The Carpenters are more popular now than they were in the late 70's. Their music is so beautiful and smooth. I really miss Karen a great deal. Her voice was genuinely matched to the melancholy tunes she was singing. She gave us a look into her soul when she sang. RIP Karen (anorexia is all about control so she must have felt she had little control over her life)
FYI: 2020/21 Millennials & especially Rap/Hip Hop generation are Discovering "CARPENTERS" & posting their own Videos (1st Time Reaction) to hearing Karen & Richard & LOVING Them! IT IS NOT NORMAL > this is "MIRACULOUS'!!!
Great interview, Randy, yet so sad for Karen. Thank you, again for all the work you did in compiling the behind-the-scenes information and happenings with the Carpenter family via all the interviews. Still miss her, such a dear, sweet soul. Karen, you're loved forever, beautiful angel.
I was 17 when I first heard of "The Carpenters". The movie "The Karen Carpenter Story" was on TV and I had no idea what anorexia nervosa was or who they were. So, being a teenager and loving music my mom thought it be a good idea for me to watch the movie. That was over 20 years ago and I'm more of a fan now and I love their music. The book "Little Girl Blue" is outstanding and an excellent read. One I recommend to everyone.
I fell in love with karen when i was 12 im 56 now and still love her. All she needed was a true good man to show her what love is. I thinks things my have been better for her
Thanks for posting little girl blue. The life of Karen Carpenter. Great interview! I miss Karen a great deal for her music with her brother Richard. I think if she still were behind the drums or didn’t sing a note in her life behind the spotlight That she wouldn’t be so concerned about her weight and that she would still be alive today. Also if everyone would just give her some space and time to let her choose what she wanted to do in her lifetime. Also don’t let her think that whatever she tries to do for everyone isn’t good enough. Then maybe she won’t feel as sorry for herself. I also agree that when she had help with her eating disorder that it could’ve been handled better with her treatment. Instead of having daily sessions that she should have been in a hospitalization recreational program that focuses on eating disorders. I didn’t think was a very good ideal that she walked the mile from her sessions just to take something only to loose her weight again in the end just to undo the thing that should have helped her to get well. She should have had treatment for as long as it takes weather it’s three years or more for as long as it takes. And also any body watching her around the clock to make sure that her treatment is doing ok. I wish things would have been different for her and taken care of a lot sooner. R.I.P Karen.
Anything and everything about Karen makes me fill up. Not only Randy L. Schmidt's great book and interview but also all the comments given down here by Carpenters fans make me cry. I keenly feel that it is sort of my "God-ordained mission" to study Karen's life and music and pass it on to others. Although I've never been anorexic and I believe she and I are different in many ways, I mysteriously identify very much with her. I see a lot of myself in her life. She is me. I am her. So I'll keep on studying both her life and music very closely and meticulously. I desperately want to vindicate her life. Here, I hope I'm not sounding arrogant. All I want to say here is that not only her music but her life story (all of it) truly deserve to be heard by the whole entire world.
FYI: 2020/21 Millennials & especially Rap/Hip Hop generation are Discovering "CARPENTERS" & posting their own Videos (1st Time Reaction) to hearing Karen & Richard & LOVING Them! IT IS NOT NORMAL > this is "MIRACULOUS'!!!
Little Girl Blue......The Life of Karen Carpenter is an awesome book to read .A Book about a beautiful woman who is controlled by so many. Relationships sabotaged by family and managers. Not to mention all the other things of her life that will make you just want to cry for her. I already have the Discography Book being released on July 2nd ORDERED. Can't wait to read it.
Dionne Warwick said it best, "Karen's voice was like a piece of silk". I always loved the Carpenters ever since I heard that voice on the radio in the 70's. She was my idol, I tried to sing like her and I had all their albums. I still listen to them all these years later and still love them.
Loved the book, Randy. I was around 10 when the Carpenters phenomenon began. I had several of their singles but no albums. I liked them but never had the appreciation for them as do now. My favorite songs are not the usual ones people name. I adored Top of the World, Sweet Sweet Smile, Calling Occupants and Karen’s versions of Rainbow Connection and Knowing When to Leave.
I was appalled when I heard Agnes say that! All I could think was if I'd told my mom that my fiancé had lied to me about a very important aspect of my upcoming marriage I know she'd have backed my canceling the wedding as would my dad. A lying spouse isn't going to be a good spouse. And I can't understand the cruelty. Was it payback for doing the solo album or dragging the family into therapy. Agnes really hated those sessions.
I've read "Little Girl Blue" three times, and I've listened to this Randy Schmidt interview 100 times, although not carefully all the time because I was listening to it during my mealtimes. I wanted to memorize each detail correctly in the hope that I will be able to tell the story to others.
Karen's biggest issue is that she was in a family who could not accept that not only is she talented like RC, she is also special. According to psychology and psychiatric experts, anorexia is the physiological expression of a psychological issue that in Karen's case steamed from her being considered second best when she really was the special one
FYI: 2020/21 Millennials & especially Rap/Hip Hop generation are Discovering "CARPENTERS" & posting their own Videos (1st Time Reaction) to hearing Karen & Richard & LOVING Them! IT IS NOT NORMAL > this is "MIRACULOUS'!!!
Fame and fortune in this fallen world is a drug that is very addictive, because we were designed to seek glory, but leaves us very, very empty. Only a deep, abiding walk with God will fill that void. In Karen’s case, when all the negative interpersonal things in her family were piled on top of that, where could she turn? And her fame made it so hard to find a meaningful relationship filled with real love from someone who wasn’t getting attached for what she could bring to them. Bless her heart, she is so missed by so many, and by me, having fallen for her voice in 1970 when Close to You was played every five minutes on the radio. This one thing I know: only a sovereign God could design a voice like she had, and He clearly loved her very much!
