Carpenters Covers

[WYBIMLA]

What are some of your favourite covers of Carpenters songs? They could be from a signed artist or even someone you saw on youtube (instrumental or karaoke). And they can pre-date when the Carpenters did it too. Also, have you done any covers of their songs yourself? If not which song(s) do you/would like to sing?

Forgive the rambling...
I'm hoping out of this that maybe someone will introduce me to a cover I haven't seen before that I may like.

To start, I like hearing Perry Como (We've only just begun, For all we know, Bless the beats and the children, and A kind of hush), Dionne warwick (Close to you, Bacharach tunes), Nat "King" cole (Don't get around much anymore, When I fall in love), and Ella Fitzgerald (Medley) doing their take on those old songs.

I have heard and liked he original "Calling Occupants" (klaatu) and "Touch me when we're dancing" (bama). I like Alabama's too.
Hmm when it comes to the Beatles though... that's a tough call. You can't really compare "Ticket to ride", "Nowhere man", and "Help". I won't go there.

I haven't really seen or heard much covers on Carpenters original songs though. Nothing comes to mind right away. I've heard an instrumental by John Fox I found on iTunes of "Those good old dreams" which was kind of nice to hear it a bit differently.

I know this one's opening a can of worms, but the "If I were a Carpenter" album... I'm not really a fan of it. It doesn't ruin the songs, but it doesn't really do much for them either imo. It is respectful and tasteful, yet just doesn't do much for me. It's certainly better than "Wing sings the Carpenters" though. ugh

I've seen some nice singing here and there like on "Celebrating the Carpenters" or occasionally on "American Idol" or what have you and I've heard some of the KC "sound-a-likes", but of course nobody comes close to Karen... I know that's not the intent Lol People can do their own rendition, and some do a nice job. What I am saying is I'm probably a bit bias because I am a fan. Many artists have done a song like "A song for you" for example, but to me anyways Karen's is something else. Many times Carpenters just got it right (for lack of a better way of saying it), and you can't really top that. They have the definitive version on some of those songs... I guess most of the time I have a special place in my heart for KC and RC's versions, but I can enjoy others doing them too...

I won't post them here, but I have done some videos singing a cappella and doing karaoke just for fun.
Some turned out better than others. Overall they're not that great quality or anything.
I've sung: Somebody's been lyin', Something in your eyes, A song for you (karaoke), I need to be in love (karaoke), Strength of a woman, Prime time love, Love me for what I am, and The uninvited guest.
I had a recording where I was doing "Back in my life again" which was fun, but I no longer have that file.

I don't know why I made some of those choices exactly. Some of them were more suitable for my voice I found or I thought it'd be interesting to try.

And when I've gone out for karaoke I've sang: "Rainbow connection", "Because we are in love", "I need to be in love", "A song for you", "Rainydays and mondays", "Calling occupants", "Superstar", "Goodbye to love", "I won't last a day without you", "Touch me when we're dancing". I'm not saying I did them well, but I have sung those before and there's certain ones I'd rather do over others. Sometimes I know I'm not even in key, but hope it's relatively listenable. The reception I've got is okay for having done them. I think people like the more upbeat songs though. I've heard other people do "Top of the world" or "Sing" out in public where I am at. For the slower, darker ones to an extent they're not as widely received for some reason in that setting.

 

[song4u]

Not exactly a "Carpenters" song, but I've always liked Claire dela Fuente's version of this Richard Carpenter, Dusty Springfield song.

 

[Jamesj75]

Great topic, WYBIMLA! And welcome!

You "cover" a lot of territory here, and I'd like to address a few points: First, anytime someone is doing a tribute to Karen and Richard, I am a fan, although any comparison to Karen's voice is going to come up short. I do like most of the performances on If I Were a Carpenter, particularly "It's Going to Take Some Time" by Dishwalla. Most artists on that CD, including Dishwalla, attempted to put a different spin on Carpenters' songs. So they weren't trying to emulate Karen's voice per se, but the respect and admiration were clearly intended.

