Re: [BigBrother_Survivor] The Heartbreaking Saga Behind The Carpenters

I adore Karen Carpenter, I have since Close To You came out. She was so unique you never hear on any of these singing competitions a judge say oh you remind me of Karen Carpenter, she was one of a kind.
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On Mon, 1/29/18, C G ceegee2006@yahoo.com [BigBrother_Survivor] <BigBrother_Survivor@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

Subject: [BigBrother_Survivor] The Heartbreaking Saga Behind The Carpenters
To:
Date: Monday, January 29, 2018, 12:05 PM

I so liked the Carpenters I had their
albums. I saw the Karen Carpenter Story on TV many
years ago. It was so sad. Anorexia is a killer even though
some donot believe it. I do believe if
she had not died they would have still been great duo
.

http://www.pensandpatron.com/lifestyle/the-carpenters/The Heartbreaking Saga Behind The
CarpentersBy
Derek Ewing, Dec 27, 2017

During
the 70s, siblings Karen and Richard Carpenter took their
years of common interest in music and transformed it into a
sensational career as The Carpenters. However, it was not
always easy for Richard, and especially Karen.Personal
ProblemsAs the pop group bearing their last name, Karen
and Richard Carpenter tore through the 70s. They sold over
100 million records to date and have fans stretching to all
corners of the world. No matter their success, personal
problems continued to get in the way.A
Ticket To RideAfter a variety of band names and lineups, Richard
and Karen settled on the Carpenters. They signed their first
big recording contract with A&M Records in 1969. At the
time Karen was only 19 had to have a parent co-sign the
contract. Their first single was a cover of the
Beatles Ticket
To Ride. It peaked at number 54 on the Billboard
Hot 100. Paul McCartney would go on to call Karen "the
best female voice in the world: melodic, tuneful and
distinctive."
A
Weighted DecisionWhen
Karen graduated from Downey High School in 1967, she was 17
years old, a year younger than the rest of her classmates.
At a time in her life where body image was everything, Karen
began dieting. She was five-foot-four but weighed 145 lbs.
After high school, Karen started the Stillman diet which
focuses on lean meats and a minimum of eight glasses of
water per day. The diet helped her get down to a
healthy-looking 120 lbs. The stunning Carpenter was ready
for the big time.Battle
Of The BandsAs
the Richard Carpenter Trio continued to work hard at making
music, they entered a battle of the bands at the famed
Hollywood Bowl. Unlike many battles of the bands which
rewards the winners with a cash prize, this specific contest
would lead to a record contract with RCA. Karen, Richard,
and Wes Jacobs were thrilled to find out that they won and
would join RCA. Unfortunately, the company decided their
music was not the right fit and released them without a
recordBeating
Old Brother To The Big TimeEven though Richard was the musical savant working
his tail off to become a professional musician, it was Karen
who earned the first recording contract between the two of
them. After tagging along to a session with bassist Joe
Osborn, Osborn offered Karen a recording deal with his
label, Magic Lamp Records. They were not interested in
Richard as a musician but did release two of his
compositions. Karen's single did not do well and the label
folded.Doomed
At DisneylandEarly into his music playing career, Richard
picked up a gig on Disneyland's Main Street U.S.A. with
his songwriting partner John Bettis. They were forced to
wear traditional Dixieland clothes and play era-appropriate
songs. At one point, they decided to take requests from park
visitors. Since it was during the Summer of Love, they would
request psychedelic songs like The Doors' Light
My Fire. Disney showed them the door for not following
instructions and breaking character.Take
It To The BankOver the next year, the Carpenters recorded and
released two of the biggest hits of their career: (They
Long to Be) Close To You and We've
Only Just Begun. While Close
to You was written by legend Burt Bacharach and
rearranged by Richard, We've
Only Just Begun came from an interesting origin. The
song was originally recorded by Paul Williams and Roger
Nichols for a wedding-themed television commercial for
Crocker National Bank. Richard saw the ad and asked Williams
for the full song.Not
Mommy's Little GirlEven though the Carpenters were now bona fide
stars (their third album went four times Platinum), there
was one person who was unimpressed with how far Karen had
come – her mother. Agnes Carpenter always favored Richard
and did everything to further his future without considering
Karen. They moved to California from Baltimore, so Richard
could be closer to the music industry. Karen began to
outshine Richard publicly, but Agnes never acknowledged it,
leaving a huge hole in Karen's heart.Marching
To The Beat Of Her Own DrumAt the time of the Carpenters' success, female
drummers were few and far between. Even today, female
drummers are rare outside of all-girl groups and Cindy
Blackmon Santana of Lenny Kravitz and Santana fame.
