|
Subject |
# |
Fans Ask: |
Richard Answers: |
|
Arranger |
1 |
“Richard, you write the most beautiful
orchestrations I have ever heard. Do you ever plan or have been asked to
write movie scores?” |
“I don’t plan to write movie scores; I think that
is a talent in itself. I consider myself more of a song writer,
arranger, producer - a record maker.” |
|
Christmas |
2 |
"Fans are also dying to know if Richard plans on
releasing his Christmas album, the one that includes 'Together at
Christmas' again.” |
"Yes, hopefully in 2005, but I am taking my sweet
time to make certain that the album is something I will be very happy
with at its conclusion. I do apologize for taking so long.” |
|
College |
3.1 |
"What college courses did Karen and Richard
take?" |
“Karen and I took all the usual pre-reqs, and as
music majors, had to select an instrument, as well as take the required
music courses. Obviously, I went for a piano major. What one would do
the first semester, no matter how well or poorly he or she played, was
perform a “closed recital” for 1, 2 or 3 of the faculty, and if they
deemed you worthy, you got to play for your peers at the next recital
(“open recital”, one each semester). I got “open recital”, which I was
certain I would; however it’s a double-edged thing, because most of us
got nervous playing for our peers. “Karen was a vocal major of course,
but the trouble with that was she was a “pop” singer, and they (faculty)
didn’t want to know from that. They had her singing using her “head
voice”, not the “money voice” – the instantly identifiable chest voice
of hers, because it didn’t work for the traditional classical repertoire
required. They had her singing things she really wasn’t born to sing.
“As a music major one was required to take Harmony I and Harmony II
(Music Theory) |
|
College |
3.2 |
(Continued) |
learning correct 4-part voicing and how to diagram
a selection. Another course was, to me, a misnomer, Musicianship. It
really was ear training. I’m a firm believer that there is no such thing
as “ear training”; you’re either born with it or not. You can’t teach
someone to sing in tune, or write a memorable melody. People can be born
with perfect pitch and not be musical at all. As long as they know a C
or A for example, a car horn will sound and they will know what note it
is. I do not, nor did Karen, have perfect pitch. We have relative
perfect and sang perfectly in tune. Once it was established what the
first note was, we could tell what any note was after that. The teacher
would play little motifs, or “melodies”, and we were supposed to write
them down. It was really simple stuff (if you could do it!). I can play
almost anything by ear; no bragga docio, it’s something I was
born with. One had to take one semester of that, and take Counterpoint
and Music History, and, if you |
|
College |
3.3 |
(Continued) |
weren’t a piano major, four semesters of piano. A
music major had to be a member of a performing group; there were two of
each, two instrumental, two choral, and one of them in each was the
better of the two. You had to have some 'chops', relatively speaking, to
be accepted in the better ensembles.” |
|
Grammy |
4 |
“Are there any other songs that you believe will
be inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, other than ‘Close To You’ and
‘We’ve Only Just begun’?” |
“Probably ‘Superstar’, one of these days.” |
|
Hits |
5 |
“Did you think that ‘Close To You’ was going to be
as big of a hit as it was?” |
“No, honestly, never thought it would be as big a
hit as it was. Thought it would be either #1 or a stiff. Not like
‘Ticket To Ride’, which stayed on the charts for months and peaked at
#54.” |
|
Influence |
6 |
“I would like to know your piano musical
influences.” |
"George Shearing." |
|
Influence |
7 |
"Who would you name as your most notable influence
in the area of musical arrangements?" |
“Not all my influences, but listed
chronologically: 1. Jud Conlon – He rose to prominence in the 40s as a
visionary vocal arranger, credited with what’s known as 'tight' or
'close' harmonies for use in mainstream popular music (as opposed to
