|
Subject |
?# |
Fans Ask: |
Richard Answers: |
|
Albums |
1 |
What is the Carpenters best selling Compilation/Album worldwide, in
terms of record sales? |
“The Singles 69-73” |
|
Cars |
2 |
What were some of your favorite cars you owned during the 60s to the
80s? |
Favorites were 1965 Plymouth Satellite convertible, 1969 Plymouth RR,
19970 Plymouth ‘Cuda, and 1982 Jaguar XJ-S. |
|
Cars |
3 |
Was Karen at all into automobiles? What kind of car was her favorite?
What did she enjoy as a hobby in her private life which did not involve
music? |
Karen was into automobiles to a degree. Growing up she knew her Chevys,
Fords, Plymouths, Cadillacs, etc, and knew her model years, but not
things like engine size and various models. She liked her '72 Mercedes
350SL, got it new and kept it. Along with that in '79 she bought a
Jaguar XJS – I had one, she borrowed it while her Mercedes was in the
shop, and liked the way it drove. She really liked the '69 Roadrunner
that we bought new as a family car. |
|
Concerts |
4 |
Did Richard and Karen ever perform a concert in Brazil? If so, what was
the date? |
No. We were down there in 1981 in late October, early November doing a
promotional bit – promo film, guesting on a pop music program, but no
concert. |
|
Other Artists |
5 |
I love your duet with Dusty Springfield, "Something in your Eyes". Have
you written songs for other artists since Karen passed away? |
Three songs: 1. "The Reply" - written with Pamela Phillips Oland for
Japanese singing star Akiko Kobayashi, whose "City Of Angels" album I
produced in 1988. 2. "All Those Years Ago" - written with Pamela
Phillips Oland for French Canadian singing star Veronique Beliveau,
whose album I produced for A&M in 1989. Also, recorded later by Petula
Clark for a 2-cd retrospective. 3. "What Am I Gonna Say" written with
Pamela Phillips Oland for A&M artist Scott Grimes, whose album I
produced in 1988. |
|
Other Artists |
6 |
Richard, what is one of your favorite Celebrity encounters? Like when
you met someone famous that you admired… |
Perry Como, of course, because I thought so much of him, his singing,
and all. We were doing a pre-record for his show at RCA Studios in
Hollywood and had some time to chat. He was very interesting to speak
with, and very much the same as the image we saw. |
|
Other Artists |
7 |
Were you and Karen friends with fellow A&M recording star Rita
Coolidge? What did Karen think of Rita’s style? I know she was the one
who sang "Superstar" on Joe Cocker’s album. |
We were acquainted with Rita, but didn't know her well. Karen liked the
way she sang. We heard a record of hers that I bought in early '69, that
didn’t become a hit, so is now a collectors item, called “Turn Around
and Love You”, a really nice record. It got limited air play here but
didn’t go anywhere, then a little bit later she was signed to A&M. |
|
Other Artists |
8 |
Did you ever meet Country singers… Mac Davis? Johnny Cash? |
Mac Davis opened the show for us back in 1971 for a while. We met Johnny
Cash when we appeared early 1971, February, as guests on the Johnny
Cash Show in Nashville. |
|
Other Artists |
9 |
Was Karen not comfortable singing with ELLA on the soundstage for the
MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC special, and so that is why she recorded her vocals in
the studio, or was she not feeling she would sing well LIVE with all
these newer songs to her? What did you and Karen think of working with
Ella? |
Ella, Perry, Sinatra, the old school singers, were never really asked to
lip-sync, you just didn’t do that back then, and as a result they would
not do it, were not comfortable with it, and would always sing live.