Although she was in a groundbreaking position for women in
music, Karen was very against the Women's Liberation
Movement of the 60s and 70s. She felt a woman's place was
to cook for her husband throughout a marriage.Tipping
The ScalesBy 1973, the Carpenters were a household name.
Karen, still haunted by her chubbier younger days, saw a
photo of herself from one of their shows in which she seemed
a bit heavier. She hired a trainer to help her lose weight,
but the high carb, low-calorie diet only made her bulk up in
muscle without appearing thinner. Karen began taking greater
extremes in her diet and quickly lost 20 lbs. Soon,
Karen's weight would become the focus of everyone around
her.Staying
Away From FoodAs she formed her own diet, Karen did everything
to keep food off her plate. She said in 1973, "When
you're on the road it's hard to eat. Period. On top of
that, it's rough to eat well. We don't like to eat
before a show because I can't stand singing with a full
stomach… You never get to dinner until, like, midnight,
and if you eat heavy you're not going to sleep, and
you're going to be a balloon."Getting
Carried AwayKaren had great results from her new diet.
However, she started to become obsessed with weight loss.
Carole Curb, her ex-boyfriend and record executive Mike
Curb's sister, said, "She weighed 110 lb. or so, and
looked amazing… If she'd been able to stop there, then
life would have been beautiful. A lot of us girls in that
era went through moments of that. Everybody wanted to be
Twiggy. Karen got carried away. She just couldn't
stop."Richard
Takes NoticeFor a while, Richard was oblivious to his
sister's increasingly peculiar eating habits. Once he
picked up on it, he initially assumed it was part of a
comprehensive weight loss plan. He complimented her on her
weight loss one day, telling her, " You look great."
Karen replied, " Well, I'm just going to get down to
around 105." Richard became worried by her answer and
said, "A hundred and five? You look great now." The
comment fell on deaf ears.Hiding
Her Open SecretKaren's eating habits became more worrisome as
she dropped to 90 lb. Those around her began pestering her
about eating so she would do anything she could to hide her
weight loss. Her agent, Sherwin Bash, began noticing one
trend in 1975. "She would start with a long-sleeved shirt
and then put a blouse over that and a sweater over that and
a jacket over that… With all of it, you had no idea of
what she had become."Audiences
Pick Up On ItHer friends and family were not the only ones that
were shocked by Karen's skinny physique. Audiences could
not believe how skinny she had become. Sometimes, an audible
gasp could be heard when she would take the stage. Concerned
fans began to approach Bash about his client assuming that
Karen had cancer or some life-threatening illness. One
critic wrote, "She is terribly thin, almost a wraith, and
should be gowned more becomingly," after praising her
entrance from the drums to the mic.Europe
Will Have To WaitEveryone began noticing major changes to Karen.
She became overwhelmed with exhaustion frequently and would
have to lie down. After some shows in Las Vegas in 1975,
Karen checked into Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los
Angeles. She was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa, and her
doctor said in a statement that she suffered from physical
and nervous exhaustion. The Carpenters had a European tour
lined up, but doctors would not clear her to perform. They
refunded ticket costs for the 50 shows.Not
The Only Troubled SiblingWhile the world's attention stuck to Karen and
her struggles with eating disorders, Richard developed a
nasty habit of his own. He started taking prescription pills
and began increasing his doses after their 1971 tour which
lead to a major addiction. On September 4, 1978, even though
they had shows lined up at the MGM Grand, Richard abruptly
quit touring. He refused to make a UK television appearance,
leaving Karen to fend off rumors of a split and perform on
her ownKaren's
New ManKaren had had past relationships, but her
relationship with property developer Tom Burris would define
her love life. They got engaged in 1980 after only two
months of dating. Her friends were worried, but Karen was
head over heels for him. The good vibes died out however
when Karen found out as they neared their wedding date that
Tom had had a vasectomy years earlier. She wanted kids
desperately, and she considered calling off the wedding
before going through with on August 31, 1980.More
Trouble With TomAgnes refused to allow Karen to call off the
wedding since it had been paid for. Things only got worse
too. Karen assumed he had his own money, but Tom was broke
and lavishly spent her money. He would ask for up to $50,000
