An absolutely huge photo of Karen Carpenter taken for her solo album sessions. Thanks to a friend over at the A&M Corner, this scan is of a photo found inside a hard to find music book called "Carpenters Complete Music Book" Volume One.
Much like her solo album that was planned for release in 1980 (but never saw the light of day until 1996), the photo is contemporary and fresh. Not a hint of the sugary sweetness critics accused the duo of producing. (Let's be real- "Superstar" and "Rainy Days and Mondays" and "Goodbye to Love"- among others- are sugary sweet?) Her new producer Phil Ramone gave listeners a solo disc which forced Karen to be seen in a new light- and Karen's stylist succeeded in her job as well, allowing us to view her as an individual and not automatically part of a duo.
A&M Records and even friend and supporter and co-owner Herb Alpert really didn't know what to do with the record. It was just too different. Even too sexual in places. (And Karen helped choose those songs.) The disc was certainly too off-putting to the execs that were used to banking on the Carpenters bringing in the bucks to fund other acts. So in the vault it sat for years.
Eventually a single was released when the Carpenters Lovelines album came out. They selected the superb If I Had You to promote it. Years after her death, the song climbed up the Adult Contemporary charts on Billboard, proving had it been released when she intended, the disc would have been well received. The collection is full of great but different than you'd expect songs including a near duet with Chicago's Peter Cetera on a tune called Making Love in the Afternoon and a terrific remake of Paul Simon's iconic Still Crazy After All These Years, which takes on new meaning now that Karen's passed on.
Find the disc and ignore the bastardized cover based on the originally planned art and photo. The music inside is a complex gem much like the artist herself.
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