Written hy David Pomeranz and a hit for Barry Manilow, I just discovered Karen Carpenter’s working lead of “Trying to Get the Feeling Again.” I think it’s amazing.
I’d love for you to listen and give your thoughts.
One way or another.
Hello and thank you for being a DL contributor. We are changing the login scheme for contributors for simpler login and to better support using multiple devices. Please click here to update your account with a username and password.
Hello. Some features on this site require registration. Please click here to register for free.
Hello and thank you for registering. Please complete the process by verifying your email address. If you can't find the email you can resend it here.
Hello. Some features on this site require a subscription. Please click here to get full access and no ads for $1.99 or less per month.
Written hy David Pomeranz and a hit for Barry Manilow, I just discovered Karen Carpenter’s working lead of “Trying to Get the Feeling Again.” I think it’s amazing.
I’d love for you to listen and give your thoughts.
One way or another.
by Anonymous | reply 76 | September 17, 2020 6:07 PM |
Nice arrangement. The verse is sort of strange, but the chorus is conveniently hummable. Karen carpenter was clearly the First fan of vocal fry.
by Anonymous | reply 1 | August 1, 2020 2:40 AM |
Sounds better than most pop hits now
by Anonymous | reply 2 | August 1, 2020 2:40 AM |
Very different than Manilow's version.
by Anonymous | reply 3 | August 1, 2020 2:47 AM |
I don't think it's a good fit for her lush lyrical voice at all.
The verse is written to be sung almost spoken and hearing it sung in her voice doesn't help it, plus she sounds a bit flat on a couple notes in the verse. This type of song is just not what Karen's voice did best, although this is an ok cover.
by Anonymous | reply 4 | August 1, 2020 2:53 AM |
Thanks for this: it's the first time I've heard it.
by Anonymous | reply 5 | August 1, 2020 2:57 AM |
Barry's was definitely more commercial; this was nice.
by Anonymous | reply 6 | August 1, 2020 2:59 AM |
Just about any song that The Carpenters covered was better than the original. This one is passable but not their greatest work. Anne Murray had a big hit with "I Just Fall In Love Again" and The Carpenters version of it was gorgeous, better than Anne's who did a good job.
by Anonymous | reply 7 | August 1, 2020 3:00 AM |
My God, she looked horrible here. Was this shortly before sh e died?
Manilow despite having a lusher, more commercial arrangement gives it more dimension. Karen sounds sad here and we know she was a trainwreck--it's poignant yet off putting.
by Anonymous | reply 8 | August 1, 2020 3:03 AM |
As a young gayling. The Carpenters were my FAVORITE singing group. I kinda think Richard made me tingle down there...i find Karen's life so sad...
by Anonymous | reply 9 | August 1, 2020 3:06 AM |
R7, I don't think their songs were covers. They usually did the song first, before the artist who had the hit (This Masquerade, I Just Fall In Love Again, Can't Smile Without You, etc) . They just didn't release those songs as singles, or as in the case of "Tryin To Get The Feeling", they had only done a working demo, but not a finished song.
by Anonymous | reply 10 | August 1, 2020 3:07 AM |
As a gayling I loved her but now the nasal whine makes her unlistenable for me.
by Anonymous | reply 11 | August 1, 2020 3:11 AM |
I don’t think this is the right thing, I’m not musical, but it sounds like she singing it in the wrong key for her voice. There’s a harshness here that’s doesn’t come through on her other lead vocals.
by Anonymous | reply 12 | August 1, 2020 3:17 AM |
R12 I always wondered if Richard was gay. He seemed to be that way.
by Anonymous | reply 13 | August 1, 2020 4:09 AM |
R13 I meant R9 As a young gayling myself it just seemed to me that Richard might be gay.
by Anonymous | reply 14 | August 1, 2020 4:11 AM |
Recorded in 1975 and released by RC in 1994.
It’s such a different sound for her. Something does seem off, and I have weird mixed feelings about it that I wish I could describe in musical terms (key, tone, etc). Still, I think it’s great. Thanks for the comments — helps me sort it and break it down.
Lots of rumors Richie Rich was not straight. Alarming side note: He did married his first cousin and had like five kids. Covered in detail in many previous DL Carpenters threads.
Her incredible voice goes without saying. She was also considered an excellent drummer - she could play the more complicated time signatures, Buddy Rich style. Rolling Stone named her best drummer of 1975, FWIW.
