Karen Carpenter - We've Only Just Begun - Isolated Vocals - Ken Tamplin Vocal Academy

In this video, we get up close with the voice of Karen Carpenter on We've Only Just Begun. You've GOT to come with me on this one! Talk about Smooth!
Karen Carpenter - We've Only Just Begun - Isolated Vocals - Ken Tamplin Vocal Academy
I was surprised at how many requests I received to do an analysis of Karen Carpenter.
Karen was an extremely unique individual and artist. With her brother Richard at the helm they produced some of the most timeless pieces of 70s Pop music ever written.
Karen was known as "one take Karen." She would walk into the studio and literally pull off these stunning epic pieces in one take and usually the first take. What makes that so extraordinary is her impeccable pitch and intonation. This pitch and intonation was no easy feat given the kinds of key changes and different modalities that Richard wrote some of these pieces in.
But wait, there's more!
Karen did not start out as a singer. She started out wanting to play drums (and idolized Ringo Starr) and was stifled by her mother who heavily favored her brother Richard. Being children of missionary parents from China, Karen and her brother Richard moved to Southern California for Richard's career, not Karen's.
Out of abject frustration, Karen quit working with her brother and started her own band which failed fairly quickly. She re-joined forces with her brother Richard, but again not to sing, but play drums. No one knew of her incredible range and velvety vocals that became their signature sound.
Karen had formed another band called Spectrum that played for Disneyland theme park, but started playing songs by bands like The Doors and was fired from the theme park immediately.
Ironically, Karen wound up recording "Ticket to Ride" as a cover song from the Beatles when Paul McCartney himself claimed that Karen was one of the greatest (if not the greatest) female vocalists in the world.
This helped launch her career with incredible songs such as "Top Of The World," “Close to You” and “We’ve Only Just Begun". Ironically, one of their greatest singles, "We've Only Just Begun," was a TV jingle from a local bank that Richard turned into the epic song we now know as "We've Only Just Begun."
But there was still another problem. Karen was only 5 ft 4 and completely swollen up with the drum kit she was playing and singing behind. People wanted to come see Karen, but she was not actually "fronting" the band. Richard was and people didn't want to see Richard, they came to see Karen.
Riding high with extraordinary success, Karen still struggled deeply with wanting affirmation from her mother Agnes. Many believe that it was from this shunning of her mom and the favoritism of her brother that spiraled her into insecurities into weight loss issues which eventually cost her her life to anorexia.
I personally will always think of Karen On Top Of The World, with a reminder that we all have struggles. And neither fame, fortune nor power can conquer the demons inside if we don't face them head on.
I realize this is a somewhat sobering blurb, but I thought it was necessary.
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[@isaacmusicreviews]

Hands down the best female vocalist

[@HisLove4You]

AMEN ❤️

[@Dastardly_X]

Nooo competition !!! 🌟K 💫 C🌟

[@RyneMurray23]

I agree whole heartedly.

[@TheJpep2424]

Whitney Houston

[@kevinmoore5053]

​@@TheJpep2424Whitney was very good, but it was all about her, she more or less overshadowed her songs. Karen was all about the song, & the music. Karen was always technically perfect for the song...

[@jerrynkathy]

When she arrived at the lyric..."And when the evening comes, we smile..." I nearly started crying. I've mad respect for Whitney, Mariah, Streisand, etc. but in my estimation, Karen is the greatest female vocalist I've ever heard. So glad I stumbled upon this video.

[@brookegoslin]

Especially when she sings “ so much of life ahead “ makes me cry knowing that her life was cut short due to the anorexia illness . I wish she was still here . ♥️😥🙏🏼💫✨

[@ChuckHackney]

You are 1000% correct. Enormous respect and love for all the singers you listed. Yet there is NO VOICE LIKE KAREN'S VOICE. The horrific sadness is that this angel never saw herself the way we see her. How???? Please let this be such a cautionary tale to anyone with self image problems. Know thst You are beautiful and special and only one in the iniverse like you. Love yourself. I know Karen's death brought massive attention to the problem of anorexia. I wish I could have told her you are a gift of God sent to soothe and bring joy to the world, and you are soooo loved.

[@_jm0n3y8oo_]

She is my second behind Sohyang. But both evoke emotion from me unlike other singers.

