I'll never in my life forget the night I was driving my car home and the man on the radio announced that Karen Carpenter had died of a heart attack, related to her anorexia. And then they played this song. I had to pull over and just weep. This song always makes me teary eyed.
I came home one afternoon and my younger brother (who BTW is now a professional musician himself) blurted out "Karen Carpenter died." He might as well have punched me in the gut...
If I remember correctly, this was the first time a guitar player performed a power ballad solo. The Carpenters did it first and all the other bands followed…..The guitar player was personally contacted and asked by the Carpenters to do this on the song. RIP Karen
This is another example of the brilliant Richard And Karen Carpenter. The Carpenters were the first to do this in a pop song, and if you think about it, it is the best way to end this song
As a single old man, a recluse with nobody else in my life, I wish to personally thank RSR for making me feel a part of their family. I have followed closely for the entire duration of their channel, and I have to say that when this beautiful couple says, "Make somebody smile", they actually make ME smile. Keep spreading the benevolence and positivity RSR. Thank you for reliably brightening up my day, typically the highlight of my day. You are like the grandchildren that I never had or wished that I could have had. You can't know how many people that you positively affect. I'm sure I'm not the only one.
When they were going back and forth about rock paper scissors, I thought about what Jay would say about the guitar solo. Richard is a great talent composing and arranging. Karen just plain sounds perfect. If only it had registered to her how much she was loved and appreciated.
@NotData That's just dumb. But they had that 3 minute limit rule of thumb for song length too. They are happy with the sterile 3 minute milktoast junk they have out today.
For All We Know is beautiful, an ode to love and marriage. Perfect wedding song. "Let's take a lifetime to say, 'I knew you well' for only time will tell us so, and love may grow for all we know."
This is the start of the power ballad. They took some flak for it at the time because electric wasn’t their usual sound, but it started a wave of music influenced by this song. Amazing, beautiful, and haunting song.
Exactly. Some people were so upset that they infused an electric (fuzz) guitar into this song. I think it was pure inspired genius. You gotta hand it to Richard. Our boy could arrange a song. He is up there in the pantheon, modern music wise, with Bacharach and Foster. It is their take on a power ballad.
@@deependz3231yep. It's unbelievable how much guff they took through the years. It had to hurt. I've read them talking about it in interviews. Some of the reviewers were just mean. Poor Karen. They did a lot of things musically that changed the sound of every day music. They had guts to try something different. Love the Carpenters.
I was just a kid of 13 when this song came out. I already had all of their singles and albums. I loved the guitar solo the first time I heard it on the radio. Soon my parents took me to the local record store to buy the 45rpm. I wore that record out, mesmerized by the guitar solo, and the song itself. Even for a 13-year-old the lyrics were sad. And that guitar solo fit the song perfectly for me, almost like the singer had become defiant with the life she had been given. The lyrics were very sad, even for a kid. But, to me, there was power there in the end for the singer with that smokin' guitar solo.
@@keithrfield The problem with this thread is that there is no one Best Ever female voice or male voice for that matter. The beauty of music is that we all have different tastes and preferences. That makes "The Best" different for each person. I happen to like Linda Ronstadt and think she has one of the best voices ever. Karen Carpenter ranks on her equal. They do different styles of songs. Linda has a much broader spectrum of songs that she has performed but she performed a lot longer. There are many incredible singers out there. I personally think that Olivia Newton-John and Barbra Streisand can stand with them as well. There are others, more than I can write here on. I think that we should simply appreciate the incredible talents of these performers and consider our selves blessed to have been able to hear them all.
I had anorexia from 13-17 years old. I had excellent medical help and a great support of family and friends. I am now almost 68 years old. I am blessed that God spared my life. Rest in Peace, Karen Carpenter.
I forgot what a great song this is. Man, you can tell Karen is deep in the throes of her illness here. It's so sad. But what a treasure trove of music she left us with. Thank you for covering this:)
The saddest thing to me about this song is that it ultimately became a testament to her life when it came to her never having that one love in her life, who loved her like no other. And yes, this song is considered the first "Rock Ballad" in the industry. Considering that this song came out in 1972, first ever soft ballad to have a rock guitar solo in it. And Tony Peluso, the guitarist, nails it! Yay! I'm so happy that you've not only reacted to this song but touched on some musical history! Thank you!!! And I thank Richard and Karen for having the guts to do it and put it out there!