barbershop), leader of the Rhythmaires who backed Bing on a number of
hits. 2. Les Paul and Mary Ford – Ford’s 4-part 'close' harmonies and
Les’s development of overdubbing. 3. Hugo Winterhalter – arranger/orchestrator,
conductor. 4. Burt Bacharach.” |
|
Instrument |
8 |
"In the liner notes of the album 'Offering' it
states that Karen played electric bass on two of the songs. Which two
songs are these?" |
“ 'All Of My Life' and 'Eve' ” |
|
Instrument |
9 |
“I know you are fond of the Baldwin piano and used
it regularly on recordings, but was this also the same piano used on
‘(They Long To Be) Close To You’, and the original piano track (’70) for
‘We’ve Only Just Begun’? If so, it was a grand, I assume?” |
“Most recordings, except the ‘A Song For You’
album, were done with Steinway A (one of four), which was an A&M Studios
piano; I think it was terrific. My only complaint was that it was
'well-worn' and creaked, like in ‘Merry Christmas Darling’, which starts
with just Karen and piano. When the pedal was pushed the assembly which
goes up into the piano (lyre) creaked. Steinway model 'B', 7 footer.” |
|
Instrument |
10 |
“What made you decide to switch from the frequent
use of the Wurlitzer Electric on the records to using more of the Fender
Rhodes sound around ’75 and on?” |
“The Fender Rhodes has a nice tremolo if one
controls it properly, and it breaks into stereo which would fill out
some of the recordings. I first noticed the full effect in 1975 in ‘Only
Yesterday’ – there also is some Wurlitzer on that, a fill that breaks
out of the sax solo and into the guitar solo. Every now and again, like
on ‘Those Good Old Dreams’ and some of the others, I would use the
Wurlitzer. But for an actual backing in the rhythm for the chords the
Rhodes has a fatter or prettier sound, whereas the Wurlitzer for
certain breaks and fills has a funkier or rastier sound." |
|
Instrument |
11 |
“It would be interesting to know what kind of
keyboard Richard played back in the early days, and if Karen preferred
one type of drum or snare over another.” |
"Spinet: Baldwin Acrosonic. Grand: Baldwin.
Electric Piano: Wurlitzer, models 140B or 200. Drum kit: Ludwig, with
Karen preferring a Ludwig 'Supersensitive' snare, complete with all
chrome plating and adjustable snares." |
|
Instrument |
12.1 |
"What Instruments did Karen and Richard play?” |
“Drums and piano, respectively. I learned piano on
a Baldwin Acrosonic, a spinet; at the time the best available. Joanie,
my cousin, was raised from age 18 months by my folks, and at 18 when she
graduated from high school in 1954, she immediately got a good job with
Bell Telephone and bought the Acrosonic; we both used it. Joanie
eventually got married and moved out, with the piano, so my parents
(always believing in us) and I picked out another Acrosonic. We had that
until 1964 when I was starting to make some money by teaching piano and
playing church organ and nightclubs. We all pitched in, traded the
Acrosonic, and purchased the piano I have now in my sitting room -
forty-one years later! It’s a Baldwin Model L, 6’3” parlor grand, and a
very good piano. “I now have a couple of Baldwins and a couple of
Steinways (big house, you understand!) In concert I play a Baldwin
concert grand, as I am a Baldwin Artist; they send one to each
performance. In addition, I'd play a Wurlitzer electric piano. And
starting around 1975 or ’76 we added a Rhodes |
|
Instrument |
12.2 |
(Continued) |
electric piano, so that made three different
keyboard sounds. Karen immediately liked the sound of Ludwig drums.
One person she looked up to was Jim Squeglia, a high school pal of mine
in New Haven who owned a set of Ludwigs. At the time Ludwig, Rogers and
Slingerland were arguably the best, with a couple of people Karen looked
up to playing Ludwigs; Joe Morello who played with the Dave Brubeck
Quartet, and Ringo Starr, who played with some group who’s name I can’t
quite remember. She was 14 years old, telling my folks she wants to play
drums. We weren’t “in the chips” and were already paying on the Baldwin.
