KWXY Presents ● A Classic Interview with The Carpenters
A&M Records Publicity photo of Karen & Richard Carpenter c. 1973 Billboard Magazine Special Section page 24
The Carpenters were the brother/sister musical duo of Richard and Karen Carpenter.
Both were born in New Haven, Connecticut to parents Harold and Agnes. Richard Lynn Carpenter, born October 15, 1946, was the pianist, primary arranger and backup singer of the duo and Karen Anne Carpenter, born March 2, 1950, was the lead singer and original drummer.
In 1963, the Carpenter family relocated to Downey, California to escape the bitter Connecticut winters and to give the siblings a chance to expand their musical horizons. It was there that Richard studied piano at California State University, Long Beach and Karen pursued the drums at Downey High School and later in the choir at CSULB.
The Richard Carpenter Trio, featuring Karen, Wes Jacobs and Richard / Publicity photo of the Richard Carpenter Trio (precursor to The Carpenters), 1967
Their success began, albeit slowly, on April 22, 1969 when the signed as simply “Carpenters” to A&M Records. Their first album, Offering, enjoyed only modest success. A&M decided it would be best if they were to record a potential hit single instead; that song was the Burt Bachrach/Hal David composition, “(They Long to Be) Close to You,” released on May 14, 1970. Debuting on the charts on June 20, the song reached number one on July 25 and would remain there for four weeks.
The Carpenters enjoyed tremendous success both in record sales and near-constant touring, but the success came at a tremendous price. Richard had become addicted to Quaaludes by 1979 and he took a year off to recover while Karen suffered from anorexia nervosa, leading to her death from heart failure on February 4, 1983 at age 32. During their career, the Carpenters released ten albums which contained a number of top 20 hits; ten were certified gold.
A&M Records Publicity photo of Karen Carpenter Drumming from Billboard, November 1973
Today, Richard Carpenter continues to perform both as a musician and arranger, releasing a new album on December 7, 2021 titled Carpenters with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra which, according to the duo’s official website, combines “fresh orchestrations augmenting the original recordings.”
He also remains active as a car collector with a particular interest in Chrysler products. He still owns his unrestored and highly optioned 1970 Plymouth Barracuda which was specially ordered and purchased during the production of “Close To You.”
Listen to a Classic Interview with The Carpenters on The Wink Martindale Show today at 1pm on KWXY Music Radio 92.3FM ● 1340AM ● streaming at kwxy.com and ivoxradio.com