Hello my wonderful friends!!! I really hope you've been enjoying this series on Karen's unreleased song. It's been tons of fun putting it together for you!
“I Do It For Your Love” was written by music legend Paul Simon. This is one of two Paul Simon songs Karen recorded; the other is of course the classic “Still Crazy After All These Years.” As we know “Still Crazy After All These Years” was released as a single by Paul Simon in March 1976 with “I Do It For Your Love” as the b-side. Could it be that Karen may have been planning to release her version of “Still Crazy After All These Years” as a single with the non-LP track “I Do It For Your Love” as it’s b-side? We can only speculate on that – but that would have made a nice single.
Simon’s original recording of “I Do It For Your Love” is done in a fantastic story telling pop style with a hint of folk feel to it. Karen maintained that same sort of style including the folksy feel along with an extra-added New York City sheen to it as which for Phil Ramone was ever so famous. Simon's recording includes Bob James electric piano and Steve Gadd on drums , both of which play the same instruments on Karen Carpenter's recording. This was Karen's (and Phil Ramone's) way of paying tribute to the legend Paul Simon. By the way Phil also produced Simon's recording of the song.
“I Do It For Your Love” takes a somewhat cynical look at marriage and love. Karen does extremely well with these type of “story songs,” it’s a shame she didn’t have the opportunity to do more. She could have hit the ball out of the park with a song such as “Cat’s In The Cradle,” with a few lyrical changes possibly.
The following is an essay I found on the internet written about the song “I Do It For Your Love”. It is written in the male point of view as the song was written by Paul Simon though if we want to think of Karen Carpenter as the narrator we can change the “man” to “woman” and the “he to “she.”
Here, we find a man musing on his wedding day and early living arrangements with his bride. Aside from the lousy weather, the ceremony was less than romantic, and possibly presided over by a justice rather than a clergyman: "We signed the papers and we drove away." Then their apartment was moldy and leaky. Then they both got sick and, not being able to afford medicine, simply "drank... orange juice," hoping that mega-doses of vitamin C would do the trick.
Even the rug the husband buys for his young wife-- a splurge, no doubt, even if it did come from a thrift store-- turned out to be a less-than-pretty addition to their abode, as they colors ran together before he could get it home. This luckless pair reminds one of the couple in O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi."
And yet there is an affection for this time. Again and again comes the line "I do it for your love." It was OK. The sacrifices were worth it. Instead of saying "one day we'll look back at this and laugh," it seems that they were laughing at the time. Because, despite the lack of physical comforts, there was an emotional comfort. A sense that they as a couple, were building something together. Maybe out of noisy pipes and blurry rugs, but a home.
And then... the breakup. "Love... disappears." Wait, when did that happen? In the space of three lines, the relationship dissolves. What has withstood such an uninspired start and such wretched living conditions succumbs to "the sting of reason." One would think that living in a musky hovel would mean that the couple was dealing with reality and surviving despite it.
But no. The reality they get "stung" by is not physical. It is emotional. While living in a physical netherworld, they were emotionally dwelling in fantasyland. They are two "hemispheres." They can meet, but not merge.
The clue is in the color imagery. From "The leaves that are green turn to brown" to the all-black rainbow of "My Little Town," color has been an important metaphor for Simon, but perhaps never more so than in this song.
Even at the outset, the colors are wrong: "The sky was yellow and the grass was gray." Then, they both tried being the same color... by filling themselves to bursting with "orange." That didn't work.
So then we have "the colors ran/ the orange bled the blue." Now, the colors are intermingled, but in an unappealing way, resulting in what today we might call "co-dependency." Each one is relying on the other for his or her identity... and the "fabric" of their relationship is a mess.
Another interpretation of the rug-color imagery is the colors themselves. Orange is a sunny, hopeful color, while blue is the color of sadness (as in "the blues"). The orange person is making the blue one "bleed," in this case, or perhaps dilute his or her identity and sense of self.
Surely, a sad person would not mind losing his sadness and have it bled off by sunniness? Yet we know from experience that, if someone is baseline serious and somber, having a Pollyanna for a roommate could become oppressive in its own way.