Nevertheless, they bought her an entry-level Ludwig set. She proved
immediately that she could play. What she really wanted was the big set
in silver sparkle (Karen’s original silver sparkle Ludwig set is on
display at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center). It was the full size
with two top toms and dual floor toms. She liked, of course, Zildjian
cymbals. She also liked the Rogers “high hat”, and a Rogers kick-drum
pedal; that’s what she always used. |
|
Instrument |
12.3 |
(Continued) |
The snare she really wanted, but we couldn’t
afford, was the Supersensitive top-of-the-line Ludwig with adjustable
snares, all chrome. We started with getting the penultimate L 400, and
she had that a little while, but soon we all broke down and got her the
Supersensitive. Then of course, as soon as we hit it big it was like a
dream come true in a number of ways. Wurlitzer was sending me every new
model of electric piano for free, and sending out to California from
Illinois the fellow who actually invented the electric piano, Cliff
Anderson, who would do special modifications. Ludwig was sending Karen
every drum set she wanted. It was really something.” |
|
Karen |
13 |
“How close were Olivia Newton-John and Karen?” |
“Karen and Olivia were very close, and I
considered Olivia a genuine friend.” |
|
Karen |
14 |
“Were you pleased with the outcome of the 1989
‘The Karen Carpenter Story’?” |
“Heavens no, I was not pleased. It’s not a good
film. One of the biggest mistakes I ever made was agreeing to cooperate
in the making of it. It brings to mind the old adage 'The road to hell
is paved with good intentions'.“ |
|
Karen |
15 |
“At Karen's funeral there was an anthem sung
called "Give Me Jesus" arranged by Fleming. Who was the author of the
song and is there a score of the arrangement?” |
“The song ‘Give Me Jesus’ was written by Larry
Fleming (now deceased) and published by Augsburg Fortress, Minneapolis,
MN. CSULB has a score in their music department library. Frank Pooler
at CSULB called two nights before the funeral, and asked if we would
like the choir to sing, and suggested this and others. In addition, I
got a chart of “Ave Maria” from our Christmas album and transposed it,
and our pal Dennis Heath sang. It was quite a moving experience.” |
|
Karen |
16 |
“Is the Karen Carpenter Memorial Foundation still
in progress, and where can we send donations?” |
“Yes. It’s been renamed 'Carpenter Family
Foundation'. There is a description of the Foundation and contact
information in the CFF section of this website.” |
|
Live Release |
17 |
"There has never been a live Carpenters album
released in the U.S. I am sure you have many live shows recorded. Any
chance of a new live CD, or box set of live concerts?" |
"Not many live shows were recorded, only two:
'Live in Japan' (1974) and 'Live at the Palladium' (1976). Both have
been released on CD, but the former will probably be easier to obtain.
Japan is the source to look for both - through Tower or Virgin imports,
of course. These were never released in the U.S. at my request, as I'm
just not much on live albums by anybody." |
|
Logo |
18 |
“The ‘Carpenters’ logo has worn very well over the
years and has become one of the most recognizable icons in the world of
popular music. Who was responsible for designing the logo? How much
input had Karen and Richard in the selection? Also, why was there no
logo on the ‘PASSAGE’ album?” |
“Craig Braun and Associates designed the
‘Carpenters’ logo. They were hired by the A&M graphics department to do
the whole package on the Carpenters third album. We had no input on the
design. I recognized it to be a great logo as soon as I saw it. There is
no logo on the front of the ‘Passage’ album due to a ‘transition idea’
by all of us at the time. To keep things consistent, though, every
Carpenters album from the logo’s inception shows the logo; it’s on the
back of the ‘Passage’ album, bottom center.” |
|
Misc |
19 |
“Do you still listen to your recordings?” |
“Every third blue moon, and of course, when we’re
working on some project, the SACD being the most recent.” |
|
Misc |
20 |
“I would be interested to know if there are any
artists on the charts today whose work Richard admires?” |
“I think Sting is really a talented fellow, but
he’s been with us many a year, along with Steely Dan and U2. As for the
new crop of artists, I’m not particularly impressed. Norah Jones is, at
least, a genuine singer.” |
|
Misc |
21 |
“Do the artists winning Grammys today impress you
as much as your own music did?” |
“No, even if you take Carpenters out of the
equation and look at some other people winning Grammys then, they were
much more talented than now. The records now, with rare exception, are
'manufactured'.” |
|
Misc |
22 |
“What are Richard’s memories of his encounter
with Frank Zappa at the Billboard Forum in June 1975? I wish I’d been
there to see my two musical heroes together!” |
“Frank was a talented fellow. I really liked the
way he played the guitar, and I liked his take on certain cultural and
sociological issues; he had a marvelously sardonic sense of humor. We
saw each other very briefly in the 'Green Room' before going out to
answer a few questions.” |
|
Misc |
23 |
"What was Carpenters’ biggest ever gig?" |
“ 'One-nighter': Ohio State Fair, summer of 1971,
approximately 50,000.” |
|
Misc |
24 |
“Do your children enjoy the music you created?” |
“Yes, they hear it now and then, but I’ve never
sat them down in a concerted effort. They are kids and, of course, like
certain of our songs more than others, as do adults!” |
|
News |
25 |
"We would like to have updated new reports on what
Richard is doing and where the Carpenters music is currently heading." |
