#carpenters #superstar #reaction FIRST time SEEING The Carpenters - Superstar! She is AMAZING! Join this channel to get access to perks: / @blackpegasusraps
A reviewer with Rolling Stone said, "Karen Carpenter's voice is like the sound of a lover whispering in your ear.". She's been gone more than 30 years...and her voice STILL gives me goosebumps.
Mine as well, always has been, always will be... Her voice is therapy for the soul, and the ultimate storyteller voice who sang TO the listener NOT at them!.. Melted Chocolate, the freshest breeze on a hot humid day, the warmest hug, seeing the smile of a friend you haven't seen in years and other adjective comments/phrases...
didnt knw about her anerexia and illness. That is heartbreaking I liked the carpenters songs as a small kid and i still like it, so Thank u very much for your beautiful songs Carpenters and may your light shine bright for ever Karen
I can't listen to Karen Carpenter for more then 30 seconds before I start crying like a baby. Beautiful! Beautiful! Beautiful singer, just like an angel!
But would she have gone in a direction that would have aliented the fanbase, and would it still care? Her early death freezes her in time and allows people to project their own vision of her future.
Her voice is liquid gold. Someone told her she looked heavy and then she starved herself. She got help and gained weight then unfortunately died of heart failure.Karen was a true alto. She was born in. 1950. Can you believe she thought of herself as a drummer and not a singer
The Carpenters were underappreciated as musical innovators. They were some of the first to overdub their vocals and did virtually all of their own "background" singing. They did some of the first songs to be dubbed "power ballads." Richard did the bulk of their arrangements and orchestration. And Karen was a world class drummer.
She struggled with a food disorder for years. Her family tried so hard to get her help, but eventually her body was too badly damaged. I remember hearing about her passing on the news and i just sat and cried. Sad that she didn't realize her worth and sad that we wouldn't hear that beautiful voice live again. 😢❤
They suffer from a low self image anorexic/ bulemics. My sister could have been a casualty buy I learned about this 1st because of Karen Carpenter and we got her help before it was too late! Awful illness when you know what they do to themselves...sad!
She wanted to be primarily a drummer but her mother didn’t think it was feminine enough. Her brother was no saint either. I’m not saying her family didn’t love her, but I think her lack of control in her own life played a big part of the disorder.
If you can believe it, The Carpenters were considered "Square" back in the day. Now, people understand how great they were. (They were great then too really...square was just because they were cleaner cut then most musicians)
She passed at age 32 in 1983, so she would only be 73 right now....a real loss....she was so famous that she and her brother had a weekly TV show with musical gust stars etc....yiou were spot on with haters- some critic said she looked fat early in her career and she started purging- she took diet pills, took meds that made her go to the bathroom even though she weighed less then 90 pounds...and it ruined her heart and other organs....she was at her parents house and didn't come down fro breakfast and they fiound her in the bedroom upstairs having died in her sleep. The news was all over the world and they showed her video biography as a warning to the parents of young girls about bullying and eating disorders
in her case, I have read that her mother was merciless about her weight...... constant criticism...... with every single bite of food she took............ and so, looking for approval........ her solution was to just stop eating.
I'm. Psych RN. Eating disorders are almost always about control. Many things contributed to her disorder, but I feel (reading up on her over the years) that she enjoyed what she did but didn't feel like she had a lot of control over her career. She adored and was very close to her brother, but he was very much assertive and their managers kind of pushed her to sing front and center. Her first passion and love was drumming. She liked singing, but she preferred to be behind the drum kit. I've read that she felt way too "noticeable" as a front-and-center lead singer. She felt very subconscious about how she looked. But yes, her brother and managers pushed her to come out from behind her beloved drums. Check out a video of just her drumming skills (there are a couple on RU-vid) and see how ecstatic she is. She's all smiles when she drums. The self-consciousness, coupled with possibly a couple remarks on her weight early in her career (legend says a review stated that "Richard's chubby sister has a wonderful voice" and feeling a lack of control all contributed to her eating disorder. Also a weird relatnonship with her mother, who openly favored Richard as the golden child and showed her very little affection but a lot of control. She starved herself down well below 90 lbs. Back then the average Joe had never heard of Anorexia, and even doctors knew little about the psychology behind it and how to treat it. Her friends and family knew she had a problem but were clueless as to what to do.You can't just tell an anorexic to eat. It's the one thing they can control (what they put in their mouth). She was finally getting treatment, but that consisted of putting about 30 lb s on her in a. matter of weeks through IV nutrition int he hospital, and that further stressed her already damaged heart.