Heartbreaking end. I think the excellent Todd Haynes barbie film gets to the heart of the matter., asking “Why? Why did this woman die?”
by Anonymous | reply 15 | August 1, 2020 4:46 AM |
The Manilow version is superior
by Anonymous | reply 16 | August 1, 2020 5:49 AM |
[quote]R9 I find Karen's life so sad...
A poor little rich (white) girl who couldn’t keep a sandwich down?
Give me a damn break.
by Anonymous | reply 17 | August 1, 2020 6:01 AM |
I love her rendition of Leon Russell's "This Masquerade."
by Anonymous | reply 18 | August 1, 2020 9:09 AM |
Karen’s voice was at its peak in the years they recorded “Now and Then” (1973) and “Horizon” (1975). I wish there had been more unreleased material during this period.
by Anonymous | reply 19 | August 1, 2020 9:13 AM |
R17 Ain’t nobody rich growing up in Downey, CA.
by Anonymous | reply 20 | August 1, 2020 9:53 AM |
Agree that this melody isn't suited for Carpenter.
My appreciation of Carpenter has increased over the decades. Even singing a "happy" song like "Top of the "World", Carpenter has me wondering when the other shoe will drop. To my ear her voice is never absent poignancy and sadness, and, oh, do I love it.
Otoh, the great Marilyn McCoo's sound, other than on her yet to be equaled interpretation of "One Less Bell to Answer" transports me for a few moments into pure bliss.
The 70s; what a decade for the best and worst of pop music.
by Anonymous | reply 21 | August 1, 2020 10:58 AM |
Della, McCoo had amazing pipes and "One Less Bell" is a tour de force. Check out this live version.
Re OP's post I agree the verse melody is odd an nearly a-tonic. The chorus is ok, but shy of memorable. Not her best work. OTOH, I love her version of "I Can't Make Music".
by Anonymous | reply 22 | August 1, 2020 11:32 AM |
r22, wasn't she the only talented one in the "Fifth dimension"?
by Anonymous | reply 24 | August 1, 2020 12:45 PM |
r22, Thank You for posting that.
Streisand's is the greatest pop voice I've ever heard, but even she doesn't, in her take of OLBTA, surpass McCoo's, as you so aptly put it, tour de force performance of it.
McCoo owns OLBTA.
by Anonymous | reply 25 | August 1, 2020 12:47 PM |
Karen was at her best singing downbeat songs like this one.
by Anonymous | reply 26 | August 1, 2020 12:55 PM |
Gorgeous, yes R22, but that ain’t LIVE, no way no how.
by Anonymous | reply 27 | August 1, 2020 12:59 PM |
Passionless. Though if they changed the pronouns back to 'she' and 'her' it might work (wink).
by Anonymous | reply 28 | August 1, 2020 1:09 PM |
That song was inherently nothing special to begin with. I never get tired of listening to her voice though.
by Anonymous | reply 29 | August 1, 2020 1:17 PM |
Marilyn McCoo is very underrated, I love her voice. Love Karen's too of course, but in this song she does that corny accent, "made muh knees start to quiver," yuck. Also good point about the vocal fry, but at least she was original with it.
by Anonymous | reply 30 | August 1, 2020 1:19 PM |
[Quote] Karen sounds sad here
When did she not sound sad?
by Anonymous | reply 31 | August 1, 2020 2:28 PM |
she sounds like a karen after being told that she can't speak with the manager
by Anonymous | reply 32 | August 1, 2020 3:29 PM |
Suicide queen Karen Carpenter could take any song and turn it into a funeral dirge. Love her!
by Anonymous | reply 33 | August 1, 2020 3:51 PM |
I suspect that this Karen, sadly, lacked the "balls" to ask for the manager and that was part of her problem. having a castrating bitch for a mother didn't help.
by Anonymous | reply 34 | August 1, 2020 6:02 PM |
[quote] When did she not sound sad?
For the last time 🙄! I wasn’t sad. I was pooped. POOPED!!!
by Anonymous | reply 35 | August 1, 2020 6:58 PM |
🤠 Sounds like the country western version, with a touch of violin added as a lame attempt to class it up.
It's Criminal.... She murdered the lyrics and tortured my eardrums.
by Anonymous | reply 36 | August 1, 2020 7:08 PM |
Nobody beats George Benson's version of [italic] This Masquerade.
by Anonymous | reply 37 | August 1, 2020 7:12 PM |
Sounds like she was high on appetite suppressants.
by Anonymous | reply 38 | August 1, 2020 7:27 PM |
R34 I suspect that this Karen, sadly, lacked the "balls" to ask for the manager and that was part of her problem. having a castrating bitch for a mother didn't help.