“I am raising a large family with my wife Mary,
involved in community and school activities, the Carpenter Performing
Arts Center in Long Beach, CA, and continuing to write songs. I’m still
with A&M Records, and am always working sometime or other on a request
for a Carpenters' package, i.e. the 5.1 Surround Sound project. The
catalog is available in its entirety in the US and Japan. One of the
newest requests is for a double-CD plus DVD 'Gold' package, which will
be granted; I like the idea.” |
|
News |
26 |
"Is there a future-talent amongst the Carpenter
family?” |
“Time will tell; you do mean musical talent?” |
|
SACD |
27 |
“Having recently re-mixed ‘The Singles 1969-1981’
for SACD/DVD-Audio release, was there anything about the process which
surprised you?” |
"Not really; it all seemed as natural as mixing in
stereo." |
|
SACD |
28 |
"Will the new surround mixes use the original
instrumentation, or will some of the later re-recorded instrumentation
be used?” |
"Both, depending on the particular track." |
|
SACD |
29 |
"Will the stereo layer of the upcoming SACD or
DVD-A compilation have the original stereo mixes?” |
"Some, along with remixes from various years.” |
|
SACD |
30 |
"Is Richard considering using recordings used for
the Quad mixes from some 30 years ago on the new SACDs? Fans would
simply eat that up.” |
"No, no, no, no. Quad was a dubious experiment,
and Karen & I were on the road and had no time to oversee the
quadraphonic mixes ourselves. An A&M staff engineer - not Ray Gerhardt -
did the remixes and I was anything but happy with them. Technology has
come light years and I can guarantee the 5.1 remixes will be far
superior to the Quad." |
|
Song |
31 |
“Did you select the second to last track in ‘Gold’
with the phrase ‘and when my life is over…’ because she is no longer
with us?” |
“The song title ‘A Song For You’ serves as a
metaphor for the whole set and that line works very well. I also wanted
to end the tune stack with Karen’s Theme, which also happens to be in
the same key as ‘A Song For You’.” |
|
Song |
32 |
"I really love the solo on 'Goodbye To Love'. It
sounds to me like an electric guitar played directly into the sound
board and overdriven onto analog tape. I would love to know more about
it. Who played it? how exactly was it recorded? .Who decided it should
have such a raucous sound? It was a great call!" |
"It's an electric guitar, Gibson, vintage 1957.
Tony Peluso played the solo, done in the 'good old days' when all he
used was a crude little fuzz unit called a 'Big Muff'. He hooked his
guitar into the Big Muff and our engineer Ray Gerhardt took it into the
board. It was recorded in Studio B at A&M Studios. The song and
arrangement, including the 'raucous' fuzz guitar solo, are mine." |
|
Song |
33 |
“Regarding ‘The Rainbow Connection’ - My question
is whether there may be a leakage of a sound where Karen sings 'dreamers
and meeeeee'. I'm not sure if this is the reason why you left it out as
an outtake to begin with. I was guessing her lead was only partial so
you thought it had better be untouched. But now with your effort and
enthusiasm, we are able to listen to this beautifully arranged song with
previously unreleased vocals by Karen." |
“This was originally written for Kermit the Frog
(Muppet), with some accents on the wrong syllables. I took some artistic
license and changed the melody a bit. Still, Karen just didn't like the
song, and it didn't make the album. For years fans kept requesting the
recording, so I completed the chart and put it out. In the matter of
leakage, there is none.“ |
|
Song |
34 |
“We all have our favorite songs of the
Carpenters. What song was YOUR favorite of all the songs you and Karen
recorded together, and why? What was Karen’s favorite song that the two
of you recorded?” |
"To me, there's a difference between ‘song’ and
‘recording’. My favorite song would probably be either 'For All We Know'
or 'Superstar'. Favorite recordings would be 'Ticket To Ride' (1973,
remix), 'Close To You' or 'Merry Christmas, Darling'. Karen's favorite
was 'I Need To Be In Love'." |
|
Standards |
35 |
“In the Ray Coleman book, Richard says that he
wishes that he and Karen had recorded more songs of the quality of ‘I
Get Along Without You Very Well.’ Was he just speaking hypothetically,
or did he and Karen actually record a track of this old standard?” |
"No, not hypothetically. While Karen was in the
hospital in New York, I made her some multi-artist cassettes to help her
pass the time. On one I put 'I Get Along Without You Very Well' sung by
Matt Monro. Karen had always been a fan of his, but had not heard his
version of the Hoagy Carmichael standard until this (1982). She called
and thanked me for the tape and singled this track out, wanting to sing
it herself. Between both our illnesses, we'd lost enough time in the
studio and I knew A&M would want us to do new stuff upon our return, so
I suggested we pass. Of course, Karen was gone shortly thereafter and I
am still upset that we didn't record not only this standard, but any
number of others. Karen was born to sing great ballads and, let's face
it, they're just not writing too much now that possess much melody or
great lyrics." |
|
Technique |
36 |
“It’s been said that one time Karen, while riding
in her car with a friend, started singing a song in a “higher range than
she’s used to”. It was remarked to be beautiful, and Karen is reported
to respond, “The money’s in the basement”. Why had you not highlighted
her voice in a range that was seldom heard by us?” |
“She must have been singing in her ‘head voice’,
Both Karen and I felt the magic was in her ‘chest voice’ (a.k.a.