Her first "bad" relationship was apparently with her mother. According to her friends from youth, Karen never felt that anything she did was acceptable to her mother. Dealing with such an oppressive relationship from youth and then piling the pressures of performing on a national stage were most likely key factors contributing to her mental illness. Such a sad and senseless loss.
She died of complications from anorexia (congestive heart failure). I remember listening to her music when I was young and it hit me so deep. Then, watching the made for tv movie about her life just broke my heart. So much potential & I understand completely...
It was a devasting loss for those of us that grew up listening to Karen. Their song We’ve only just begun became one of the biggest hits at weddings. My heart still hurts when I hear Karen sing. RIP Karen we miss you 😢
It was our prom theme. 😔❤ I can still see the decorations in my mind. Can't believe it was so many years ago! Perfect theme for us, graduating and just starting out on our life adventures...
My entire 6th grade class sang "We've Only Just Begun" during our "graduation ceremony" from Elementary School to Jr. High School. Quite fitting a song for graduations and weddings.
Karen was a phenomenal drummer and her brother Richard had to push her to get out in front and sing vs. stay behind her drums. Also, always remember it took Richard's amazing song selections, arrangements, layering their harmonies, and his equally phenomenal keyboarding skills that allowed Karen's vocals to soar and to make that Carpenters magic. Karen had a solo album that someone else produced later in her career and it didn't have the same sparkle.
Karen Carpenter was the best singer no doubt, but factually, she had just under a 3 octave range. She didn’t need whistle register theatrics to be great
@@lauriloo38c Whistle register is not considered part of ones range; neither is falsetto. Karen had a little over two octaves in natural voice, and the rest (the "basement") a result the proximity effect that was an artifact of her close-miking. Beautiful voice without a doubt, but there were others that sang just as beautifully, but with more stylistic range and the full arsenal of virtuoso technique.
@@lauriloo38c KC had the "warm cocoa" bit down quite well, but the music the world offers calls for cold gin or spicy tacos as well. Good singers (like KC) can give you one - but it is the great singers that can offer a fuller menu of the human condition.
@@Spo-Dee-O-Dee disagree. The best singers create a sound all their own. They don’t try to be all things to all people. Bee Gees had a sound. Bread and David Gates had a sound, ELO had a sound. You aren’t going to convince anyone with your argument. I don’t know how old you are but I’m 60 and lived in the Carpenters era. They were special.
I’ve always interpreted the lyrics as: she’s an adoring fan,and due to her loneliness has created a “relationship” that doesn’t really exist. The lyrics, her performance, her voice, and her story are devastating.
I interpret as she is a fan who got back stage and gave it up to the "superstar" thinking she is "the one" for him, not realizing that she was only one of many.
This Carpenters version (1971) is actually a remake with "watered down" lyrics. The original lyrics (1969) said, "and I can hardly wait, to sleep with you again". So you're pretty much both correct.
I agree completely and always thought of it as a sad song and a girl who was taken advantage of. If not for the beautiful vocal, the song is heartbreaking and disgusting.
I’m 64. I grew up listening to them. I learned many songs on the piano. She has the purest voice I’ve ever heard. It gives me great joy to see someone young like you appreciate their music. Richard was equally good at making the arrangements for their music.
This is my favorite version of the Bonnie Delaney and Leon Russell tune, written in 1969. Her voice is unique, timeless, buttery, beautifully emotive. There aren't enough superlatives. And then Richard, he was a brilliant arranger of music. He found many of the songs that they made "their own" when they recorded them. A truly blessed duo of our time. I grew up listening to them on the radio and felt the shock and sadness of her passing. Then later, to learn the back story. This is a great rabbit hole to go down and be amazed by.