I read this book back in 2013, broke my heart! I always wanted to be Karen Carpenter as I grew up...be careful of what you wish for 😢. I will have to check and see if he ever wrote another book. 🌼
I did as well i think Richard was scared of her going out on her own without Him and doing well with this! A%M should have released it as is and let the fans be the judge but they didn't
I Remember Covering Many Carpenters Hit With My School Choir Back In The Mid 70's - I Loved Karens' Voice Because I Sing In Her Same Range! She Was Amazingly Gifted! Rest In Peace, Karen💗
I really enjoy reading a story that leaves as many questions as it answers. It stimulates interest and always leaves a string of "whys?". For Karen, the story ends with "what REALLY happened?" The excuse for her death as "anorexia" is too easy. The suddenness and totally out of line blood sugar spike isn't addressed by the autopsy. And as for her relationship with Tom Burris .....
I think the reason Karen Carpenter was so reluctant to sing & not drum was her concern about her weight. If she could just stay hidden behind those drums, she could avoid scrutiny from the ever present critics about every little pound.
janetmcabee I think you’re right. At her normal weight, she had a womanly, slightly pear-shaped figure. So tragic that girls and women still suffer from such negative body dysmorphia!
I agree if she would've felt like she could have spoken up and stayed those drums which wherevage obviously the happiest and it showed I think things could've been different and yes her mothers live and support would have made a lot of difference.
I'm reading it now. GREAT book...and jumping on RUclips to see videos of performances and locations from their life as I read is a pretty neat thing to be able to do. Great voice. Back in the day, when I was in Jr. High choir, we sang a lot of Carpenters.
Mom was oooooh Richard and who’s Karen. That’s where her pain stemmed from. Her eating disorder was her way of controlling her inner pain. People can dispute that. But, unless you’ve gone through it. You know nothing.
I knew Karen. I know what Karen was going through. Karen wasn't Cherry (Boone) O'Neill and so the profile of an anorexic does not match Karen's actual profile. Karen's Myers-Briggs test came back INFJ-A (same as mine and Richard's). Anyway, Karen had rules where she wouldn't eat 4 hours before performing or sleeping. During the messy tour schedule of 1974 to 1975 Karen had problems with eating (but so did the rest of the band too). Originally in 1975 Karen was diagnosed with arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat) and after tests the doctors couldn't find anything physically wrong with Karen. They offered to install a pacemaker but Karen was adamantly against being kept alive by a machine. Karen would exercise but it was to keep her heart rate up because of arrhythmia and had nothing to do with losing weight or such. Karen knew that exercising put on muscle (which was why she fired a personal trainer years back). So all that psychobabble was just that babbling. Actually, when I was around Karen, when Karen stopped exercising is when the anorexia had kicked in and Karen was trying to lose extra weight. You can't lose muscle. It was also found out that Karen was born premature and weighed 5 pounds at birth. Karen's arrhythmia was looked at as probably being some form of birth defect (brain stem, nerves to the heart and Karen had a ministroke in 1977 too and was checked out again with nothing wrong physically being found). But around early 1978 Karen started getting an odd thought in her head that would kick in after Karen started losing weight. The thought was that all little girls are attractive and little girls are straight as a board and not curvy like an adult. That was what Karen said was the thought that would keep her just losing weight. This had nothing to do with her family or such, but with Karen, herself. The thought would only happen too after Karen had been losing weight and got below 100 pounds. 'Triggers' as Karen and I called it from 1978 on but it was pretty much unknown in psychiatry / psychology back in the day. The therapists weren't even close. It was just a huge mess. About three and a half months before she passed away (November 1982), Karen and her mom had an idea that Karen would weigh herself only once a week (Friday morning) and from November 1982 until Karen passed away, February 1983, Karen weighed around 108 pounds for that last three and a half months. Karen went into the Levenkron Clinic weighing 78 pounds in January 1982 and left the clinic in September 1982 weighing 77 pounds. Karen would do horribly with therapists as they kept trying to treat an anorexic profile that Karen didn't even come close to fitting. So all these stories have been twisted to try and prove this theory of what an anorexic is supposed to be that just wasn't Karen in reality.
Karen's incredible version of the song that literally broke up the Andrews Sisters, "I Can Dream, Can't I?" is my all-time favorite. A close 2nd is "What Are You Doing New Years Eve?". But I get gleeful remembering my Irish tenor father, Jimmy, hearing her do the waaaaay more difficult iteration of "Ave Maria". "She'll NEVER HIT THAT HIGH NOTE!!!" he boasted, and sat there waiting for her to, um, screw up. And THEN, SHE NAILED IT!!! He was literally devastated that she was THAT PERFECT. I looked at him, so crestfallen, and smugly said: "Do you HONESTLY THINK they would have put a BAD RECORDING ON A CD?!!!" 🤔 😮 😡
Karen Carpenter will always have a special place in my heart, not only for her beautiful voice and talent but shortly after Karen left New York my daughter was near death with anorexia nervosa seeing Dr. Levenkron who soon ended up in the same hospital with the same nurses Karen had had. When the hospital and my daughter got word that Karen have died, my daughter hold me she was whisked down to the basement where all kinds of heart tests were done. Looking back on the sad story of Karen's life if Richard had truly loved and cared for his sister he would have supported and helped, if asked, her putting out her single record. And two, when Karen was in New York he should have been there at her side doing everything possible getting her well. Shame on you Richard.