‘basement’). There is no comparison in terms of richness in sound, so I
wasn’t about to highlight the upper voice. We did use it every now and
again for some arrangemental colorings. For example, you can hear it on
‘here to remind you...' on the
song 'I'll Never Fall In Love Again'. The second time it is sung,
Karen and I cover three octaves; I go to a low F and Karen goes to a
high F. That is her head voice. The thirds that are done underneath the
second half of the sax solo in 'All You Get From Love Is A Love Song'
also feature her head voice." |
|
Technique |
37.1 |
"To what extent was that decision – to leave in or
to remove a breath – commonplace in your production technique? What
reasoning led to your decisions in those cases?" |
"I tried to leave in the breaths as much as I
could because, of course, they’re natural. There’s an anecdote
concerning 'Goodbye To Love'. The breath is there on the multi-track,
but we couldn’t use it in the original mix as there was drumstick
leakage, and Hal Blaine's 'three' from the count-off audible in Karen’s
headphones, so when we went to remix it in 1985 I put a breath in. We
get letters every now and again regarding certain sounds, especially on
acoustic guitar moves, where there would be little squeaks sometimes
from the fingers rubbing over the strings, and to me that’s a natural
sound. Some people don’t like it at all, but we would leave it in. You
note examples where phrases are very long as in 'I Just Fall In Love
Again' and 'Goodbye To Love', questioning whether some breaths had been
removed. The thing is, every now and again, we would do what is called
'punching-in', or in England 'dropping in', where let’s say the singer
liked most of a lead, but wanted to get one word or two over. Now it’s
easier than ever, but back then, if you had a good |
|
Technique |
37.2 |
(Continued) |
second man or good first engineer, you would sing
into it and sing out of it as well, and you knew where to take the
breath, and he (the engineer) would 'punch' in very quickly to get one
or two words, and every now and again a 'breath' just went away. This
may be what you refer to. One definitely does not hear every breath that
was ever inhaled on a lead, as hard as we tried. But 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." |
|
Technique |
38 |
“What is your feeling about the idea of Karen’s
voice as ‘intimate’? Is this (her singing very close to the microphone)
the true extent of the relationship between her voice’s ‘intimacy’ and
the technology, or, to what extent did your production try to emphasize
her naturally ‘intimate’ vocality?” |
"It has nothing to do with singing closely to the
microphone; that would just make for a more present sound. Karen had the
intimacy built right into the sound of her voice and her brain, so it
was her born sound that so beautifully interpreted a lyric. The writer,
Tom Nolan, who did the cover piece on us for Rolling Stone wrote (of a
concert in Las Vegas), 'Out comes that marvelous voice, exactly as on
record…. a marvel, youth combined with wisdom.' Tom nailed it. It’s not
singing close to the mic. Singing close to the mic just made it better
sonically." |
|
Technique |
39 |
“On the ‘Singles 1969-73’ vinyl LP and most of the
CD versions of the album, it seems the songs ‘Rainy Days and Mondays’,
‘Superstar’ and ‘Goodbye To Love’ are speeded up, compared to the same
songs on the original LPs ‘A Song For You’ and ‘Carpenters’. This has
mystified me for two decades. Can you clarify what exactly is different
about these two sets of records/CDs? Are the original LP versions too
slow, or are the ‘Singles 1969-73’ versions too fast? Or are they
pitched in a different key? |
“One of them years ago, I think ‘Rainy Days And
Mondays’ or ‘Goodbye To Love’, at my request, was vso’d (a machine
called a ‘variable speed oscillator’). For the single, rather than
slowing the one back to original speed, we sped up the other two to
match, much to my regret in later years. The original LP version was too
slow, in my mind, for a single. They aren’t pitched to a degree that
would make a different key. Compared to the same songs on the original
LPs, one (‘Rainy Days And Mondays’ or ‘Goodbye To Love’) was speeded up.