The suddenness of their realization is felt in the word "sting," but also reflected in the abrupt change of imagery from concrete to abstract. Aside from the surreal colors of Nature on their wedding day, the first two verses and the bridge are full of bold, realistic images.
Then comes the last verse, with its abstractions ("reason" instead of "pipes" and "papers"), synecdoches ("tears" for "sadness"), and metaphors ("hemispheres" for "personality types"). Poetically, the frozen "north" is traditionally associated with seriousness and the sunny "south" with passion).
The uncomfortable reality of their "room" made them feel a sense of solidarity, as in the lyric, "You and me against the world." This misery kept them together, but also distracted them the real, tectonic problem of their whole planet. A couple should, after all, share more than a "cold."
So what is the "reason" for the "tears"? To paraphrase: "North is north, and south is south-- and never the twain shall marry."
Well, they might. But they might ultimately regret it and part ways. Still, even this painful parting is done out of care for the other. "I am not right for you," each says, "But, because I care for you, I want you to have the chance to find the one who is. Even leaving you is something I do... for your love."
* Note from Rick Henry: This is my favorite song from Karen's unreleased solo recordings!!! I love this song!!!
“Don’t Try To Win Me Back Again” was first recorded in 1978 by disco singer Vicki Sue Robinson, you may remember her mega-hit “Turn The Beat Around” from 1976. Vicki included “Don’t Try To Win…” on her 1978 album “Half and Half’ and used it as the b-side to her single “Trust In Me.”
Written by Carlotta McKee and Gordon Gordy, who wrote several songs together. Carlotta has written songs recorded by the soul/disco groups Change, Zinc, Irene Cara and Silence (a group in which Gordon Gordy was a member). Gordon Gordy has written several songs for Vicki Sue Robinson as well as for Irene Cara and disco/R&B artists such as Lemon, Viola Wills, Joe Thomas, Charme, Meco, Brit Ekland, June Pointer and his own group Silence.
Karen Carpenter took this song along with Phil Ramone and turned it into a scorching dance-rock tune much in the same style as Donna Summer’s “Hot Stuff.” Rod Temperton went all out in creating the vocal arrangement and vocal mix (which in some parts is similar to the vocal arrangement in the song “If I Had You”). A few years later Temperton made this vocal style famous with Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”
“Something’s Missing (In My Life)” – Written by Jay Asher and Paul Jabara, the song was recorded by Paul Jabara and Donna Summer and was included on his 1978 album “Keeping Time.” It also appeared on the 1980 soundtrack for the movie "Inside Moves" performed by Lady Sylvia. Paul Jabara also wrote or co-wrote the classic tunes “Last Dance” for Donna Summer, “Enough is Enough (No More Tears)” recorded by Donna Summer and Barbra Streisand, “The Main Event” a Streisand hit and “It’s Raining Men” by the Weather Girls. “Something’s Missing (In My Life)” was recorded by several people in 1979-1980 including Marcia Hines, the Europop group Patchwork and jazz musician Ahmad Jamal. Marcia Hines took the song to #9 in Australia in late 1979.
Here’s a little trivia on Paul Jabara he was in the 1978 film "Thank God It's Friday," he played the role of Carl, the lovelorn and nearsighted disco goer, and he also contributed as a singer on two tracks on the original soundtrack album.
Karen Carpenter fans especially love this song for it’s dark somber feeling and Karen’s use of her famed lower voice. Many have said this song should have ended up on Karen’s album and could have been a huge hit. This song particularly touches fans as there was much missing in Karen’s life and she communicated this very well in this song.
Songwriter, Jay Asher, has gone on record saying Karen Carpenter’s recording of the song is his favorite version.
5:52 am..
I’m awake
and thinkin ’bout my life
5:53
I can see
I won’t sleep a wink tonight
6 am,
where’s my pen?
I might as well get up and write a song
And try to work out
why when everything seems right,
why do I feel so alone?
Something missing
in my life…
could it be you,
could it be you and me?
Something’s missing in my life,
Aww come and be
right where I need you to be
For all my life.
All my life…
Got my house,
got my fancy car,
everything’s going like I planned so far,
But something’s not there,
that should be there
I gotta find it somewhere,
Since the day you left my side,
I’ve torn myself apart
and I still can’t decide,
Is it you I need
or did you really hurt my pride?