Amber hit the nail on the head. After a long string of traditional Carpenter hits, everyone was blown away by the appearance of that electric guitar. The ending solo goes on longer than featured here. It's just extraordinary.
Great choice!! Tony Peluso, who played the fuzz guitar part at the end, started out with a "Carpenters" -like solo and Richard stopped him and told him he really wanted something rocking and heavy.
The guitar player Tony Peluso was in the band Instant Joy and had opened for the Carpenters. When Richard was working on the song, he and Karen decided that Tony would be perfect for the song. He first played something he thought was appropriate for the band. Richard said "No, no man. Play the melody for the first five measures then let it rip. It was one of the first time a fuzz guitar solo was recorded in a ballad.
That one was an outlier, an album track Richard liked but didn't think was a hit. They played it live though and audiences went nuts, so it was released as a single and did become a big hit. Indeed Lynn Anderson's cover of it hit #1 on the country charts not long afterward.
My heart hurts seeing how thin and sickly Karen looks here. She suffered so much with her eating disorder. Her voice will never be duplicated! Just perfect.
FYI, if you haven't been told. Karen is an incredible drummer. She preferred to be known as a drummer first, singer second. Check out her drum solo videos.
"Bless the Beast and the Children" would love your reaction and yes this is the Carpenters.." Goodbye To Love" Beautiful song that is Richard Carpenters arranging with Karen singing.. One of the greatest brother and sister teams ever!
Karen Carpenter had such a unique tone, she is instantly recognizable from the first note. Unfortunately you can see her disease in this video, at a time when it was not recognized or treated, such a sad loss to humanity. ✌️
Yeah, she had it before it became widely known, it was surprising at the time to find her private personal life didn’t match up to her songs, and so sad to have her go at such an early age😢😔fwiw, it’s nice that a lot of diseases that were unrecognized or untreated back then are being taken care of now👍😏😊
If I'm not mistaken, this was one of the first power ballads ever done. Richard Carpenter did the arrangements on all the Carpenters records. Richard Carpenter asked the guitarist to play a solo and at first the guitarist sort of played a little something soft and quiet and Richard Carpenter said to him, "No, just let it rip, and don't hold back." . . .and there you have it! Genius!
This was one of the first power ballads. Richard and Karen invited rock guitarist, Tony Peluso, to sit in to record this song. When the guitar solo was to start, Richard told Tony, "This is where you play". Tony came up with a soft mild solo. Richard immediately stopped him and said, "No, not like that! I want you to take it to the stratosphere!" Numerous Carpenters fans were in shock when this came out. Some claimed the Carpenters were trying to sound more like Jimi Hendrix.
I am 61. This is what was on the radio in my childhood home. My mom had a stack of Carpenters records that would play on the old Philco Ford console stereophonic furniture. This is all warm memories of my mom. Always a Karen and Richard Carpenter fan!
My Mom would put us kids to bed and then go downstairs and listen to her Carpenters albums. I've lost count of how many nights I feel asleep to Karen's voice when I was a little girl in the 70s!
When this song came out, a lot of fans were really angry that there was a rock guitar solo. They felt it wasn't "appropriate" for Carpenters. Well, they got over it pretty fast. This is one of their best songs.
Richard could find a hit anywhere. He got Only Just Begun from a bank commercial. He got Sing from Sesame Street. Goodbye to Love from a movie from the 49s.
Yep, you found a gem here! The introduction of the electric guitar was a shock back then for their fans. It turned many of their fans off from them. They felt The Carpenters were going electric now and moving away from their traditional soft sound. I think now, many fans appreciate how they were only doing what artists do, branching out in their talent and tastes. This one is a classic! Thanks for the great reaction.
After our lovely Karen rejoined heaven, Tony Peluso said "when Karen Carpenter called me, i couldn't believe it, she was one of my idol's". He added "I got to play with the greatest singer ever... we all loved her"!
Richard Carpenter was asked about Karen's breathing technique. He responded: "Karen, along with Andy Williams, Johnny Mathis and John Gary, could take one breath and do the super-human bit where they just kept singing and singing. You are absolutely right in your mention of 'Goodbye To Love', which has some very long phrases. Other singers would come up to Karen and comment on this; I remember John Davidson asking, 'Do you have three lungs?' because Karen took a breath and sang, 'time and time again the chance for love has passed me by and all I know of love is how to live without it…' and that Karen just did naturally. 'Live', as well. It’s not like we had to get it in multiple takes in the studio."
