I would play their records growing up and Karen's voice was so perfect. You would feel lifted up. What a shame to lose such a talented woman. I'll never say goodbye to this music.
I remember sitting in front of our stero and opening up the album cover . I can't remember which one it was but it was a trifold with a picture of their house
This could be the story of her love life. Carpenters took a big hit from their fans for using (gasp!) an electric guitar. Yes, this was live and it sounds exactly like the recording. She had the ability to do that in a performance.
This song, by the way, is the first ever power-ballad. The late Tony Peluso on the fuzz guitar just put the song into the stratosphere. Richard was the genius behind this arrangement. RIP Karen, the most perfect singer of all time.
@@r.d.sandman6474 Kinda rough there. Do a little research. Some do consider it the first power ballad. Everyone knows Karen was a great drummer. that wasn't his point.
@@r.d.sandman6474 Nirmal is correct (in a way). The reason the industry say this "could" be considered the first "power ballad" is because some of the first hard rock bands to record "power/monster ballads" have said they structured the ballads based on this song by the Carpenters; beginning soft and slow, building to an energetic guitar solo, then ending soft & slow. There are many articles written by music industry professionals the mention this. So maybe you should do a little research and apologize to @nirmal kirtisinghe, because he is correct. Even if he was incorrect, your response was mean. R .D. Sandman, are the nimrod for being both wrong and rude!
Ah, a pure live version. (I can recognize subtle differences from the studio version. Have heard the 1972 studio version of Goodbye To Love hundreds of times...and this ain't it!) With this song, Richard Carpenter invented the power ballad...
@@ajkendro3413 Well, some were, yes, including their 1970 megahit Close To You. They covered numerous other songwriters too, notably Paul Williams (We've Only Just Begun, Rainy Days And Mondays) and Leon Russell (Superstar, This Masquerade, A Song For You). Of course Richard was a composer too, along with his usual lyricist partner John Bettis (Eve, Yesterday Once More and this song, among others).
Karen was such a great singer. She had a contralto voice which is the lowest female singing voice. (The greatest contralto ever!) Anita Baker has that same type of voice. Sad that we lost Karen to an eight year battle with an eating disorder (anoxeria nervosa) on February 4th,1983 at the young age at 32 just less than a month before her 33rd birthday. Had she lived she would’ve been 71 years old. Her voice will live on forever. God bless her older brother Richard who is 75 years old now, and still continues to keep their music alive.
@@Spo-Dee-O-Dee Tell that to Frank Sinatra, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Olivia Newton John, Agnetha Faltskog (from ABBA), Dionne Warwick, Toni Tennille, Gwen Stefani, KD Lang, Paul Williams, and Barbra Streisand just to name a few. Who are Marian Anderson and Kathleen Ferrier? Seems like I would have heard of them if they are good.
Karen recognized that her sultry lower register was what made her singing so special; she said once, "The money is in the basement. This is one of the first "power ballads" to have a blazing fuzz guitar solo. I understand the guitarist (Tony Peluso, RIP) started playing little gentle guitar riffs and Richard had to prod him to shred, resulting in this masterpiece. Many Carpenters fans were put off by it because they saw the group as a soft pop group.
Major props to Herb Alpert, who signed The Carpenters to A&M when they were rejected by other labels. Herb is also amazing, I'm not sure if you've reacted to any of his music, but he's an awesome trumpet player, still going strong in his 80s. Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass were huge in the late 60s and then he continued as a solo artist.
I just saw a comment that Ambrosia was originally going to be a country band until Herb Alpert told them they should do more r&b. Isn't that interesting?@@DaleC1980 Makes me wonder how many other stories there are out there from other artists whose careers he influenced like that. Pretty amazing.
I grew up singing Karen Carpenter songs...from the age of 2, I started singing along with her. A part of me literally died with her since she was such a HUGE influence on me through my entire life. I pray to see her and visit with her on the other side. Thank you Jamel for doing what you do and for keeping all this great music alive.
This was the first real power ballad. Most people don't really realize it but all the elements are there. I remember listening to this album when I was a kid in the early 80s. I loved the guitar solo. It was one of the first I taught myself. Tony Peluso (may he RIP) is the guitarist. When he was hired he was surprised because he was a rock guy from England but accepted the gig. He was practicing with Richard and Karen in the studio but it wasn't really working. Richard called him on it and Tony questioned what they wanted because they were the carpenters. He was playing soft, mostly chords. Richard wanted more. He wanted a hard solo. He wanted the song to build in intensity and tension until the guitarist went off on a solo (classic power ballad before it had a name). Richard said to Tony (about the solo), "I want you to play the melody for 5 bars and then turn it up! Soar off into the stratosphere..." That's what Richard and Karen imagined with this song. It is in my opinion their greatest song and it was a precursor to over a decade of major musical influence. Thanks J for doing this one. I have been waiting. Goodbye To Love is culturally significant to rock music even if people don't realize it.
I really do like the way you find good things to say about people, Jamel, and the Carpenters had their place on Top-40 radio back in the day and it was great. And in this song, they were rockin' out, for sure. :)
I started playing Mom's records at about age 10, first I sang along with Johnny Mathis, then Nat King Cole, and then she brought home that first Carpenter's album, oh my, been in love with Karen's voice for over 50 years.
When I sing this song I change the lyric there to repeat "say goodbye" rather than the original "live or die". Karen didn't write the lyric, John Bettis did (Karen wasn't a songwriter)...but it still bothers me to hear Karen sing those half dozen or so words, because when she does she's just so damn wrong...people did care, and they still do.
Tony Peluso on guitar, one of the great solos of all time...caused a stir when it first came out as the Carpenters were accused of going "heavy metal" lol
The guitar work on this song is pure fire! When i twll people that they laugh and say its the Carpenters, but you play them the track and their blown away.. great music all the way around..