at a time. Eventually, she only had investments left. In
addition, he would berate her cruelly, once calling her a
"bag of bones," and would tell her that she'd never
have his child. She filed for divorce after only 14
months.Following
In Her Brother's FootstepsFrom a young age, Richard Carpenter became
interested in music. He began hating the rigidity of piano
lessons and taught himself to play by ear. Karen, four years
his junior, joined the school band in high school to avoid
gym classes as a drummer. They both began messing around
with various bands until they decided to join forces in 1965
as the Richard Carpenter Trio. Within a few years, they
would record hit songs, but not before Karen started heading
down a slippery slopeExtreme
Weight Loss MeasuresKaren would seek any method possible to lose
weight. She eventually found herself in the habit of taking
tons of pills. Each night, she would take 80 to 90 laxative
tablets. In addition to laxatives, she would take thyroid
medication in the hope of speeding up her metabolism. Her
thyroid was fine, so it put stress on her body. Karen began
seeing psychotherapist Steven Levenkron. Anorexia was rarely
discussed publicly, and Levenkron specialized in treatment
of eating disordersTurning
A Blind EyeNo matter who tried to help Karen, Agnes continued
to ignore her daughter's deteriorating health. Levenkron
called Richard and their parents once to tell them just to
tell her that they love her. Agnes scolded him for using her
first name and said they don't do things that way. Sherwin
Bash had tried years earlier to approach Agnes about it, and
he was also brushed off and told it was a family matter.
Agnes believed psychiatrists were for the crazy, not her
skinny daughter.Denial
Ain't Just A River In EgyptRichard returned from rehab ready to hit the
studio. During a Europe trip and press tour, Nationwide
host Sue Lawley surprised the sibling by asking Karen about
the rumors that she was anorexic. Karen shot them down
saying that she was just tired. When Lawley pushed further,
Karen attempted to laugh it off before rolling her eyes at
Lawley. Richard then came to her defense saying "It's
really not what we're here for."Enshrined
In Her HometownKaren's death hit Richard hard. He called it
"the worst thing in my life." A little over a month
after her death, Richard and Karen would receive a great
honor which Richard was forced to accept on his own. They
received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, not far from
their hometown suburb of Downey. A teary-eyed Richard stood
with their parents as a 32-piece choir sang We've
Only Just Begun. Their final studio album was released
that day.I
Ain't Afraid Of No GhostFor years, people have claimed to see the ghost of
Karen Carpenter at the Jim Henson Company entertainment
complex. They have described seeing a woman in the dressing
room area at the soundstage with strikingly similar features
to Karen. Her office used to be above the stage when A&M
Records was in the building. The ghost witnessed claim that
the woman stays in the dressing room but never exits the
room.Not
Thurston For MooreThe Carpenters have had plenty of their songs
covered over the years. In an interview on NPR,
Richard openly discussed the Sonic Youth cover of Superstar.
Not surprisingly, Richard cannot stand listening to the
Thurston Moore fronted cover. He said, "At least when it
comes to something like this, I will say I don't care for
it, but I don't understand it. So I'm not going to say
it's good or it's bad. I'm just going to say I don't
care for it."Turning
Down A Night At The Heartbreak HotelBefore her obsession with body image took over her
life, Karen was incredibly beautiful. One of the biggest
stars on Earth took an interest in her too. During one of
Elvis's shows in Las Vegas, Karen and British singer
Petula Clark were hanging out in his dressing room. The King
propositioned both women. Clark put an end to it and
"shoved both of us out of the room." Clark said he
seemed quite amused by possibly his first
rejection.Returning
To The GameIn 2008, Richard Carpenter made a shocking
announcement: he was planning a comeback. Due to the
Carpenters' success in Japan, he first announced it at a
luncheon for the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan. He
said, "It's a different business. Music is a different
world from when Karen and I were signed by Herb Alpert in
1969, but I feel I have some talent." Richard planned to
produce a Carpenters tribute album, a Christmas album, and a
solo collection of original tunesIt's
In The LogoMost bands have an iconic logo, and The Carpenters
were no different. The inspiration for their logo came in
1971, when Craig Braun designed their third album cover.