[@analisesantos1571]

YES she was and most likely always will be. I was so lucky to have grown up with Carpenters as one of the many talents who were the back drop of my childhood.

[@vegasx248]

Even this metalhead bows down to the timeless beauty of Karen's incredible talent - great review Ken

[@Dastardly_X]

🤘🏻 🌟 🤘

[@RichieBeaumont]

Yes indeed WOW. She probably had one of the best naturally beautiful voices ever, and when she sang something magical seemed to happen.

[@mikebunner3498]

Ken, I know a few things that I have learned in a little over sixty years, the sky is blue, water is wet, politicians lie, and Miss Karen Carpenter had one of the BEST voices EVER FACT!!!!!!!!! She was a great vocalist, soft, smooth, warm, and emotional...... AND raw vocal power without over doing it!!! YES, she was sweet.............. The world loses a true talent. Our loss is heavens gain!!! Thank you man.....

[@jeffschielka7845]

Forgot to mention Ken what a great drummer Karen was. Just awesome. Look up the old vids!🥁😎

[@billparrish4385]

I was 9 years younger than Karen, loved her voice for years, got excited at every new release, and had more than a little crush. Her passing was devastating. All these years later, it's still down inside there somewhere, an aching little twinge, each time a fresh surprise. Doesn't stop me listening to her. Even though her light is now out there among the stars and no longer here with us, her legacy of recordings, each one a precious jewel, overwhelms the pain, and I'm lifted up on the waves of that gorgeous voice again. Such a beautiful soul! I wish the knowledge to help her with her pain had existed back then. Imagine all the rich years of that voice we could have had, interpreting each new generation's style in her own inimitable way. Love her.

[@caranconarroe-pearson2954]

Indeed such a lovely voice and talent . Rocker her too but even as a kid I remember listening to and singing along with my mom to the Carpenters ! Great analysis as usual Ken.

[@SamFisherRocks]

Always loved Karen Carpenter. Such a beautiful voice and is my favourite singer. Grew up listening to the duo.

[@mbrownie22]

Great video, her phrasing is so incredible as well as her pitch like you said good job.

[@socasack]

Karen is the greatest female vocalist of all time. There are other great singers, but she had something extra that no one had before and no one has had since.

[@scottakam]

Such an amazing talent. Very cool to hear her isolated vocals.

[@bobbys4327]

Years ago a radio DJ played this and at the end of the song he said: this is the best female voice ever........and we will never hear it again. As soon as he said that it hit me hard and brought tears to my eyes. As long ago as it was that I heard that DJ, I can never get through the whole song....

[@RotzPotz]

Thank you .. Carpenters are great .. so emotional .. you have to sit down and listen .. and dreaming of youth and paradise after it 🙃 thanks so far ...

[@jimmybenavides2175]

Karen Carpenter was an awesome singer. She was a drummer at first. And then somebody discovered her voice. And it became the most beautiful voice I ever heard. So innocent. I remember that cuz I was in elementary school at the time. Our school choir used to sing their songs

[@ny7294]

Karen was such an incredible talent .. there was no one like her. I always wanted to here her sing a duet with Elvis .. that would be vocal perfection.

[@bradhuskers]

I hope ken can isolate elvis's voice on the 1960 studio recording of "it's now or never"

[@robertarmstrong9059]

Karen Carpenter was phenomenal hands down the greatest female singer ever. How about an isolated vocal analysis on Gordon Lightfoot Carefree Highway.

[@cowenvandermerwe6955]

Thanks Mr Ken Tamplin. My late sister loved The Carpenters so much!

[@TheAldoMovies]

Thank you Ken, for this great review and tribute to Karen. She had the warmest female voice I have experienced.

[@TheChristOfRockNRoll]

The story says that John Lennon took the time to approach Karen Carpenter when they both were dining at the same restaurant in the early 70s. Lennon complemented her on her voice and delivery of songs. Karen was flattered and surprise at the same time and after Lennon left she turned to her brother Richard and asked "do you think he really mean that?". Richard replied something along the line of "off course, he's John Lennon". It is simply astonishing to realise that she didn't know how divine her voice was. Her voice was so sublime when listening to her songs I think to myself "I want to marry her"......when that's the thought about someone's voice.....it's good.....it's really good! 😊😊😊

[@juliebarrows8149]

Nailed it!!!