Heh. Right on about that absurdly long phrase. I've sung the song as a jazz ballad (as if it actually dated to the 40s, like the movie the title came from), and I break that line right before "how to live". Karen had onboard scuba gear, I think. (Where exactly she put it, who knows...)
@@garytorresani8846 yes, Sinatra above all, in my opinion. His later version of Night and Day and Old Man River are incredible. He said he learned breathing when he was with the Dorsey Band. He would watch the horn players using long breaths. It made Sinatra The Voice.
Carpenters were a big part of my childhood in the 70's, they had such great hits. I think this was a very personal song for Karen Carpenter because she seemed to struggle in personal relationships or find the right person like so many of us do.
Her voice control and tone quality are so amazing even after only taking the slightest breath! Perfection. My heart broke the day she died and it’s never been the same since. I cry every time I hear one of their songs. This one in particular will make me weep if I am feeling the slightest bit sentimental.
I was 15 when she passed. My classmates and I were very sad and shocked to hear the news.She was the voice of our childhood. I listen to them to this day.👍😎
@@christineobrien7707 I was 20 and singing some of their songs at weddings. I loved their music. So much talent between the two of them. Karen couldn’t seem to make her mom happy. Really, really sad.
It was the first power ballad. It started the trend. They caught a lot of flak for having distorted guitar in one of their songs. Richard got the idea for this song by watching an old movie about a song writer who is trying to write another song as good as his best song "Goodbye to Love" which is never heard in the movie. Tony Paluso on guitar.
As the Wiki entry says: The title comes from the 1940 Bing Crosby film on The Late Movie called "Rhythm on the River." Carpenter noticed that the characters kept referring to the struggling songwriter's greatest composition, "Goodbye to Love". Carpenter said, "You never hear it in the movie, they just keep referring to it." So he worked up lyrics and the rest is history.
This IS a power ballad. Possibly the first with a fuzz guitar solo, played by Tony Peluso, staying with them from this song on. The great Hal Blaine on drums. They received hate mail for “going hard rock”. Believe it or not. So much for fanatics. Song peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100. You should read the Wiki, good info. Once again and always Karen, RIP. 😢
My favorite Carpenter song...even with the weird groovy guitar solo in the middle. Jay, you cracked me up at that point. Haha. And it's even more groovy in the studio version. It's as if the guitarist knew it was his opportunity to shine 😅 "Ballad? Screw that, I'm rockin'!" Her voice was soothing and magical. Be blessed ❤
Tony Peluso's guitar rift is legendary. The Carpenters received some criticism from "fans" who said they sold out to hard rock. But most fans like me knew how great it was from the first time we heard it.
Richard was a musical genius and he wasn’t afraid to stretch the boundaries. He got a lotta flak for this song, but it’s just AWESOME! Richard’s musical arrangements were so incredible and Karen’s voice so sweet and smooth, we can only wonder where they would have taken us all if only. I was 13 years old when The Carpenters best known song; Close To You came on the radio. I didn’t think a lot of it at first, but my Dad liked them and bought their albums, so I grew to appreciate Karen’s amazing voice and here I am, 53 years later, still absolutely in love with it. I can listen to her sing for hours on end. I don’t wanna offend anyone, but the so-called girl singers of today aren’t even in the same state as her, let alone the ballpark. No autotune, she recorded avery track in one take and nailed it! Added to that, she was a first class drummer as well and she could sing and play the drums at the same time, which is very difficult to do. She exelled at both. She was sensational. I cried when I heard she had passed away. Such a huge loss!
Growing up with the Carpenters music was awesome. Hearing hit after hit for years. We never really knew that she had an eating disorder until really just before she died. Things were coming out in the media that she was so skinny and she did collapse on stage I think in Japan once. We learned later that Karen was also in denial about her eating disorder so that did not help. Then on the 4th of February 1983, the world lost arugably the best female vocalist of all time.
Richard was watching a movie late one night & a member of a fictional music group in the film, at some point, mentions that their best song is called "Goodbye To Love", but it's never played/heard in the film & there's no other reference to it. Presumably, just a fictional song title used for the scene/film. It gave Richard the idea to turn it into a real song!
This is also my favorite Carpenters song. The guitar solo was the first and had some Carpenters Fans very angry. They were very worried that guitar solo would destroy the Carpenters. How wrong they were! I saw them at Pine Knob in 1977. AMAZING....