"I recognized it to be a great logo as soon as I saw
it," he said. Since then, the logo has appeared on nearly
every album by The Carpenters. Richards reasoning for this
was "to keep things consistent". Although it didn't
appear on the cover of Passage,
it was on the back sleeve.Karen's
LegacyRegardless of her divided fan base, Karen
Carpenter is often regarded by music critics as one of the
greatest female singers of all time. She was ranked by Rolling
Stone as number 94 in their "100 Greatest Voices of
All Time" list. She was also highly praised by National
Public Radio and even Paul McCartney himself referred
to her as "the best female voice in the world: melodic,
tuneful and distinctive." Herb Alpert called her "the
type of singer who would sit in your lap and sing in your
ear."Hours
Of FootageIt wouldn't take long after Karen's death that
rare archived footage was found, showing one of the
Carpenters' first appearance on TV. The person who found
the footage got in touch with Richard and eventually
transformed all of the footage into a home video called Yesterday
Once More, which is also the name of one of their
albums. The video, which was released in 1985, is
essentially like an album. Eventually, a greatest hits album
called Gold
came out on the back of its success.Change
Of HeartThe mainstream opinion of The Carpenters has
evolved in a way that no other band has experienced.
Originally, many looked at the duo's sound as too soft and
too pop-like to be considered rock and roll. However, as
time has gone on, especially at the turn of the Millenium,
many documentaries have been made that have explored the
band's music style. Some of these include Close
to You: Remembering The Carpenters, The
Sayonara, and Only
Yesterday: The Carpenters Story.Award
WinnersBoth during their career and after it came to
end, The Carpenters have received numerous awards and
nominations for their contribution to music. When they were
active, Karen and Richard won many Grammy Awards, including
Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, and Best
New Artist, with many nominations too. Then, both their
songs "We've Only Just Begun" and "(They Long to Be)
Close to You" received the highest of honors – Grammy
Hall of Fame awards.Many
FollowersThe list of artists who have cited Karen Carpenter
as inspiration for their own styles and sounds is absolutely
staggering. Some of today's biggest female singers, such
as Madonna, Sheryl Crow, and Shania Twain have often
regarded Karen as one of their major inspirations. Other
artists have honored her in a variety of ways. For example,
Sonic Youth released a song called "Tunic (Song for
Karen.)" Many artists recorded alternate rock covers of
Carpenter hits on the tribute album, If I
Were a Carpenter.Iconic
ShowsThe Carpenters had some pretty unique shows in
their heyday. Their largest ever recorded show took place at
the Ohio State Fair. The 1971 summer show saw them play in
front of about 50,000 people. Another unique performance
came just a year later when they received the ultimate honor
of performing at the 1972 edition of the Academy Awards.
However, they received criticism due to the fact that they
lip-synced the entire performance of "Bless the Beasts and
the ChildrenHello,
Mr. PresidentApparently, former President Richard Nixon was a
huge fan of The Carpenters, and not just for their music. He
invited the duo to the White House in 1973 and wanted to
personally praise them for their huge contributions to
cancer research. Believe it or not, but at the time,
22-year-old Karen was the national youth chair of the
American Cancer Society. Also, both the siblings and Nixon
were originally from areas very close to each other in
California.In
Memory Of…In light of Karen Carpenter's untimely passing,
her family decided to open the Karen A. Carpenter Memorial
Foundation. The foundation was designed to raise money to
help raise awareness and further research for anorexia
nervosa, the condition that claimed Karen's life. Since
then, the foundation has changed its name to The Carpenter
Family Foundation. It has since evolved and now funds
numerous initiatives that help raise awareness of the eating
disorder. These include art programs, entertainment
facilities, and education programs.The
End Of DaysBy the end of 1982, Karen weighed under 80 lbs.
Richard became incensed with Levenkron's treatment plan.
