Richard Carpenter may have removed the "The" from the Carpenters' name in order to make them seem more hip, but it would be hard to imagine a less hip group in the Nixon era than the one that gave us "Top Of The World," "We've Only Just Begun" and "Close To You." Yet it was that very calm and reassuring nature -- especially filtered through the peerless vocals of "lead sister" Karen -- that endured them to legions of fans. Read more about their unlikely trip to stardom in my Carpenters profile.
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As I said on this forum before, I think there are probably only two voices that can compare to Karen’s in their prime: Whitney Houston’s and Barbara Streisand’s. As I said before, when Karen sang it was as though she was singing not at you but to you. Richard did not have a voice, but did ok as an accompaniment and backup musician. Karen lost her battle with her demons, and as a result was robbed of the rest of her life and so were/are her millions of fans.
I met The Carpenters many years ago after a show at the Garden State Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ. I was a DJ at a local radio station. A fine show! Karen’s voice . . .! Karen and Richard could not be more kind and considerate. I fell in love with Karen on stage. Backstage, Karen exuded a warmth which almost made me want to propose to her right there!
THIS is an interesting artifact from the late 60s. I don’t think she ever sang in such a high register in the 70s.