First Time Reaction to Carpenters - This Masquerade

[@billparthum206]

It is so wonderful to find people rediscovering the magic that was the Carpenters. Karen's soul piercing voice and Richard's imaginative arrangements produced some of the most memorable music of my lifetime. I, like so many others were blessed to experience their magic firsthand and now get to enjoy it with a new generation of listeners.

[@deborahscalise3215]

Karen is actually playing the drums also on this recording. She was perfection in her vocals and her drumming..

[@juliebarrows8149]

She was phenomenal!!! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻❤️

[@jbs256]

True, she played all the songs on Now and Then except,Jambalaya, which Hal did. ❤

[@FavoriteMovieDate]

The piano is insane here. All the instrumentation is superb, courtesy of Richard. And Karen, of course, is the cherry and whip cream on top.

[@leonardshevlin7260]

This may be about as jazzy as they got during their pop peak years.

[@rockymountainjazzfan1822]

@@leonardshevlin7260 My Dad was a professional musician during his younger years during the Swing Era. Before she became a famous singer, Peggy Lee was a bandmate of his. So, he knew a good jazz singer when he heard one. The first time that he heard the Carpenters, he said, in the slang vernacular of jazz musicians when describing a great singing voice, "She's 'got the pipes.'" My Dad, without knowing Karen's or Richard's background then, said that they were jazz musicians singing pop. He was correct. Several of the Carpenters' side musicians also had jazz backgrounds. The Carpenters' jazz roots were never very far away in their performances. A friend of mine was at at Carpenters concert at a large auditorium in the early 1970's. A lightning storm knocked out all the electricity. Karen Carpenter basically yelled out to the audience to sit quietly and she would sing a song for them acapella, which she did. My friend said that her signing voice, in perfect pitch, filled that auditorium with no external sound system at all. The electricity came back on a little bit later, but for the concertgoers that night, that acapella song, sung perfectly by Karen Carpenter, was the highlight of the concert.

[@fool4singing]

Together they made magic,..Karen's voice, their stacked backing vocals, Richard's arrangements and orchestrations: flawless. No can touch them!

[@susandeusterman8771]

Carpenters are magnificent ❤ Karen will always be a legend!!

[@Coastal15]

"The" legend.

[@the3mfs359]

​@@Coastal15 YES!!

[@Perfect_Blend]

Richard's piano solo on this is one of my favorites. Karen's vocals are amazing.

[@ChuckHackney]

That phrasing, that tone, that intonation, THAT KAREN!!!!!!!!❤❤❤❤

[@andylinton2798]

This really is an astonishing recording. Amazing arrangement too. Genius.

[@jimwilsky2922]

Tasha, such a great reaction you gave to a fantastic musically arranged song and of course Karen's voice. I'm an old man and I have listened to the Carpenters forever. Hard to choose a favorite out of so many hits they had but for me it's either this one and/or Superstar. Keep up the great work you do reacting. Been a subscriber for a long time.

[@candysump8641]

So glad you are doing a deep dive into the Carpenters. They don’t get the credit they deserve in my opinion. All of their songs are different. This one really highlights Richard’s talent in arrangement. Always loved Karen’s voice this song really highlights her range. She has a mesmerizing voice. You just want to keep listening

[@bodato5760]

I am 74 now and I met and started dating my wife when I was 17. She passed in 2020. Her passing was very hard, thanks to the voice of Karen. Her songs get me going in my worst moments. She is very special.

[@ChuckHackney]

Sorry, so sorry for your loss. I suffer from huge anxiety issues, and Karen's voice is so pure and soothing, it calms me and ratchets down the "noise". God bless you. I always say thank you, God, for Karen.

[@losova7543]

Her voice just gives you that feeling of being lost in her voice and it makes you feel as though you're levitating.

[@yuppers54]

In the studio Karen sang all her back up vocals so that they were as perfect as her lead. It is always hard to pick a favorite song fromher, but Song For You would be mine. I was alive during their career so I took a lot of grief from the hard rockers, and disco types. However to this day she is my absolute favorite female singer.

[@martinhafner2201]

This song comes from Leon Russell with his wonderful sense of blues and introspective style. I hadn't realized the Carpenters had done a version. She had a great voice and interpretation for this song.

[@ghiaman65]

Kudos to Bob Messenger for his awesome flute playing.