Something’s missing in my life,
baby it’s you,
maybe it’s you and me…
If you’re what’s missing in my life,
then baby come to me,
come feel the need in me.
For all my life….
Something’s missing in my life,
could it be you,
could it be you and me?
Something’s missing in my life,
aww come and be
right where I need you to be ….
You’re what’s missing in my life,
aww come and be
right where I need you to be…..
“Jimmy Mack” – Of course Karen Carpenter had to put her solo mark on a Motown tune. With Carpenters she had previously enjoyed huge success with the Motown classic “Please Mr. Postman” and gave a spirited vocal performance.
Karen put a fun spirited upbeat early 80’s spin on “Jimmy Mack” very much in the same vein as Manhattan Tranfer’s “The Boy From New York City” or Diana Ross’ “Why Do Fools Fall In Love.”
"Jimmy Mack" was originally a Top Ten hit in 1967 for Martha and the Vandellas. Just a year earlier Karen (with her brother Richard) recorded a full length studio version of another Martha and the Vandellas hit, "Dancing In The Street," for an album that was to be released in 1979. But due to Richard's stay at Mennengers in Kansas - to treat his addiction to quaaludes - the album was scrapped and was never released. Carpenters' recording of "Dancing In The Street" was fully pop while Karen's solo recording of "Jimmy Mack" contained underlying hints of R&B in both the music and Karen's vocal performance.
"Jimmy Mack"
Jimmy Mack (Lyrics)
Jimmy Mack Jimmy,
Oh Jimmy Mack when are you comin' back.
Jimmy Mack Jimmy,
Oh Jimmy Mack when are you comin' back.
My arms are missing you,
My lips feel the same way too.
I tried so hard to be true, like I promised to do.
But this boy keeps comin' around,
tryin' to wear my resistance down.
Hey Jimmy, Jimmy,
Oh Jimmy Mack, when are you comin' back.
Jimmy, Jimmy, Oh Jimmy Mack, you better hurry back.
He calls me on the phone about three times a day.
Now my heart's just listening to, what he has to say
But this loneliness I have within,
Keeps reaching out to be his friend
Hey Jimmy, Jimmy,
Oh Jimmy Mack, when are you comin' back.
Jimmy, Jimmy, Oh Jimmy Mack, you better hurry back.
Need your loving, need your loving.
I wanna say I'm not getting any stronger,
I can't hold out very much longer
Trying hard, to be true,
But, Jimmy he talks just as sweet as you.
Hey Jimmy, Jimmy,
Oh Jimmy Mack, when are you comin' back.
Jimmy, Jimmy, Oh Jimmy Mack, you better hurry back.
I wanna say I'm not getting any stronger,
I can't hold out very much longer...
Lyrics written by Eddie Holland (and Lamont Dozier)
“Truly You” was written by Russell Javors but has remained unreleased to this day.
Karen was obviously impressed with Russell's talent as a musician, arranger, producer and songwriter as she chose four of his songs to record. "Room At The Top" is one of the four, though it's unsure whether or not she recorded it. She also recorded Javors' songs "All Because of You" and "Still In Love With You," both of which made it on to the album. Javors spent more time in the studio than the other Billy Joel band members. He took the time to help Karen learn her vocal parts on the songs he wrote as well as shaping the musical parts of those songs.
"Truly You"
Truly You (Lyrics)
Love when I'm feeling like this
You make me feel alive
You get that look in your eyes every time
And if you find a better way
Have to say that any way you want to play will be alright
Oh it's truly you
Ooh it's truly you
You for me
And it's me for you
Well I was weak and I lost my patience
I put the love on the line
You've got that love on your mind, so do I
It's to the way it seems
I have to say that you're the same
And if you're looking for a fight
Oh it's truly you
Ooh it's truly you
You for me
And it's me for you
If it's too new
Give it time
Yes, it's too soon
Tell the truth
We've got the rest of our lives
Well, I believe that a star will guide us
But there's a star inside
And I've been looking for a light in my life
If you turned and walked away
I'll have to say that if you stay
I'm gonna make it worth your while
Oh it's truly you
Ooh it's truly you
You for me
And it's me for you
Oh it's truly you
Ooh it's truly you
You for me
And it's me for you
Oh it's truly you
Ooh it's truly you
You for me
And it's me for you
“It’s Really You” – It’s easy to figure out how this song came to Karen. The song was part of the A&M Records catalog of which Karen had complete access during her solo album sessions.