[@iluvjake1000]

So very sad that she couldn’t perceive herself like we all did.

[@daveburns3886]

Tragic that she didn’t realize how totally awesome and beautiful she was.. so many of her songs make me teary - eyed and I’m Aspergers and emotionally detacted

[@robbchastain3036]

A favorite childhood memory, Ken, 1971 and we're living on Donner in Fresno and my Mom let me play one of my Dad's records on the stereo in the living room--The Doors' LA Woman--as I was playing with Hot Wheels or something. Then she got to play a record, a little something by the Carpenters. And it all sounded great through those big speakers.

[@RAMSEYM2402]

So sad she didn't realise how beautiful she really was. Everything about her was beautiful and I could listen to them all day 💕. So pleased you featured her amazing talent! Would love to see Marie Fredriksson featured at some point 🙂

[@elarasophia]

Yes! I've been hoping you would react to Karen Carpenter for years now. :) It was so nice to see you smiling all the way through that. She has been my favourite singer since my childhood. Just a perfect voice. I saw another video where the audio of a live performance of hers was analysed: people had said for decades that she had mimed it because it sounded identical to the album recording, but the analysis showed that it was, indeed, live. She's just THAT good.

[@Drose221]

I will always be a Ken Tamplin fan after this and all i like is heavy rock!!!

[@lensal7787]

So kind voice and songs!

[@kkp9068]

metal head here and i love her soulfull voice, her drums were her safe zone,

[@Vanhalen1]

Great job Ken

[@GibsonHeavy]

Her voice was so haunting.

[@angiefowler317]

The Lord named this song for this day forward. We have only just begun to live 🌹

[@michaelosborne1922]

I agree ..she was the best.

[@JOHNKUHNMUSIC]

Lived and BREATHED her music DAILY 72-77 in school band on drums & bass but never had the priviledge of workin with an XX vocal ,who would or "could" cover her😞.Was so stoked to hear our baby girl SARA LOERA totally OWN the performances she did. In fact, I kinda got upset when Sara would cover anything with PWR HOUSE/TURBO CHARGED vocal distortion sayin NO NO NO, your posta be ULTRA SMOOOOTH, LILTY/ VELVETY/CUSHY..LOL.(let Katie handle the wild child stuff..lol) The guy who has the channel "Wings of Pegasus" did a wav form analysis of Karens "Close to you" comparing LIVE vrs STUDIO which was VERY interesting😎 Thanks so much Ken for YOUR expert analysis in this series. I think we ALL benifit from EVERY word!😎

[@lionheartroar3104]

"We've Only Just Begun" started as a bank commercial that Richard saw on television. He found writer Paul Williams and they finished it. The rest is musical history.

[@RichardinNC1]

My mother loved The Carpenters but so did I, right alongside Led Zep and Aerosmith!

[@makeminetexas3494]

Ah, the voice of my generation. I’ve learned a lot about singing just from analyzing her technique.

[@JoJo1955]

Another musician here that has played behind a lot of country stars back in the 1970s. Not one female vocalist comes close to Karen of any genre. I don't think Karen was human. Instead I believe she was an angel in a human body. Honestly. Nobody sings like Karen and we were simply gifted with Karen's vocals/drums and Richard's song arraignments around Karen's voice. This won't happen again. Thanks to the Universe for the gift of The Carpenters AND their accompanying musicians.

[@erwinstang70studiosk64]

Great podcast edition. My parents listened to her music, so I started loving her sound. Thanks for that. Also, I have another artist if you are interested. His tone sounds great, is Brad Roberts from Crash test Dummies. Superman's Song official video. I would be interested to know what you think.

[@kevinm6790]

I’ve long thought of her voice as the smoothest, sweetest in pop history. In male voices, I’d go with James Taylor.

[@kevinm6790]

“Sweetly engaging.” Great description, Ken.

[@bruschmidt9943]

I'd go with David Gates (🍞 Bread) & Paul Davis for male category.

[@abc456f]

People refer to the vocal trinity as Whitney, Mariah, and Celine. I have my own vocal trinity: Karen, Eva Cassidy, and Lara Fabian. Agree/disagree? Who are yours? Have a great day!

[@rkellymiller]

Thank you for this, brother! Like many in these comments, I'm a metalhead, a drummer, and a man who thinks that Karen Carpenter possessed THE most beautiful voice that God ever put on this planet!