[@johnsimon2988]

This song was a Leon Russell song. Karen did a great job on vocals and Richard did a great job arranging and playing the piano. The Carpenters never failed to impress me.

[@anthonyriley7517]

The most angelic voice of all time.

[@anjoleeeickhoff6800]

The whole song, the arrangement too is absolutely a treasure to the senses!❤

[@thomastimlin1724]

Richard on the piano solo is fabulous! then the flute comes in....wow! Karen was a big crush for me in 1970 when they first went national when I ws 14...I was 27 when she died and I was devastated... a part of my childhood died with her. It was heart wrenching

[@fool4singing]

I don't think she knew how much she was loved by the public. Their legacy is immense and will live forever.

[@ronkrupovich7152]

It’s hard to pick a favourite song by this group, but if I had to choose, this would be the one.

[@michaelasay8587]

A Song for you! Is beautiful and my fav.

[@Dave-in-TN]

My absolute all-time favorite Carpenters song! This and Little Altar Boy from their Christmas album.

[@garrytiller3194]

Two of her best!

[@miked1254]

The music composition, and Karen’s voice is so emotional and moving. When I was a growing up, The Carpenters were very popular, and I’d listen to their music on my record player and fall in love with Karen, little boy crush stuff, but as I aged, the music became so much more special as both it and I aged together I suppose. Karen is still to this day my favorite female singer, and I think it’s because of how she moves me every time I hear her voice. Few others can do that to me the way Karen does. Beautiful.

[@the3mfs359]

Well said. Couldn't agree more!@!

[@johnbrowne2170]

George Benson does a superb version of this song. This is my favourite Carpenters song.

[@sylvanaire]

Yes! The intro is very jazzy & I knew immediately this was a cover but I couldn’t remember George Benson’s name. Thanks for reminding me. ❤

[@stevetournay6103]

​@@sylvanaireGeorge didn't write it either, though; it's a Leon Russell song.

[@SFPhilo]

@@sylvanaire George Benson was a huge fan of the Carpenters. He covered this song and Superstar in honor of Karen after she passed away.

[@terricollins312]

If you love this song then you will love Rainy Days and Mondays and Good Bye to Love. You won't be disappointed!

[@ericanderson8886]

Song by the legend Leon Russell, who also wrote "A Song for You" and co wrote "Superstar".

[@LoneScouts-r7q]

probably my favorite Carpenter's cut.....smooth as butter, with just enough cutting edge....and the perfect slow dance song

[@scottski51]

I think this is MY favorite song by them, too !!! But, so many great tunes... it's hard to chose just one!

[@davidhubbert9445]

What a lovely reaction this superb production shows the talents of both Karen and Richard so well it's so polished

[@Fuzzybear7680]

Have you seen the duet Karen sang with Ella Fitzgerald from one of their TV specials? It starts with this song, and it is AMAZING!! My fav Carpenters song is Only Yesterday (Horizon album cut version). She was the voice of my high school and college days.

[@debrastrader9892]

One of my top 5 Carpenters songs is "Ordinary Fool." Stunning vocals and arrangement! Also, the upbeat "There's a Kind of Hush."

[@carolhesterberg7526]

Chills and goosebumps from the first measure! A spectacular voice! And Richard's piano playing is fabulous, too!

[@MamawT65]

Another amazing song written by Leon Russell! Great reaction❤

[@nickihoyt9911]

wow! Leon Russell wrote this? Karen (as always) is awesome

[@garyarnett1220]

Try his original version sometime.

[@stevetournay6103]

Yes. Richard seems to have liked Russell's writing; besides this one they also covered Superstar and A Song For You...

[@larrycourtney5638]

Yes Leon Russel wrote this and Superstar.

[@garrytiller3194]

Simply the best.

[@pc1chas]

Best voice ever--really miss her🥲

[@carolhesterberg7526]

The Carpenters started out as a jazz trio and won the Hollywood Battle of the Bands when Karen was still a teenager, so you can see why their jazz arrangement on this one was so superb.

[@craigmarkowski7156]

My very first album EVER ! Was a Carpenter's album for my 8th birthday in 1969

[@stevetournay6103]

Part of this song opens the 1980 made-for-TV standards medley featuring Karen and the iconic Ella Fitzgerald. Check that one out, Tasha...And, as you clearly like jazz flute, also listen to Another Song, from the 1970 Carpenters album Close To You...stonking jazz flute solo takes up about half the song... Hm. Listen to some of the collaborative recordings by Dan Fogelberg and flautist Tim Weisberg, too. Two albums, Twin Sons Of Different Mothers (1978) and No Resemblance Whatsoever (circa 1998)...

