Karen Carpenter

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Karen Carpenter

Karen Anne Carpenter (March 2, 1950 – February 4, 1983) was a highly successful American singer and drummer. She and her brother, Richard, formed the popular 1970s duo: The Carpenters.

Carpenter was an accomplished drummer, placing first in Playboy's reader poll for Best Rock Drummer of 1975, thus pioneering the way for a plethora of female drummers to follow. She suffered from anorexia, a little known disease at the time, and eventually died from complications related to "recovering" from the illness at the age of 32, in 1983.

In recent years, artists such as Shania Twain, and K.D. Lang, among others, have cited her as a musical influence. [1]

Early life

Carpenter was born in New Haven, Connecticut to Agnes Reuwer Tatum and Harold Bertram Carpenter. [2] When she was young, she used to enjoy playing baseball with other children on the street. On the TV program, This Is Your Life, Carpenter stated that she liked pitching. [3] In the early 1970s, she went on to play as the pitcher on the Carpenters' official softball team.

Carpenter's brother Richard had developed an interest in music at an early age, becoming a piano prodigy. The family moved in June 1963 to the Los Angeles suburb of Downey, California. The move to Southern California, home of many recording studios and record companies, was intended in part to foster Richard's budding musical career.

When Karen Carpenter went to Downey High School, she asked Richard to ask the conductor of the band if she could substitute band for gym class. The conductor agreed to take her into the band, and gave her the glockenspiel. After admiring the performance of a friend named Frankie Chavez, [4] she asked the conductor if she could play the drums instead. Drumming came naturally to Carpenter, and she practiced for several hours a day. Her drumming can be heard in many of the Carpenters' songs.

When she was 17, Carpenter went on "The Stillman Diet" with a doctor's guidance, and lost between 20 and 25 pounds.

In 1968, John Wayne met the Carpenters on a talent show called Your All American College Show. He urged Carpenter to try out for a role in the film True Grit. Carpenter auditioned, but actress Kim Darby was selected instead.

Music career

From 1965 to 1968, Carpenter, her brother Richard and his college friend Wes Jacobs, a bassist and tuba player, formed The Richard Carpenter Trio. The trio played jazz at numerous nightclubs, and also on Your All American College Show, though Bill Sissyoev played bass for the TV appearance.

Karen, Richard, and other musicians, including Gary Sims and John Bettis, also performed as an ensemble known as Spectrum. Spectrum focused on a harmonious, vocal sound, and recorded many demo tapes in the garage studio of friend and bassist Joe Osborn.

Carpenter signed with A&M Records with her brother as "Carpenters" on April 22, 1969. She sang most of the songs on their first album, Ticket to Ride. Their only single released from that album, the title song, only reached #54 on the Billboard Hot 100 Charts. Their next album, 1970's Close to You, contained two RIAA Certified Gold Records: "(They Long to Be) Close to You" and "We've Only Just Begun." They peaked at #1 and #2, respectively. The latter song was written by Paul Williams and was originally used in a commercial for Crocker International Bank, which showed a young couple moving into their first home.

By the mid-1970s, extensive touring and lengthy recording sessions had begun to take their toll on the duo and contributed to their professional difficulties during the latter half of the decade. Karen started out as both the group's drummer and lead singer. Since Karen was the lead singer on the albums, she was pressured to sing only, while another person played the drums during live concerts. It was then agreed that she would only stand up for the popular ballads, and would perform from behind the drums on album cuts.

The rock-and-roll press did not like having to write about this middle-of-the road brother and sister act and sometimes wrote negative reviews about their image or dress, yet never about Karen's voice or the meticulous arrangements of their music. Carpenter rarely selected the songs she would sing, and often felt she had very little control over her life. She dieted obsessively and developed anorexia nervosa, which first manifested itself in 1975 when an exhausted and emaciated Karen Carpenter was forced to cancel concert tours in the UK and Japan.

At the same time, Richard developed an addiction to quaaludes, which began to affect his performance by the late 1970s and led to the end of the duo's live concert appearances for several years. On September 4, 1978, the Carpenters gave their last live concert at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas until 1981 with the release of the Made in America album, which included their final live performance together.

As a drummer

Karen's drumming was praised by fellow drummers Hal Blaine, Cubby O'Brien, Buddy Rich and "Modern Drummer" magazine. [5] Many people are unaware that Karen had an impeccable ability to play the drums, in part because the public wanted a singing Karen Carpenter, rather than a drumming Karen Carpenter. However, according to Richard Carpenter in an interview, Karen always considered herself as a "drummer who sang."