I was born in the 60's and I remember The Carpenters well. Karen has the most angelic voice I've ever heard and in my opinion the best female vocalist ever. Karen was so talented and I enjoy listening to The Carpenters music whenever I get a chance. It takes me back to the "good ole days". 😌Thanks for the reaction!
She had the most buttery contralto voice, ever. And the emotion she was able to put into each syllable was fantastic. Her version of "Bless the Beasts and the Children" breaks my heart every time I hear it.
Recorded in one take, reading the lyrics off a napkin, only 21 years old at the time! The song reached number #2 on the charts in 1971.. While recorded many times by various artists, the Carpenter's version remains the standard and all time classic....
Karen Carpenter was one of the first women to play an instrument for a popular/famous band. And her voice was phenomenal. Such a huge loss when she passed.You could call the new channel FUQ 2.0 lol.
The Carpenters defined the early 70s for many of us. They were unique and stayed true to their sound no matter what everyone else was doing. There was a PBS documentary done about them years ago. Sometimes, they still air it.
Karen had a way of going right into your soul and heart with her singing. Not only did she have probably the best singing voice, ever, but she had a way of sending her emotions to you through her singing. Every time I hear her sing, I get all teary-eyed and choked up. Karen was one of a kind. It has been said that she is now teaching the angels in heaven how to sing. She has certainly left her mark in this world. RIP, Karen.
I always loved that song. I used to sing it to my grandchildren as a lullaby. My youngest grandson, who is now 6 years old, will ask me to sing the "Close To Me" song.
Her voice is liquid gold! It has fullness, depth, and warmth that no one else has ever replicated. Very early in their career, a journalist wrote that she was "chubby," and that is one of the things that started the spiral. However, anorexia is usually about control, or lack thereof. One area where individuals can exert control is over their own bodies. 😢 Karen Carpenter, unfortunately, could never see herself the way we saw her.
I'm so very lucky to have seen her when I was 12 in 1972. She was incredible. She came up in a time when the "world" thought you had to be super skinny to be anything. She considered herself to be a drummer who could sing. The producer wanted her to be up front and be the voice of the band. She was then told she was chubby. I understand her mother thought the world of her brother and she would have wanted some of that live and devotion. Her brother was into drugs and missed some of what was going on. There's videos of her playing the drums on a variety show Karen was an incredible drummer.
Sir Paul McCartney said she had one of the best female voices he had ever heard. So sad she didn’t know how beautiful she was inside & out. Love your reactions!
We lost Karen in February of 1983. I was 19 and was shopping when they announced it over the PA system in the store. I broke down crying right in the middle of the store because she was so special. So incredibly sad.
Myself as well. Safeway Grocery. At first I thought it was a Carpenter h8†er playing a joke. I get home and my cousin Paul Keenan who worked at ABC on Dynasty said they were released for the day because.... 😢
Was also in Germany early 70's,,Dad was stationed there.. A lot of good memories..The Carpenters had some Billboard top 100 hits. Close to You was # 1 on the charts for a month 1970.
She died in 1983. Someone told her early on in her career that she was a bit chubby and should lose some weight. It affected her deeply and she struggled for the rest of her life. She had a one of a kind unique voice. So pure, rich and smooth like velvet. Some of her other great songs include We've only just begun, Solitaire, Ave Maria, Only yesterday, Masquerade, Ticket to ride and Yesterday once more.
Their "A Song for You" will tear you up if you think this seemed like an homage to her at the end. Also you can hear how she was progressing as an artist and gives a foretaste of what she could have become.
There are many great female singers with unique and powerful voices, such as Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Mariah, Adele, etc. But I personally don't think there is anyone with a voice as beautiful as Karen Carpenter's. And that might have something to do with me listening to her when I was going through a really bad time in my life. You would think a Melancholy voice like hers would do me more harm than good in a time like that, strange, right?
