Remembering Karen Carpenter in 2015

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Rick-An Ordinary Fool

Rick-An Ordinary Fool

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As the anniversary of Karen's death approaches once again, I thought it would be nice to share how we feel, our memories from all these years and what Karen's voice and the Carpenters music has meant to you. It's hard to believe it's been 32 years and I just realized this anniversary falls on the same number of years (32) that she actually lived. Her voice will never be replaced or forgotten.

If I ever visit California again, I'd like to visit her resting place....I saw this video someone made of her resting place in Westlake Village, CA. The small bridge and water cascading remind me of their gardens at the Newville Home.

Sometimes when I play my favorite Carpenters track and hear Karen it's like she never left, her voice is so intimate I can close my eyes with headphones and she is still here giving me goosebumps with her buttery smooth vocals and warmth that provides at times a security that I have needed all these years. Then just as the song says...At the end of the song....there's no one...after the last note is played...only the memory stays then even that fades away.....sometimes I can get so into her vocals that I don't want the song to end....yet for me the memory will never fade of why I fell in love with her voice and their music....she will always have a voice that touches my heart.

 
Lovely post Chris, I too am remembering Karen today. I only ever got to visit her previous resting place in Forest Lawns (twice actually), which was a very moving experience as a long time fan. To think she was really in there was very surreal. I touched the gold lettering of her name on the marble and left her a single red rose. If I ever get the chance to visit California again I would definitely take a trip up to Westlake Village to visit her again, as well as all the other Carpenters-related sites.
 
Lovely to read your thoughts and memories, Chris and Stephen.
I'm so glad that our love for Karen and the Carpenters connects us all. It's hard to believe it's been 32 years since she left, but for all of her fans who love her, she continues to be a part of our lives. What a testament to her unique and incredible talent, and warmth as a person. She's brought so much joy and comfort for so many years. She truly lives on with us all. The Carpenters are part of our lives as we continue to make memories with the music that seemed to be channeled straight from heaven.
Here is a special tribute collage image I put together for today's anniversary. Thank you friends, and thank you Karen! We'll always love you and miss you.
ChrisFeb4tributep.jpg
 
(First of all, Chris, what a pretty photo of Karen in the grey suit. I've never seen this one. At least not in color.)

I must admit, not only have I not been to her resting place, I have mixed feelings about going. Maybe one day.

Even after all these years, I instantly recognize her voice when I hear it.
Admittedly, I do not listen to the Carpenters very often anymore, (perhaps a few songs or an album a month!) but they are still my favorite recording artists of all time. (Now that I think about it, I really don't listen to much of anyone anymore except in the car. Then it's either Christian worship music or my Pimsler discs as I'm trying to learn a foreign language.)

I will tell you that writing my article reviewing As Time Goes By had a huge impact on me. Sadness about her loss I hadn't felt in quite awhile.

The songbook of my life has plenty of Karen in it, with Hush and Made in America being out among some of my happiest times.
So for now, I will just say "Thank you, Karen, for sharing your gift with us! Rest in Peace."
 
I've got to say that the news of Karen's death thirty-two years ago was more tragic and traumatic for me as a music fan than any of the more "lurid" music industry deaths (Hendrix, Joplin, Morrison) had been. There was a way to accept the others as somehow inevitable, given the "lifestyle choices" that seemed necessary accompaniments to being a "rock star." That wasn't possible with Karen. She embodied the contradictions that live together in great art/artistry: depth of emotion conveyed with deceptively artless ease. The reason so many of us are still here, still thinking about her, still listening to her, is that there was literally no one like her, before or since. And her talent was timeless in two senses: one, her performances have/will stood the test of time; two, her gifts would have continued to evolve and would have been just as viable in 2014 as they were in 1969-1982.

No one's voice has ever spoken to me like Karen's. While I admire many others, she's the one, the ne plus ultra, the singular intermingling of sadness and joy. Every song she sang was that much better for having had her sing it, and every song she sang she made her own.
 
Great post Chris, and everyone. Karen's voice to me got me through what I then considered a rough childhood. Her voice could soothe and take me to another place. It's as if she understood and was my friend. I cherished the newsletters, got every 45 rpm single and album the day it was released and called every radio station in town to promote Karen and Richard.
Her death on February 4, 1983 hit me like nothing else ever had. I was shocked devastated and truly grieving! I was somehow in the right place at the right time to attend the funeral in Downey, even getting into the main church choir loft by an usher who was crying by the back door and let me in.
To this day I still miss her. And want to know every detail about her life (even though I fully realize it's none of my business). I want to hear every song that she ever recorded. With the Carpenters. And solo with Phil Ramone.
Part of that always wanting more of Karen is to keep her legacy and music alive in me...and part of it is still me, after 32 years, not accepting her death.
I will always love Karen Carpenter and cherish the memories her music and life story has given me.
 