I agree. My partner was the director of an eating disorder hospital — across the board, anorexic females have at least one thing in common, and that is a controlling mother. Cue Agnes.
Karen Carpenter was the sound and became the superstar. Her jealous crybaby brother was known only as her piano player to many people by the late 70s. This really pissed her mother off.
I think she felt guilty about her immense talent and fame in that it totally eclipsed Richard. Staying in that family dynamic was a no-win for her. Asking for what she wanted - new management, production sound, etc., would have been like acts of betrayal. She was backed into a corner. Just a tsunami of factors going against her.
by Anonymous | reply 39 | August 1, 2020 8:38 PM |
That's such a misrepresentation. They were Carpenters, not "Karen Carpenter and her brother."
by Anonymous | reply 40 | August 1, 2020 8:43 PM |
The tone of Karen’s voice here is “really? you expect me to sing this shit?” She sounds like she knows this song is beneath her.
The Manilow version always sounds like a closeted gay man, desperate for advice from his doctor. He should’ve run off with the doctor at the end of the song.
by Anonymous | reply 41 | August 1, 2020 8:54 PM |
[Quote] The tone of Karen’s voice here is “really? you expect me to sing this shit?” She sounds like she knows this song is beneath her.
Then why did she record those songs for her solo album?
by Anonymous | reply 42 | August 1, 2020 8:57 PM |
Poor Richard ...... He never ever quite "Got the Feeling."
Not even once.
by Anonymous | reply 43 | August 1, 2020 9:46 PM |
R27 you're about the vid, esp the end. I think there's another one out there that is live fur reel, and she's still amazing.
by Anonymous | reply 44 | August 1, 2020 10:16 PM |
R43: But I'm guessing he's got the royalties and hasn't had to really work in decades. He married his cousin, btw.
by Anonymous | reply 45 | August 1, 2020 10:31 PM |
R40 It wasn’t my intent to misrepresent, but I can see how my comments came off that way. I am a Carpenters fan, and I think Richard is brilliant.
Books and documentaries have stated that, after they skyrocketed to fame, Richard felt his contributions as songwriter and arranger were starting to get overlooked, e.g., a reviewer of a concert once referred to him as The Carpenters’ piano player.
by Anonymous | reply 46 | August 1, 2020 10:32 PM |
Agnes Carpenter was a fire-breathing cunt who openly favored Richard and was nothing but critical of Karen. Karen was never good enough. Then The Carpenters became famous and Karen got all the attention for her immense talent and vocal skills. Richard and Agnes were NOT happy about that. Cue Karen's anorexia.
The late Karen Ramone was the wife of producer Phil Ramone and a close friend of Karen's and she laid it all out in several interviews. She never held back about the fucked-up family dynamic.
by Anonymous | reply 47 | August 1, 2020 10:41 PM |
Karen's anorexia didn't necessarily have just one trigger. Her figure was criticised in the press.
by Anonymous | reply 48 | August 1, 2020 10:58 PM |
Were you alive when they were famous? Look at the camera time Richard gets here. Carpenters were sold as a duo (after a brief attempt at selling them as a band). Richard was not left in the dust.
by Anonymous | reply 49 | August 1, 2020 11:00 PM |
The tune required higher notes than Karen's regular key so she was back further from the mic. I can hear a physical "distance" in the recording. She's not as close, thus sounding more intimate, to the mic, as her more famous songs. She's a natural crooner.
by Anonymous | reply 50 | August 1, 2020 11:38 PM |
"Tryin' To Get The Feeling" wasn't a complete Carpenters song. It was just a demo they were working on, but after Karen died , A&M started releasing anything they had in the vaults. The lyrics are very different from Manilow's version, but they were the original ones.
The Carpenters also did "Can't Smile Without You" (as an album cut) way before Barry, and much, much better.
by Anonymous | reply 51 | August 2, 2020 1:42 AM |
I love their version of Ticket To Ride, it's better than the Beatles.
by Anonymous | reply 52 | August 2, 2020 1:56 AM |
The part where Karen goes "(h)oh!" is pure cheese. And phony as fuck.
by Anonymous | reply 53 | August 2, 2020 2:09 AM |
R47 is right on.
R49 that clip is from 1971 (and yes I was alive). It post-1974 or so when Richard was becoming almost invisible to the audiences. Nobody wanted his autograph by then — it was all Karen.
He was not happy. Trying to give him more attention on him, their managers suggested he take the stage first - Ladies and Gentleman, Mr. Richard Carpenter! He wore his Liberace outfit and conducted the band for a few minutes.