I have to agree with you! I've heard sooo many interviews that Richard has given, where he thinks he and his family did everything they could to help Karen. I'm sorry, but I just don't buy it! Richard actually said in one interview that even if Karen had never sang a single note in her life, if she had just been a normal every-day housewife, that this would still had happened to her! If that's not denial I don't know what is!
Nicholas Camp look... Me: Randy Schmidt, please I'm wondering...Why Karen, in 1981went to NY alone? Without Richard...without her family? Randy Schmidt: She chose to go to New York for therapy and lived with Karen Ramone. I think she knew on some level that her family was part of the problem. Also, they didn’t really support her in this move. Me: So sad...I mean, Karen looks like an skeleton, literally, and leave her to fly to NY alone in that condition.But like you say, also was her own decision. I think of this another proof of the siblings closer relationship break off. I'm not saying that both would be fighted. But for me, It's too obviuos she never trust to Richard never again. Maybe I'm wrong...I don't know. Randy Schmidt: The animosity is very obvious when you watch them on GOOD MORNING AMERICA, which was taped around the same time. The looks they give each other speak volumes about what was really going on between the two.
Thank you Randy for writing the book and all the research you done I read the book it was really nice even though in the end I knew how I was going to turn out which made me a little sad or a lot sad I'm kind of like you I found out about the Carpenters later on in life a lot later on only a few years ago but once you discover their music there's no turning back thank you God bless stay safe bye
Cont: Karen was HAPPY beyond words! She never would have even dated Burris if involved with Solo Album & Shows & becoming her own Woman, while Richard took off 1979. Then 2nd Meteoric Rise "CARPENTERS" Together Again! How Sad it never happened while she was still with us.
Here's a link to the entire audio book. 11 1/2 hours. It is EXCELLENT. Average length of each chapter is about 45 minutes each, 17 chapters. It's only flaw is the last 6 1/2 minutes of the epilogue are missing. But still well worth the listening. ruclips.net/video/hAXSOabO8AM/видео.html
As Pamela's V Log Central says, the family did not deserve Karen, neither Richard, nor Agnes, nor even Harold. The father is said to have been a sweetheart. If that means he was a warm-hearted man, then why wouldn't he have stood up for Karen? If I had been in his shoes, I would have even killed Agnes in order to keep Karen mentally sane. The whole family killed Karen. And the rest of the world, including myself maybe, is collectively responsible for her tragic demise. Why? It's society's system that drove her to her drastic lifestyle, which eventually killed her. If so, the whole world, including me and everyone else, is collectively responsible. It is not only Karen's family that did not deserve her. It is the whole world, far beneath her, that was not worthy of her.
No offense but you're full of crap. Karen's family loved her. So they were a bit dysfunctional. All families are. The bottom line is Karen was mentally ill and wouldn't help herself or let anybody else help her.
Hi Ghosty! My friend (Norm from Flushing) is an avid listener of your WFDU radio show, and every Tuesday when we go food shopping, he plays segments he's recorded. Being a Carpenters fan, the RUclips algorithm recommended this interview, and the moment it began, I recognized your quintessential radio voice. Thanks for this upload. Be well. JK
I’ll always love her music and singing, but my mom always thought she was stuck up ! This goes to show, never judge a book by its cover,you may be surprised.
I will just add that Richard and Karen's mother were the Lion's Share 2 Karen's problems. Not just some reviewer they called her cherubic. Had Richard not worked her to the breaking point and then put the no no on her record it must have been a real blow. Finally, her mom said she had to get married even though she found out that the man was a scoundrel. What loving mother would do that? Right shame on them.
I was aghast when I read that Agnes told Karen, “You’ve made your bed, you have to lie in it,” after Karen learned about Tom’s vasectomy and wanted to cancel the wedding at the last minute. Despite any embarrassment, it’s much better to cancel a wedding under such circumstances than to limp through a brief miserable “marriage” and a protracted divorce.
I was there in real time. It cracks me up that people were in the closet with respect to liking the Carpenters.. I however, blasted Karen vocals on my phonograph anyways. I wasn't insecure about loving the Carpenters. Great music is great music. Insecure people wouldn't admit to liking the Carpenters.
The Carpenters were born 30 years too early. The Woodstock generation brush them off as squeaky-clean and goody two shoes. Today's music scene is much more open to different sounds and the Carpenters would def stand out. And Karen would be celebrated for her almost conversational-like unique voice. I actually think their story could be made into a major movie for theater release, Richard is not pursuing this with the vigor that he should. He might be pleasantly surprised at the level of interest in his and Karen's life story if he only pursue this further. They still have a lot of fans out there dying to watch their story reach the big screen.
I looked up the 1970's music and the Carpenters are pretty much glossed over. Its like they want people to believe they didn't exist. I was never a rock and roll enthusiast and much of it I hated. The Carpenters got me through many rocky years!
OH KAREN...........if I had only really listened in 1970......I did but it distracted me from my NEW crush on ......LED ZEPPLIN !!!!! No disrespect to the ZEPP.......but GIRL......you had it ALL going on !!!!!!
