Richard Carpenter's Piano Songbook

Nothing in music can compare to the beauty of Karen Carpenter's singing voice- but brother Richard Carpenter shows he still has the chops. His new Richard Carpenter's Piano Songbook collection takes beloved songs from the duo and reimagines them in an elegant solo piano setting.  

Imagine if you will stripping down everything from the Carpenters album with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra including Karen's voice. The resulting album is straightforward and anything but simple. His renderings of hits like Close to You and We've Only Just Begun reveal the man's God-given genius in arranging and recognizing a beautiful and memorable melody. In particular, I Need to Be in Love shines. It all comes together in a nice, clean, well packaged recording on Decca- not A&M Records; a first for any Carpenters project.

Aside from the horrible cover art (by and large another long-standing Carpenters problem), it is an absolutely fine collection for what it is: background music for the late night dinner party. Be forewarned- Listening will make you want even more of Karen. You can't divorce her voice from these definitive recordings as beautiful as they are. Read more about the Richard Carpenter's genius and his thoughts on their career and music in the beautiful new book, Carpenters: The Musical Legacy by Mike Cidoni Lennox and Chris May. 

(Photograph copyright Decca.)

Richard Talks "Carpenters with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra"

Doing a promotional tour in support of their wonderful new album Carpenters with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, beloved artist Richard Carpenter spent some time in Japan and in the U.K. 

While in Japan, where he and Karen drew crowds similar to the Beatles when they arrived in 1974, Richard made several television appearances and stops for radio interviews. Here, he is on Japan Radio:

His Japanese television appearances can be found on this thread at the A&M Corner discussion boards.

Karen Carpenter is not only a beloved icon in Japan. On the other side of the world in the U.K., the Carpenters have had Top Ten or Number One selling albums in every decade since their heyday.

Richard sat down with BBC's Top of the Pops and discussed the new project on December 14. Listen here.

The music of the duo had a profound impact on my life! I'll be sharing my own review of this album soon, but in the meantime, here's a few posts where you can read my reviews of each earlier album, and newer reviews taking a fresh look at their music years later. Additionally, if you're a fan of Karen and Richard, there are many, many articles here where I discuss their lives and art, including the time I finally met them in person.

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A very special thanks to those folks who constructed The Complete Carpenters Recording Resource, to "Rick- An Ordinary Fool" for so many rare scans, and all my friends on the A&M Corner boards. 

My Original Carpenters album reviews:

Offering/Ticket to Ride

Close to You

Carpenters

A Song for You

Now and Then

The Singles 1969-1973

Live In Japan

Horizon

A Kind of Hush

Live at the Palladium

Passage

The Singles 1974-1978

Christmas Portrait

Made in America

Voice of the Heart

An Old Fashioned Christmas

Time (Richard Solo)

Lovelines

Karen Carpenter (Solo)

As Time Goes By

My Revisited Fresh Look at the albums:

Offering / Ticket to Ride

Close to You
Carpenters (The Tan album)
A Song for You (coming soon)

Unexpected Carpenters Magic

Received this new Carpenters disc yesterday - Carpenters with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. It's been on the player three times so far. A deeper look will be forthcoming, but in a word: Pure Magic.

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I'm reviewing the Carpenters albums in chronological order beginning with Offering / Ticket to Ride. I've written extensively about their music, album by album, and how each affected their career and my life. Since there are stories about my life mixed in, you'll also get a glimpse of what it meant to grow up in Southern California during the 70s.

 

On the Insights blog, there are also numerous stand alone posts about Karen and Richard Carpenter highlighting different aspects of their career, recordings, and life. There's many unique photos to be found here as well. I was honored to be interviewed for Randy L. Schmidt's excellent Carpenters: An Illustrated Discography.

Below is the list of my "Revisited /Fresh Look" reviews and those that came a decade earlier. 

My Revisited / Fresh Look at the albums:

Offering / Ticket to Ride
Close to You
Carpenters 
A Song for You 

Now & Then

The Singles 1969 - 1973

Live in Japan

Horizon

A Kind of Hush 

 

My Initial Reviews of the albums:

Offering/Ticket to Ride

Close to You

Carpenters

A Song for You

Now & Then

The Singles 1969-1973

Live In Japan

Horizon

A Kind of Hush

Live at the Palladium

Passage

The Singles 1974-1978

Christmas Portrait

Made in America

Voice of the Heart

An Old Fashioned Christmas

Time (Richard Solo)

Lovelines

Karen Carpenter (Solo)

As Time Goes By

 

The Royal Treatment

Friday December 7th, 2018 cannot come soon enough for this fan! In collaboration with London's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the beloved duo of Karen Carpenter and her brother Richard will be give the royal treatment. Working under Richard's guidance, the album will celebrate the biggest of the Carpenters hits- and a few key album tracks- totally re-imagined with an entire orchestral arrangement. Just in time for the holidays! 

Karen and Richard in Their Prime

There's much discussion going on at the A&M Corner discussion boards regarding the Carpenters 50th Anniversary next year and the new album Richard Carpenter is producing with London's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. (It's supposedly coming this year.) All this got me to thinking about one of my favorite photos of Karen Carpenter. 

It's about 1974/1975, and Karen and Richard look great! The duo is at the top of their career. The hot selling album The Singles 1969 - 1973 was a worldwide smash, and the Number One Hit Please Mr. Postman soon brought them back to the summit once again. One hit and one sold out tour after another! Could they be stopped? 

The constant touring and recording was something impossible to maintain without a long term detriment to their health. Many writers want to focus on Karen's losing battle with her eating disorder, but they all too quickly forget about the duo's remarkable talent. Maybe the new album will bring the artistry back to the forefront.

New Carpenters Album with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

As reported by the music board A&M Corner, via his Instagram account account, Richard Carpenter announced a new project with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Classic Carpenters music will be used for a new compilation. Hopefully, this is to be released as part of Richard and Karen Carpenter's 50th Anniversary in the music industry. It was 1969 when A&M Records co-owner Herb Alpert signed them to his label. Soon, the rest was history.