Karen and I, being raised more as a record act, were very comfortable
with recording and lip-syncing. We could listen to what we recorded then
lip-sync it perfectly. Since we could do that we always preferred studio
sound over live television sound; the sound was better to begin with,
the microphones were better in the studio, and we mixed it the way we
wanted it, having complete control over it in the studio. Then we would
lip-sync it. It had nothing to do with being uncomfortable. Ella was
fine to work with, and very sweet. |
|
Songs |
10 |
Upon first hearing the "Master Karaoke" remixes years ago, I noticed in
"Rainy Days and Mondays" that the string line was mixed out during the
sax solo. This has also been a common mix on most if not all of the
subsequent compilations. What was your reasoning for this? |
Yes, because as time went on, I felt the string line didn’t really work
in the sax solo; it was heard enough under the vocal. |
|
Songs |
11 |
I know you wrote the piano arrangements for "From This Moment On" and
"It's Christmas Time". Are they charted and if so, will you ever
consider releasing them? |
No, Ken Welch did “From This Moment On” and Peter Knight did “It’s
Christmas Time”. They were charted, but for me, and we will not be
releasing them. |
|
Songs |
12 |
Richard, how could you tell that a song was tailor-made for Karen? One
of the most beautiful love songs I've ever heard was " Make Believe It's
Your First Time," off her solo LP. |
It’s really where it would dwell in a particular register, not spend too
much of its time upstairs, because Karen had such a marvelous sound in
the lower reaches of her voice. How words sing, As, Os and Us are better
sounds than Es and Is. That’s one of many reasons why "Superstar" worked
so well, for Karen; it's low, it has “long ago”, “far away”, “second
show”, “it’s just the radio”… it’s absolutely perfect. Again, we were
family, and a lot of this was intuitive; it would have a nice melody and
I knew Karen’s voice would give me chills singing it. |
|
Songs |
13 |
In the song “YOU”, there is a piano fill (repeated throughout the song)
that follows the phrase “…you are one of the few things worth
remembering…”. During the [first] fill, there is a rather audible
“creaking” sound heard in the track. Can you explain this? |
There is a noise there. I can't remember what it is, but obviously
something we couldn't remove in mixdown. So sorry! |
|
Songs |
14 |
Of the VOICE OF THE HEART collection, what two songs do you think are
Karen’s masterpieces? |
“Now” and “Ordinary Fool”. |
|
Sound System |
15 |
What stereo components does Richard have in his personal audio set-up? |
Traditional Stereo: 1. Denon DCD 2560; 2. Panasonic SV 3800 DAT; 3.
Cedar DCX Declicker; 4. dbx 20/20 Computerized equalizer/analyzer; 5.
Samson PL 1602 mixer; 6. Technics SL-1700 MK2 turntable; 7. Bang &
Olufsen MMC 20CL pickup; 8. Denon PMA 2000 R Amp; 9. TANNOY "Golds" 12"
vintage 1970; 10 Technics 1520 Reel to Reel. |
|
Sound System |
16 |
What components does Richard have in his 5.1 surround sound system? |
5.1 Room: 1. Crestron - Professional Media Controller; 2. Denon DVD 2900
SACD player; 3. Maestro 7.1 Pre Amp Surround Processor by Audio Control;
4. Diva Programmable Digital Audio Enhancement System by Audio Control;
5. Audio Control Multi-Channel Theatre Power Amp, vintage 197l; Five 15"
TANNOY "Ardens", vintage 1975; 8. TANNOY sub-woofer. |
|
Studio |
17 |
I am very familiar with A&M Studios and it's layout and have heard
different theories over the years while recording there as to where you
and Karen liked recording certain things. How did you normally select
your rooms (i.e. tracking, string dates, vocal overdubs, etc.)? |
The leads done in C were the best sounding. Tracks
ideally in B, vocals B or C; ….Strings A; "A" is always the largest in
any studio complex, and you get a better sound with all the strings in
the bigger room. When Studio D was completed in '74 we did quite a bit
of recording in there as it wasn't too small or too big, and had quite a
warm feel, which Karen liked. But then, we didn’t always get our first choice as the
studios might be booked ahead by others. |
|
Technique |
18 |
Regarding your TV appearance when it came to lip synching, did you
normally go into the studio and do a take at a new recording for the
appearance? Also, when you were on screen performing the song, was the
voice later added when editing was done, or could you hear Karen's
singing being played back while you were being taped? |
We heard all being played back, just like playing the record. We would