I just wanted to tell you, Mr. Schmidt, that I disapprove of you taking a group of people into the Carpenter's house and rummaging through their private property. I was raised to respect other people's privacy, no matter who they were in life. If I wasn't invited, I didn't belong. Sitting in chairs, messing with stereo equipment, touching pictures and other items, asking to see that room, was very disturbing and unsettling for anyone to observe. I pray that Evelyn wasn't aware of this spectacle of yours. This would definitely upset her. Just because you wrote a book about Karen's life, doesn't mean you have the right to take a group of people and invade her privacy. I was even very alarmed and disgusted by seeing you to allow people to sit in her car. Yes, I know that Richard sold the house, but this was wrong. Have some respect for other people's privacy for now on! You're letting instant fame to go to your head, Sir. 😎
her solo album was a turkey, but it wasn't her fault, she was sand bagged by Ramone, probably at the request of the AM records and Richard. Her family pushed her into that failed marriage, probably to keep her down and more controllable. Karen was never allowed to grow up, I don't blame Richard, not really, he was very young at the time too. Her death while glamorized to this day was a simple suicide, she could never find her way out of that fish bowl. We're just beginning to catch up to her vocal, musical talents and abilities, actually no, she was so far ahead, there's always something new to hear while listening to her records, to this very day, and beyond
Her family was screwed. They looked down on Karen because Richard was such a master on the piano. They moved to Cali for Richards future. Her mother still favors Richard when she speaks.
+hosshoss I disagree with you on 2 points, her solo album was not as you put it a "turkey", for the first time in her life she wanted to do something on her own, make it her own, she mostly sang in her higher register which we were not used to, that album had at least 2-3 hits on it if only she was supported by people she loved, all that album needed was a bit of tweaking. The second and most important point I disagree with, is that Karen did NOT commit suicide, where did you get that from? Do you understand the disease Anorexia Nervosa? The only thing she could control in her life was her body, am wondering if you read Randy's book, it's all there.
hosshoss777 Suicide???!!! Are you serious???!!! Karen was a very ill. She had Anorexia Nervosa. Read about this disease, first. She wanted to cured, because she loves the life and she wanted to live.
Sad some how I thought this book was her words....it is not...I was going to buy it ... it's just another book by someone else writing what they think of someone else's life no thank you!
I've heard her solo album. It wasn't that good. Not because of her voice, it was the material she was given. For instance the RC produced music is memorable, it has harmony, lyrics you can sing and remember for a lifetime. Karen's solo album had none of that. There was not one memorable song on the album. Nothing you really wanted to play back, sing along with. When the album was over there just was not one song or tune that stuck in your head and wanted hum. Like I said she was given bad material to work with. If she were to release it, it would be a downgrade from previous work. Richard and A&M new this. Karen took the criticism the wrong way.
With her voice Karen could have made it on her own, without Richards creativity. She carried him to fame. After her passing Richard faded back, unless he was honoring her work. The guy was a nerdy sourpuss
I am trying to underatand what do people see in her voice. I have binged documentaries and music videos, and I still don't see where all the praise comes from. Maybe she is an acquired taste.
An acquired taste. The emotional tones matching the lyrical content. Singing a sad song sad and a happy song happy. But oh so sad and oh so happy. That little extra. The resonance as well as Karen's vibrato was natural and not 'forced' or 'trained'. That voice of hers makes you feel like she is sitting right there singing directly at you and to you for most people. Clarity (you can hear the words she sings) and diction (you can understand the words she sings). Most singers highlight their voice whereas Karen's voice highlights the listener and the feeling of the song and the lyrics. But also the instrumentation helps bring more feeling to the songs as well. It's not all just Karen's voice in a Carpenters' song. Carpenters music has a more personal feel to it like someone is singing and playing just for you instead of someone just trying to make a couple bucks selling records. Some songs to try - Rainy Days and Mondays (sad), Only Yesterday (happy, upbeat), Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft (spacey, other worldly), Touch Me When We're Dancing (soft and cuddly), Superstar (sad, yearning for someone), We've Only Just Begun (wedding / funeral music depending on how you want to look at it) and more...
The Carpenters are more popular now than they were in the late 70's. Their music is so beautiful and smooth. I really miss Karen a great deal. Her voice was genuinely matched to the melancholy tunes she was singing. She gave us a look into her soul when she sang. RIP Karen
(anorexia is all about control so she must have felt she had little control over her life)
FYI: 2020/21 Millennials & especially Rap/Hip Hop generation are Discovering "CARPENTERS" & posting their own Videos (1st Time Reaction) to hearing Karen & Richard & LOVING Them! IT IS NOT NORMAL > this is "MIRACULOUS'!!!
Anorexia is a mental disorder. Control has nothing to do with it. It's a chemical imbalance, like depression, or OCD, or several others!
There will never be another Karen Carpenter. I still miss her.
Karen Carpenter was the greatest !!!!!!!
Great book!
Great job on this interview, Randy. Thank you very much. And, thank you for helping keep Karen's memory alive. I love her too.
Great interview, Randy, yet so sad for Karen. Thank you, again for all the work you did in compiling the behind-the-scenes information and happenings with the Carpenter family via all the interviews. Still miss her, such a dear, sweet soul. Karen, you're loved forever, beautiful angel.
I was 17 when I first heard of "The Carpenters". The movie "The Karen Carpenter Story" was on TV and I had no idea what anorexia nervosa was or who they were. So, being a teenager and loving music my mom thought it be a good idea for me to watch the movie. That was over 20 years ago and I'm more of a fan now and I love their music. The book "Little Girl Blue" is outstanding and an excellent read. One I recommend to everyone.
A wonderful interview!
I agree Sally!
I fell in love with karen when i was 12 im 56 now and still love her. All she needed was a true good man to show her what love is. I thinks things my have been better for her
I believe that To form a family it could have helped her a lot
Thanks for posting little girl blue. The life of Karen Carpenter. Great interview! I miss Karen a great deal for her music with her brother Richard. I think if she still were behind the drums or didn’t sing a note in her life behind the spotlight That she wouldn’t be so concerned about her weight and that she would still be alive today. Also if everyone would just give her some space and time to let her choose what she wanted to do in her lifetime. Also don’t let her think that whatever she tries to do for everyone isn’t good enough. Then maybe she won’t feel as sorry for herself. I also agree that when she had help with her eating disorder that it could’ve been handled better with her treatment. Instead of having daily sessions that she should have been in a hospitalization recreational program that focuses on eating disorders. I didn’t think was a very good ideal that she walked the mile from her sessions just to take something only to loose her weight again in the end just to undo the thing that should have helped her to get well. She should have had treatment for as long as it takes weather it’s three years or more for as long as it takes. And also any body watching her around the clock to make sure that her treatment is doing ok. I wish things would have been different for her and taken care of a lot sooner. R.I.P Karen.
