metal head but got a great base with these beautiful songs.
Karen Carpenter was an Angel 😇 sent from Heaven and left us way too soon! One of the most beautiful voices ever heard! The compositions are the direct result of her brother Richard Carpenter who really played to Karen’s strengths as a singer! I LOVE ❤️ the music of The Carpenters! RIP Karen!
I’m a drummer and I tell you Karen was right in there with all the great jazz and rock drummers of her day! I loved that she played traditional grip with the left stick on the snare and the hand speed she demonstrated around the kit! Of course most know her for her outstanding alto vocals but don’t be fooled because Karen was also a marvelous drummer! I learned a lot by watching her performances! Hats off to Karen Carpenter: drummer and singer 🎤🥁extraordinaire!
One of the most beautiful sounds in the musical universe: Karen Carpenter singing a song. Any song.
Should watch the video of Karen's drums solo.
He's right in that there is music in this world that needs to be "attended to" and shouldn't be treated as mere background music for our lives.
Karen was shy and hid behind the drums. Till they convinced her to get out in front and show her amazing vocals!
Like Elton John EVERYTHING The Carpenters did was SOLID GOLD!
What a wonderful woman, I wish she had stuck around longer. I'm selfish I miss that smile and that voice!
Karen was a talent who didn't need any of today's electronic devices to make her sound great. No pitch correction, no harmonizer; just pure smooth vocals. And she was also a tremendous drummer. Just a talent that we lost way too early.
"Only Yesterday", "Solitaire", and "This Masquerade" are favorites of mine, although I could list several more.
I'm so glad you reacted to that song... I'm 67 years old right now but I remember the carpenters when I was 14 or 15 years old... I became a fan of their songs and Karen's beautiful voice early on... She ended up dying of anorexia nervosa... She got to the point where she was denying her demons and eventually we lost this beautiful soul to that horrible disease... I still play her music a lot... The carpenters had some of the best music during that time and I still enjoy it today... Great reaction again , guys... See you on the next one... Keep Being Awesome !!!...
Karen was once quoted as saying she wished she were as good a singer as she was a drummer--can you even imagine that?