[@abrahampresence8297]

If you love this song, you will love "a song for you" also written by Leon Russel. It also has a. Jazz feel to it. There are places in this song where Karen rich really low in her range. There is also a wonderful saxephone solo.

[@cliffordlowerre1381]

I just love this song so much! My favorite Carpenters tune. Highlights all the attributes of Karens marvelous voice. Pitch, vibrato and the unique range of her deep contralto voice! Richards marvelous talents on the keys along with the composing and arrangement ( have to love the flair of the flute ) make for a masterpiece. For Karen to sing like that and play the drums also, simply amazing! This song is a great example of Karen being the all time greatest female singer. Her medley with the great Ella Fitzgerald starts with this song. Never get tired of watching that. Hats off to Leon Russell for writing this wonderful tune. Along with "Superstar" and "Song For You", also great Carpenter hits. Mr. Russell is a very talented artist who, in my opinion, didn't get the recognition he deserved.

[@sylviafranklin7291]

I just love 💕 this song! And the Carpenters!! Amazing brother and sister!

[@jeraldkimball494]

That is her brother on the keys, dude was a great pianist.

[@j.kevvideoproductions.6463]

Richard's piano playing is masterful on this recording. Karen's voice is incomparable.

[@greg2976]

This IS MY favorite song!!!!!

[@BetsyDeal-q1p]

I have sang "why do birds suddenly appear" to every baby born into our family, 11 so far and we aren't done. I can't sing but I found out early on that babies, children and older people aren't judgemental, they just know you care enough to sing to them. Hold a baby close if they have colic and the vibration can calm their belly. Sing to children and elders and see the smiles. Just sing!

[@bobdelp2023]

SOLITAIRE! 😊

[@simonpoole2333]

These guys were always popular, but they went a little bit under the radar at the time. There were so many great acts in the 70s that The Carpenters were a little lost in the middle of it all. One of the few good things to come out of lockdown was younger (mostly American) people starting to listen to 'old' music. And sublime talent such as The Carpenters had is being appreciated and respected anew

[@TomFurr-uc1hj]

The saddest part of her life is she really didn't know how good she really was.

[@bonester50]

All Carpenters music is top tier. What an amazing talent with the VOICE that will be around long after most singers have faded into lost memories. Karen Carpenter = Nothing but class.

[@johnthegreek5836]

Tasha, thank you for diving into The Carpenters music and this composition is beautiful also if you haven’t listened to “A Song for You”, highly recommend the long version

[@juliebarrows8149]

My favorite Carpenters song is A Song For You. My 16 month old granddaughter loves Sing and Rainbow Connection. You should check out her duet with Ella Fitzgerald. They duet in this one and a few others of Ella’s. Beautiful!

[@stevetournay6103]

A Song For You, like This Masquerade, was written by Leon Russell. So was Superstar, which Carpenters also covered. The standards medley duet with Karen and Ella was recorded for Carpenters' 1980 TV special Music, Music, Music. It's magnificent. For another instance of Karen singing a big band era standard, listen to I Can Dream Can't I from 1975. Orchestrated by 50s bandleader Billy May. Glorious.

[@candicelitrenta8890]

Other great songs are I Can't Make Music, I Won't Last a Day Without You, Goodbye To Love, It's Going To Take Some Time, Ticket to Ride, and many more.

[@terriburrosskistner1268]

Soooo many!!!

[@monstrogro666]

Too many great song from them

[@chrisandersen5635]

Karen is on the drums on this one, and her drumming is way more complicated than is obvious to most because it is so quiet. One of my favorites of theirs as well. Plus, I love Richard’s piano playing here as well.

[@hubrisnaut]

This might sound crazy but one of best friends played the flute in High School and was a track star. He loved this song, Guy could run an almost 4 minute mile and then go to band practice and play a flute like a songbird. Watching him run a quarter mile was crazy. Like flat out from the start to finish. After track we played in the band and he would go off on the flute like he was in the Vienna Philharmonic (I played trumpet) There are just people that can do these things. God must have made them

[@vegaswillie]

That was fantastic.

