Los Angeles (AP) — “All sha-la-la-la, all wo-o-wo-o are still shining,” the Carpenters sang in “Yesterday Once More.” This is a homage to the past songs that hit in 1973.
It could be the tagline for a new book about the work of Richard and Karen Carpenter. The book sets aside the noise surrounding the duo and seeks to focus on their harmonious work.
Fifty years after the duo’s first hit, “Carpenters: The Musical Legacy” (Princeton University Press) was co-authored by Richard Carpenter, along with Associated Press journalists Mike Chidonilenox and Chris May.
At the age of 32 in 1983, Carpenter took over many retrospective projects after facing decades of questions about his sister’s inner life and her death due to heart failure, a complication of anorexia nervosa. increase. This was my chance to do something different.
“It was primarily focused on the music itself,” Carpenter told AP, sitting in front of the piano at his home in Southern California. “I’m touching something I’ve never touched, and even if I’ve touched it, it’s been ignored.”
It has a profound and visual history of coffee table books, but it’s also a near-memo music biography of a pair returning to childhood life in New Haven, Connecticut, where Richard Carpenter found the seeds of the group. Father’s record and the sound of a toy jukebox.
People are also reading …
He cites several unexpected influences, including another male and female duo, Les Paul and Mary Ford. Their early vocal overdubs and layered harmony experiments excited him.
“It impressed me deeply, that ooh-ah, ooh-ah. I was probably 5 or 6 years old,” Carpenter said. “I didn’t know how this was done. I knew it was different, and I really liked it. And, of course, years later, I wrote the harmony. It came to my mind when I was arranging a lot of things. “
He is credited with a lesser-known name, the famous sound of Disney’s “Peter Pan” and “Alice in Wonderland,” and choral arranger Judd Conlon.
“His multi-vocal arrangement style was tight,” Carpenter said. “They were a very close harmony and it had a big impact on me.”
The book reveals that the young duo made their elaborate multi-layer recordings while maintaining an astonishing schedule of tours and television appearances.
It gives an explanation for almost every rainy day and Monday they spent in the busy 1970s, the “close to you (they’ve been for a long time)” year has become their breakthrough hit. For some reason, they recorded their second album, “Carpenters” in 1971. This is known to fans as a tan album and is considered by many to be the best album.
The Carpenters were often ridiculed as the makers of Schmaltz’s disposable hits. However, this book is a great creator of their fully formed album, and with the execution of incredible records from “Close to You” in the 1970s to “Now & Then” in 1973, their worldwide. It claims to be a concept album that solidifies the star dam.
“The number of hit singles was so high that they were usually continuous and tended to be re-dismissed by critics as a single band,” Carpenter said. “We have sold millions of albums.”
Carpenter’s ears for finding hits were often as important as his ears for making hits, in unlikely places.
When he heard Bette Midler singing at The Tonight Show, he found perhaps the most beloved Carpenters song “Superstar” by the younger generation. He came across “We’ve Only Just Begin” in a bank commercial before they hit.
When he heard them, he knew what to do with them.
“If a song hits me, whether it’s my song or a song I’ve heard like” We’ve Only Just Begin “,” Rainy Days and Mondays “or” Superstar ” Regardless, if the song had it, my arrangements were made immediately, “Carpenter said.
And he knew that the song would be useless if it didn’t match his sister’s stunning alto voice.
“I was able to give you a list of the songs I heard on the radio. I went out and bought it right away, but I knew it wouldn’t work for Karen and me,” he said. .. “It had a lot to do with our being brothers and sisters.”
He also revisited his music catalog in the next “Richard Carpenter’s Piano Songbook”. He revisits some of the band’s biggest hits for solo piano on an album scheduled for release in January.
In retrospect, Carpenter recently visited what used to be a Hollywood A & M record studio for the first time in 30 years. It currently belongs to the Jim Henson Company and Muppets, which have remained largely unchanged.
It was a moving trip.
“We spent much of our lives there, so it was like going home,” he said.
Follow AP Entertainment Writer Andrew Dalton on Twitter. https://twitter.com/andyjamesdalton
Copyright 2021 AP communication. all rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission.
The book approaches music that made the Carpenters a superstar | Nation
Source link The book approaches music that made the Carpenters a superstar | Nation
The post The book approaches music that made the Carpenters a superstar | Nation appeared first on Illinois News Today.
No comments:
Post a Comment