Richard Carpenter is a wonderful composer and orchestrator. He not only accompanies Karen on duets, he also directs the orchestra. He went on to produce recordings for many other artists.
Shout out to the late great Tony Peluso who was brought in just to play on this record and come up with a guitar solo for it. He smashed it, so much so that he ended up staying with the band and touring with them for almost ten years. R.I.P. Tony and Karen.
This has always been one of my favorite guitar solos. I was so in love with Karen. I remember driving on the San Diego freeway., not far from her parents house when I heard on the radio that she had died. I immediately pulled over and just cried my heart out for over an hour. Wow, here come those tears again.
Karen Carpenter had such a beautiful, sweet voice. She went through so much suffering and always hid it from the public. Her story is so sad but she always seemed to have a tender soul. ❤
Hard truth in life....not everybody finds true love in this world. This song perfectly sums up that feeling of never finding "the one". Sad but beautiful.
Richard Carpenter said that some fans gave them flak when the electric guitar was used on this song. Some fans said they were selling out. When the song came out it was a surprise but I thought it was awesome. In the studio the guitarist originally did a more mellow solo assuming that’s what they wanted. Richard told him no, I want you to wail on this song.
The guitar solo was quite a shock for many Carpenter fans at the time. And not always in a good way. It was Richard who wanted a really rocking solo and at first the guitar player (I'm sorry I cannot remember his name) tried playing something mellow and Richard encouraged him to really let loose...and he did! It was one of Karen's favorite songs.
I remember hearing the Carpenters for the first time in the UK, I think it was 1969. I went and bought two albums straight away! RIP Karen Carpenter ❤😢
1969 was the year of the first Carpenters album, off which their first single came (a "balladized" cover of the Beatles' Ticket To Ride), so you're probably spot on with the date...
Thx for hitting this! I still remember the shock of hearing the screaming electric guitar solo on this track for the first time. I remember sitting there in total disbelief listening to my new Carpenters album. I was stunned and entranced at the same time. This is still one of my all time favs of theirs.
Karen Anne Carpenter 1950-1983 has the voice of an angel one of the most angelic voices of the Rock & Roll era. Her voice has the most warmth and emotion of any female singer ever. Karen has to be in the top 10 greatest female singers of all time.
I was in my first college teaching job in Southern California when this song came out. I played it over and over again. Love Karen's voice! Love the guitar work!
One their best songs ever. They got hate mail for using the electric guitar and not sticking to that "soft" sound, but it's an amazing song. Tony Peluso was the guitar player and was in their backup band for years. There is a young English singer/songwriter called Harriet who sounds so much like Karen. She writes her own music, but occasionally sings a Carpenters song. Look up Harriet-Goodbye To Love and be floored!!!! Richard actually ended up married with 5 kids, so he FOUND love after Karen died.
My goodness! One of my favorite Carpenters songs. But the lyrics are so sad, considering what Karen was battling at the time, combined with the loneliness of their travel. Thankfully she left this gem for us to enjoy for all time. And how about that guitar? Very cool.
Love J’s face when the guitar solo started lol! They took a big chance with that because no one expected a heavy-ish solo from them. Richard wanted him to “rip it up”.
I love her voice so much, and this is such a sad song that, sadly, many of us can relate to. I would have thought it was written by her for many reasons. You might like the songs "Solitaire" and "For All We Know."
Had to smile at your intro listening to Jay’s desire for some rock, all the while knowing that fuzzy guitar solo lay in store for him. So glad you enjoyed that. Believe it or not, many Carpenters fans were not ready for that power ballad at the time and accused them of selling out to hard rock (lol).
I'm so glad you reacted to Goodbye to love. And yes it caused a lot of backlash amongst some Carpenter fans. They got hate mail, some radio stations refused to play it and they were called a sellout. Inspite of all that it became a big top 10 song in 1972
Jay and Amber, you are my favourite music reaction channel. The Carpenters are my favourite ever artists; and ‘Goodbye to Love’ is my absolute favourite song by any artist, bar none. It’s 1:46 in the morning here and I should really go to bed but I feel so happy right now. Thank you!
Karen Carpenter had a tone to her voice that may never be duplicated. She could very well be the greatest female singer ever, and that is a fact. Her life and death was so sad, but her legacy so many years later still lives on thanks to people like Jay and Amber, and her voice will be appreciated for generations to come.