[@markhill9912]

Hey Ken, I may be a hard rock and metal fan but, Karen Carpenter, I love her! She was pretty darn talented, drums, vocals and such. Me? I'm a drummer, backing vocalist, strum guitar and play base. Excellent choice Ken, loved their music.

[@butziporsche8646]

I love what Ken said about the 70s hopefulness. Reminds me of Donald Fagen and IGY but I'm still waiting for that Spandex Jacket

[@jeffry-wynneprince8270]

Proving that auto-tune is a ridiculous advancement in recording. Her voice is dark, soft, clean, and PERFECT.

[@ThelSuperlKing]

In some genres and musical styles as well as vocal delivery auto-tune is acceptable and enhances the art. It is the indiscriminate use of the tool that is appalling and needless to say dumb.

[@PeachWNK]

It’s not ridiculous. There are a handful of vocalists who don’t use pitch correction in a live setting. Who don’t need it because they have amazing absolute pitch. And there are some who need it who don’t use it. (Neil Young) It’s just a matter of now much and how obvious. A good singer will rarely need it, but It can help them not sing a clunker.

[@PeachWNK]

@@ThelSuperlKing Most singers use it in a live setting to a degree. Then there are the styles you’re referencing that use it for effect.

[@brucec6095]

Autotune maybe an advancement in recording but it is ultimately used to cover a lack of talent.

[@sarahhurst140]

Oh my goodness, Sir Ken.! You've struck gold, right down into my soul! I love Karen Carpenter, man! I grew up with Karen Carpenter & sang her songs in talent shows! "Rainy Days & Mondays, in particular! Her voice is heartbreakingly beautiful! Hats of to you, my friend, for this video! Wow! Have a greatly blessed day!🌹💜🌎

[@ShelaghDonnellyMinist7567]

@Sarah Hurst God Bless you and your family Today Tommorrow and Always🙏🏻👪❤️❤️❤️ Have a Great Week Best wishes and Greetings from sunny🌅 Ireland🇮🇪 This is one of the Hymns on my channel Sarah 💒❤️🎵🕊️🕊️ kzbin.info/www/bejne/pXXbk3yGjcmKgKs Shelagh

[@williamfeye8753]

That's why I love you Ken. You go from Dio to Karen Carpenter reviews. Quite the wide spectrum. Great stuff. She has a very almost calming voice.

[@johnchipperfield3367]

A lot of good female singers, but Karen, in my personal opinion, no one can match her, gives me goosebumps, the voice of a angel.

[@mikebowman8680]

Agreed. Gives me chills every time I hear her perfect voice. What a voice! There will never be another.

[@siamoon8257]

Ms. Karen Carpenter is a class of life, love and grace. She breathes within the lyrics and the lyrics evolves with her lovingly spirit.

[@Sabrina746]

She is truly missed, she had a voice of an angel, she was so perfect, and there will never be another one like her.

[@teresamorris1848]

Karen Carpenter saved my life. I was a very thin teenager and the night she died I heard how your heart shrinks from lack of nutrition it scared me so much that I took some vitamins and immediately changed my diet. I was very fortunate in that I didn't have an eating disorder but I lacked education regarding the impact of poor eating on your health. Thank you for sharing her back story as well as her amazing vocals.

[@estebanarguetaserrano4627]

Hello again ! Foreigner's Johnny Edwards 1991 Some vocal analysis, would you please??? Thanks You very much for this series!!! Regards. Steven👍

[@Rosannasfriend]

Love her voice. Perfect enunciation, perfect timing, phrasing, and emotion and rhythm. And her resonance was second to none. Dark yet clear voice, so so soft and soothing. She’s a reminder that you don’t have to do vocal gymnastics to make an impact. Something all of us forget too often.

[@Rosannasfriend]

And I think when you have this kind of simplicity as a singer it’s easier to stay on pitch . You’re able to focus on the words as well as your pitch, whereas when you’re showboating your voice can go anywhere. There’s more room for mistakes. I think it takes immense focus and discipline, sensitivity, but also confidence as a singer to just know that what you’re doing is “enough“ and I feel the need to squeeze in a run here or a high belt there. At least not all the time.

