An Incredible Karen Carpenter Photo

This beautiful Karen Carpenter photo from the Anthology songbook is my favorite image of the beloved singer. Captured by A&M Records "in house" photographer Ed Caraeff, it was actually never used, an outtake from the session for 1976's quiet but lovely A Kind of Hush album. The original version was sent to me from a friend at the A&M Corner forums, as was this newer, larger version from another friend years later. 

I was going to save this photo to be included in my Revisited / Fresh Look review of the Hush album, but when I realized that article is still several months away from completion, I thought it would be nice to send it out into the world ahead of time. For me, this photo of Karen captures the very depth of her soul: reflective, wistful, perhaps even a bit melancholy. 

As Carpenters, Karen and her brother Richard Carpenter made some of the most incredible and beloved recordings the world has known. His gifts of arranging, producing, and song writing paired with her God-given one of a kind voice created a magic never duplicated.