Simpler Times - Fantastic Voice and ....We've Only Just Begun

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michaelman2

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Was feeling a bit nostalgic and reminiscing about times that seemed a bit simpler. When you turned on the radio during the early 1970s, many times you heard this beautiful voice, layered and mastered expertly on tracks that were simply timeless.

I was asked recently by a young bride for a suggestion for music during her wedding ceremony. Of course this 1970 song had never been heard by this young woman or her contemporaries.

It would be 25 years before they would even be born.....however, they all loved this song, the tune, the lyrics and of course the wonderful voice of the late Karen Carpenter. We used it during the ceremony and during the reception.

So I had dug right down to the bottom of my soul, to see what I could find...and I found this:

(extra credit for knowing from where the lyrics above come)

 
Isn't it amazing that a girl who wanted to do nothing but hide behind her drum set ended up becoming a lead singer with an angelic voice that's the definition of perfect pitch?

I'm usually not fond of top 40 hits by artist as the songs were usually dumbed down and overplayed on the radio to point of inducing a suicidal act (I can go the rest of life without ever hearing a CCR tune again), but some of their songs were so well thought out and executed that they never get old.

Oh, and Paul Williams + Crocker Bank + The Carpenters = A major hit.
 
The interesting thing about that Crocker Bank ad campaign is that they sold it to multiple banks around the country--back when they could get away with re-use of campaigns like that. I know they used it at Indiana National....the tag-line could be easily re-recorded for the local name.

 
Did you ever notice that when she was up front, she almost always sang with her eyes closed. I always thought that was because she was nervous in front of a crowd.

She had a seven octave range, but as she said, her money was in the basement.
 
Karen Carpenter had a voice that only comes along once in a generation - a voice so natural and pure that it pulls you into the song.

So many younger people have never heard the voices of singers from the 70's or earlier. When I was young, I had my own music but was always aware of my parent's music, even if I didn't listen to it, I knew the artists.

Teaching at a university has me in regular contact with people who are mostly in their early 20's. When they hear artists like Karen Carpenter, Cass Elliot, Roy Orbison, Peggy Lee, Glen Campbell, Sarah Vaughan, Freddie Mercury, Patsy Cline, Donna Summer, and many others it blows their minds. They can't even believe it's real compared to the over-produced and auto-tuned music that they usually listen to. It is sometimes an effort convincing them that performances from the likes of Karen Carpenter were real, and a lot of the contemporary music they are listening to is not real!
 
I couldn’t agree with you more Kevin!  The singers from the 30’s, 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and 70’s knew how to phrase a song to give the lyrics maximum impact, clarity and just plain beauty.  When I listen to music I want to be able to understand what I’m listening to.

 

The voices of Karen Carpenter, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Natalie Cole, Barbara Streisand, Peggy Lee, Judy Garland, Johnny Mathis, Doris Day and all the others of their time were finely tuned instruments.  When you listen to their songs you are drawn into the beauty of what you are hearing and you remember the lyrics and the melody.  A good song, with beautiful lyrics and melody performed by a gifted artist<span style="font-family: -webkit-standard; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> is like a story, that whenever I hear it again, brings back fond memories of the first time I heard the song.</span>

 

<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Many of todays singers are very talented, but it is often lost on me simply because I can’t understand what they are singing.  I think they do themselves a disservice by not enunciating the lyrics.  They will keep themselves from being remembered in years to come.</span>

 

<span style="font-size: 12pt;">But then, maybe I’m just an old fogy.</span>

 

<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Eddie</span>
 
Answer to question:

The quote / lyric I mentioned in the original posting:

So I had dug right down to the bottom of my soul, to see what I could find...and I found this:

(extra credit for knowing from where the lyrics above come)

Comes from Chorus Line and the song "Nothing" Another piece of 1970's nostalgia.
 

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