Josh Ritter and Barnstar! present what Denver might sound like now in “darcy farrow,” while the usually incandescent My Morning Jacket sounds wan on “leaving on a jet plane” and Lucinda Williams sounds crotchety and eccentric on “this old guitar.” I usually Two of the more intriguing performances are by Blind Pilot with “the eagle and the hawk” and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros with “wooden indian.” Part of the surprise for me lies in the fact that I don’t know those songs. Doubt Beato has a program on that subject.It’s a mixed bag or intriguing group, depending on your viewpoint, and the results are sort of all over the place. I’m sure there are other songs out there, but these were the first few that I thought of. Which reminded me of Sting’s “All This Time” from his album Soul Cages (composed in the aftermath of his father’s death?), which also portrays the pathetic attempts of religions (past and present) to try to re-assure the dying of a better world to come, in contrast to the seeming timelessness of the natural world. Which reminded me there were a few others from that album, including He Gives Us All His Love, which I interpret as sarcasm or irony (as He watches the children die), and Old Man, about the reality of dying without the wishful thinking of religion. This came to mind a few days ago after hearing, on a locally produced NPR program, a gospel-like version of Randy Newman’s “God’s Song” from his album Sail Away. Not directly related, but given our host’s interests in popular music and (a)theism, I’d be curious to read others’ suggestions and opinions of songs they like and which dis religion. I generally enjoy Beato’s videos, although they can get too technical for a musical idiot like me. (My loyalty to Karen Carpenter was only recently supplanted by Agnetha Faltskog of ABBA, whose unique tone I like at least as much, but I also find Agnetha even more versatile in tone and style). Karen Carpenter has been my favorite female vocalist for a long time. And then of course the impeccable and intensely melodic arrangements from Richard. Her unique caramel tone, and incredibly effortless phrasing and control. You can’t argue with Karen’s simply incredible voice. Musicians especially, whatever genre they work in, tend to give props to The Carpenters. It’s been cool to acknowledge the genius of The Carpenters for many years now. My mom used to play the Carpenters when I was very young so I’m always transported when hearing them.Ĭlose To You and We’ve Only Just Begun are my sentimental favorites. The Carpenters played a big role in my musical background. “(I’m beyond being ashamed of liking them: they were terrific talents who produced some good music.)” She had a voice like an angel, always with perfect pitch, both high and low, and a vibrato that could shake you in your shoes. The oboe intro is great, but I would love to hear the original Feliciano version. The other instruments heard on the song were recorded by session musicians later known as the Wrecking Crew. Richard essentially did as requested and replaced Feliciano’s guitar intro with that of Earle Dumler’s oboe. The next day, though, Richard got a phone call from Feliciano’s manager, demanding that he be removed from the recording. They went into the studio and the intro was devised by Feliciano, using his nylon string acoustic guitar. They had run into Jose Feliciano in a restaurant, who was a big fan of theirs and wanted to play on one of their records. Wikipedia notes that the first studio recording of “For All We Know” by the Carpenters had an intro by another well known musician:Īccording to Richard, the intro was originally played on guitar. It was written by Fred Karlin, Robb Wilson ( Robb Royer),and Arthur James ( Jimmy Griffin), and was created for the 1970 movie “Lovers and Other Strangers” (it got the Oscar in 1971 for Best Original Song). And without a doubt, the piece below is my favorite Carpenters song, replete with low notes, especially in the title phrase.
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