The Carpenters
Okay, The Carpenters weren't on my first music
greats list, they weren't even on my second, but whilst thinking
about my favourite female vocalists, Karen Carpenter leapting
to mind singing Rainy Days And Mondays - my sister used to
play The Carpenters a lot... Honest! ;) But there are some
great Carpenter songs and whilst Janis Joplin is raw emotion,
Karen Carpenter is practised quality... Did I dare name those
two singers in the same sentence? ... Well, there you are
then... :) But whilst Karen's voice is exquisite, you can't
really argue with Richard Carpenter's arrangements as their
many covers excelled the originals in very many cases. One
of the reasons I feel they deserve to be here is they were
rejected by the music industry at a time when Jimi Hendrix
and The Beatles were at the height of their popularity. The
reason was their image. They weren't hip and they weren't
sexy. But I will argue their music radiates stunning quality,
a quality defined by Karen's uniquely individual and very
beautiful voice... Just listen to the song below and you will
see what I mean... Close your eyes to the video, though, as
the image they present does not match up to the quality of
the sound, but I think you might agree that although they
suffer a serious lack of style, Karen's voice and Richard's
arrangement do more than compensate...
Tim Rees
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