I just requested at the library today the book Little Girl Blue Karen Carpenter. Looking forward to reading about her.
Anything and everything about Karen makes me fill up. Not only Randy L. Schmidt's great book and interview but also all the comments given down here by Carpenters fans make me cry. I keenly feel that it is sort of my "God-ordained mission" to study Karen's life and music and pass it on to others. Although I've never been anorexic and I believe she and I are different in many ways, I mysteriously identify very much with her. I see a lot of myself in her life. She is me. I am her. So I'll keep on studying both her life and music very closely and meticulously. I desperately want to vindicate her life. Here, I hope I'm not sounding arrogant. All I want to say here is that not only her music but her life story (all of it) truly deserve to be heard by the whole entire world.
FYI: 2020/21 Millennials & especially Rap/Hip Hop generation are Discovering "CARPENTERS" & posting their own Videos (1st Time Reaction) to hearing Karen & Richard & LOVING Them! IT IS NOT NORMAL > this is "MIRACULOUS'!!!
Little Girl Blue......The Life of Karen Carpenter is an awesome book to read .A Book about a beautiful woman who is controlled by so many. Relationships sabotaged by family and managers. Not to mention all the other things of her life that will make you just want to cry for her. I already have the Discography Book being released on July 2nd ORDERED. Can't wait to read it.
Dionne Warwick said it best, "Karen's voice was like a piece of silk". I always loved the Carpenters ever since I heard that voice on the radio in the 70's. She was my idol, I tried to sing like her and I had all their albums. I still listen to them all these years later and still love them.
Loved the book, Randy. I was around 10 when the Carpenters phenomenon began. I had several of their singles but no albums. I liked them but never had the appreciation for them as do now. My favorite songs are not the usual ones people name. I adored Top of the World, Sweet Sweet Smile, Calling Occupants and Karen’s versions of Rainbow Connection and Knowing When to Leave.
Mom was waaaaaaaaaay too controlling...😵😵😵😳😳😳
That was evil, Mom...making her get married for appearances, after the guy told her ," No children..."...💔💔💔😡😡😡
Her mother was the control freak from hell. Just horrible.
I was appalled when I heard Agnes say that! All I could think was if I'd told my mom that my fiancé had lied to me about a very important aspect of my upcoming marriage I know she'd have backed my canceling the wedding as would my dad. A lying spouse isn't going to be a good spouse. And I can't understand the cruelty. Was it payback for doing the solo album or dragging the family into therapy. Agnes really hated those sessions.
Bravo. Everything expressed here is how I've felt for a very long time
I've read "Little Girl Blue" three times, and I've listened to this Randy Schmidt interview 100 times, although not carefully all the time because I was listening to it during my mealtimes. I wanted to memorize each detail correctly in the hope that I will be able to tell the story to others.
Karen's biggest issue is that she was in a family who could not accept that not only is she talented like RC, she is also special. According to psychology and psychiatric experts, anorexia is the physiological expression of a psychological issue that in Karen's case steamed from her being considered second best when she really was the special one
Yup... wasn't cool to like the Carpenters...but she sang from her heart...The great ones do!
FYI: 2020/21 Millennials & especially Rap/Hip Hop generation are Discovering "CARPENTERS" & posting their own Videos (1st Time Reaction) to hearing Karen & Richard & LOVING Them! IT IS NOT NORMAL > this is "MIRACULOUS'!!!
Fame and fortune in this fallen world is a drug that is very addictive, because we were designed to seek glory, but leaves us very, very empty. Only a deep, abiding walk with God will fill that void. In Karen’s case, when all the negative interpersonal things in her family were piled on top of that, where could she turn? And her fame made it so hard to find a meaningful relationship filled with real love from someone who wasn’t getting attached for what she could bring to them. Bless her heart, she is so missed by so many, and by me, having fallen for her voice in 1970 when Close to You was played every five minutes on the radio. This one thing I know: only a sovereign God could design a voice like she had, and He clearly loved her very much!
I read this book back in 2013, broke my heart! I always wanted to be Karen Carpenter as I grew up...be careful of what you wish for 😢.
I will have to check and see if he ever wrote another book. 🌼
I bought Karen's solo album and personally I wasn't that bad as people and critics say!! She wanted too do Something different!!!
Mark Jolley great album! 80s music! The 9 tracks unreleased are amazing too.
I did as well i think Richard was scared of her going out on her own without Him and doing well with this! A%M should have released it as is and let the fans be the judge but they didn't
I guess Mama and Richard were scared that she could make it on her own. So sad that they didn't back her up instead of mentally abusing her.
Great job by the interviewer and interviewee. Such a heart wrenching story.
I Remember Covering Many Carpenters Hit With My School Choir Back In The Mid 70's - I Loved Karens' Voice Because I Sing In Her Same Range! She Was Amazingly Gifted! Rest In Peace, Karen💗
I also fell in love with the carpenters music after seeing the Karen Carpenter story, I was 22 at the time.
I read the book liked it very well written and was about in tears by the end of the book.