Carpenter first started playing the drums in 1964, shortly after moving to Downey, California. She was always enthusiastic about the drums, and taught herself how to play complicated drum lines with "exotic time signatures" (quoting Richard Carpenter from the "Close to You" documentary). Songs that effectively demonstrate her drumming abilities include "Caravan" and "Iced Tea," from 1965 and 1966, respectively.

After the release of "Now & Then" in 1973, the albums tended to have Karen singing more and drumming less. By 1981, Karen played on none of the songs, with drummers Hal Blaine and Ron Tutt as substitutes.

As a singer

Karen Carpenter's voice has almost always been lauded for her impeccable phrasing, control and consistent perfect pitch. Her vocal quality was melancholy, as demonstrated in their hit "Superstar" from 1971. Her voice became associated with Christmas music due to her performance of the holiday favorite, "Merry Christmas, Darling" from 1970 (also re-recorded in 1978).

In the 1960s, Karen's voice was raspy and deep, which is demonstrated in their early demo "Looking for Love" from 1966. Richard stated in interviews that he told Karen that she should use "the basement," referring to her lower register, as opposed to her higher register. However, during the 1970s, Karen's voice transformed into one of a smoother, cleaner quality. During her solo sessions in New York in 1979, Karen, who was suffering from anorexia nervosa at the time, decided to test her higher register, and record the songs with a higher pitched voice. The A&M staff weren't enthused by the songs recorded, so she decided to shelve the album. In 1983 and 1989, Richard slowly released more of Karen's solo songs. In 1996, Richard finally decided to release most of her solo songs on her self-titled, posthumous album.

Solo album

In 1979, Richard Carpenter took a year off to cure a dependency on quaaludes [6], and Karen decided to make a solo album with producer Phil Ramone. Richard wanted his sister to see a doctor about her eating disorder, but Karen refused. While staying at the home of Ramone and his family, Karen took half of a quaalude tablet and passed out on the floor. [7] She soon recovered.

Karen Carpenter's choice of more adult-oriented and disco/dance-tempo material represented an effort to retool her image. "Something's Missing (In My Life)," which didn't make it on to the final album, remains unmixed and without strings. Other unreleased songs are now available on the internet as bootlegs. Her solo works are markedly different from usual Carpenters fare, with more sexual lyrics and the use of Karen's higher vocal register.

The resulting product met a tepid response from Richard and A&M executives in early 1980, and Karen wavered in her dedication to the project. The album was shelved by A&M executive Herb Alpert, in spite of Quincy Jones' attempts to talk Alpert into allowing the release of the record. [8] According to Phil Ramone, Karen, who usually did not express her emotions in public, cried after being told her album was rejected. [9] In the process, she had to pay $400,000, and wasn't pleased. [10] Carpenters fans got a taste of the album in 1989 when some of its tracks (as remixed by Richard) were mixed onto the album Lovelines. Seven years later, in 1996, the entire album, featuring mixes approved by Karen before her death and one unmixed bonus track, was finally released.

Personal life

Carpenter lived with her parents until she was in her mid-20s. After the Carpenters became successful in the early 1970s, she and her brother bought two apartment buildings in Downey. Called "Close To You" and "Only Just Begun," the "Close To You" apartment can still be found at 8356 East 5th, Downey, CA.

In 1976, Carpenter bought two Century City apartments, gutted them, and turned them into one condominium. Located at 2222 Avenue of the Stars, the doorbell chimed the first six notes of "We've Only Just Begun". As a housewarming gift, her mother gave her a collection of leather-bound classic works of literature. Carpenter collected Disney memorabilia, loved to play softball and baseball, and listed Petula Clark, Olivia Newton-John, and Dionne Warwick among her friends.

File:Karen Carpenter Wedding.jpg
Karen Carpenter before her wedding to Tom Burris on August 31, 1980.

Carpenter's busy schedule reduced her involvement in serious long-term relationship. She dated Mike Curb, Tony Danza, Terry Ellis (manager), Mark Harmon, Steve Martin, and Alan Osmond. Carpenter went out with songwriter Tom Bahler, and broke up with him after she found out he had fathered a child with a married woman; this breakup inspired Bahler to write the Michael Jackson song She's Out of My Life. [11].