“It’s Really You” was written by Alan Tarney, Tom Snow and Trevor Spencer and was originally recorded by The Tarney/Spencer Band for their 1976 A&M Records album “Three’s A Crowd.” The song was released as a single by The T/S Band and it was a moderate hit reaching #86 on Billboard’s US Singles chart. This makes one wonder if there were other songs from the same album that Karen may have considered recording.
"It's Really You (Karen Carpenter Solo Unreleased)
It's Really You (Lyrics)
Did you ever have a plan, a dream And think it would be right for you
For a moment in your life, believe That Heaven would decide for you
That a feeling deep inside will guide you
To a love you'll treasure it's you and I forever If you will believe
It's really you, It's really me, We're all the things we ever wanted to be The time is right and you're here tonight So hold my hand and know that you'll understand
If there is something on your mind, a need And you feel you want to shake it
Let it go let it fall, leave it You don't have to chase it
'Cos there's a new world all around you that's so good Darling and it's made for you ther's nothing more you need to do If you would believe
It's really you, It's really me, We're all the things we ever wanted to be The time is right and you're here tonight So hold my hand and know that you'll understand
Our love, love that I've tasted Now there is love and I aint gonna waste it Like I did before Now I know it's really you it's me
“Love Makin’ Love To You” is another Evie Sands song. Obviously Karen had a liking for Evie. Evie co-wrote this song for her 1974 album “Estate of Mind” with Ben Weissman and Richard Germinaro. The song is originally titled “I Love Making Love To You,” Karen changed the title slightly. Evie released the song as a single in 1975 and reached #50 on the US Billboard Top 200 singles chart. Evie’s version is a slower (somewhat) funk and blues sound with a muttled vocal and musical arrangement. It sounds more like a demo than a finished recording. Karen took the song and changed the tempo a bit and added more instruments for a fuller sound including some high stepping horns really giving the song a dark and sultry New York City sound.
Evie Sands had been part of the A&M Records roster from 1968 through 1970. she recorded two singles for the label in 1969 and then recorded her one A&M album "Anyway That You Want Me" at the same time as Carpenters were recording their "Close To You" album. Evie and Karen had many opportunities to meet each other. Karen became a big fan of Evie's music and sound at this time. I feel that early on Karen had this yearning to be a different sort of singer and/or record a different type of music than what was being presented to her.
“Midnight (Never Lets You Down)” written by Rod Temperton specifically for Karen Carpenter while he was staying in Phil Ramone’s guest house during the time of the recording and production of Karen’s solo album. At this same time Karen was living in Phil main house therefore Rod and Karen were seeing each other on a daily basis. Rod came to know Karen very well and was able to write songs for her that fit her personality and mood at that specific time in her life. “Midnight” reflects the smokey and dark jazz side of Karen’s voice and musical interests.
It's hard to pinpoint the musicians that worked on this song but my guess would be that Rod composed both the musical and vocal arrangements for the song as arrangements were one of his specialties plus he did do the arrangements for the other two songs he wrote; "Lovelines" and "If We Try."
