Download or read book Why Karen Carpenter Matters written by Karen Tongson and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2019-06-01 with total page 153 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the '60s and '70s, America's music scene was marked by raucous excess, reflected in the tragic overdoses of young superstars such as Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. At the same time, the uplifting harmonies and sunny lyrics that propelled Karen Carpenter and her brother, Richard, to international fame belied a different sort of tragedy—the underconsumption that led to Karen's death at age thirty-two from the effects of an eating disorder. In Why Karen Carpenter Matters, Karen Tongson (whose Filipino musician parents named her after the pop icon) interweaves the story of the singer’s rise to fame with her own trans-Pacific journey between the Philippines—where imitations of American pop styles flourished—and Karen Carpenter’s home ground of Southern California. Tongson reveals why the Carpenters' chart-topping, seemingly whitewashed musical fantasies of "normal love" can now have profound significance for her—as well as for other people of color, LGBT+ communities, and anyone outside the mainstream culture usually associated with Karen Carpenter’s legacy. This hybrid of memoir and biography excavates the destructive perfectionism at the root of the Carpenters’ sound, while finding the beauty in the singer's all too brief life.
Download or read book Carpenters written by Mike Cidoni Lennox and published by Chronicle Books. This book was released on 2021-11-16 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Introduction by Richard Carpenter The definitive biography of one of the most enduring and endeared recording artists in history—the Carpenters—is told for the first time from the perspective of Richard Carpenter, through more than 100 hours of exclusive interviews and some 200 photographs from Richard's personal archive, many never published. After becoming multimillion-selling, Grammy-winning superstars with their 1970 breakthrough hit "(They Long to Be) Close to You," Richard and Karen Carpenter would win over millions of fans worldwide with a record-breaking string of hits including "We've Only Just Begun," "Top of the World," and "Yesterday Once More." By 1975, success was taking its toll. Years of jam-packed work schedules, including hundreds of concert engagements, proved to be just too much for the Carpenters to keep the hits coming—and, ultimately, to keep the music playing at all. However, Richard and Karen never took their adoring public, or each other, for granted. In Carpenters: The Musical Legacy, Richard Carpenter tells his story for the first time. With candor, heart, and humor, he sheds new light on the Carpenters' trials and triumphs—work that remains the gold standard for melodic pop. This beautifully illustrated definitive biography, with exclusive interviews and never-before-seen photographs, is a must-have for any Carpenters fan.
Download or read book Little Girl Blue The Life of Karen Carpenter written by Randy Schmidt and published by Omnibus Press. This book was released on 2012-03-07 with total page 493 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Karen Carpenter was the instantly recognisable lead singer of the Carpenters. The top-selling American musical act of the 1970s, they delivered the love songs that defined a generation. Karen's velvety voice on a string of 16 consecutive Top 20 hits from 1970 to 1976 – including Close to You, We've Only Just Begun, Rainy Days and Mondays, Superstar, and Hurting Each Other – propelled the duo to worldwide stardom and record sales of over 100 million. Karen's musical career was short – only 13 years. During that time, the Carpenters released 10 studio albums, toured more than 200 days a year, taped five television specials, and won three Grammys and an American Music Award. But that's only part of Karen's story. As the world received news of her death at 32 years of age in 1983, she became the proverbial poster child for anorexia nervosa. Little Girl Blue is an intimate profile of Karen Carpenter, a girl from a modest Connecticut upbringing who became a Superstar. Based on exclusive interviews with nearly 100 friends and associates, including record producers, studio musicians, songwriters, television directors, photographers, radio personalities, classmates, childhood friends, neighbours, personal assistants, romantic interests, hairdressers, and housekeepers.'...thorough and affectionate biography of a singer who's been constantly undervalued by the music industry.' MOJO 'Schmidt cannot be faulted... carefully factual, sensitively pitched book.' The Word 'The first truly convincing account of her nightmarish story.' The Guardian
Download or read book Carpenters written by Randy L Schmidt and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "An album-by-album retrospective of the legendary duo's recordings. Randy L. Schmidt has assembled a team of commentators, journalists, authors, musicians, and other entertainment industry figures for a series of in-depth, insightful, and opinionated conversations on every release"--Back cover.
Download or read book Yesterday Once More written by Randy L. Schmidt and published by Chicago Review Press. This book was released on 2012-10-01 with total page 394 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With a string of number-one hits showcasing Karen Carpenter's warm and distinctive vocals and Richard Carpenter's sophisticated compositions and arrangements, the Carpenters were responsible for some of the most popular music of the 1970s, and this compendium collects more than 50 articles, interviews, essays, reviews, and reassessments that chronicle the lives and career of this brother-sister musical team. Writings from pop journalists and historians such as Daniel J. Levitin, John Tobler, Digby Diehl, Ray Coleman, Robert Hilburn, and Lester Bangs provide insight into the music and personalities of the duo who produced such timeless pop music. From serious musical analyses of the Carpenters' arrangements to lighter pieces in which Karen and Richard discuss dating, cars, and high school, this new edition has been revised and expanded to include nearly a dozen additional pieces, some of which have never been published.