I think it's cool that you have sung Carpenters' songs a cappella, recorded videos, and sung Carpenters' songs at karaoke clubs! As a long-time karaoke enthusiast, I have also performed Carpenters songs at such clubs. So you and I are in an exclusive club, so to speak (males who have performed Carpenters' songs in public). --- I'm sure there is a support group somewhere.

I think people like the more upbeat songs though. I've heard other people do "Top of the world" or "Sing" out in public where I am at. For the slower, darker ones to an extent they're not as widely received for some reason in that setting.

What you say about karaoke clubs is exactly right. I could speak to this for paragraphs, but here is my condensed analysis, based on what I've seen and experienced:

• Club crowds tend to prefer upbeat, party songs: e.g., "Sweet Caroline," "Brown-Eyed Girl," "Margaritaville," "Love Shack," "Friends in Low Places."
• Club crowds are not so impressed with someone who does a slow, emotional song, particularly if it's a man, even if on key.
• Club crowds tend to enjoy hearing/watching a pretty young thing (female or male) on stage, regardless of talent.
• Club crowds don't mind a drunk or rowdy singer, but they don't like a show-off, no matter how talented.
• The aim of such entertainment is having fun, more than anything.

So, even though I might prefer a different set of rules for club crowds, I have tried to enjoy myself: and having fun is important. Whether I am alone or hosting friends for a karaoke party, I simply love to sing: (1) I enjoy singing Carpenters' songs because they are my favorites (by far). (2) I learned to sing while trying to sing along with Karen on the radio, so those songs are most familiar to me. ("Those were such happy times.") (3) I revel in singing songs I truly enjoy, no matter if they are the "slower, darker ones" to which you alluded.

WYBIMLA, your passion and enjoyment for singing are evident and admirable. I could throw in a line here from "Sing," but that would be overkill... (or did I already cross that line?) Enjoy yourself!

 

[Someday]

A couple of mine here, if anyone's interested:

www.soundcloud.com/leeingrammusic

 

[WYBIMLA]

At first I didn't like Claire dela Fuente's singing "Something in your eyes" cause I thought it was too "accent heavy" or something, but it isn't. She does a nice job! I'm not saying accents are a bad thing either. It's nice to see Richard in that video seeming to enjoy himself. He has the same level of enjoyment almost as when he was working with Dusty.
Akiko Kobayashi is an example of audible accent in song. I saw a video of her singing "Superstar", "Raindays and Mondays", and "Goodbye to love"... I'm not sure how I feel about that though. It's bitter sweet I find. I just have to find the link if you're interested in that.



Thank you very much James! Yes, I did "cover" a lot. haha
For the respect and admiration I can appreciate "If I were a Carpenter".
I am glad you think it's cool. Lol Just doing my part as a fan I guess. It's a celebration of their music to sing their songs.
I'm glad to see a karaoke enthusiast here there probably is a support group somewhere for males performing Carpenters in public. haha That's funny.
I like your analysis. Yup even if you're doing the song justice ...if it's slow and emotional it's not received as well. It's all in the name of fun too. That's important to remember.
I would actually credit Karen for being the reason I started singing at all. She made it sound so simple and inviting. Like it's contagious or something.

And nice work lee! He sing's "Eve" and "I have you". Also, "It's impossible" which Karen sang that briefly on the "As time goes by" album.
It's always interesting to hear projects from fans.

 

[song4u]

Also, "It's impossible" which Karen sang that briefly

I adored Karen's brief "It's Impossible". I so would have loved a collection of old standards sung by Karen and arranged by Richard. But I'm very glad we have what we do.

I like Akiko Kobayashi's voice very much. But I prefer Claire dela Fuente's rich, full alto. There was also a French Canadian singer Richard performed with whose name I don't recall.

I apologize for going off topic here!

Keiko Toge has a beautiful voice as well. Richard seemed choked up at the end when Keiko began crying with emotion. Got me teary eyed too. Nice cover . . .

 

[WYBIMLA]

^That's sad at the end of that video.