Karen Carpenter - one of the finest voices, male or female, in music. Note the luscious bottom register and the way she sings complete phrases - none of this awful breaking a sentence in the middle.This gorgeous song was written by the late, great Leon Russell. You should watch him singing his othere masterpiece, A Song for You. You're right, the song is about that, but he's not coming back.
Didn't know that...Elton John was a big fan and influenced by Leon Russell and had alot to do with him getting inducted into the ROCK and ROLL HALLof FAME....
And Bonnie Bramlett of Bonnie and Delaney. She wrote it about Eric Clapton. She also played Bonnie the blond haired waitress in Roseanne for a few seasons. Married to David Crosby aka Duke on the show
That bottom register was made possible by TECHNOLOGY!!!...she was entirely reliant on close-miking to be audible, and on a dynamic response microphone, adds selectively to the lower notes, notes she would not otherwise be able to effectively sing. Just as legit as AutoTune.
Karen, Patsy Cline, Doris Day & Peggy Lee had some of the most beautiful, God-gifted voices I’ve ever heard….& I’m a classic rock guy. I remember my dad had the Carpenters 8-track in his 70 Chevelle when I was a kid. That one & Charlie Pride are permanently fixed in my memory.
She passed away in February of 1983. This song was written by Bonnie Bramlet and Leon Russell. Rita Coolidge sang it when she performed in the Mad Dogs and English Men tour with Joe Cocker and Leon Russell. They filmed the tour and made a movie out of it called “Mad Dogs and English Men” and also a live album of the same name. Leon Russell is one of my favorite artists from that era. His “Jumping Jack Flash/Youngblood Medley” 13:04 is to live for.
She died in February of 1983 just 3 months before I graduated high school. The first celebrity death I remember was Elvis just before my 12th birthday. I mention that because I felt shock at Elvis's passing. I cried when Karen died. Their song We've Only Just Begun was used as a prom theme at my school (quite a controversy as it was a Christian school, LOL), that is how impactful the Carpenters were to my teen years.
This gave me chills and crying. Honestly there was never a female singer with her beautiful voice and haunting at times. She would have been 74 in March. I’m 72 and would listen to her album all the time. On my 21st birthday my parents got tickets to see the Carpenters with two of my friends and them. They loved them also. My dad was a musician , played bass with a touring orchestra during the big band era. 💔
You basically nailed what the song is about. “Superstar” was written by Leon Russell and Delaney Bramlett (of the band Delaney, Bonnie & Friends). Tellingly, the original working title of the song was “Groupie.” So you're right - the girl in the song is pining for the rock star, thinking he fell for her too, but to him she was just another one night stand on the road. Leon Russell also wrote another song that was a hit for the Carpenters. It's called “A Song for You,” and it was kind of Russell's signature song.
Nice job sir. Carpenters were a very talented duo. Blessed us with some very wonderful and timeless music. As a young man in the 70's, it was easy to love such a beautiful young woman like Karen with such an ANGELIC voice. AND PLAYED THE DRUMS! She was always so happy and smiling when she was behind a kit. Seeing her so thin and frail and unhealthy towards the end was sad and disturbing. Wish she had found the true love she sought and deserved. Can I suggest " This Masquerade " and " Song For You ". Also written by the late, great Leon Russell. Also, Karen did a wonderful medley with the great Ella Fitzgerald. A Masterpiece!
This performance is "TV live", the audio is the studio recording. Incidentally the lead vocal on that studio track, which became a hit single, was not only take one on the day, but the first time KC ever sang the song, reading a handwritten lyric sheet. That is the kind of marvel she was...
Thank you for reaction to this iconic song. She will never be matched as a female vocalist. I have also gained even more respect for you learning of your background. Please keep doing these. You're keeping the classic music alive!
Her lower register was a product of the type of microphone that she used and how close she was to it. She could never use those notes under natural conditions. If that isn't cheating, neither is autotune.
@@Spo-Dee-O-Dee 😂 you know nothing about singing. I sang alto in choirs for decades. Can easily hit all those low notes and as loudly as regular notes.
