Rainy Days And Mondays

Karen Carpenter's Finest Performances

This is a difficult choice to make, as Karen rarely gave a poor, or even average, performance in her life. (I can think of five off the top. There are likely a few more. But considering that she recorded over 120 songs, that's a pretty good average.)

But, great as she was, there are times when she was GREATER than that.

In no particular order:

1) "Little Altar Boy:" All of Karen's Christmas recordings are golden, but this is the standout. This recording puts all of her skills on display: the emotions, the intelligent reading, her incredible range. That last note!

2) "Bacharach/David Medley:" This is the medley which turned me into a karenfan. May be Carpenters finest recording as well. "Make It Easy On Yourself" shows off the richness and beauty of Karen's "basement" voice. Listening to this for the first time made me run to You Tube to see who the drummer was. Lo and behold. It was Karen! I was in love!

3) "Hurting Each Other:" Many 70s artists recorded this Ruby and the Romantics song. Karen does it best, reaching way down into the depths of her soul to get at the heart of the matter.

4) "Solitare:" Also much recorded, none better than Ms. Carpenter. This is, in my opinion, the finest recording by a female in the history of pop/rock music. This performance literally makes me stop in my tracks in awe. It should be compulsory for every serious student of voice to listen to this performance.

5) "Leave Yesterday Behind:" Mediocre, sugary lyrics and not a much better arrangement either, but Karen, as she so often did, rises above her material.

6) "Don't Cry For Me, Argentina:" Woefully overblown arrangement. Richard Carpenter tries his best to drown out his sister, and he nearly succeeds. But Karen ultimately wins. Quite possibly the gold standard performance of this song.

7) "Eve"
8) "Nowhere Man"
9) "Someday"

These three recordings from Karen's very early years are pretty much forgotten today, except by serious Carpenters fans or musical historians. But all three are breath taking. She gives "Nowhere Man" a wholly different reading from John Lennon, and in her version we hear the loneliness and desperation in the voice of the song's narrator.
"Eve" is stunning. A story of a lonely girl trapped in a bad place. A hospital? A terrible family environment? The song is not clear on that, but I can't help but think of her own family situation. Like the song's protagonist, Karen Carpenter, too, was a "rose among the thorns" of the Carpenter family.
Karen had a cold when she recorded "Someday." She never liked her performance and had always planned on re-recording it. The arrangement is somewhat over the top, and the lyrics are nothing special, but Karen certainly is.

These three songs show Karen's intelligence and depth of feeling. She was approximately 17 when she recorded "Nowhere Man." She was 19 on the other two. Think about that for a moment. Has there ever been another teenage singer with the majestic maturity of a Karen Carpenter?

10) "Look To Your Dreams:" Yet another shlocky, "elevator music" arrangement from Richard Carpenter. Are we detecting a pattern yet? Karen is handed another sow's ear, yet she somehow manages to make a silk purse out of it. (It should be noted that Karen was given next to no say as to her material. Richard made virtually all of the decisions. More on this in a future post.) Her reading of this song never fails to move me to tears. It's inspiring and beautiful. And we are treated yet again to this woman's phenomenal range. She hits the high notes, nails the low notes, and sails through all of the other notes in between.

These, then, are my Top Ten. There are, of course, so many more moments of greatness. "Superstar," recorded in ONE take. "Rainy Days And Mondays." "One Love." Love Me For What I Am." "Road Ode." My list will surely differ from other lists. But it doesn't matter. It's all great. It's all the stuff of legend.