[@DaveFlick]

Amazing the way she would hold a note perfectly, then add vibrato as she let it fade. spectacular

[@kristinee6530]

Was not expecting this! My favorite singer of all time!!!

[@OTCRock4one]

Master Ken, I'm an 80s hair metal, rock guy and I've always loved Karen Carpenters' vocals, she was fantastic. None of that girly high-pitched crap singing thru the nose; she sang full-voice, deep and passionate, etc...

[@OTCRock4one]

Ken, I know the video was for isolating the vocals but what would be really cool after the end of the video if you showed the full version of the video with the whole band singing because that band had such great background vocals like for example a song rainy days and Monday’s m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/hpupoISun8yVqNU

[@zigman8550]

Exactly, I'm a classic rock guy too. Led Zeppelin,Van Halen to name a few but always loved the Carpenters. Karen had a voice that just pulled you in and didn't let go.

[@adamhaynes7383]

Wow. My eyes are leaking!

[@kenlee5015]

Huge rock fan, mostly prog but The Carpenters are one of my guilty pleasures. Definitely not background music; I'm putting on the headphones for Karen. Love that voice. What a loss.

[@Dastardly_X]

🌟 🎧

[@christopherw6309]

Metal head, here that thinks Karen voice is absolutely beautiful.

[@johnrackiewicz286]

PURE VOICE, no effects...absolutely beautiful.

[@lorichitt]

You are spot on, such an incredible talent. So absolutely pure. ❤️

[@jammer4578]

She really considered herself just a drummer 😳..what a beautiful voice 😍

[@zigman8550]

Yup, she loved her Ludwig drums.

[@henriquemota7341]

Certainly one of her secrets, being a great drummer herself and played and sung for the song with all her soul on it.

[@SteveOuimette]

I've never made it a secret of how much I love Karen's voice, and Richard's songwriting. A ridiculous duo and some of the best music ever. And I'm a rock guy!

[@GMendel72]

What makes The Carpenters so great (in addition to Karen’s voice) are the layered background vocals. Richard’s arrangements of these songs was nothing short of genius.

[@abc456f]

The harmonies that Richard arranged and he and Karen sang are so lush and beautiful. I watched a KZbin channel where they recreated "Close to You", and there were 20 different background vocal tracks. I agree, Karen's voice is impeccable, but also Richard's composing, arranging, production skills, are together what made the Carpenters sound legend.

[@carlacontini1172]

He knew exactly how to situate her voice - it's like a miracle to have two siblings with such complimentary talents!

[@daytripper9222]

The day she passed away was rough. Her voice was stunning in my opinion. So beautiful.

[@salterrae2525]

There is scientific evidence that when you listen to Carpenters your blood pressure goes down. She has a unique voice that is so rare. I still listen to her songs today. I'm Filipino and if you want to learn English she is the perfect choice as she enunciates the lyrics. I was in grade school when I first heard their first hits. I'm a lifetime avid fan of Carpenters. Sad she is gone too soon.

[@Dastardly_X]

🌟

[@armymomheatherc]

Karen was a vocal beast. I truly think she likely had a range that we never had the chance to fully see. She clearly took great care of her voice and was a perfectionist. Gone too soon.

[@mikebowman8680]

I agree. Sure would love to hear how she sounded at 71. I'm guessing still better than what we hear these days. And she still wouldn't need autotune.

[@58icarus]

And let us not forget how good her layered (multi-tracked) harmonies were, too. She could cover it all.

[@NewFalconerRecords]

With her brother don't forget. They did the thing that Queen did where they each laid down every harmony part and multi-tracked them. Pure magic!

[@anthonygriffin9275]

Wow, there will never be another Karen Carpenter!!! So much emotion in her singing! It touches the soul like no other! And add amazing pitch and control. What a talent!

[@zigman8550]

I totally agree with your comment.

[@socasack]

I used to be embarrassed to admit The Carpenters were my favorite group growing up. But that was years ago - now I say it with pride. She truly is the greatest female vocalist of all time.

[@eyeshowyou]

Listen to: herriet_music. You will be blown away like I did

[@lisadieter-burns]

Karen's voice is so amazing and pure. I have been in awe of her since the 70's.

