Music Lover

The Carpenters (Source: Wikipedia)

Carpenters were an American vocal and instrumental duo, consisting of sister Karen and brother Richard Carpenter. The Carpenters were the #1 selling American music act of the 1970s.^[1] Though often referred to by the public as "The Carpenters", the duo's official name on authorized recordings and press materials is simply Carpenters, without the definite article.^[2] During a period in the 1970s when louder and wilder rock was in great demand, Richard and Karen produced a distinctively soft musical style that made them among the best-selling music artists of all time.^[1][3]

Carpenters' 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. Carpenters had three #1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and fifteen #1 hits on the Adult Contemporary Chart (see The Carpenters discography). In addition, they had twelve top 10 singles (including their #1 hits). To date, Carpenters' album and single sales total more than 100 million units.^[1]

During their 14-year career, the Carpenters recorded 11 albums, five of which contained top 10 singles (Close to You, Carpenters, A Song for You, Now & Then and Horizon), thirty-one singles, five television specials, and one short-lived television series. They toured in the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, the Netherlands and Belgium. Their recording career ended with Karen's death in 1983 from cardiac arrest following complications of anorexia nervosa. Extensive news coverage of the circumstances surrounding her death increased public awareness of the consequences of eating disorders.
Musical and lyrical style
One of the elements that made the music of the Carpenters distinctive was Karen's use of her low register. Though present in jazz and country music, there were few contralto singers in popular music at the time. However, Karen did have a wide vocal range that spanned about three octaves.^[6] Richard's voice was said to be very complementary to that of Karen's. Although Karen had great upper range to her voice, they never realized it until she recorded some albums like "Lovelines", so they mostly concentrated on her lower range (or her "basement", as Karen called it).^[6] "Both Karen and I felt the magic was in her 'chest voice' (a.k.a. 'basement'). There is no comparison in terms of richness in sound, so I wasn't about to highlight the upper voice", states Richard in the "Fans Ask" section of the Carpenters' official website.^[6]

Because Karen's magic was in the "basement", Richard always rearranged cover songs and his own songs in a key that would suit her. Many of the Carpenters' songs are located in the keys of D ("You", "There's a Kind of Hush"), E ("Yesterday Once More"), E flat ("Only Yesterday"), F ("I'll Never Fall in Love Again", "Top of the World"), and G ("And When He Smiles", "Reason to Believe", "For All We Know", "You'll Love Me").

Although he played many keyboard instruments during the band's existence, including grand piano, harpsichord, Hammond organ and synthesizer, Richard is best known as an endorser of Wurlitzer's electric pianos, whose sound he described as "warm" and "beautiful". He would often double his acoustic piano parts with a Wurlitzer in the studio to thicken the sound, creating one of the 1970s' most distinctive keyboard sounds. From the mid-1970s Richard also used Fender Rhodes pianos, often having an acoustic grand as well as both Rhodes and Wurlitzer electric pianos on stage for different songs.

Apart from being a singer, Karen was also an accomplished drummer, and often played the drums on their pre-1974 songs. According to Richard, she considered herself a "drummer who sang".^[7] Karen was barely visible behind the drums during live performances. Although unwilling, she and Richard eventually reached a performance compromise: during the ballads she would sing standing and through the lesser known songs she would sit. As the years progressed, demand for Karen's vocals began to overshadow her drumming time, and gradually she played the drums less. By the A Kind of Hush album in 1976, Karen did not play the drums at all.^[8]

The Carpenters' arrangements, many done by Richard, are often praised. Most of the arrangements are classical in style, with many strings, and sometimes brass and woodwinds ("Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft" used over 160 singers and musicians^[1]). Music critic Daniel Levitin called Richard Carpenter "one of the most gifted arrangers to emerge in popular music."^[9]


To play their songs, please click on the links below:

- All of my life
- All you get from love is a love song
- Angel of the Morning
- Baby Baby Baby
- Because we are in Love (The wedding song)
- Bless the Beast
- Breaking up is hard to do
- Calling occupants of interplanetary craft
- Carol of the bells
- Close to you
- Desperado
- Don't cry for me Argentina
- For all we know
- Get together
- Goodbye to love
- Happy
- Home for the holidays (Christmas)
- I cant smile without you
- I Have you
- I heard the bells on Christmas day
- I just fall in love again
- I need to be in love
- I wont last a day without you
- I'll be yours
- Jambalaya
- Killing me softly
- Lemon Tree
- Long ago
- Look to your dreams
- Love look at the two of us
- Love me for what I am
- Merry Christmas darling
- Now - O holy night
- One fine day
- Please Mr. Postman
- Rainy days and Mondays
- Sing a song
- Sleigh ride
- Solitaire
- Superstars
- Sweet Sweet Smile
- The end of the world
- The rainbow connection
- There's a kind of hush
- This Masquerade
- Ticket to Ride
- Top of the world
- Touch me when we're dancing
- What the world needs now is love
- When I fall in love
- Why do birds suddenly appear
- Yesterday Once more
- You - You're enough
- You're the one
- You've only just begun

To visit their site, please follow this link:  http://www.richardandkarencarpenter.com/