I really enjoy reading a story that leaves as many questions as it answers. It stimulates interest and always leaves a string of "whys?". For Karen, the story ends with "what REALLY happened?" The excuse for her death as "anorexia" is too easy. The suddenness and totally out of line blood sugar spike isn't addressed by the autopsy. And as for her relationship with Tom Burris .....
She should have gotten to play drums and sing...😳
I think the reason Karen Carpenter was so reluctant to sing & not drum was her concern about her weight. If she could just stay hidden behind those drums, she could avoid scrutiny from the ever present critics about every little pound.
janetmcabee I think you’re right. At her normal weight, she had a womanly, slightly pear-shaped figure. So tragic that girls and women still suffer from such negative body dysmorphia!
The critics were merciless
I agree if she would've felt like she could have spoken up and stayed those drums which wherevage obviously the happiest and it showed I think things could've been different and yes her mothers live and support would have made a lot of difference.
I'm reading it now. GREAT book...and jumping on RUclips to see videos of performances and locations from their life as I read is a pretty neat thing to be able to do. Great voice. Back in the day, when I was in Jr. High choir, we sang a lot of Carpenters.
Mom was oooooh Richard and who’s Karen. That’s where her pain stemmed from. Her eating disorder was her way of controlling her inner pain. People can dispute that. But, unless you’ve gone through it. You know nothing.
I knew Karen. I know what Karen was going through. Karen wasn't Cherry (Boone) O'Neill and so the profile of an anorexic does not match Karen's actual profile. Karen's Myers-Briggs test came back INFJ-A (same as mine and Richard's). Anyway, Karen had rules where she wouldn't eat 4 hours before performing or sleeping. During the messy tour schedule of 1974 to 1975 Karen had problems with eating (but so did the rest of the band too). Originally in 1975 Karen was diagnosed with arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat) and after tests the doctors couldn't find anything physically wrong with Karen. They offered to install a pacemaker but Karen was adamantly against being kept alive by a machine. Karen would exercise but it was to keep her heart rate up because of arrhythmia and had nothing to do with losing weight or such. Karen knew that exercising put on muscle (which was why she fired a personal trainer years back). So all that psychobabble was just that babbling. Actually, when I was around Karen, when Karen stopped exercising is when the anorexia had kicked in and Karen was trying to lose extra weight. You can't lose muscle. It was also found out that Karen was born premature and weighed 5 pounds at birth. Karen's arrhythmia was looked at as probably being some form of birth defect (brain stem, nerves to the heart and Karen had a ministroke in 1977 too and was checked out again with nothing wrong physically being found). But around early 1978 Karen started getting an odd thought in her head that would kick in after Karen started losing weight. The thought was that all little girls are attractive and little girls are straight as a board and not curvy like an adult. That was what Karen said was the thought that would keep her just losing weight. This had nothing to do with her family or such, but with Karen, herself. The thought would only happen too after Karen had been losing weight and got below 100 pounds. 'Triggers' as Karen and I called it from 1978 on but it was pretty much unknown in psychiatry / psychology back in the day. The therapists weren't even close. It was just a huge mess. About three and a half months before she passed away (November 1982), Karen and her mom had an idea that Karen would weigh herself only once a week (Friday morning) and from November 1982 until Karen passed away, February 1983, Karen weighed around 108 pounds for that last three and a half months. Karen went into the Levenkron Clinic weighing 78 pounds in January 1982 and left the clinic in September 1982 weighing 77 pounds. Karen would do horribly with therapists as they kept trying to treat an anorexic profile that Karen didn't even come close to fitting. So all these stories have been twisted to try and prove this theory of what an anorexic is supposed to be that just wasn't Karen in reality.
@@adriandowningiii8395 Thank you for sharing this. It's all so very heartbreakingly sad. RIP Karen ❤ 🙏
Karen's incredible version of the song that literally broke up the Andrews Sisters, "I Can Dream, Can't I?" is my all-time favorite. A close 2nd is "What Are You Doing New Years Eve?". But I get gleeful remembering my Irish tenor father, Jimmy, hearing her do the waaaaay more difficult iteration of "Ave Maria". "She'll NEVER HIT THAT HIGH NOTE!!!" he boasted, and sat there waiting for her to, um, screw up. And THEN, SHE NAILED IT!!! He was literally devastated that she was THAT PERFECT. I looked at him, so crestfallen, and smugly said: "Do you HONESTLY THINK they would have put a BAD RECORDING ON A CD?!!!" 🤔 😮 😡
Karen Carpenter will always have a special place in my heart, not only for her beautiful voice and talent but shortly after Karen left New York my daughter was near death with anorexia nervosa seeing Dr. Levenkron who soon ended up in the same hospital with the same nurses Karen had had. When the hospital and my daughter got word that Karen have died, my daughter hold me she was whisked down to the basement where all kinds of heart tests were done. Looking back on the sad story of Karen's life if Richard had truly loved and cared for his sister he would have supported and helped, if asked, her putting out her single record. And two, when Karen was in New York he should have been there at her side doing everything possible getting her well. Shame on you Richard.
I agree with you about Richard help Karen.
Richard could save her.
I have to agree with you! I've heard sooo many interviews that Richard has given, where he thinks he and his family did everything they could to help Karen. I'm sorry, but I just don't buy it! Richard actually said in one interview that even if Karen had never sang a single note in her life, if she had just been a normal every-day housewife, that this would still had happened to her! If that's not denial I don't know what is!
Nicholas Camp look...
Me: Randy Schmidt, please I'm wondering...Why Karen, in 1981went to NY alone? Without Richard...without her family?
Randy Schmidt: She chose to go to New York for therapy and lived with Karen Ramone. I think she knew on some level that her family was part of the problem. Also, they didn’t really support her in this move.