[@tonker5859]

Best female vocalist ever, usually done in one take

[@jamesfowler6343]

Thank you for covering her Ken ! I’m your age and grew up listening to her. I’m Canadian and we’ll Ann Murray was a legend in her own right…nothing stops you in your tracks like Karen. Your analysis is absolutely spot on ♥️

[@hotwig68]

Karen. Carpenter was a living lesson on how to sing...NOBODY did it better...in Rock Pop Alt ......or Country......listening to her is a vocal lesson in every department. Resonance NOT push

[@garyseidl155]

Her ability to transition from high to mid to low was incredible.so smooth and efertless.my favorite singer of all time by far.truly a great voice..but also a great singer..you can feel her passion for a song,she sings to you not at you..one of a kind..truly missed

[@joeritchie4554]

Hearing her vocals in an isolated form sent chills up my back. I already loved her voice, but this made me love her vocal abilities even more.

[@heathermiller5765]

Her tone comes through beautifully here 🥲 RIP Karen 💐

[@brucemorrow5271]

Being 🇨🇦 I know who Anne Murray is and yes, the magic of Karen Carpenter will never be equaled ❤️

[@Dastardly_X]

🌟 Never ‼

[@petegarza2025]

Hey Mr.Tamblin,You hit the nail right on the head...Karen Carpenter was brilliant,she had a great impeccable voice and no other female artist dead or alive could have ever gone toe to toe with her...

[@Housey29]

Beautiful singer taken far too early from us, this level of talent is very rare and Karen has to be one of the greats with these timeless songs.

[@georgefeelgood1821]

Big thank you Ken for presenting us this wonderful unique voice. She is and was and will ever be one of my three favorite voices out there. What a Killertone she got ! Awesome 😍. She don't need any flourish lines to make a song sound great. What a giftet talent. Again, thank you so much for this Ken 👍🏼

[@in2livinit]

Her voice was Angelic. Instantly unique & recognizable. My 1st Album ever, new, in 1973, was The Carpenters. I was underwater on patrol on a US Nuclear Submarine the day news of her passing was posted with all generic news. I nearly cried in front of all those warriors. Many of us actually, as the shock spread. Thank you for this Ken. Such a cruel, tragic, confusing and misunderstood disease, cause, and loss. May she rest in paradise forever 🙏

[@lisalaursen3684]

She had the most perfect pitch and tone of any female artist IMO.

[@drmmuzik]

So funny how I was thinking, "when is Ken going to analyze a singer that isn't metal or hard rock?" Great choice! Love Karen Carpenter's voice. Her and Nat King Cole are singers that have such soothing qualities and literally instill me with peace.

[@Rosannasfriend]

Well he’s done Michael Jackson and Celine Dion and people like that.

[@PeachWNK]

I still maintain that if they had let her stay behind the drums, she would still be with us today. It was her comfort zone…

[@ugadawgs1990]

Anyone who loves music and beauty loves Karen Carpenter. Beauty is found in the soul.

[@Dastardly_X]

🌟

[@markenad7271]

The most beautiful voice and My favorite female vocalist of all time ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@andylee2608]

Thank you Ken for that wonderful commentary on Karen! For those of you who might not know, here are a few musicians that you might not know are big big fans of Karen...Leon Russell, Donna Summer, John Lennon, Pat Metheny, Rita Coolidge, Olivia Newton-John, Petula Clark, Paul McCartney, John Fogerty, Bob Seger.

[@zigman8550]

Even the two guys from the band Offspring love her. I heard them say it during a interview.

[@tonydeziel]

Thanks a kazillion for this one Ken, fantastic job; Karen just melts me. You can't help but falling in love with her whenever you hear her sing. On a side note, she was also Rory Gallagher's favorite vocalist. 👍🏻👍🏻🌞🌞

[@KnockAndAskToday]

Excellent Ken. I think a lot of people knew she was unique and special, but these isolated tracks show something way beyond that. I could "feel" the emotion seeping from your pores that you were trying very hard to hold back.

[@Rickhorse1]

I'm just an old music fan, not a "vocal expert"...but I am amazed that not once in your critique of Karen's vocal do you mention something which even Frank Sinatra singled her out for. Her attention to diction in her singing. (Sinatra of course was famous for that). So many of even the most popular singers are borderline impossible to understand unless you read the lyrics.

[@Dastardly_X]

Frank said she was the only singer he’d pay to see .