[@johnholliday5874]

Go look at the duet she did with Ella Fitzgerald. Two of the finest voices of the 20th Century. It is really special.

[@sharoninglima1217]

Karen had the best voice and a fantastic drummer too. Richard is a musical genius…composer. Love them. Love all their songs…especially Close To You, We’ve Only Just Begun & Superstar!!! ❤❤

[@helokopter924]

Hi Tasha. Im in my 60s and remember Carpenters well. Herb Alpert heard Karen's voice on a demo in 1969 and signed her brother, Richard, and her to A&M records. Karen received 3 or 4 Grammys in the 70s and sold over 80 million records by 1982. She was 1975 rock drummer of the year according to Playboy. KC had the most beautiful voice-ever, and perhaps THE best female vocalist-ever, because she compels you to listen as she sings in perfect pitch to you, not at you, with emotion and enunciation. No auto-tune or gimmicks. No professional voice or drum instruction. She was known by the studios as 'one take'. She rarely, if ever, did more than one take of any song. She was also the ONLY female harmony/background voice in all her songs. She was truly born with an incredible singing talent. Documentaries point out the accolades to her voice, such as, Paul McCartney said she had the most angelic voice after hearing her sing 'Ticket To Ride'. John Lennon ran into her at an LA restaurant and told her "you have a fabulous voice, luv". Supposedly Frank Sinatra stated that Karen was the only singer he'd pay to hear. I recommend songs such as, Yesterday Once More, Solitaire, Superstar, I Need To Be In Love, Hurting Each Other, Only Yesterday, I Can Dream Cant I, Crescent Noon, Ordinary Fool, Close To You, We've Only Just Begun, A Place To Hideaway, and A Song For You. KC never knew true love. One of her few friends included Dionne Warwick. 5'3" KC really lost weight, due to anorexia, in earnest beginning in 1975. She died in Feb 1983 at age 32 due to heart complications from anorexia

[@grahamechambers6642]

The Carpenters won three Grammys. Karen was 10th in the Playboy poll in 1975, John Bonham was 11th. Still a very impressive set of credentials.

[@bishop6516]

brilliant difficult to chose a favourite because they were all gems, those good old dreams really upbeat, I can dream can't i, this is slower , one more time is brilliant, I could name there whole catalogue. The Rainbow connection is grat too.

[@sheltonedwards9960]

Great reaction 👏

[@michaelasay8587]

All those beautiful oics of her ...i think she was the best person in the world...my sister was like her...she died at 38.... sad world today especially!!

[@bravehome4276]

A Karen vocal, a Richard arrangement, a Leon (Russell) song, bliss.... This Masquerade is one of my two favorite Carpenters songs, the other also being Leon Russell composition, A Song for You.

[@peggymcmillin660]

This takes me to heaven.

[@deanthomas8026]

great work my favorite cover !!

[@rodrigues216]

I love this song...

[@Boondoggle6969]

Good flute playing in their song "And When He Smiles"

[@angietroy5360]

Love your reaction videos.

[@KevinRCarr]

This is beautiful, and Karen's voice is, as you've mentioned, was a perfect voice for this. However, as someone(s) mentioned below, you really owe it to yourself to check out George Benson's version. His guitar work, matched with his voice as he plays and sings as if he and it were a duo hitting notes in sync, really do take this song to another level.

[@dianechaves4071]

Try "Mr Gruder". It's pretty jazzy. Also, watch Karen perform with Ella Fitzgerald. Fantastic! Thanks for this one!

[@stevetournay6103]

And Another Song from the same album. Close To You (1970) was Carpenters' jazziest album. Yes, the standards medley is terrific. Karen should have (and would have, had she lived) recorded many standards. Besides the Ella medley from the TV special, check out I Can Dream Can't I from Carpenters' 1975 album Horizon...

[@rdmineer1]

#1 group of the entire 1970s. Lots of competition. Most pitch perfect voice ever recorded. No formal training. So articulate you knew all the words first time listening.

[@kwpres]

Tasha, she did this song on her last TV special as a duet...with...wait for it...ELLA FITZGERALD. It's on KZbin.

[@williamanderson3185]

This was the album that got me in to them back in 1975.

[@colibri1]

This is a hit 1973 cover of a 1972 Leon Russell song. A later hit cover of it that you might also like is George Benson's 1976 version. And for some more hot seventies flute, in funk this time, try Brick's hit 1976 single "Dazz."