In later days for remix I returned all that had been vso’d to their
original speeds.” |
|
Technique |
40 |
“When you and Karen overdubbed the backing vocals,
how did you normally do it with regard to voicing, etc? In other words,
was it common for you both to sing unison on certain parts to ‘thicken’
the inner core of the harmonies a bit, or was it more common to sing two
parts at a time and just layer everything that way?” |
“Back when we had 8 or 16 track we did two voices
at a time, say the outer parts of any 4-part chord, then we doubled it
and tripled it until we got the part the way we wanted it, which was
perfect. Later, when there were 24 tracks, we did each part by itself,
and Karen would go in to listen to me, and I would go in to listen to
her. In later years we found out we didn’t even have to triple it, the
doubling did just fine.” |
|
Technique |
41 |
“Due to the limitations you had with 16-track and
24-track tape during your recording with Karen, did all of the backing
vocals get ping-ponged within the same master tape and subbed down to
four, or did you switch to a fresh reel of tape, overdub each voice onto
its own track, and then ‘fly’ all the parts back over down to four
separate tracks (subs) on the grand master?” |
“We didn’t have the tracks and yes, we would
‘ping-pong’ even later on. Plus, you get it done and there is less to
worry about when the final mix day comes. Ultimately, no matter how many
tracks you have, all have to go to two tracks and now, in some
instances, to 5 or 7!. No, we did not switch to a fresh reel. We did it
right on the master tape whether it was 16 or 24.” |
|
Technique |
42 |
“I assume you no longer use the original 2” tape
to do all of the Carpenters remixes. What kind of media (i.e. ADAT, Digi
tape, etc) did you transfer/back-up the original Carpenters multis on
that you use for remixing, etc? What kind of media do you prefer to
record on these days?” |
“For some we went to 1” digi media. Actually, I
still like the old-fashioned way; I think there is a certain warmth to
it, so we don’t go all digital, at least for certain things. We get out
the Dolbys to lose the hiss and we go to analog for a warmer sound.” |
|
Technique |
43 |
"In 'Interpretations', UK and Japan releases,
Richard explains about remixing 'Desperado', saying something like 'you
did it for things that would bore the listener'. Well, why so? I'm just
dying to know why and so I beg you to please put down more of your input
for any release as much as its space and your energy allows you to. If
that's impossible due to space on a liner note, I think of your website
that I can turn to." |
“Regarding ‘Desperado’ - This was remixed because
the harmonica goes up quite high and there was intermodular distortion
at the end of it, especially on vinyl. Even on CD, there is a ripping
sound when Tommy Morgan goes up high.” |
|
Video |
44 |
"Will there be a Christmas video release in the
near future?" |
“Not to my knowledge.” |
|
Video |
45 |
"I'm trying to find out if "Make Your Own Kind Of
Music" will ever be released completely on DVD?” |
“Absolutely not. Obtaining guest artists'
releases, taking care of payment for publishing, director's fee,
musicians' fees, etc. would prove to be a Herculean task and one that
would not be practical given the meager amount of sales the package
would generate. Plus, I don't care at all for the show.” |
|
Video |
46 |
"Are there any plans to release any Carpenters
audio-DVDs in the near future?” |
“Yes – DVD-Audio 'Singles 1969-1981', within the
next 12 months if not sooner.” |
|
Video |
47 |
“Which Disneyland did you and Karen use to shoot
the ‘Please Mr. Postman’ video? Where was the ‘Only Yesterday’ video
shot?” |
“The one and only Disneyland, the original, in
Anaheim, CA. The ‘Only Yesterday’ video was shot at the Huntington
Library gardens, Pasadena, CA.” |
|
Vocals |
48 |
“I have recently noticed, hearing the box set
‘From the Top’, particularly the song ‘Maybe it's You’, that there's a
tiny difference in Karen's vocals compared to the original version
featured on the ‘Close to You’ album. Would Richard tell me if, indeed,
there are two (or more) different leads of the same song?” |
"Good ears! In 1970, we punched in and got 'maybe
it's just that I have never been the kind who can pass a lucky penny
by', as we weren't happy especially with that line on the master
lead. The trouble was, it was recorded on a different day and the sound
didn't quite match even though the EQ, mic, studio, engineer - and
singer - were the same. When remixed the second time, we went back to
the original. |