"Midnight (Never Lets You Down)" Midnight (Never Lets You Down) Lyrics
Used to spend my evenings
Waiting for the sun in the morning
Frightened by the dark
I would always leave lights on to sleep
But darling, I've left all that behind
And nowadays I find
That midnight on
It's a magic moment everyday
When you hold me in that special way
And midnight always comes around
Telling me that I don't need to be blue
Lovin' you
Just a simple girl
But I always seat the world on my shoulder
Life and all its worries
Come tumblin' down on me
From above
But baby
When evening starts to fall
I forget them all
Cause midnight never lets you down
There's a magic moment everyday
When you hold me in that special way
And when midnight always comes around
Telling me that I don't need to be blue
Lovin' you
Hold me warm inside your love
Don't ever let me go
Cause we can ride a dream until tomorrow
And drift upon a star into the sky, tonight
Darlin' I've left all that behind
And nowadays I find
That midnight on
It's a magic moment everyday
When you hold me in that special way
And midnight always comes around
Telling me that I don't need to be blue
Lovin' you
Cause midnight never lets you down
There's a magic moment everyday
When you hold me in that special way
And when midnight always comes around
Telling me that I don't need to be blue
Lovin' you
“Keep My Lovelight Burnin’” was written by Evie Sands and Ben Weissman and is included on Evie’s 1979 album “Suspended Animation.” Evie released the song as a single but failed to chart with it. Sands did an all-out disco recording of the song while Karen Carpenter took the song and added heavy electric guitar and a funk styled bass line turning it into a scorching rocker similar to Donna Summer’s “Hot Stuff.”
"Keep My Lovelight Burning"
"Keep My Lovelight Burning" (2015 Remix)
Keep My Lovelight Burnin' Lyrics
Every night’s the same
Come home feelin’ down
After you’ve been out
Chasin’ all over town
Do you think that I’ll sit around while you play
If you don’t feed the fire there ain’t no flame
Party lights, empty nights won’t keep my lovelight burin’
I need your body heat next to me
To keep my lovelight burin’
You’ve got to keep my lovelight burnin’ yeah
Used to be we’re out makin’ love in the rain
Come on to me like a hurricane
Now it seems our love isn’t getting’ enough
Baby it much to weak to fill my cup
Party lights, empty nights won’t keep my lovelight burin’
I need your body heat next to me
To keep my lovelight burin’
Party lights, empty nights won’t keep my lovelight burin’
I need your body heat next to me
To keep my lovelight burin’ yeah
keep my lovelight burnin’ yeah
You’ve got to keep my lovelight burnin’
Party lights, empty nights won’t keep my lovelight burin’
I recently did an interview with Jimmy Michaels which I want to share with you here at Karen Carpenter Avenue.
Jimmy is a professional musician with an impressive portfolio and has enjoyed a fair amount of success. Beyond his professionally released works in his earlier years Jimmy experimented with creating his own mixes and remixes of Karen Carpenter's solo works including the released and unreleased tracks. In the following interview you will learn more about Jimmy and his interest in Karen Carpenter.
RH: Welcome to Karen Carpenter Avenue Jimmy, it is a pleasure to have you here for a visit. Tell us your background in music. Do you have any degrees or special training in music? Do you play any instruments?
JM: I
guess I could be called a sort of born natural when it comes to music.
Started out in the very early 90s in a small garage hard rock duo, then
in more recent years have expanded my horizons producing and writing all
different genres of music. One minute I could be producing or writing
Hard Rock like when I was young, the next I could be doing beautiful
Easy Listening, i'm all over the map LOL. Instruments I play are drums,
various percussion instruments and piano/keyboards.
Never went
to school for it, never had any training or earned any degrees. Back
when I was a boy in the early 1980s when I was in elementary school, we
had a very hip sort of teacher who did all kinds of different things in
his classroom. He happened to have an orchestral snare and bass drum in
there. One day at lunch, I hopped on it and started jamming away...long
story short, they thought it was an adult professional playing, and when
they seen it was a kid, the local newspaper was called and I had my pic
taken at the drums with a small write up done, and this was sort of the
beginning of what was to come later in life for me (see attached pic
for the newspaper photo and header from the article)
Jimmy Michaels Newspaper Clipping from the Early 80's
RH: Tell us about JMP Music
JM: JMP
Music is an independent music label I started in 2007 when I decided to
return to writing and producing music after a roughly 5 year hiatus. It
began mostly carrying underground indie rock acts and some of my own
work, and today, it's a little more diverse than it was in the
beginning. Two of the most recent editions to the JMP family are 80s
dance music legend Ernest Kohl and Austrian film music composer Gerhard
Heinz, to give you an idea of how open the label's become since it's
start 7 years ago.
RH: How many of your songs have been recorded? Have any of your songs made it onto the charts?