Me: So sad...I mean, Karen looks like an skeleton, literally, and leave her to fly to NY alone in that condition.But like you say, also was her own decision. I think of this another proof of the siblings closer relationship break off. I'm not saying that both would be fighted. But for me, It's too obviuos she never trust to Richard never again. Maybe I'm wrong...I don't know.
Randy Schmidt: The animosity is very obvious when you watch them on GOOD MORNING AMERICA, which was taped around the same time. The looks they give each other speak volumes about what was really going on between the two.
Nicholas Camp You really are ignorant, Nicholas Camp!
Voice of angel -i love them -
Thank you Randy for writing the book and all the research you done I read the book it was really nice even though in the end I knew how I was going to turn out which made me a little sad or a lot sad I'm kind of like you I found out about the Carpenters later on in life a lot later on only a few years ago but once you discover their music there's no turning back thank you God bless stay safe bye
Cont: Karen was HAPPY beyond words! She never would have even dated Burris if involved with Solo Album & Shows & becoming her own Woman, while Richard took off 1979. Then 2nd Meteoric Rise "CARPENTERS" Together Again! How Sad it never happened while she was still with us.
I Love Karen Her Music was so Great!! S he e is very Missed.
Here's a link to the entire audio book. 11 1/2 hours. It is EXCELLENT. Average length of each chapter is about 45 minutes each, 17 chapters. It's only flaw is the last 6 1/2 minutes of the epilogue are missing. But still well worth the listening. ruclips.net/video/hAXSOabO8AM/видео.html
I need to read this. I always found the parents and Richard to be creepy as hell. They reeked of denial and dysfunction.
As Pamela's V Log Central says, the family did not deserve Karen, neither Richard, nor Agnes, nor even Harold. The father is said to have been a sweetheart. If that means he was a warm-hearted man, then why wouldn't he have stood up for Karen? If I had been in his shoes, I would have even killed Agnes in order to keep Karen mentally sane. The whole family killed Karen. And the rest of the world, including myself maybe, is collectively responsible for her tragic demise. Why? It's society's system that drove her to her drastic lifestyle, which eventually killed her. If so, the whole world, including me and everyone else, is collectively responsible. It is not only Karen's family that did not deserve her. It is the whole world, far beneath her, that was not worthy of her.
No offense but you're full of crap. Karen's family loved her. So they were a bit dysfunctional. All families are. The bottom line is Karen was mentally ill and wouldn't help herself or let anybody else help her.
Hi Ghosty! My friend (Norm from Flushing) is an avid listener of your WFDU radio show, and every Tuesday when we go food shopping, he plays segments he's recorded. Being a Carpenters fan, the RUclips algorithm recommended this interview, and the moment it began, I recognized your quintessential radio voice. Thanks for this upload. Be well. JK
I’ll always love her music and singing, but my mom always thought she was stuck up ! This goes to show, never judge a book by its cover,you may be surprised.
Beautiful singer, sad that she’s gone
Love The Carpenters forever
I will just add that Richard and Karen's mother were the Lion's Share 2 Karen's problems. Not just some reviewer they called her cherubic. Had Richard not worked her to the breaking point and then put the no no on her record it must have been a real blow. Finally, her mom said she had to get married even though she found out that the man was a scoundrel. What loving mother would do that? Right shame on them.
I blame Karen's mother more than any other factor. she said I did not kill my Daughter. yeah right. and the pope 's not catholic.
I was aghast when I read that Agnes told Karen, “You’ve made your bed, you have to lie in it,” after Karen learned about Tom’s vasectomy and wanted to cancel the wedding at the last minute.
Despite any embarrassment, it’s much better to cancel a wedding under such circumstances than to limp through a brief miserable “marriage” and a protracted divorce.
LeslieGMN: my feelings exactly
I was there in real time. It cracks me up that people were in the closet with respect to liking the Carpenters.. I however, blasted Karen vocals on my phonograph anyways. I wasn't insecure about loving the Carpenters. Great music is great music. Insecure people wouldn't admit to liking the Carpenters.
They should have allowed her to play the drums.
Back in the '70's you were considered a geek for liking The Carpenters.
Clare Casey Very true (I was there!), yet those music snobs didn’t change the radio dial when the Carpenters came on, I noted with amusement.
I rather be a geek than listening to those who think they could sing. 😎
Yep...and Captain and Tenille
Who is the interviewer?? Excellent radio voice
You want to see other people happy... because you really can't be, for some sad reason...😳
But it also means you're really nice...💖
Read this book fantastic
The Carpenters were born 30 years too early.
The Woodstock generation brush them off as squeaky-clean and goody two shoes.
Today's music scene is much more open to different sounds and the Carpenters would def stand out.
And Karen would be celebrated for her almost conversational-like unique voice.
I actually think their story could be made into a major movie for theater release, Richard is not pursuing this with the vigor that he should.
He might be pleasantly surprised at the level of interest in his and Karen's life story if he only pursue this further.
They still have a lot of fans out there dying to watch their story reach the big screen.
I looked up the 1970's music and the Carpenters are pretty much glossed over. Its like they want people to believe they didn't exist. I was never a rock and roll enthusiast and much of it I hated. The Carpenters got me through many rocky years!
OH KAREN...........if I had only really listened in 1970......I did but it distracted me from my NEW crush on ......LED ZEPPLIN !!!!! No disrespect to the ZEPP.......but GIRL......you had it ALL going on !!!!!!
Order my copy yesterday
In the 16th and 17th century 32 was getting pretty old. Few people made it to60, and 40-50 was the average life expectancy.
Her husband didn't tell her he got his tube tied...thats effed up. I can understand her being pissed.
