The Carpenters: The Untold Story : An Authorized Biography

Product Information

Karen's quest to be thin seems to have begun innocently enough just after high school graduation when she started the Stillman water diet. My mother adored the Carpenters and the band was a regular fixture in our house while I was growing up. It would be hard to say how much my musical sensibilities have been shaped much of my life, outside of music in the church, by Richard Carpenter, since A Song For You album was given to me from my brother for my 13th birthday. This book is a bit weird though because it is written by a British guy, and if you read the intro, you find out that Richard had a lot of input in it. In the ending section is an alphabetic listing of the officially released songs and versions and variations thereof and where to find them (singles, albums, etc.

This is a very good book for all who appreciate and enjoy beautiful music, and by the way, as I've mentioned, tears tend to fall. Karen, after fighting bravely for a year in therapy, went home and apparently decided that she wouldn't lose any weight with ipecac, but that she'd make sure she didn't gain any. The couple's plan for a year-long engagement was ditched when they announced in July their plans for an August ceremony. Unfortunately, people that don't know Karen and try and stick up for some faulty analysis by therapists don't understand the faultiness of those analyses (analysises? With interest in the Carpenters at a new peak, The Musical Legacy gives Richard Carpenter a perfectly timed platform to shed light on the duo's story and set records straight, making for the definitive biography.And they certainly seemed to have it all - looks, wealth, fame, fans, and an abundance of talent that has gone almost unrivalled in 30 years. This book was just so wonderful, a true gift for Carpenters fans but would also be a fine present for casual Carpenters fans too. But as time goes on—decades, it’s still about the music, not the tabloid level stories or the sensational stories around their personal lives, Karen and her illness or her death.

Finally, their talents are being acknowledged - Richard is praised for being the great musician that he is, a superior producer and arranger with an unparalleled ear for quality and timelessness. Carpenter has passed on many retrospective projects, after facing decades of questions about his sister’s inner life and her death in 1983 from heart failure, a complication of anorexia, at age 32. Critics from the era and hard rock fans dismissed them, labelling them with phrases such as "Squeaky Clean," "Too Good To Be True," "All American," and many, many others. They were shocked to see how she could be flat on her back one minute and on stage singing the next. I still remember where I was, in the little family/dining room of our home, in 1983, Raytown, Missouri, when my father came in the door and told me he heard on the car radio that Karen Carpenter had died.He credits a less famous name with a well-known sound, choral arranger Judd Conlon, whose work appeared in Disney’s “Peter Pan” and “Alice in Wonderland. The therapist agreed that Karen seemed extra tired and was not responding as quickly as he had hoped, and vowed to try another approach. And if you get as caught up in happy memories of amazing friends as I do and those friends happen to love The Carpenters, this should be at the top of your hit list. Every sha-la-la-la, every wo-o-wo-o still shines,” the Carpenters' sang in “Yesterday Once More,” their hit 1973 tribute to the songs of the past.

Burris had lied to her; he had withheld this information for the duration of their courtship and engagement, knowing full well that starting a family was at the top of Karen's list of priorities. Because it's Richard-approved, this is one pretty detailed, elaborate, and extensive book NOT on his personal life or his sister's personal life and their "demons," it's a book about their career, their albums, and their music, all of which that were and even still are often under looked and haven't received as much careful attention or appreciation, until now.He cites some unexpected influences, including another man-and-woman duo, Les Paul and Mary Ford, whose early experimenting with vocal overdubs and layered harmonies electrified him. Also, I don't know what the other reader means when he says that it was The Carpenters fault because their career stalled. If you want creepy sensationalistic stuff about her Anorexia Nervosa, you won’t find it in this book.