Download or read book Carpenters written by Rick Henry and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2014-01-14 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An extensive look at every album and every song recorded and released by Karen Carpenter and Richard Carpenter as a duo and as solo artists. This e-book covers each songs giving historical data and personal viewpoints along with comments from fans. This is the most extensive book you will find covering Carpenters' music.Rick Henry is the developer and/or owner of several Carpenters and Karen Carpenter websites, forums, groups and blogs such as LeadSister.com, online with Carpenters, Carpenters Avenue, Karen Carpenter Avenue and the popular facebook group Karen Carpenter Magazine which can be found at; https: //www.facebook.com/groups/321040037161
Download or read book Why Lhasa de Sela Matters written by Fred Goodman and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2019-11-11 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An artist in every sense of the word, Lhasa de Sela wowed audiences around the globe with her multilingual songs and spellbinding performances, mixing together everything from Gypsy music to Mexican rancheras, Americana and jazz, chanson française, and South American folk melodies. In Canada, her album La Llorona won the Juno Award and went gold, and its follow-up, The Living Road, won a BBC World Music Award. Tragically, de Sela succumbed to breast cancer in 2010 at the age of thirty-seven after recording her final album, Lhasa. Tracing de Sela’s unconventional life and introducing her to a new generation, Why Lhasa de Sela Matters is the first biography of this sophisticated creative icon. Raised in a hippie family traveling between the United States and Mexico in a converted school bus, de Sela developed an unquenchable curiosity, with equal affinities for the romantic, mystic, and cerebral. Becoming a sensation in Montreal and Europe, the trilingual singer rejected a conventional path to fame, joining her sisters’ circus troupe in France. Revealing the details of these and other experiences that inspired de Sela to write such vibrant, otherworldly music, Why Lhasa de Sela Matters sings with the spirit of this gifted firebrand.
Download or read book Joni Mitchell Hits written by Joni Mitchell and published by Alfred Music. This book was released on 2009-03 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Words and music by Joni Mitchell excepting: Unchained Melody.
Download or read book Carpenters Hits Songbook written by Carpenters and published by Hal Leonard Corporation. This book was released on 2001-10-01 with total page 66 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: (Big Note Personality). 15 of the Carpenters' big hits arranged for big-note piano, including: Bless the Beasts and Children * (They Long to Be) Close to You * For All We Know * Goodbye to Love * Hurting Each Other * Only Yesterday * Please Mr. Postman * Rainy Days and Mondays * Sing * Superstar * Top of the World * We've Only Just Begun * Yesterday Once More * and more.
Download or read book Carpenters All the Top 40 Hits written by Craig Halstead and published by . This book was released on 2015-01-03 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Richard and Karen Carpenter, as the Carpenters, are one of the best-selling music acts of all-time.Richard and Karen made their breakthrough in 1969 when, on 22nd April, they signed to A&M Records. They agreed they would be known as 'Carpenters', as opposed to 'The Carpenters'. Richard composed ten of the 13 songs on the duo's debut album, OFFERING, but their debut single was a ballad version of the Beatles' Ticket To Ride, which was a minor hit on the Hot 100 in the USA.It wasn't until they released their second album, CLOSE TO YOU, that Richard and Karen's career really took off. The lead single from the album, (They Long To Be) Close To You, went all the way to no.1 in the USA, and broke the duo internationally. The follow-up, We've Only Just Begun, hit no.2 in the USA.For the purposes of this book, to qualify as a Top 40 hit, a single or album must have entered the Top 40 singles/albums chart in at least one of eighteen featured countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland (singles only), Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. For both singles and albums, the main listing is followed by 'The Almost Top 40 Singles/Albums', which gives an honorable mention to Carpenters singles/albums that peaked between no.41 and no.50 in one or more countries. There is also a points-based list of the Top 20 Carpenters Singles and Albums, plus a fascinating 'Trivia' section at the end of each section which looks at the most successful Carpenters singles and albums in each of the featured countries.
Download or read book Music Of Carpenters written by Barbra Keib and published by . This book was released on 2021-08-11 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Carpenters were an American vocal and instrumental duo consisting of siblings Karen and Richard Carpenter. An extensive look at every album and every song recorded and released by Karen Carpenter and Richard Carpenter as a duo and as solo artists. This book covers each song giving historical data and personal viewpoints along with comments from fans. This is the most extensive book you will find covering Carpenters' music.
