Karen & Richard Carpenter (Rolling Stone Magazine)
Because of my love for music, I'm often asked, "Who's your favorite music group?" Sometimes it's, "Who's your favorite singer?" And we can't forget, "What's your favorite guitar?"
Well, I have a lot of favorite groups, singers and guitars! But without doubt, one of my all-time favorite female singers has to be Karen Carpenter.
In the 70's, you could not turn on a radio without hearing a Carpenters tune playing at some point. They dominated the airwaves with their soft ballads and love songs. Often blasted by the critics for their squeaky-clean image and syrupy songs, they could never fault Karen's amazing voice.
My dad was always encouraging my brother and me to practice our instruments (my brother plays piano and is a full-time piano teacher today and of course, I play guitar) and he'd often ask for Carpenters songs. Can't blame him really... Richard and Karen Carpenter had an unmistakable sound. Incredible arrangements with lush vocal harmonies that were over-dubbed on multitrack recorders... it was a sound all their own.
Recently, looking through my vast VHS tape collection, I found a copy of the movie, "The Karen Carpenter Story" which was produced around 1989. I had recorded it when it was broadcast over the TV airwaves. Immediately, I wanted to play it. The Carpenters were a huge influence on me and it had been so many years since I had seen this movie.
I recall how devistated I was when I had learned that Karen Carpenter had passed away back in February 1983. I couldn't believe it! She had a long time eating disorder called Anorexia Nervosa which had taken its toll on her heart. She died of heart failure caused by years of being weakened by the eating disorder.
Back then, the public didn't know much about this kind of eating disorder. But Karen's death brought a lot of attention to not only Anorexia Nervosa but also to Bulimia. While many believe that Karen had bulimia, Richard Carpenter and his mother strongly denied this as a possibility for Karen's eating disorders. They believed this because bulimia would have caused damage to the vocal cords and that was something that Karen just would not risk. Instead, she depended on using laxatives.
It's still hard to believe that Karen Carpenter has been gone for almost 25 years. As I'm writing this, I'm listening to Carpenter songs from a 2 disc CD set that was given to me as a gift by my sister-in-law. Without doubt, Karen Carpenter had one of the greatest and most recognized voices in pop music history. Yeah, she's one of my all-time favorite singers...
Because of my love for music, I'm often asked, "Who's your favorite music group?" Sometimes it's, "Who's your favorite singer?" And we can't forget, "What's your favorite guitar?"
Well, I have a lot of favorite groups, singers and guitars! But without doubt, one of my all-time favorite female singers has to be Karen Carpenter.
In the 70's, you could not turn on a radio without hearing a Carpenters tune playing at some point. They dominated the airwaves with their soft ballads and love songs. Often blasted by the critics for their squeaky-clean image and syrupy songs, they could never fault Karen's amazing voice.
My dad was always encouraging my brother and me to practice our instruments (my brother plays piano and is a full-time piano teacher today and of course, I play guitar) and he'd often ask for Carpenters songs. Can't blame him really... Richard and Karen Carpenter had an unmistakable sound. Incredible arrangements with lush vocal harmonies that were over-dubbed on multitrack recorders... it was a sound all their own.
Recently, looking through my vast VHS tape collection, I found a copy of the movie, "The Karen Carpenter Story" which was produced around 1989. I had recorded it when it was broadcast over the TV airwaves. Immediately, I wanted to play it. The Carpenters were a huge influence on me and it had been so many years since I had seen this movie.
I recall how devistated I was when I had learned that Karen Carpenter had passed away back in February 1983. I couldn't believe it! She had a long time eating disorder called Anorexia Nervosa which had taken its toll on her heart. She died of heart failure caused by years of being weakened by the eating disorder.
Back then, the public didn't know much about this kind of eating disorder. But Karen's death brought a lot of attention to not only Anorexia Nervosa but also to Bulimia. While many believe that Karen had bulimia, Richard Carpenter and his mother strongly denied this as a possibility for Karen's eating disorders. They believed this because bulimia would have caused damage to the vocal cords and that was something that Karen just would not risk. Instead, she depended on using laxatives.
It's still hard to believe that Karen Carpenter has been gone for almost 25 years. As I'm writing this, I'm listening to Carpenter songs from a 2 disc CD set that was given to me as a gift by my sister-in-law. Without doubt, Karen Carpenter had one of the greatest and most recognized voices in pop music history. Yeah, she's one of my all-time favorite singers...
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