In addition, a very large mirror was placed above his keyboard so the audience could see his hands on the piano. When Ag would take her seat, she would tell her friends to focus on that mirror.
It was too much. So she died.
by Anonymous | reply 54 | August 2, 2020 2:18 AM |
[Quote] It was too much. So she died.
You should script the biopic.
by Anonymous | reply 55 | August 2, 2020 2:25 AM |
I think she did a lovely job on this song, it was just a work demo.
by Anonymous | reply 56 | August 2, 2020 2:42 AM |
"I suspect that this Karen, sadly, lacked the "balls" to ask for the manager"
But she always asked for a 'barf bag'.
by Anonymous | reply 57 | August 2, 2020 2:51 AM |
R59 That interview is pretty sad. Richard comes across as a dick and she’s so obviously trying to hide the truth.
by Anonymous | reply 60 | August 2, 2020 6:54 AM |
[quote]Agnes Carpenter was a fire-breathing cunt
LOL
Thanks for the laugh to start my day!
by Anonymous | reply 61 | August 2, 2020 10:54 AM |
Karen’s being a condescending, dismissive cunt in that interview (rolling her eyes, lying) when the journalist has real questions and concerns.
by Anonymous | reply 62 | August 2, 2020 2:48 PM |
R62, it's hard to put up with stupid questions when you are just really really hungry.
by Anonymous | reply 63 | September 16, 2020 11:29 PM |
Sounds like pure and total shit.
I'm surprised at how bad it is
She's usually a much better and more expressive singer than Manilow, who I mostly can't stand, but something about this is just way off, from the very first note.
by Anonymous | reply 64 | September 16, 2020 11:56 PM |
I never thought I'd hear all of this love for Barry Fucking Manilow (!) on DL.
by Anonymous | reply 65 | September 17, 2020 12:22 AM |
Karen Carpenter-one of the all time great voices. This rendition is not my favorite; the styling seems off to me. My personal favorite of hers/theirs and probably the most basically arranged song is "Sing".
by Anonymous | reply 66 | September 17, 2020 12:35 AM |
Here’s a compilation of her playing the drums. Quite impressive:
by Anonymous | reply 67 | September 17, 2020 1:03 AM |
The Carpenters were much better as studio performers than as live performers.
Karen's technique was to sing at a low volume and have the technicians turn the volume way up on her recordings.
Karen could sing well within her ability but she wasn't a "belter" and she didn't have a huge range....
I think those limitations show on this song
by Anonymous | reply 68 | September 17, 2020 1:35 AM |
[Quote] My personal favorite of hers/theirs and probably the most basically arranged song is "Sing".
I might find Sing tolerable if they took off those fucking kids.
by Anonymous | reply 69 | September 17, 2020 5:02 AM |
I don't remember where I read this, but shortly after this was released an article comparing this interpretation with BM's was that there is a feeling in Barry's that he may possibly "get the feeling" again, but with Karen's, all hope is lost.
by Anonymous | reply 70 | September 17, 2020 2:28 PM |
Karen never had the feeling in the first place. Her singing was all about fantasy.
by Anonymous | reply 71 | September 17, 2020 3:06 PM |
Suicide queen Karen Carpenter could take any song and turn it into a funeral dirge. Love. Her.
by Anonymous | reply 72 | September 17, 2020 4:10 PM |
It’s been awhile since I read the little girl blue book, but during the filming of the carpenters TV movie Richard was continuously trying to soften Agnes’s image of being a cold hearted cunt. Richard did marry his 1st cousin and it freaked Karen out when they started dating. She was adopted a birth so Richard and Karen grew up with her as a first cousin. When Karen pointed this out Richard got angry and justified it by saying she wasn’t a blood relation.
I wonder if Karen ever actually recorded rock with you for her solo album. It was offered to her first but she didn’t think the song was her and when she went to the off the wall recording sessions It confirmed this in her mind.
by Anonymous | reply 73 | September 17, 2020 4:43 PM |
This is a really trippy listening experience for me. Until this thread, I didn’t even know this song had lyrics!
Growing up, I only knew the uptempo instrumental version by Hubert Laws, which of course is a jazz classic.
by Anonymous | reply 74 | September 17, 2020 5:45 PM |
The Neumann U87 sounds especially warm on Karen's voice.
by Anonymous | reply 76 | September 17, 2020 6:07 PM |
Yes indeed, we too use "cookies." Take a look at our privacy/terms or if you just want to see the damn site without all this bureaucratic nonsense, click ACCEPT. Otherwise, you'll just have to find some other site for your pointless bitchery needs.
Become a contributor - post when you want with no ads!