It's no seceret that almost every other artist of The Carpenters genre such as Anne Murray, Dionne Warwick, Barry Manilow, Helen Reddy, and several others experienced a setback in their record sales, although Anne Murray made a strong comeback in 1978 with the beautiful and heartfelt "You Needed Me" (a song that has yet to be equalled IMO). The author pretty much sums up my take on the book in his afterword: "The pendulum of this story swung between glory and darkness, rich creativity and human despair. Offstage, away from the spotlight, she felt desperately unloved by her mother, Agnes, who favoured Richard, and struggled with low self-esteem, eventually developing anorexia nervosa from which she never recovered.

The brother and sister team of Karen and Richard Carpenter rank as one of the most successful acts in pop music history. And it was nice to have a more balanced look at their music, as I remember back in the day most reviewers were often pretty negative. Gigantic plus here for me as I get so tired of that stuff where people try and talk on other's behalves instead of their own when dealing with stuff.This book is comprehensive, covering off anything you ever wanted to know about the Carpenters' music career.

We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. We definitely liked and disliked the same things — a real friend where you could talk about anything you wish and you don’t feel uncomfortable,” he says. The stuff the therapists and such were saying didn't match Karen's personality at all in most cases (from me, a guy that knows) and it was excellent with the commentary from Richard about this stuff. They were shocked to see how she could be flat on her back one minute and on stage singing the next.

When the coffee was ready, Agnes dialled the upstairs bedroom phone, but its ring, heard faintly in the distance, went unanswered. It could be the tagline of a new book on the work of Richard and Karen Carpenter, which seeks to set aside the noise surrounding the duo and focus on their harmonic creations. What looks on the surface like an uncritical celebration of an American pop institution turns out to be a fascinating exercise in musical archaeology . And Karen's voice, that haunting, gorgeous voice, is recognised as being one of God's greatest gifts to music. And like with the rest of the book, stuff is presented but the reader is allowed to think for themselves.

He’s a perfectionist, which has manifested itself in their excellent music, and in his attempts many times to redo things. An unexpected complication was discovered later that day when she complained to the nurse of excruciating chest pain, and X-rays revealed the doctors had accidentally punctured one of her lungs in their attempts to insert the tube. She told them how sorry she was for having put them in a situation where they felt a need to defend her upbringing, and she went so far as to apologise for ruining their lives. The next morning she went into surgery to have a small-bore catheter implanted within the superior vena cava (right atrium of the heart).The book appears to be written accurately but I feel some people took some things out of context was the real problem. Tour dates, television appearances, chart positions, and other major events are laid out in immense detail.

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. The Carpenters crafted their own distinctive sound with multi-part harmonies and lush arrangements, providing a rich backdrop for the distinctive sound of Karen Carpenter's vocals. Levitin, John Tobler, Digby Diehl, Ray Coleman, Robert Hilburn, and Lester Bangs provide insight into the music and personalities of the duo who produced such timeless pop music. After becoming multi-million selling, Grammy-winning superstars with their 1970 breakthrough “(They Long to Be) Close to You,” Richard and Karen Carpenter would win over fans worldwide with a record-breaking string of hits including “We’ve Only Just Begun,” “Top of the World” and “Yesterday Once More. He reimagines several of the band’s biggest hits for solo piano on the album slated for a January release.Mike Cidoni Lennox has logged forty years as an entertainment journalist, with bylines appearing in dozens of outlets including "Billboard," "Variety," "The Washington Post," and "USA Today. After becoming multimillion-selling, Grammy-winning superstars with their 1970 breakthrough hit "(They Long to Be) Close to You," Richard and Karen Carpenter would win over millions of fans worldwide with a record-breaking string of hits including "We've Only Just Begun," "Top of the World," and "Yesterday Once More. This is a magnificent look at the brother and sister duo who captured our hearts and ears throughout much of the ‘70s.