[@bruschmidt9943]

Funny how Rolling Stone magazine rated Karen #94 out of the 100 Best Singers of All Time. I kept listening, moving up (or down) the list, closer to #1 until I heard Bruce Springsteen got rated #36. Bruce Springsteen, the guy whom I used to say sounded like he had marbles in his mouth! After that I knew the whole thing was a farce!

[@KAZHE63]

Such a loss… miss her voice! You speak truth, Ken! I feel sick when I see my teenage granddaughter and the social media ramifications on young women.

[@Royshanger]

It is just because she is one of the best singers that has ever lived...Taken from us way too early!🥲

[@jamesdebroy344]

Hey Ken, great choice, as a male singer I’ve always found it more difficult to connect with female voices, maybe because I’m usually interested in sounds I can replicate. Karen’s voice however is one I’ve always appreciated and feel she may be one of the more underrated female voices, maybe because she doesn’t show boat as you say and is just effortlessly outstanding in every way.

[@dwheel39]

Beautiful voice!

[@DMLogicsThoughtExperiment]

Ken, I love, love, love, love, love this video. By far the best I’ve seen from you just because your appreciation for Karen Carpenter is so spot on and enthusiastic, as it should be. What a brilliant soul she was and how sad that we didn’t have her talent with us for a lot longer.

[@jdallison7061]

My opinion Karen was as good as vocals get she played it like an instrument 100% and as good as eddie van halen was on guitar.🙏❤️😁 May she rest in peace in God's house.

[@BassGirlSusan1961]

Dionne Warwick gave a description of Karen's voice as 'A piece of silk'. Still as fresh as when I first heard R and C in 1970.

[@ricobonifacio1095]

chills every single time, it's amazing how powerful her voice is.

[@alfromtx245]

I appreciate you doing this one. Very different that your normal selections, but Karen Carpenter was incredible. Unfortunately, I was 10 when she passed away and wasn't paying much attention to her at the time. Such a unique and beautiful voice.

[@mcooper7977]

Loved the analysis of this unique and talented artist! 70's and 80's music was the best! 👌

[@tammyevans7333]

Rich. Deep voice

[@benmacdhui]

Karen Carpenter is a great example of a natural voice with tonal purity

[@devhip]

As one of your followers, I'm so glad you covered Karen, and I'm even happier that you share my sentiment that she is one of the greatest female vocalists of all time. You said it perfectly; tone to die for, emotes beautifully, and flawless technique. But not for the sake of technique. She connects with her listener emotionally in a way that is a very rare thing. I'm a grown man, and there are times I tear up listening to her.

[@tonyacook8966]

Thank you SO MUCH Ken for doin Karen!! She has ALWAYS been my inspiration to be a singer. I adore her SO much.

[@danflcworship8293]

Sheesh I got emotional listening to this, I did not expect that. She really was irreplaceable and one of a kind. You're spot on about how she COULD have shown off EASILY but she never did. She always, even maybe subconsciously, understood what the song needed; nothing more nothing less. And the way she ebbed and flowed, she sets you up and just nails your heartstrings.

[@billparthum206]

Ken: You are so spot on on everything Karen Carpenter. It is mindblowing to me that while an artist as yourself can recognize so much of her vocal talent, her work and that of her brother continues to be shunned by those in the Rock and Roll HOF. They have sold over 100 million records over the years. Are they waiting for Richard to pass, too, and then they'll come up with some limp posthumous award? How the hell does Dolly Parton qualify and the Carpenters don't? Again, thanks for your professional breakdown of who I consider to be one of the great female vocalists of the R&R era.

[@JasonCarney.]

Preach!

[@JasonCarney.]

Agree, and I appreciate Dolly Parton. Richard alone deserves to be in the R&R HOF over Dolly Parton. Richard is one of the most prolific musical writers in history. Karen and Richard together were Musical Magic!

[@deborahscalise3215]

I totally agree with your comment. They should have been inducted long ago. Richard is very capable of accepting the honor for both of them. I also think Richard should be acknowledged by the Kennedy Center Honors committee. Richard perfected multitrack layering and is also given credit for the first power ballad by using Tony Peluso 's fuzz guitar solo in Goodbye to Love. And as you said they have sold over a hundred million records and were the TOP selling group of the 1970's It really gets my goat that his and his sister's contributions have not been more recognized. And Karen is considered one of the best voices of all time.