CARPENTERS: Q&A, Ep. 4: A Conversation with Gayle Levant & Earle Dumler

[@whitsundaydreaming]

Oh my lord, I remember reading those harp credits 50 years ago. I never dreamed I’d get to see and hear these amazing artists.

[@denisej4813]

I remember seeing Gayle Levant's name on the musical credits for the ABC series "Lost" and the name rang a bell. I checked back in my record collection and realised that I had seen her name on various Carpenters' albums. I loved the Carpenters from back in the early 1970's, when it really wasn't at all cool to be a fan of theirs (or at least to admit to being a fan). Then, in the mid-2000's, I became a huge fan of "Lost", a series which has seemed to divide opinion more than most TV shows. I particularly love and admire Michael Giaccchino's glorious score, and I think it's wonderful that Gayle is the musical thread that binds together two very different cultural phenomena that mean so much to me, both of which I have had to defend to nay-sayers at various times. What a career she has had!

[@SayItAintSo4real]

What a wonderful interview. Thank you! Edited: 2022.11.05: I just watched it again and still got so much out of this beautiful interview. I was one of the fans who came to Thousand Oaks for the Carpenters 50th Anniversary, and I had the wonderful privilege of meeting you after the long table event in the banquet room when all of the special quests were sharing your wonderful stories and memories of Karen & Richard and working with them. You all are such wonderful, kind, loving, and musically brilliant people. And it is true that your music is the soundtrack of my life with all the records and artists you've played with. Idk if either of you will read this, Chris probably will, but thank you all so much. Love, love, love, thankfulness, and gratitude to all of you. I especially love hearing about how dear Karen was. We miss her. The world misses her. And I can't imagine how it is for Richard. They were two peas in a pod. When she passed, it changed him. Bless him. I'm thankful to have met him, too, three different times. I had hoped he and Mary would come, but I honestly wonder if it was just going to be way too emotional for him. He lost his best friend, who truly understood him. Anyway. I'm sure I'll watch this interview several more times. It is lovely. And bless your precious furbaby, Gayle. Sweet baby. Ooh that tale gave me a good laugh. Blessings to all of you always... 🤗❤🤗❤🤗❤

[@MBSprinter]

Chris this is an absolute treasure! Thank you!

[@abbett]

Thank you for this! Nice to see these two come to life. Loved hearing the Barbra stories, too. ❤

[@diamondsmusic6413]

this was so wonderful. I wanted it to last 2 more hours!!!!!

[@TheDanMan01]

Funny that you mention David Foster. I always felt that Richard and David was kind of like kindred spirits. I love the way they arrange their music.

[@carpentershub1726]

A great interview, Chris! It’s nice to hear from those who worked with Richard and Karen. It provides so much insight into what was involved in the Carpenters’ work.

[@larrylangdon6943]

Great interview. I believe Gayle pondered on something I would really like to know and if you could get Richard's comment it would be great. Why was it that he never did any work outside of The Carpenters. He did work with some other artists but I think he had such a knowledge of music and a masterful way with it, it seems to be a loss.

[@gabrielofficial7859]

love this Interview 🎉

[@ToriHolub]

This was awesome!! Incredible pictures at the end too!

[@RitaSora]

I love this interview so much.Thank You for doing this! I heard them speak of Earle and I always wondered what he and Gayle's thoughts were on working with Karen and Richard.I use to read the liner notes of my sisters Carpenters albums just wanting to memorize the names of people that made such beautiful sounds together on Carpenters albums.I loved seeing Gayle play the harp on the first Carpenters special.

[@drewjansen7825]

Finally had time to watch this. Fabulous! Thank you all.

[@BassPlayerNcl]

Excellent interview, Chris! Thank you so much for sharing ❤

[@brucemorrow5271]

As usual awesome stuff Chris, love the stories ❤️

[@jbs256]

Chris, great interview! I learned a lot and am grateful for that. I especially loved the Hal Blaine and Doheny story at the end, I can imagine Hal saying “I said sit!” OMG. Have you interviewed Cubby? I gotta look more but I’m asking just in case. If I do my math right, Earle was just a kid when he started? And Gayle was also wonderful. “That was ME!” LOL So many gems in this interview. Thank you!

[@MBSprinter]

❤️

[@zigman8550]

The picture at 54:25 with the guy wearing the white polo shirt closest to the camera (not sure who he is) but the shirt looks like it has the Pine Knob logo on it. That's a outdoor music venue north of Detroit in Clarkston,Michigan. It's pretty close to where I live. I know the Carpenter's played there because my sister went to the concert. I thought I read somewhere where Richard said it was one of his favorite places to play.

[@chrismay7094]

The gentleman you’re referring to is recording engineer Roger Young.

[@zigman8550]

@@chrismay7094 Thanks for the reply

[@jackhouran8851]

Thought this was about Karen Carpenter?

[@martinmedrano]

i see what you did there with want you back in my life again. how did you do it?

[@OldFartAndy]

I wish I had seen this 8 months ago! Absolutely wonderful hearing the anecdotes and stories of Gayle and Earl! They were outstanding! In my younger years I studied recording engineering so I could perhaps one day work with Carpenters. Well that never happened. Learned to run a board, mix, (fix it in the mix!), set up, mics etc. Really have enjoyed your interviews. Loving the song book w Rich. THANK YOU!!👍👍👍🎼🎵🎶🎵🎶🎶🎶🎵🎶🎹🎹🥁🥁