The Carpenters
The Carpenters were a 1970s vocal and instrumental duo, consisting of siblings Karen and Richard Carpenter. Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Richard in 1946 and Karen in 1950, the Carpenter family moved to California in 1963 and settled in the Los Angeles suburb of Downey.
During the mid to late 1960s, the two attempted to launch a musical career but failed to gain a successful recording deal until the decade's end. Joined by bassist friend Wes Jacobs, the pair formed the Richard Carpenter Trio, a jazz instrumental group. Winning the Hollywood Bowl "Battle of the Bands" in 1966, the trio was picked up by the RCA label. The label chose not to release their songs, however, and doubting their commercial potential, RCA soon dropped the trio. Richard and Karen next teamed with four other student musicians from California State University-Long Beach to form the sextet Spectrum. Although the new group landed club dates at such venues as Whiskey-A-Go-Go, no record deal was forthcoming. Nevertheless, the experience proved rewarding for the siblings, as Richard found a lyricist for his original compositions in fellow Spectrum member John Bettis.
After Spectrum folded, the Carpenters decided to continue as a duo, with Richard on keyboards, Karen on drums, and both contributing vocals. They sent out demo tapes and eventually attracted the attention of Herb Alpert, who signed the duo to his label, A&M Records, in 1969. They soon had a minor hit with a remake of the Beatles' "Ticket to Ride".
The Carpenters achieved their breakthrough in 1970 with the release of the Burt Bacharach-Hal David song, "(They Long to Be) Close to You," which rose to #1 and stayed atop the charts for four weeks. A follow-up recording, "We've Only Just Begun" reached #2 to become the duo's second major hit in the fall of 1970, and helped catapult the album featuring both hits (titled "Close to You") to bestseller status.
A string of hit singles and albums followed, including "For All We Know", "Rainy Days and Mondays", and "Superstar" (all from the LP, "Carpenters") in 1971; "Hurting Each Other", "It's Going to Take Some Time", and "Goodbye to Love" (from the LP, "A Song for You") in 1972; "Sing" and "Yesterday Once More" (from the LP, "Now and Then") in 1973. "Top of the World", an album selection on the "Song for You" LP, became a word of mouth hit and was re-recorded for single release in 1973, reaching number one on the Top 40 late that year. A greatest hits LP, titled "The Singles: 1969-1973", topped the charts in the U.S. and the United Kingdom and became one of the bestselling albums of the decade.
During the first half of the 1970s, the Carpenters' music was a staple of Top 40 playlists. The duo produced a distinctive sound featuring Karen's contralto on lead vocals, with both siblings contributing background vocals that were overdubbed to create densely layered harmonies. To his role as vocalist, keyboardist, and arranger, Richard added that of composer on numerous tracks. Several of his compositions with lyricist John Bettis became hit records, including "Goodbye to Love", "Yesterday Once More", and "Top of the World".
With their output focused on ballads and mid-tempo pop, the Carpenters were often dismissed by critics as bland and "saccharine". The recording industry, however, bestowed awards on the duo, who won three Grammy Awards during their career (including Best New Artist, and Best Pop Performance by a Duo, Group, or Chorus, for "Close to You" in 1970; and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group for the LP "Carpenters" in 1971). In 1973, the Carpenters were voted Best Band, Duo, or Group (Pop/Rock) at the first annual American Music Awards.
The Carpenters scaled the charts with a remake of the Marvellettes' hit "Please Mr. Postman" in early 1975 and scored a final top five hit with the Carpenter-Bettis song "Only Yesterday" later that year. The LPs "Horizon" and "A Kind of Hush", released in 1975 and 1976 respectively, achieved "gold" status but failed to peak as high as previous efforts. Their more experimental album, "Passage", in 1977 failed to cross the gold threshold of 500,000 copies sold. Despite their disappointing performance on domestic charts, the Carpenters continued to enjoy enormous popularity. A second "Singles" album (covering the years 1974-1978) was released in the U.K, while in the States, their 1978 holiday album, "A Christmas Portrait", proved an exception to their faltering career at home and became a seasonal favorite. (A second Christmas collection, "An Old Fashioned Christmas", was released in 1984 after Karen's death.) Their television specials also garnered solid ratings and kept them before the public eye.
By the mid-1970s, extensive touring and lengthy recording sessions began to take their toll on the duo and contributed to their professional difficulties during the latter half of the decade. Karen dieted obsessively and developed the disorder anorexia nervosa, while Richard developed an addiction to Quaaludes. Following Richard's successful treatment for his addiction, Karen abandoned a solo album project and joined her brother in returning to their joint recording career in 1980. (The solo LP remained unreleased until 1996.) Their LP "Made in America", released in 1981, spawned a final top 20 hit single, "Touch Me When We're Dancing."
Personal troubles, however, dimmed the prospects of this modest return to the charts, as Karen suffered a failed marriage and the ongoing effects of her anorexia. In 1982, Karen sought therapy in New York for her disorder and returned to California later that year determined to regain her professional career. The years of dieting and abuse proved too much strain on her heart, however, and on February 4, 1983, Karen suffered cardiac arrest at her parents' home in Downey and was pronounced dead at Downey Memorial Hospital.
Following Karen's death, Richard Carpenter continued to produce recordings of the duo's music, including several albums of previously unreleased material and numerous compilation albums. A 1989 TV movie gained favorable notices and reached a wide audience. A critical reevaluation of the Carpenters' musical output followed during the 1990s, as interest in and appreciation for the duo's recorded work increased.
Several of their songs have achieved the status of popular standards. In particular, "Close To You" is frequently sung in karaoke bars, while the duo's signature tune, "We've Only Just Begun" continues to be performed at weddings and receptions. Both recordings have been honored with Grammy Hall of Fame awards for recordings of lasting quality or historical significance: "We've Only Just Begun" was inducted in 1998, while "Close to You" followed in 2000.
