Karen Carpenter: The Voice of an Angel.

Born on March 2, 1950 in New Haven, Connecticut, Karen Carpenter is the singing half of the popular duo The Carpenters. The Carpenter family moved to Downey, California in 1963 so Richard could pursue a career in music. At this point Karen was more interested in baseball. By 1965 Karen (only 15 years old) had mastered the drums. She and brother Richard formed an instrumental jazz trio with friend Wes Jacobs and won the top prize at the Hollywood Bowl Battle of the Bands in 1966. By 1969 Karen and Richard were signed to A&M records as The Carpenters and in 1970 they reached #1 with "Close To You" and "We've Only Just Begun". From there they continued with a long string of nonstop classic hits including; "Goodbye To Love", "Top Of the World", "Rainy Days And Mondays", "I Won't Last A Day Without you", "Please Mr. Postman", "Yesterday Once More" and several others. Their albums also reached the top of the charts around the world with most of them being certified multi-platinum by now. Their classic hits compilation "The Singles 1969-1973" reached the top of the charts worldwide. In the UK alone it spent 17 weeks at #1. Many Carpenters fans consider the 1975 album "Horizon" to be their best. The album includes the hits "Please Mr. Postman", "Only Yesterday" and "Solitaire".

In 1976 The Carpenters career took on a new life. They taped their first television special which was titled "The Carpenters Very First Special". The guest stars were John Denver and Victor Borge. The special was a huge success reaching #6 in the weekly Neilsen Ratings. This success in turn lead to four more specials including; "The Carpenters At Christmas" (1977), "Carpenters Space Encounters" (1978), "Carpenters: A Christmas Portrait" (1978), "Music, Music, Music" (1980).

Richard took all of 1979 off to recover from his addiction to the prescription drug Quaaludes. Karen used this opportunity to work on a solo album entitled "Karen Carpenter". Phil Ramone was employed to be it's producer. Ramone a prolific producer has worked with the likes of Barbra Streisand, Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, Simon & Garfunkel, Paul Simon, Chicago and many others. With Billy Joel's band backing Karen, the solo album had an edge not generally found on Carpenters albums. Rod Temperton (from the group Heatwave; "Boogie Nights" and "Always And Forever") did several of the albums vocal arrangements and wrote some of the songs. The songs range from country, disco, new wave, smooth jazz and, of course the expected pop ballad. One of the album's outstanding tracks is the power-pop tune "Making Love In The Afternoon", which includes Peter Cetera (Chicago) on harmony backing vocals. The album was scheduled for release in 1980, though for reasons still not clear A&M decided to shelve it. Finally in 1996 it was released. The album was so good that fans are still asking why it wasn't released as originally intended.

Shortly after the disappointment of her solo album being shelved Karen met Tom Burris, a Southern California real estate tycoon. After dating for only two month they announced their plans to be married. The marriage took place on August 31, 1980 and was held in the Crystal Room of the Beverly Hills Hotel. The ceremony was performed by the Rev. Robert Schuller. The all-star guest list included Olivia Newton-John (who caught the bouquet), John Davidson, Jane Morgan, Dorothy Hamill, Mike Curb and, Herb Alpert and wife Lani Hall. During the ceremony Karen sang the Richard Carpenter / John Bettis composition "Because We Are In Love", which was written especially for the wedding. Karen was dressed in a white gown of mousseline de soie modeled on an 18th century riding ensemble. Carpenters lyricist, John Bettis, described the event as being "BIG". In 1982 the couple separated and on February 4, 1983 Karen was scheduled to see her lawyer to begin proceedings for a divorce.

On February 4, 1983 the world was saddened to learn of Karen's untimely death due to heart failure brought on by complications from the eating disorder Anorexia Nervosa. Since then the legacy of The Carpenters has continued to grow. They remain hugely popular throughout every corner of the world and critics now describe their music as timeless and classic.

Although Karen is regarded as one the world's finest vocalists of all-time, she always thought of herself as a drummer first. She studied the techniques of jazz maestro Buddy Rich, and has received much praise for her finesse as a drummer specializing in complex jazz patterns. Throughout the years Karen has been remembered in a number of ways including a countless amount of hits compilations, several imitator groups, a TV movie "The Karen Carpenter Story", which was #1 in the ratings in 1989 and, a tribute album named "If I Were A Carpenter" released in 1994.

mini bio by Rick Henry
owner of The Carpenters Online

 

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