actually sing out, not just move the lips, however, the voice would not
be picked up. |
|
Technique |
19 |
With respect to adding strings to an album, did you have a set formula
for voicing, as the strings on the first 4 or 5 albums sound similar in
dynamic. |
No – the only thing we did was add more. Originally we used 10 violins,
3 viole, and 3 celli, and starting with Horizon we used 16-4-4. Then
when we did things that required more lush sounds, we got a bigger
section yet, like 24-8-8 and a couple of bass viols. On the whole, from
Offering on, 10-3-3. As far as voicing, that would change depending on
the particular chart. |
|
Technique |
20 |
How often did you utilize “click” tracking for your songs? Was this
standard procedure early on or did you begin using the concept later in
your career? How did you lay down a click track in those days? |
It would depend on the song – a song that seemed simple could actually
be very difficult to keep under control, like "Close To You", which took
47 takes to get that "simple" little song to sound the way it did without
running away with the tempo. I wish I had used it (click tracking) more! |
|
Technique |
21 |
On your recording of “Do You Hear What I Hear?” I have heard a couple of
theories as to why your voice is heard on the lead in the first verse,
then switch to Karen. I also understand that this is somehow tied in
with the incorrect lyric sung by the choir behind you in verse one. Can
you shed some light on this? |
Karen would sing the work lead while we did the rhythm track and some of
the orchestra backing. The beginning – right after the intro and the
first part of the first verse, the track is from one take. It was then
edited onto the bulk of another take; and, in the bit of track on the
beginning of one take, Karen either misplaced her music or she was
preoccupied, and ended up singing “hmm, hmm night wind to the little
lamb…”, instead of “Said the night wind to the little lamb…. The only
way I could do it, because it had “hmm hmm” was for me to sing, “Said
the night wind to the little lamb, do you hear what I hear” and then
continue it
with Karen. |
|
Technique |
22 |
The instrumental remix of “Superstar” heard on the “Master Karaoke”
album from Japan has some sort of lead vocal bleed-through. What is the
technical explanation for this? |
As mentioned in numerous liner notes, there is no "master lead" on this.
The master lead is the work lead, so musicians like Joe Osborn and Hal
Blaine could hear how the song went. It made them feel that they knew
the song better, affecting their bass and drum fills. The work lead they
had in their head phones, and it went into their mics. It turned out
that we liked Karen’s work lead on this and didn’t bother with a master
lead. If you left the lead in, you wouldn’t hear…, but, as this is
Karaoke, the lead is out and you are left with leakage. |
|
Vocals |
23 |
Why did you use other background vocalists (besides choirs) on "Passage"
and "Made in America?" Were you just looking for a different sound in
the backing vocals? |
Yes, we were looking for a different sound. ("All You Get From Love Is A
Love Song", "Strength Of A Woman", "Touch Me When We're Dancing". |
|
Vocals |
24 |
In the song “DEADMAN’S CURVE”, during the phrase “I flew past La Brea
down to Crescent Heights…”, there is a subtle group of background vocals
behind the lead that are not easily deciphered. What is being sung
there? |
"Ooh, slidin’, slippin’ and slidin', ooh slidin', slippin' and
broadsidin'.” |
|
Vocals |
25 |
On the tunes “Without a Song”, “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” and
“When Time Was All We Had”, how many vocal overdubs were necessary for
you (and Karen on the former) to achieve the sound you did vocally, and
how many parts total? |
Eight parts doubled, resulting, of course, in 16 voices. |
|
Voice |
26 |
On Karen’s solo effort STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS, Karen hits a
low note at 1:50…is this her lowest note of all time because it sounds
really, really low? |
It's an overdubbed E flat below middle C, same as the opening note of
"Only Yesterday". Lowest I had Karen sing was a low D in the song, "A
Song For You". |
|
Voice |
27 |
When you recorded with Karen, what was her highest held note, and on
what song? (She had a 4 octave range, right?) |
High F, tripled on the second “here to remind you” on “I’ll Never Fall
In Love Again” on the Close To You album. Karen probably had, with her
chest and her head voice, a little over three octaves. |