JM: Too
many to mention between the mid 90s - present, none ever made any major
big time charts.
Really though at the end of the day, it's the interest and sales that
keep us indie artists going..as long as they're still there, we'll keep
making music.
RH:Who are some of the artists that have recorded your
songs and which songs are they? Maybe some of the highlights.
JM:D.C. LaRue "More Things Change", Type C "The
Darkness", Genise G "Sexcapade" to name a few. One song I am especially proud of is "Dark Lady" by my old rock duo
called Waco (and was also the very first song I ever wrote).RH: How about your early days as a DJ?
JM: I wouldn't call it my early days, more like my in
between/not knowing what I was doing next hiatus days. My small rock duo
(which we called ourselves Waco) came to an end in late 1996. Following
that I had some personal stuff to deal with and handle in life. Then
once that was sorted out, had decided to get married, try to do the
family thing and leave music behind. Well, the marriage didn't work out
and towards the end of it, something I had done for years as a hobby for
fun and enjoyment I decided to pursue as a possible career.
I
ended up making a part time living off it through a lot of mobile "for
hire" gigs and even had a short resident DJ stint during this time at a
now de-funked nightclub in Phoenix Az spinning classic underground disco
(with records - yes! vinyl! in the early 2000's at that!). By the end
of 2002 my short lived DJ days were done..at least in terms of doing it
for a job.
With the internet fresh and new and all this
technology, I ended up creating an online weekly (which eventually went
to monthly) downloadable radio program called "Disco Extravaganza", in
which of course I played nothing but 70s disco (am a HUGE fan of that
period of dance music if ya couldn't tell LOL).
I penned the
name "DJ Jimmy M" for it by taking my music alias, throwing "DJ" in
front of it, and abbreviating "M" from the "Michaels" and created this
on air persona. And this is the first time i'm ever admiting this, but
when I was mobile DJ-ing and had that residency, I had another alias
(that I will never tell what it was...hehe)
Hence, that's how
that name ended up on those Karen Carpenter remixes...when in fact it
was Jimmy Michaels doing those, not my on air DJ persona (as for a
handful of em, DJ Jimmy M didn't even exist yet). The show was a pretty
big hit and caught on amazingly well, which I never expected - had
thousands of devoted listeners the first few years. Then towards the
final few years, the listener rate was dropping and was only in the mid
hundreds to the low hundreds.
In it's final year, it ended up
being picked up by an online radio station out of NYC called Disco 935.
In late 2007 when I made the decision to come back to producing music on
a regular basis and decided to cut a solo album, it was becoming
tougher and tougher to keep up with doing this radio show between trying
to produce and write for myself and other indie rock acts...so I called
it quits after nearly 6 years of doing this show on a weekly or monthly
basis.
I did end up becoming very close friends with the owner
of Disco 935, and because of that, I will at least once a year still
make a guest appearance over there, usually around the Christmas
holidays to help him out when he wants a break for a week or to fill in
for another show that's off for that week. So, that's the DJ story.
RH: You released an album called "More Things Change," it seems it's somewhat an underground disco classic.
JM: Ahh
yes, my venture into classic disco and funk sounds (with a little bit
of new wave added on the re-issue that's currently still available). I
would not call it an underground disco classic though as it was produced
and recorded between 2009 and 2011 (authentic to the disco era though).
But it did gain a little bit of attention from those that are into the
classic disco stuff. There's 2 main highlights of the album that gave it
the attention. The first was the title cut, which is performed by
Casablanca Records legend D.C. LaRue.
That tune itself is
probably the most personal and special to me song I ever worked on. The
reason why, is that it was a childhood dream come true. Being a die hard
fan of D.C. growing up, I always said that if I ever was to become a
musician, that one of my ultimate dreams would be to work with D.C. in
making a new song for him. And it turned out EXACTLY in the fashion I
always wanted...which was I wrote and produced the music, and D.C. wrote
and sang the lyrics. The man is a lyrical genius and has a lot of
statements to make in his music. If anyone out there isn't familiar with
his work, I highly recommend checking it out. It's pure musical art all
the way around.