I saw them live many times and Karen was always perfect. She was funny and silly and serious and beautiful. The drummer was Cubby O'Brian, who used to be one of the original Mousketeers.
That fuzzy guitar was so controversial back then ….. older fans said they were selling out to rock n roll …. Anyway she is and will always be the greatest vocalist of all time - so clean crisp and clear!
As a teen, I kept waiting for the Carpenters to do a song like this just to show they had it in them. I wasn’t disappointed then, and I like the song even more now.
I could relate to Karen, but with age and knowledge, I have really come to appreciate Richard Carpenter’s arrangements. He created their sound. Gets little credit.
I remember when we drove across the country one summer in early 70's and The Carpenters were on the radio...THE ENTIRE TRIP...in every city their music was on the car radio. I miss her voice and music so much.
She had one of the most beautiful voices! I still remember how shocked we were when she passed away. Also, this was considered one of the first true rock ballads! It was Richard's idea to put that electric guitar solo in near the end of the song, and the record big wigs thought he was crazy! They deserve to be in the RR Hall of Fame! RIP Miss Karen! Your music will live on forever!
With all the Christmas items coming out now, I sure hope you react to The Carpenters "Merry Christmas Darling". Also, Steve Perry's Christmas album drops tomorrow- Nov 5th.
Thank you, Jamel, for keeping her music alive. Sure it was early soft rock, but... you said it... "so soothing". I call her Saint Karen, she is that adored !
I was blessed to grow up during the time that a lot of his music was out. I grew up listening to the Carpenter’s. I would harmonize with her and sing along with her so much. This song always touched my heart and made me feel so sad. I love Karen Carpenter!
There's something so unique about Karen Carpenter's voice. There's so much longing and melancholy in her singing that i don't think anyone's ever been able to capture.
One of my favorite songs of The Carpenters takes me back to the 70s fantastic arranging and producing Richard Carpenter and of course timeless voice of Karen Carpenter rest in peace Karen Carpenter
Karen was one of a kind. There will never be another like her. She had such a pure calming voice. And she was a terrific drummer. That was her passion even more than singing. Sadly we lost her so young. Thankfully we have her legacy left in her music.
The Carpenters had a variety special in 1976. One segment is a stage with some 6 or more percussion setups. While an offstage orchestra plays "Strike Up the Band" Karen runs -- runs -- from setup to setup. With a maniacal grin on her face. She was having fun. We never knew she was really a goober!
You have a great soul. Socal brian here. Seeing you connect with the song, gave me goosebumps. Some groups can change my heart beat as it did yours. Ty.
Having seen The Carpenters in concert in 1972 I can verify she sounded phenomenal live. There's not a lot of singers that sound better than their records but she is one. As I got older and attended numerous concerts you knew the real talented musicians and the ones that needed help in the studio. The other female singer I have seen in concert that sounds better live than on her records is Pink and she's even hanging upside down and spinning. Really talented women.
You are so right; we think alike! I've been a Carpenters fan since 1972 when I was 8. My favorite artist for the last 20 years is Pink! Never got to see Karen live in person, but I finally got to see Pink during her last tour, and I'm anxiously waiting for the next opportunity. She is the best of the best!
Nice reaction Jamel! I love Karen Carpenter… she was just perfection. I still secretly compare everyone I hear to KC. No one measures up… I do think there are a few other perfect female voices in the world, such as Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Linda Ronstadt, and Adele. But nobody sounds like Karen…💕
One of the most beautiful voices ever in the history of recordings. She is very missed by those of us that grew up listening to her. It's soothng because we've ALL been there and misery loves company. Not being the only one hurting at the time makes it just a little easier. Richard was never the same after she died. Not because she was the voice of the Carpenters, but because they were so very close.
grew up having to hear my sisters albums. I wasnt thrilled. Carpenters, England Dan & John Ford Cooley, etc. But, I loved the fuzz guitar solo in this song even back then. Ok, now Im older and I appreciate the whole thing more. Such an amazing voice. But it was that guitar solo that hooked me first. And then I heard Aquallung, and then I heard Stairway and it goes on and on.
Live at Budokan, I believe this was in 1974. Karen is gorgeous here! Almost the entire concert is on RU-vid. The Japanese absolutely loved Karen. She and Richard wound up cutting several commercials for Japanese companies that were hugely popular was well. Cubby was an underrated drummer.
I was lucky to grow up when they were a big hit....Ive often wondered if her brother and the rest of the band ever felt like less than they was because she was so above most singers and still is...I see reactions to The Carpenters on many reaction videos and am always amazed at how even the really young reactors are just in awe of her....she is so missed
Richard didn't, as he was the one behind making the music what it was. He gave way to Karen as he understood she was the voice that would sell the music, not his.
"Goodbye To Love" has been my favourite Carpenters track since I first heard it in the early 70s. It has, more than any other, been the soundtrack to my life and it will be played at my funeral.
I used to challenge my friends who thought Karen was nothing special to sing along (try to anyway) with 3 songs. Somewhere in the middle of song 2 throats were aching. ‘Nuff said.
Karen Carpenter was a VERY great artist....& a lovely lady who greatly suffered in her life, brought on by the fact that she was painfully shy....she loved the drums & was fantastic at it, then, was basically forced to start singing, when they realized how great she actually was.....in the end, methinks it all attributed to her sad, early death......if things had been different for her, she might still be with us....I was 5 yrs old when she died & still remember it being announced on the Eve News & we all cried.........RIP , Sweet Lady.....🥰😍😔
The studio version of this is a slower tempo. I love how they changed it up sometimes during their performances. It's not shocking at all that she can sing that perfectly live. She had the golden voice. She never struck a bad note.