[@Salomon-pi8cb]

Karen Carpenter is my favorite female singer PERIOD!. There was Much Jordan and then there was Karen Carpenter ❤❤❤❤R.I.P .. James Zrenjad Desjardins

[@rayberry4261]

Leon Russell wrote this song.

[@lauralackner6856]

Honestly, I can't think of a Carpenters song I don't like. I would have to say my favorite is Yesterday Once More. I'm a sucker for that nostalgic feeling I get everytime I hear it.😊

[@stevetournay6103]

That was one of Richard's own, with the John Bettis lyric reflecting the then-current vogue for "oldies".

[@DeborahHamilton-qw1jp]

I'm Caught Between Goodbye and I Love You is one of her very best that mo one reacts too.

[@jamespasifull3424]

I'd love you to check out Matt Monro, an ex-bus driver, from the UK. He had the most incredible voice, so much so that Sinatra himself is reported to have said that Matt was the best he'd heard!! Pick anything from his YT videos, they're all perfect!! 😀

[@stevetournay6103]

Interesting you should mention Monro. He was one of Karen Carpenter's favourite singers and an influence on her own singing.

[@buddinganarchist]

Tasha, watch the music music music live medley, will blow minds. And bring tears.

[@glennkonklin2926]

I think my favorite deep cut is Mr. Guder mainly because the harmonies towards the end are insane. They're so good that they sound fake, if that makes sense.

[@stevetournay6103]

One reason for that is that they're not a bunch of disparate voices singing chorally, they're Karen and Richard, multitracked. Spectacular, and that 1970 album (Close To You) is where that technique is most clearly audible. Richard revisited it after Karen died, too. Listen to When Time Was All We Had from his 1987 Time solo CD...

[@Tonidolls]

You should hear Solitaire ..

[@greggibson33]

Amazing........

[@ChuckHackney]

I believe that as well, some of that pain was definitely reflected in her voice.

[@ChuckHackney]

So heart breakingly sad, the self-image she struggled with. I know that struggle, when you look in a mirror and what you see is not good. It took decades to overcome this feeling. I made it thru to the other side. I just wish, in my fantasies, I could have been there for her. It makes me gently cry in my heart and soul.

[@ChuckHackney]

So you are a flautist? Can I make a suggestion.. ? Please listen to Jethro Tull and the amazing vocals and flute of Ian Anderson. I think you will enjoy it. Flute and rock n roll, you betcha!!!!!

[@1dognight166]

For a long time I only knew the George Benson version. Did not know his was a remake of this song .

[@stevetournay6103]

Carpenters' is a cover too. It's a Leon Russell song.

[@MarkMcLT]

I love all of the classic Carpenters songs, but one that always makes me smile is a bit less well known and a bit different from their others - Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft.

[@scotthuish67]

That's a Klaatu cover

[@LOVE2BTHEONE]

@Tasha Jackson Okay so, some songs of the Carpenters you really need to check out, Ordinary fool, Bless the beast and the children and Hurting each other, you won't regret it.

It's just me or somebody else recognize in this song a kind of "Brasilian Bossa Nova flavor" ? For those who don't know, Bossa Nova is a Brasilian music genre created mixing jazz and Brasilian rhythms.

[@srfrt]

I Love so much Karen!

[@rickyconner6782]

She sung eveey word!!

[@eggy1962]

exquisite ...yep you are spot on....richards arrangements always were...then there that beautiful voice of karen

[@stacymatthews57789]

I would suggest you react to “I need to be in Love” it’s a song that was an unwittingly, and at the time unknown look directly into how she felt. It really will break your heart.

[@rdmineer1]

George Benson covered this later. Excellent.

[@mikeking8699]

Karen was a Lonely Heart it showed up in her music

[@clody61]

Ordinary Fool, Karen with her husky voice and Richard's piano solo

[@trishriley9681]

❤

[@scot60]

Karen sang with this song with Ella Fitzgerald on a tv special. Karen loved Ella.

[@MeesterVegas]

I think that is Ron Burgundy on the flute.

[@markgallemore8856]

Solitaire

[@danieltilley4187]

I have always loved Karen's voice. Her voice just captivates you.

[@gerardcote8391]

Tasha, you like country music. You got to check out Stevie T how to be country

[@bartschwartz9233]

If you like this singer listen to Anne Murray Snowbird from Canada