After a whirlwind romance, Carpenter married real estate developer Thomas James Burris on August 31, 1980. When they met, Burris was 39 years old and divorced, and Carpenter was 30. They were married at the Beverly Hills Hotel in the Crystal Room. A new song performed by Carpenter at the ceremony, "Because We Are In Love," was released in 1981. The couple went to Bora Bora for their honeymoon. Carpenter called her family from the island and described it as "Boring Boring."[12] However, the couple filed for divorce in November 1981. (The divorce never took place, as it was scheduled to be finalized on the day Carpenter died.) After going out with Carpenter's parents to celebrate her father's birthday, Karen and Thomas returned to the Carpenters' Downey home and, after a brief argument, Burris told Carpenter's parents, "You can keep her!" Carpenter never saw her husband after that night. [13]

The song "Now," recorded in April 1982, was the last song Karen Carpenter recorded. She recorded it after a two-week intermission in her therapy with psychotherapist Steven Levenkron in New York City for her anorexia, a relatively unknown disease at the time. In the midst of her therapy, she befriended recovered anorexic Cherry Boone, and embroidered a sign that read, "You Win, I Gain!" which she gave to Steve Levenkron. After her recovery, she planned to go public about her battle with anorexia.

Carpenter returned to California permanently later that year, determined to reinvigorate her career, finalize her divorce and begin a new album with Richard. She had gained 30 pounds over a two-month stay in New York, and the sudden weight gain (much of which was the result of intravenous feeding) further strained her heart, which was already weak from years of crash dieting. At the height of her illness, Carpenter, who had a normal thyroid, was taking ten times the normal daily dose of thyroid replacement medication (equivalent to 1 milligram, as opposed to the normal 100 microgram dose), in order to speed up her metabolism. This, combined with heavy doses of laxatives, weakened her heart and digestive and nervous systems even further.

On December 17, 1982 Karen Carpenter made her last public singing appearance at the Buckley School in Sherman Oaks, California. She sang Christmas carols for friends. In late January 1983, Richard and Karen took part in a group photograph of Grammy winners, Los Angeles.

A few weeks before Karen died, Richard tried to get his sister into a hospital for medical treatment, because "She didn't look well... there was no life in her eyes." [14] At a meeting with Werner Wolfen, the Carpenters' financial advisor, two weeks prior to her death, Karen told Richard to mind his own business and that she had her problem under control.

Death

On February 4, 1983, approximately a month before her thirty-third birthday, Carpenter experienced heart failure at her parents' home in Downey, California and was taken to Downey Community Hospital, where she was pronounced dead twenty minutes later. She suffered cardiac arrest at 09.51 AM Pacific Standard Time. The LA Coroner gave the cause of death as "heartbeat irregularities brought on by chemical imbalances associated with anorexia nervosa".

The autopsy stated that Carpenter's death was the result of emetine cardio toxicity due to anorexia nervosa. Under the anatomical summary, the first item was heart failure, with anorexia as second. The third finding was cachexia, which is extremely low weight and weakness and general body decline associated with chronic disease. Emetine cardio toxicity implies that Carpenter abused ipecac syrup, an easily obtained emetic medicine that is only meant to be taken by persons who have accidentally swallowed poison.

Both her late mother and her brother Richard debated this finding. Both have stated that they never found any empty vial of ipecac in her apartment nor was there any evidence that Karen had been vomiting. Richard believes that Karen was not willing to do this because it could damage her vocal cords, relying on laxatives alone to maintain her low body weight.

A documentary in the 1990s quoting medical sources and those in her immediate circle asserted that Karen Carpenter had actually died from "recovering" from anorexia—she was recovering from the disease but her quick weight gain placed enormous pressure on her heart, which had been weakened by years of malnutrition.

Her funeral service took place on February 8, 1983, at the Downey United Methodist Church. Carpenter, dressed in a rose colored suit, lay in an open white casket. Over a thousand mourners passed through to say goodbye, among them her friends Dorothy Hamill, Olivia Newton-John, Petula Clark, Cristina Ferrare, and Dionne Warwick. Carpenter's estranged husband Tom attended her funeral, where he took off his wedding ring and threw it into the casket[15].

After death

Carpenter's death brought lasting media attention to anorexia nervosa and also to bulimia. Carpenter's death encouraged other celebrities to go public about their eating disorders, among them Tracey Gold and Diana, Princess of Wales. Medical centers and hospitals began receiving increased contacts from people with these disorders. The general public had little knowledge of anorexia nervosa and bulimia prior to Carpenter's death, making the condition difficult to identify and treat. Her fame and her "wholesome" image may have made people reluctant to confront the possibility that she had a problem, much less to intervene directly.

Her family started the "Karen A. Carpenter Memorial Foundation," which raised money for research on anorexia nervosa and eating disorders. Today the name of the organization has been changed to the "Carpenter Family Foundation." In addition to eating disorders, the foundation now funds the arts, entertainment, and education.

Carpenters' star at the Hollywood Walk of Fame

On October 12, 1983, the Carpenters received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It is located at 6931 Hollywood Blvd., a few yards from the Kodak Theater [16]. Richard, Harold, and Agnes Carpenter attended the inauguration, as did many fans.