I just wanted to tell you, Mr. Schmidt, that I disapprove of you taking a group of people into the Carpenter's house and rummaging through their private property. I was raised to respect other people's privacy, no matter who they were in life. If I wasn't invited, I didn't belong. Sitting in chairs, messing with stereo equipment, touching pictures and other items, asking to see that room, was very disturbing and unsettling for anyone to observe. I pray that Evelyn wasn't aware of this spectacle of yours. This would definitely upset her. Just because you wrote a book about Karen's life, doesn't mean you have the right to take a group of people and invade her privacy. I was even very alarmed and disgusted by seeing you to allow people to sit in her car. Yes, I know that Richard sold the house, but this was wrong. Have some respect for other people's privacy for now on! You're letting instant fame to go to your head, Sir. 😎
Is it weird that (he’s my music teacher at my school so I’m just going to call him Mr. Schmidt) Mr. Schmidt is my MUSIC TEACHER at my school!?
I wonder what religion Karen and Richard were brought up in as young children . And what was Karen's beliefs up till she died ?
@Stephen - Methodist / Baptist (Christian). As far as Karen's beliefs, I know that but RUclips wouldn't allow such a large post. Anything specific?
her solo album was a turkey, but it wasn't her fault, she was sand bagged by Ramone, probably at the request of the AM records and Richard.
Her family pushed her into that failed marriage, probably to keep her down and more controllable.
Karen was never allowed to grow up, I don't blame Richard, not really, he was very young at the time too.
Her death while glamorized to this day was a simple suicide, she could never find her way out of that fish bowl.
We're just beginning to catch up to her vocal, musical talents and abilities, actually no, she was so far ahead, there's always something new to hear while listening to her records, to this very day, and beyond
Her family was screwed. They looked down on Karen because Richard was such a master on the piano. They moved to Cali for Richards future. Her mother still favors Richard when she speaks.
+hosshoss I disagree with you on 2 points, her solo album was not as you put it a "turkey", for the first time in her life she wanted to do something on her own, make it her own, she mostly sang in her higher register which we were not used to, that album had at least 2-3 hits on it if only she was supported by people she loved, all that album needed was a bit of tweaking. The second and most important point I disagree with, is that Karen did NOT commit suicide, where did you get that from? Do you understand the disease Anorexia Nervosa? The only thing she could control in her life was her body, am wondering if you read Randy's book, it's all there.
hosshoss777 Wow ! Just loved everything you said!
hosshoss777 Suicide???!!! Are you serious???!!! Karen was a very ill. She had Anorexia Nervosa. Read about this disease, first. She wanted to cured, because she loves the life and she wanted to live.
newvillefan no matter what, starvation, is slow form of suicide. Nothing agsinst Karen, i love her, but facts are facts
Sad some how I thought this book was her words....it is not...I was going to buy it ... it's just another book by someone else writing what they think of someone else's life no thank you!
...I was around back then and I didn't word the carpenters met him on several occasions they were skewered by DJs ragmags et Cetera
She did not have to marry she was a grown woman with a mind of herown
I've heard her solo album. It wasn't that good. Not because of her voice, it was the material she was given. For instance the RC produced music is memorable, it has harmony, lyrics you can sing and remember for a lifetime. Karen's solo album had none of that. There was not one memorable song on the album. Nothing you really wanted to play back, sing along with. When the album was over there just was not one song or tune that stuck in your head and wanted hum. Like I said she was given bad material to work with. If she were to release it, it would be a downgrade from previous work. Richard and A&M new this. Karen took the criticism the wrong way.
podem me informar se este livro foi publicado em portugues
Vou me informar também para mm , qualquer coisa te informo !
poor karen's family was crazy. Her mom a narcissist and her brother married his first cousin! bunch of loons. poor gal.
Kristina, clearly you DO care or you wouldn’t have posted that lengthy demented remark within seconds of mine.
The interviewer's cheesy 70's d.j. voice, gets annoying after a while!
I think he's great.
Seriously, anything just to make a profit! Using Karen all over again. So sad 😎
With her voice Karen could have made it on her own, without Richards creativity. She carried him to fame. After her passing Richard faded back, unless he was honoring her work. The guy was a nerdy sourpuss
Shame on Agnes
I am trying to underatand what do people see in her voice. I have binged documentaries and music videos, and I still don't see where all the praise comes from. Maybe she is an acquired taste.
An acquired taste. The emotional tones matching the lyrical content. Singing a sad song sad and a happy song happy. But oh so sad and oh so happy. That little extra. The resonance as well as Karen's vibrato was natural and not 'forced' or 'trained'. That voice of hers makes you feel like she is sitting right there singing directly at you and to you for most people. Clarity (you can hear the words she sings) and diction (you can understand the words she sings). Most singers highlight their voice whereas Karen's voice highlights the listener and the feeling of the song and the lyrics. But also the instrumentation helps bring more feeling to the songs as well. It's not all just Karen's voice in a Carpenters' song. Carpenters music has a more personal feel to it like someone is singing and playing just for you instead of someone just trying to make a couple bucks selling records. Some songs to try - Rainy Days and Mondays (sad), Only Yesterday (happy, upbeat), Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft (spacey, other worldly), Touch Me When We're Dancing (soft and cuddly), Superstar (sad, yearning for someone), We've Only Just Begun (wedding / funeral music depending on how you want to look at it) and more...
Listen to how she Ava Maria, beautiful! Her range of going high then low not too many singers have the vocal range that she had.
What ???? That is a voice in a life time -i love her -
@@karendelcher6256 i don't know... Always found her songs generic and depressing...
She was banned from my choir repertoire, and thanks goodness.
Get your ears checked.