Great comments from everyone. You've all hit the nail on the head. Karen was a once in a lifetime person with a once in a lifetime voice.

This is such a sad anniversary each and every year. I remember that awful day so clearly, it might as well have happened yesterday. But, as Phil Ramone stated so eloquently, she is looking down with a smile.
 
Hard to know what to say after a number of years of posting on forums like this one on anniversaries...

I don't recall hearing about Karen's death at the time and the Carpenters weren't on my radar really. I would have been nine-years-old when Karen passed on and I don't think I heard a track of theirs until around 1988-89 or so and then I remember hearing "Yesterday Once More" coming out of the speakers of my dad's car radio around that time, as I cleaned it on a Saturday afternoon. I remember quite clearly a tingly feeling and thinking that the singer had an amazing voice and that it didn't seem to come from someone that was still with us.

I got the vibe by just hearing the voice that she had already died. I don't know why I felt so certain and without the internet, I couldn't just look up the answer.

As strange as it may seem, it wasn't until I saw the film "The Karen Carpenter Story" that I had definite confirmation that Karen had died. I remember watching that film hoping that there would be a happy ending. Sadly, as we all know, there wasn't.

Thankfully, as well as the music, we have forums such as this one so we can connect and remember together.

I'm also extremely fortunate that Karen appears in my dreams from time to time.
 
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I have mentioned so many times the moment I heard the news.... I was at work - and literally had to leave the room to break down... Such a shock - such a tragedy.... and one that frankly - after 32 years - I doubt I'll ever fully absorb...

Chris and others, your thoughts are so eloquent and mirror so many of mine - I have very little to add, except the tenor of what I had mentioned to Rode Ode just now in a reply to his message....

Today - this year on February 4th, I'll try to work on appreciation more than grief... Gratitude, more than the sorrow... Thankfulness that we had this group, these arrangements, this soulful songstress' - grace & beauty & talent.... And that she was able to share with us for the time she had....

There was a message that was inscribed on the inside cover of their concert program from the mid 70's.... featuring a photograph of all their albums...

So much - by so few - for so many....

How true.

Thank you for the music, Karen....
 
It's hard to believe that 32 years have passed since that fateful day. I still remember it like it was yesterday...

I've been wracking my brain trying to think of something to say... expressing myself in words has never been my strong suit, but here goes...

I first heard Karen Carpenter's voice - "Close To You" coming through a little AM transistor radio when I was 8 years old. Little could I have imagined then that that voice would become as important a part of my life as it would. I had the good fortune of growing up at a time when there was an abundance of great music, and unique voices on mainstream radio - I had many favourites, but good as they were, and as much as I enjoyed listening to them, there was something about Karen's voice that stood out, that made her the cream of this very talented crop. Her voice was beautiful, effortless, intimate, and comforting - like a warm blanket on a cold day, or a hug from an old friend - a guilty pleasure, like smooth dark chocolate - a sonic refuge at times when the world got a little too tough - a ray of light that cut through the darkness - a balm for the troubled soul.

Although she left us far too soon, I thank God for sharing her with us for as long as He did! Rest well Karen... may your echo linger forever!
 
mstaft said:
I posted something on my blog today with a few pictures I hand't seen:
http://insightsandsounds.blogspot.com/2015/02/richard-carpenter-continues-on.html

I also listened to Voice of the Heart. Seemed fitting- then I had to turn off the music.
Click to expand...

Mark, I am finally winding down after a long day and I have headphones on and listening to Voice of the Heart....one of my favorite albums, reading these lovely comments now...what a perfect way to end this remembrance day in my opinion. What an amazing voice she had, this album still tugs at my heartstrings....:love:
 
What can I say? I will love her and her most unique voice for as long as I shall live and even after I'm gone. Meeting her in Heaven is actually something I look forward to. I want to tell her what joy she brought to my life through her song and her life. I listen to her when I'm happy, when I'm sad, when I'm anxious, and when I'm calm. Not a day goes by that I don't listen to something of hers. For as much as I love music, I don't think I was ever able to fully express my feelings until I fully appreciated Karen. Her voice and its timbre, its depth, its range, its mood, its heartache, its joy is the voice that soothes my soul. She was, is, and always will be the greatest. And I'm thankful that I get it for it would be a waste not to appreciate one of God's most special creations. Today is sad…always. And I think everyday how different things could have been had she lived. Her story always ends before I want it to, and sadly, it always will. It's easy to get caught up in the heartache of what happened to her. Today especially. But so long as we all love her and share her with others, she will always be with us in her music and in our hearts and in the hearts of her family and friends.