In 1987, movie director Todd Haynes used songs by Richard and Karen in his movie Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story. In the movie, Haynes portrayed the Carpenters as Barbie dolls. Hayes asked Richard for permission to use Carpenters music in the movie and Richard said no. Haynes went ahead and released the film with Carpenters music in it, so Richard decided to sue Haynes for copyright infringement and won. "Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story" was then pulled from distribution. Mattel, the maker of Barbie dolls, almost certainly would have taken legal action against Haynes if Richard had not.

On January 1, 1989, TV movie The Karen Carpenter Story aired on CBS with Cynthia Gibb in the title role. Gibb lip-synced the songs to Carpenter's recorded voice. "The Karen Carpenter Story" is not to be confused with Haynes' "Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story."

In 1990, the alternative rock band Sonic Youth recorded "Tunic (Song for Karen)" for the album Goo.[17] Sung by Kim Gordon, the song deals with Carpenter's anorexia and death.

The Carpenter Mausoleum

On December 11, 2003, at 12:30pm PST, Agnes, Karen, and Harold, who remained in their original caskets and occupied 3 out of the 6 spaces in the Carpenter Private Mausoleum, were exhumed from the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Cypress, California and re-interred at the Pierce Brothers Valley Oaks Memorial Park in Westlake Village, California. Their mausoleum is a 46,000-pound, Partenope-style structure and was constructed in Texas over seven months. It is polished sunset red, and features crystal patterns. It is located in the Tranquility Gardens section of the cemetery. Similar structures constructed at the time had a price range around $600,000.

"A Star on Earth - A Star in Heaven" was written on Carpenter's mausoleum stone prior to its move from the Forest Lawn Memorial Park.

Trivia

  • Had a slight lisp which obviously did not negatively affect her singing.
  • Had been writing her own lyrics for the first time just prior to her death.
  • Was a big fan of musicals.
  • Among her favorite Carpenters songs were "Goodbye to Love" and "I Need to Be in Love" both written by brother Richard and mutual long time friend and lyricist John Bettis.
  • Favorite foods were tacos and chili, bean broth, and limestone lettuce with shrimp.[18]
  • Ironically was a big fan of disco which is among the genres featured on her 1979 solo project.

Lists containing Karen Carpenter

1999 - VH1 ranked Karen Carpenter at #29 on their list of the 100 Greatest Women of Rock and Roll. [19].

2001 - VH1 ranked Karen Carpenter's death from anorexia nervosa at #93 on their 100 Greatest Shocking Moments in Rock and Roll. [20].

2003 - E! ranked Karen Carpenter's death at #30 on their list of the Most Shocking Moments in Entertainment. [21]

2006 - Entertainment Tonight ranked Karen Carpenter's death from anorexia nervosa at #3 on their list of the Top 25 Stories in 25 Years. [22]

Albums

Studio albums

Solo albums

References

  1. ^ Rock On The Net: VH1: 100 Greatest Women of Rock & Roll
  2. ^ Coleman, Ray. The Carpenters: The Untold Story, 29-33.
  3. ^ This Is Your Life, 1970
  4. ^ Coleman, Ray. The Carpenters: The Untold Story, 52
  5. ^ LeadSister.com Karen Carpenter Site
  6. ^ Coleman, Ray. "The Carpenters: The Untold Story," p242
  7. ^ Coleman, Ray. "The Carpenters: The Untold Story," p268
  8. ^ Ray Coleman "The Carpenters: The Untold Story".
  9. ^ Phil Ramone "E's True Hollywood Story--Karen Carpenter"
  10. ^ Coleman, Ray. "The Carpenters: The Untold Story," 274.
  11. ^ The Carpenters: The Untold Story by Ray Coleman
  12. ^ Coleman, Ray. The Carpenters: The Untold Story, 284.
  13. ^ Coleman, Ray. The Carpenters: The Untold Story, 291.
  14. ^ Vh1Behind the Music'The Carpenters' Richard Carpenter
  15. ^ Coleman, Ray. The Carpenters: The Untold Story, 322
  16. ^ The CARPENTERS PAGE - HOLLYWOOD Walk Of Fame
  17. ^ EW.com
  18. ^ Ray Coleman's "The Carpenters, the Untold Story"
  19. ^ Rock On The Net: VH1: 100 Greatest Women of Rock & Roll
  20. ^ The Greatest | Get Info About the 100 Greatest Shocking Moments in Rock & Roll (100 - 81) Episode, Find Info on the TV Show Online | VH1.com
  21. ^ E!'s 101: Most Shocking Moments in Entertainment 40 - 21 - TV.com
  22. ^ Karen Carpenter - Biography

External links


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