Karen Carpenter : Karen Carpenter (Expanded Edition)

Karen Anne Carpenter 

(March 2, 1950 – February 4, 1983)

 was an

 American musician

 who was the

 lead vocalist 

and drummer

 of the highly 

successful duo

 The Carpenters, 

formed with her

 older brother 

Richard. 

With a distinctive

 three-octave 

contralto range,

 she was praised by

 her peers for

 her vocal skills.

Carpenter appeared on

 Rolling Stone's 

2010 list 

of the

 100 greatest

 singers of all time.

Carpenter was born in

 New Haven, Connecticut

 and moved to 

Downey, California

 in 1963 

with her family. 

She began to study 

the drums in high school 

and joined the 

Long Beach State

 choir in college. 

After several years 

of touring and recording, 

the Carpenters 

were signed to 

A&M Records 

in 1969, 

when Karen was 

 Just 19 years old. 

They achieved enormous 

commercial and

 critical success

 throughout the 1970s. 

Initially, 

Carpenter was the

 band's full-time drummer, 

but she gradually 

took the role of 

Frontwoman

 as her drumming

 was reduced to a

 handful of 

live showcases or 

tracks on albums.

In 1975, 

Carpenter started

 exhibiting symptoms of 

anorexia nervosa

 due to the 

severe pressures 

of fame and her

 complicated

 family dynamics. 

She was never able

 to recover 

and died 

at the age of 32

 in 1983 

from 

complications 

related to her disorder, 

which was 

little-known outside 

celebrity circles 

at the time. 

Carpenter's death

 sparked worldwide 

attention and research

 into

 eating disorders

 and body dysmorphia

 Interest in her life 

and death

 has spawned 

numerous documentaries 

and films

 Karen Carpenter

 is the only

 solo album 

by 

singer/drummer

 Karen Carpenter 

of 

The Carpenters, 

recorded between 

1979 and 1980 

and was 

first released on 

September 11, 1996 

in Japan,

 Followed by 

a US release on 

October 8th 

by A&M Records.

Background and Recording

The album came 

about when 

Richard Carpenter,

 Karen's older brother

 and musical partner, 

announced in 1979

 that he wanted to take 

the year off 

while being treated for 

an addiction

 to Quaaludes 

putting Carpenters

 on a 

temporary hold. 

Karen 

on the other hand 

was eager to work

 and decided to

 pursue a solo record.

The album was recorded

 in New York

' with producer 

Phil Ramone

 in 1979 and 1980. K

aren was backed by

 various

 New York 

and

 Los Angeles

 studio musicians,

 including

 John "JR" Robinson,

 Steve Gadd, 

Greg Phillinganes, 

Louis Johnson

 and members of

 Billy Joel's band.

Out of the 

twenty-one songs recorded,

 only eleven 

were chosen for the album. 

The songs on the album 

were mixed according to 

Karen Carpenter's instructions.

The production of the album

 cost $400,000 

of Carpenter's

 own money 

and

 $100,000 fronted by

 A&M Records. 

The $100,000

 fronted by A&M

 was offset against

 Carpenters' 

future album royalties.

Cancellation

A&M executives

 in New York 

approved the material,

 but the executives

 in Los Angeles,

 including label owners 

Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, 

responded negatively. 

Ramone recalls that 

Carpenter

 broke down in tears.

 Devastated, 

she accepted 

A&M's urging 

not to release the album.

 It was officially

 announced in 

May 1980.

Richard Carpenter 

later said that the decision

 not to release the album

 was Karen's, 

who respected 

the opinions 

of A&M executives 

and others

including him.

 Several musicians 

who worked

 on the album

 have said that 

Carpenter very much

 wanted her album

 to be released 

and that it was

 not her idea 

or decision

 to shelve it.

An episode of 

E! True Hollywood Story 

profiling 

Karen Carpenter 

claims that 

Herb Alpert 

called the album

 "unreleaseable". 

Quincy Jones

 championed releasing 

the album to 

Derek Green, 

an A&M Records 

vice-president, 

but Alpert, 

Moss and Green 

insisted the album 

had to be canceled.

On February 3, 1983,

 the day before

] Carpenter's death,

 she called Ramone

 to discuss the album; 

according to Ramone, 

Carpenter said, 

"I hope you don't mind

 if I curse.

I still love our 

fucking record!"

TRACKLIST

Lovelines

All Because Of You

If I Had You

Making Love In The Afternoon

(w/Peter Cetera)

If We Try

Remember When Lovin' Took All Night

Still In Love With You

My Body Keeps Changing My Mind

Make Believe It's Your First Time

Guess I Just Lost My Head

Still Crazy After All These Years

Last One Singin' The Blues

BONUS

Love Makin Love To You [*]

Something's Missing In My Life [*]

It's Really You [*]

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