The French Canadian singer's name is Veronique Beliveau. Although once again this one's not really a Carpenters song. Still nice though.

 

[song4u]

I appreciate that it's difficult for Asian speaking singers in particular to pronounce English lyrics properly. I wouldn't want to sing Japanese lyrics in front of Japanese speaking people because I'd likely mangle it. But Keiko and Akiko obviously worked very hard at it. Akiko and Keiko were also both very brave to tackle songs Karen had recorded.

If you haven't yet listened to Harriet (new singer in London, England) you may want to. She has refrained from covering Carpenters songs as of yet, but wrote and recorded a song about the similarities of her own voice to Karen's "What's Mine is Yours".
FYI: Some of us are following her in the Small Group of Friends music forum.

 

[WYBIMLA]

I never thought of it like that. I wouldn't want to speak Japanese in front of an Asian audience in Japan cause I'd mangle it too.

It's nice to see that when you type in something basic like "Carpenters covers" on youtube there's pages of people all over the world singing their songs.
I haven't watched them all of course. Lol But, it's quite something how they still really mean a lot to people evidently. Their music continues to impact people and younger generations. I'm 23 and I've listened to Carpenters for about ten years now. To me they were something real special. Classy, sophisticated. With some image problems, but I'm sure they'll always be known as a nice duo and decent people. I'm just glad to be a fan. Carpentersland makes me happy.

 

[newvillefan]

It's nice to see that when you type in something basic like "Carpenters covers" on youtube there's pages of people all over the world singing their songs.
I haven't watched them all of course. Lol But, it's quite something how they still really mean a lot to people evidently. Their music continues to impact people and younger generations.

What's lovely is that you find people on youtube performing songs like 'The Uninvited Guest' and other rare album tracks that the general public would never know. Which proves that younger fans are really going into their back catalogue and enjoying these tracks. I love that.

 

[WYBIMLA]

Well... I wasn't going to do this cause I thought it would be tacky or egoistic, but I thought about it some more and what the hey I'll leave a link to some of my singing here. Obviously, if you check it out you don't have to watch the entire playlist. You can pick and choose, but all my Carpenters related shenanigans are there. It's up for now. I don't know if it always will be. In time I might feel differently about it being left public. Lol They're not the best quality and some have sound issues, but what can you do? That's how it turned out. I know I'm not the best singer there ever was. You can let me know what you think if you want. It's all in the name of fun and love for The Carpenters music. I got a bunch of other songs I tried out as well on that channel if you're interested. Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQv65RXjDrkvDQmUXyjO638iUI_ciE5Yh

 

[BGW]

I just got a George Jackson CD recently as a birthday gift, and I was pleasantly surprised to find a cover of We've Only Just Begun at the end. It's very different, but I actually like it. It's the first non-Carpenters version I've enjoyed.





"Also, "It's impossible" which Karen sang that briefly" Woof! I agree completely. That little snippet makes me shiver.

 

[Harry]

Mine tend to come from the A&M stable of artists. Here's one that was held back, not released for years, so that Herb could let Carpenters do it:



Harry

 

[Harry]

Here's one by the songwriter - Roger Nichols and his Small Circle Of Friends doing "I Kept On Loving You"



Harry

 

[mr J.]

Carpenters Covers:
Astrud Gilberto For All We Know
Shirley Bassey Someday
Anita O'Day A Song For You
Janis Siegel(Manhattan Transfer) Crescent Noon
Cheryl Bentyne(Manhattan Transfer) Close To You
Ella Fitzgerald Ordinary Fool
Mel Torme Ordinary Fool
George Benson This Masquerade

 

[GaryAlan]

Have I mentioned this One ? Lorrie Morgan from 1984:
Lorrie Morgan -- I Need To Be In Love

 

[GaryAlan]

Carpenters Medley - Dana Winner

 

[WYBIMLA]

Hey, fellow 'Carperologists'/Fans!

I thought you guys might be able to appreciate this video I made last month.
I'm aware it can be annoying sometimes when people do this, so if you do check it out then that's great thank you!