John Florez - Record Producer (JOHNFLOREZMUSICSVC@GMAIL.COM)
John began his career in the late 1960's as a Los Angeles record producer. Throughout his career, one out of every three songs he produced was nationally charted, and among his many successes were the hits, Grazin' in the Grass by The Friends of Distinction (#3), and the #1 Billboard success, Rock the Boat by The Hues Corporation. His clients included: A&M, Arista, Capitol, CBS, Elektra, Playboy, RCA, Talent Associates and Warner Brothers Records.
Thank you sir for this! It is wonderfully refreshing to connect with a pioneer of The FOD’s explosion on society. You described their sound and voices so well, along with the phenomenal arrangements and teamwork that made it all work. I have each and every album from day one, and they remain my most favorite group ever, that I continue to share with the younger generation. I love their music with a passion. SALUTE ! ❤❤❤❤
I also have another idea a new album Richard Carpenter could do is a duet album using Karen's voice for instance the song can't smile without you Barry manilow could come in and sing the song with Karen many great artists could sing with Karen on a duet album I think it would be a comeback for the Carpenters and a lot of new people would discover them again.... just a thought
that was awesome! thanks for sharing your experience with one of the best vocal groups ever! i agree that highly distinct wasn't as good as grazin' but 'it's a wonderful world' (wish i could figure out the lyrics) and 'it's sunday' were outstanding tracks nonetheless. 5th dimension had the hits but their harmonies couldn't hold a candle to friends of distinction.
Thank you for shring this. It sounds GREAT! Note: It is not my stereo mix from 1970. I had the only version of it on a hard drive that crashed 20 years ago. This other stereo mix was probably Pro Tools generated via a plug-in. Very clever.
Love the idea of a Herb Alpert duet. Karen singing a full version of Impossible would have been heavenly. Dream by the Everly Brothers would have also been a perfect song for Karen as well. She talked about her interest in musicals. She truly had a timeless voice. I often wonder what magical songs she would have recorded with that indestructible voice of hers. Sigh
Your "ramblings of an old man" have been, and continue to be, informative, Inspiring and often very moving, especially to me, a DJ who back in the day played so many of the tracks and artists you've talked about. Thank you once again.
This deserved to be a hit. Reminds me of the same power and strength of Deborah Allen's "Baby I Lied" which was huge and came out soon after. Terrific mix John.
Superb selection and ideas. I am near 80 and your selections from the 50’s & 60’s with Karen, Richard and guests would be spectacular. This is from left field but you and Richard working with the promise of AI, there might be a way to put your ideas into reality.
Thank you Mr. Florez for your remembrances and your candor. I wanted to tell you how much I appreciated your memories in an earlier video of the great Jim Gordon. Thanks for sharing all of these stories!
And check out Tori Holub if you haven't already John. She could make some of your songs and visions come true. Uncannily similar sound and phrasing like Karen. Would love to hear Tori and another singer do the Herb Albert and Karen duet you suggest.
Jamaica is a huge lover of what we call soul music. We grew up with this music on JBC FM, and that station passed the baton to KOOL97 FM Jamaica. All of the music you mentioned is well known and much loved. If Carl Graves should ever appear on a show there, he'd be shocked to hear everyone singing along.
John. Great ideas. I think the one with Herb Albert would work very well with Karen. I feel that letting Karen record duets from time to time with other singers would keep them current and up-to-date. In late 1974 Karen saying some of Perry Como's songs on his TV special. I wish she had a full version of it's impossible. A full version would have been a nice inclusion on an album
Your reimagined mix is so bright and fresh. With all due respect through, I don’t care for the cowbell. It sounds off beat - but maybe I’ve just been tarnished by the SNL cowbell skit! I don’t remember this Helen Reddy record at all and in 1979 I was still Paul g attention to popular music. Thanks for sharing your very interesting history!
My song suggestions for Karen are “You’ll Never Walk Alone” and “On the Street Where You Live.” And Barry Manilow’s “All the Time” and Boz Scaggs’ “We’re All Alone.”
What if when Cass Elliott was at RCA in the early 70s what would you have done with her to get her back on the charts. Because all 3 RCA Albulms did not produce any hits
That's a great question, Shad. Frankly, I can't think of anything I could do to help her. Maybe, like with Nilsson, bring in Richard Perry to produce. That would have been really interesting!
If only she had recorded "Ebbtide"!! That would've been epic! Or "Evergreen", which would've been quite appropriate considering Paul Williams wrote the lyrics. You are so right on that Phil Ramone kept her in her upper register which is pitch perfect, but sounds rather thin after awhile. He totally should've lowered all the keys. But, I DO love "My Body Keeps Changing My Mind". I listen to it all the time and is a respectful disco song. I think it's wonderful. The other songs, however, are just not suited for her and were rather shallow, with the exception of "Last One Singing The Blues" and "If I Had You" which is quite complex with all of the vocal backgrounds. This song may be closest to the "Carpenters" sound taken up a notch. Thanks for your wonderful insight into this extraordinary person, Karen Carpenter and her solo album.
Talk about live shows...I have seen alot but I went to see BRELAND in Chicago and it was the greatest show I ever saw in my life. I got to meet him and he was the kindest person I ever meant. It was worth the 400 Mile Drive each way to see him. Now for Karen I would have had her cover Jeannie Seely's Dont Touch me, Anne Murrys you Needed me, Martha and the Vandellas Heatwave with a country flavor and finally a nice cover of Patti Page's Go On with the wedding.
One of the biggest tragedies of Karen's passing was that she died just as the '80's were starting, and her voice, at that point in her career, was showing a new emotional openness in her delivery. It would have been stellar to hear her cover Leonard Cohen, in particular "If It Be Your Will," a prayer of forgiveness and surrender in the same vein as "Little Alter Boy" from the posthumous Old Fashioned Christmas album. I can envision her voice tackling a lyric like "If it be your will/ That a voice be true/ From this broken hill/ I will sing to you/ From this broken hill/ All your praises they shall ring/ If it be your will/ To let me sing..." One can only dream... Thanks for this, John...
According to a recent documentary, the rejection of Karen's solo album by her brother and A&M was a major emotional blow for Karen that she never came back from and pushed her further into Anorexia. Pity your ideas for her solo album never came into play John.
Once again a beautiful song that gets no airplay. This is the kind of music I enjoy the most because it's REAL MUSIC!!!. The new mix sounds fantastic as usual; so lush...!