Finally, her parents and Richard helped her move back home
to Los Angeles. She seemed to be resuming a normal life, but
curiously took more naps than usual. Her housekeeper found
her lying on the closet floor once. On February 4, 1983,
Agnes found Karen passed out and naked in her wardrobe. She
died of poisoning, a drug used for vomiting, as a
consequence of anorexia nervosa.Musical
StyleAs individuals, Karen and Richard had unique
musical styles. While Karen's contralto vocals were not
considered to be synonymous with a powerful singing voice,
her three octaves were a goldmine for Richard's vision
when it came to composing the songs. Ultimately, it was
Karen's low, soulful voice that made the band so iconic,
but Richard's creative vision could not be ignored and was
the perfect foil for her raw talent. According to Richard,
if you lack the right arrangements, you fail the
singer.Mommy
IssuesThere is no denying that Karen and Richard had an
extremely traditional upbringing. However, this didn't
take anything away from the fact that Karen's relationship
with her mother was rocky, at best. The general consensus
about Karen was that she was a loving, caring individual who
always put others before her. But when it came to her
mother, she just struggled to see eye to eye with her. Many
speculate that these issues had a part to play in her eating
disorder.A
Couple Of SuperstarsEvery song has a story, and if there was ever a
story that needed to be told, it is surely the one behind
arguably The Carpenters' most iconic song,
"Superstar." The song is sung from the perspective of a
diehard fan who feels dejected by the iconic singer that
they love. "Don't you remember you told me you loved me,
baby? You said you'd be coming back this way again,
baby" certainly makes this clear. Although Sonic Youth
covered the song, Richard reportedly didn't care about
it.Karen's
FavoriteIt is always fascinating to know what a
musician's favorite song of theirs actually is. You know
what they say, every artist is their own biggest critic.
This certainly applied to The Carpenters. It turns out that
Karen's favorite song was 1976's "I Need To Be In
Love." This is probably due to the fact that it is heavily
connected to her own life. She spent so much time dipping in
and out of failed relationships, never finding true
love.Brief
HiatusIt wasn't just Karen who had her own health
issues. It turns out that Richard had his own problems,
after struggling with an addiction to prescriptive
medicines. As a result, he was forced to take a year off in
order to deal with it. He entered rehab and eventually made
his way back to full recovery. On the flipside, Karen was
dealing with her anorexia and instead of taking a break,
like her brother, she decided to go solo.HomegirlWhat was so fascinating about The Carpenters was
their desire to be conventional, but with the outcome
appearing to be quite the opposite. For example, Karen
happened to live at home with her family until she was 26
years old. This was after they moved to Downey, California.
Although it's perfectly normal for people in their mid-20s
to still live at home, back then, it was considered strange.
In a tragic twist of irony, she also ended up passing away
in the same home.Superstars
On The Walk Of FameJust eight months after Karen passed away, Richard
found out that he and his sister would be honored with a
star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. "This is a sad day,
but at the same time a very special and beautiful day to my
family and me," he said. "My only regret is that Karen
is not physically here to share it with us, but I know that
she is very much alive in our minds, and in our
hearts."Named
Their ApartmentsPeople love to name things – their pets, their
toys, their babies. For Karen and Richard, they enjoyed
naming their apartments. This happened once the duo got
their first taste of fame and success. As the money started
filling their bank accounts, they acquired their own
apartments and decided to name them after some of their
early hits. One of their buildings was called "Close To
You," while the other was named "Only Just Begun."
This kind of made sense!We're
Just A Pair Of CarpentersIt's trivial, to say the very least. However, if
you ask any diehard fan, they will tell you that this band
should only be referred to as "Carpenters." The
"the" that is often included is completely unnecessary.
Similar to the way that the Eagles are actually just
"Eagles." Also, consider the fact that Facebook was
originally called "The Facebook," and Sean Parker told
Mark Zuckerberg to drop the "the," because it sounded
cleaner. It was the same reasoning for "the"
CarpentersKeeping
It In The FamilyIt might sound more bizarre than it actually is,
but Richard actually married his own cousin, and had five
children with her! Now, before you start making judgments,
let's clear things up a little. In 1984, Richard married
his adopted cousin, who happened to be Mary Rudolph, who was
actually the band's road manager. She also made an
appearance in the promotional video for their hit single
"I Need To Be In Love." The couple are still married to
this day.Family
BandNot only did Richard marry his cousin and have
five kids together, he also goes on the road with his kids
from time to time and performs with them! His kids are
Kristi Lynn, Traci Tatum, Mindi Karen (who was named after
her late auntie), Colin Paul and Taylor Mary. In order to
honor his sister, Richard still brings his family into his
musical endeavors, taking his kids on the road with him and
performing together at Carpenter events.Richard's
Reflections On KarenIn an interview with People magazine,
Richard opened up following Karen's death. He said, "I
did a lot of soul-searching after her death, and I realize
now that I did as much as I could have done. All of us who
loved her did. But I still can't believe she's gone. We
spent so much time together. There's a void there now. I
miss her more and more each day." He continued,
" You simply have to deal with it. And I'm doing
the best I can."

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