Download or read book The Carpenters written by Ray Coleman and published by Perennial. This book was released on 1995-03-01 with total page 359 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Music journalist Coleman, the author of Lennon and Clapton!, with the full cooperation of Richard and the Carpenter famiy, explores the public and private lives of the Carpenters, portraying Richard and Karen's dynamic pop music career as well as Karen's descent into anorexia nervosa and untimely death. 32 pages of photos.
Download or read book It s Easy to Play Carpenters written by Wise Publications and published by Wise Publications. This book was released on 2006-09-13 with total page 49 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It's Easy to Play Carpenters is a fabulous collection of simplified, easy-to-read arrangements of 20 popular Carpenters songs for Piano - Perfect for the beginner pianist looking to bolster their repertoire and improve their playing. Song List: - (They Long To Be) Close To You - An Old Fashioned Love Song - For All We Know - Goodbye To Love - Hurting Each Other - Let Me Be The One - Only Yesterday - Please Mr Postman - Rainy Days And Mondays - Sing - Solitaire - Top Of The World - We've Only Just Begun - Yesterday Once More
Download or read book Some Kind of Lonely Clown The Music Memory and Melancholy Lives of Karen Carpenter Hardback written by Joel Samberg and published by BearManor Media. This book was released on 2015-10-16 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the HARDBACK version. "This book brings back so many lovely and amusing memories of a sadly missed friend. She was unique and irreplaceable in so many ways. Joel has been thorough in his research, and his love and respect for Karen shine through. Love and thanks for the fun and the magic of her musical soul." -Petula Clark "An insightful look at the life of Karen Carpenter, a singing hero of mine. I had the pleasure of opening for the Carpenters in 1975, but it was more exciting that they recorded several of my songs, particularly 'Solitaire, ' which featured a breathtaking Karen vocal accompanied by Richard's magnificent orchestration. Mr. Samberg's book is a worthy tribute to her everlasting legacy as one of the great vocalists of all time." -Neil Sedaka The popularity of the Carpenters-Karen in particular-has never really waned. In fact, when you consider the online presence, documentaries, tributes and other projects, you might even say that an unofficial Carpenters revival has been brewing for years. Many remember the velvety voice that helped the Carpenters sell 100 million records, but not everyone knows that beyond the gifted singer was also a love-starved romantic, conflicted sister, obedient daughter, unpredictable jester, modest millionaire, optimistic dreamer, wannabe mother, emotional wreck, generous friend, and melancholy clown. How is it that someone whose stardom lasted just a dozen years, and who might have given it all up in a heartbeat, is still so beloved and still fascinates more than three decades after her untimely death?
Download or read book Songs of the Carpenters written by Carpenters and published by . This book was released on 1990 with total page 63 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Complete Guide to the Music of the Carpenters written by John Tobler and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A guide to the music of The Carpenters. The book examines every recorded song in the band's catalogue, and acts as a consumer's critical guide. Shaped like a CD box, it is designed to sit alongside the reader's existing CD collection.
Download or read book Carpenters On Track written by Paul Tornbohm and published by Sonicbond Publishing Ltd. This book was released on 2024-05-15 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The brother and sister team of Karen and Richard Carpenter rank as one of the most successful acts in pop music history. Between the first Carpenters’ album released in 1969 and their final studio album together in 1981, they achieved three Grammy awards, 18 hits in the US Top 20 (and ten in the UK) and multiple platinum discs, leading to eventual sales of over 100 million copies worldwide. Although the group’s career was brought to a tragic and premature end by the untimely death of Karen Carpenter in 1983, they remain a much-loved band. The Carpenters crafted their own distinctive sound with multi-part harmonies and lush arrangements. A unique singer and gifted interpreter of songs, Karen was also passionate about playing the drums, with Richard’s talents extending to keyboards, singing, composing, arranging and producing. This book explores the background to each of their studio albums and classic singles, as well as their solo recordings, live albums and compilations of rare tracks. From their earliest recordings in a jazz trio through to Richard’s reinterpretations of their best-known songs with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and as a solo pianist, this appraisal looks at over 55 years of Carpenters material. Paul Tornbohm is a songwriter and musician. As befits a Carpenters fan, he has recorded an album of his songs, August Afternoons, with his sister Cathy on lead vocals. A former member of the ‘ghost-rock’ group Piano Magic, Paul has also released the solo EP Down an English Lane. Additionally, he composes for Spontaneous Productions, a theatre company in Sydenham, London. Paul has a Masters in music production from Kingston University, teaches music qualifications at a sixth-form college in Surrey and lives in Crystal Palace, London, with his wife, the composer Yumi Mashiki. This is his first book.