RIP Beautiful Woman. Thank you for what you life has meant to me.
 
I have listened to live recordings I happen to have:

Carnegie Hall; 1971
Australia, 1972
Tokyo, 1974

Plus, I listened to Horizon.

More to come.
 
First, let me give my appreciation and kudos to all the eloquent tributes that have preceded my words (and perhaps to those who will follow mine). I had to allow the entire day (Feb 4th) to play out before I could join this discussion. You see, on the evening of February 4, 2015, I was with one of Karen's best friends... Well, to be specific, I attended a concert in Clearwater, Florida put on by Olivia Newton-John---my first time seeing her in concert. (I know that pleases Chris, an Ordinary Fool, among others.) So it was Olivia, a few hundred others, and me... I had hoped that she might make mention of Karen and maybe even sing a Carpenters' song (she has recorded "Rainy Days and Mondays," for instance). But that wasn't to be. Still, Olivia put on a great show.

Every year as the date of February 4th approaches, I grow restless and my heart is heavy. After all this time, the ironic thing is that, while Karen's voice has always comforted me, this date brings me in need of comfort yet again. When things in middle school and high school were close to unbearable for me, I played Karen and I was comforted. After high school graduation, as I was coming out of my shell and becoming my own person, I was comforted (and enthralled) by Horizon and (like mstaft) A Kind of Hush. As later Carpenters' music was released and then those after 1983 were made available, I was ecstatic, and I was comforted. So on February 4, 2015, I had to hear Karen's beautiful voice (as BarryT60 says, "to work on appreciation more than grief"): I played a CD I compiled of my top 21 Carpenters' songs; I sang along. I smiled, and I was comforted. I read the other tributes here. I smiled, and I was comforted...
 
Jamesj75 said:
First, let me give my appreciation and kudos to all the eloquent tributes that have preceded my words (and perhaps to those who will follow mine). I had to allow the entire day (Feb 4th) to play out before I could join this discussion. You see, on the evening of February 4, 2015, I was with one of Karen's best friends... Well, to be specific, I attended a concert in Clearwater, Florida put on by Olivia Newton-John---my first time seeing her in concert. (I know that pleases Chris, an Ordinary Fool, among others.) So it was Olivia, a few hundred others, and me... I had hoped that she might make mention of Karen and maybe even sing a Carpenters' song (she has recorded "Rainy Days and Mondays," for instance). But that wasn't to be. Still, Olivia put on a great show.

Every year as the date of February 4th approaches, I grow restless and my heart is heavy. After all this time, the ironic thing is that, while Karen's voice has always comforted me, this date brings me in need of comfort yet again. When things in middle school and high school were close to unbearable for me, I played Karen and I was comforted. After high school graduation, as I was coming out of my shell and becoming my own person, I was comforted (and enthralled) by Horizon and (like mstaft) A Kind of Hush. As later Carpenters' music was released and then those after 1983 were made available, I was ecstatic, and I was comforted. So on February 4, 2015, I had to hear Karen's beautiful voice (as BarryT60 says, "to work on appreciation more than grief"): I played a CD I compiled of my top 21 Carpenters' songs; I sang along. I smiled, and I was comforted. I read the other tributes here. I smiled, and I was comforted...
Click to expand...
James, you always present yourself with such great depth of feeling. I can sympathize with the kind comforting tone of her sultry voice and how she inadvertently became a close friend who always knew just what to say or sing to make you feel better. You were fortunate to see Olivia tonight. She is a great treat for the soul too. Be well my friend and know on this night we are all have one heart; albeit a broken one, but collective one, nonetheless.
 
Passage_Ta_C said:
James, you always present yourself with such great depth of feeling. I can sympathize with the kind comforting tone of her sultry voice and how she inadvertently became a close friend who always knew just what to say or sing to make you feel better. You were fortunate to see Olivia tonight. She is a great treat for the soul too. Be well my friend and know on this night we are all have one heart; albeit a broken one, but collective one, nonetheless.
Click to expand...
A broken heart is better than no heart!
 
I am so appreciative of others here, and again I am comforted...

djn said:
O hell, I think I love u guys...
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Jeff, you so often move me by what you write (sometimes so heartfelt, other times so humorous). Thank you!

Passage_Ta_C said:
Be well my friend and know on this night we are all have one heart; albeit a broken one, but collective one, nonetheless.
Click to expand...
Tracey, thank you for your kind and generous words! The "collective heart" you mention is a satisfying and uniting image. You also move me, Friend!
 
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