The 2nd highlight of the album that gained the
attention was a bit of an experiment I did in what I would call
theatrical audio or, a mini movie for the mind. Take a combo of
inspiration from concept disco albums by Alec R. Costandinos, rock
concept albums such as Pink Floyd's The Wall and The Who's Tommy. Mix it
with my love of 70s cop/action shows, sprinkle a little bit of The
Twilight Zone in, and you get the continuous play second half of the
album.
It's a bizarre twisted tale in both song and dialog of an
obsessed fan of a fashion model who goes berzerk and kills her (played
by me), the cops are on his trail, but during all this, what appears to
be the ghost of the model (played by voice actress and make up artist
Michelle Lea) is speaking to him and haunting him...but is it a ghost,
or is it all in his deranged mind? What happens next? Tune in to the
second half of the album and find out LOL The main song and single that
came out of this epic was called "Crime Of Obsession", and is the tune
that made folks curious to hear the whole concept piece after hearing
either the single version as a solo (and slightly censored) tune or from
hearing one of the remixes that were released.
One other
highlight of the album I will mention that was added later to the
re-issue is a re-recording/new production of 70s east cost pop legend
Peter Lemongello's "Can't Get Enough Of You Girl", with vocal performed
by Peter himself (this actually directly follows the close of the
concept piece).
D.C. LaRue - Crash and Burn
RH: Do you have any current projects in the works?
JM: Yes, a few
actually. One of which is a brand new song I wrote and produced for
Austrian singer Ines Reiger. The song itself is kind of a milestone for
me as it's a love song, and is the first time i've ever written
something of this nature (with not being in any romantic relationship at
the moment as well may I add). Style wise it's very late 70s/early 80s
sounding, and come to think of it, quite similar to some of the lighter
material on the KC solo album. It's planned to be released very soon as a
maxi-single that will contain the original mix and a small handful of
remixes, as well as the original mix appearing on a various artists
compilation album coming out that contains assorted productions of mine
in all genres.
RH: Before we move on to Karen Carpenter
please let us know your music tastes. Who do you listen to? What was the
first album you bought? What’s your favorite song?]
JM: Much like
the music I write, I'm all over the map. Generally, when it comes to
music, any genre from the 30s up through the early 90s I could be into. I
have my favorite artists, composers and bands in all different genres. I
could go from Glenn Miller Orchestra to Megadeath to Bee Gees all in
one day to give you an example.
Really dig anything with
beautiful lush melodies, a great rhythm or a hard beat - either slow or
fast. Two of my main musical influences though were Freddie Mercury and
Phil Collins. As for a favorite song, don't have one because it would be
impossible to chose with as much music as I'm into. The first album I
ever bought was "Are We Not Men? We Are Devo!" by Devo.
RH: Are you a longtime Karen Carpenter fan? When did you first hear her voice and what was your impression?
JM: I've
always loved Karen's voice and a handful of the Carpenters tunes.
"Close To You" was the first song I ever heard and first time I heard
her voice. I was a very young kid, and my impression was from what I
remember, just a warm happy feeling.
JM: It was when I first heard
tracks off this lost 1979/1980 solo album many years later that I can
say I became a true fan. I mean, who knew Karen could have been the next
amazing queen of blue eyed soul? It's a real shame that wonderful album
didn't see the light of day when it should have...who knows what could
have been.
RH: What was your impression when you first heard Karen’s solo album?
JM: I
was totally floored! Couldn't believe what I was hearing and how
soulful she was - a total different side of Karen not heard very much on
Carpenters material. Not to mention the great grooves backing her by
The Brothers Johnson band and the brilliant production work of Phil
Ramone. It just all came together like a perfect musical marriage.
(Note from Rick Henry: Jimmy mentions the Brothers Johnson band. There were six musicians who worked on Borthers Johnson's Quincy Jones produced albums that also worked on Karen's solo album including Rod Temperton, Louis Johnson, Ralph MacDonald, Jerry Hey, Michael Brecker and Greg Phillinganes)
Karen Carpenter - Guess I Just Lost My Head (Jimmy Michaels Mix)
RH: How did you find out about the nine unreleased solo songs?
JM: There
was a record store in Ardmore PA (right outside of Philadelphia) called
Plastic Fantastic that I used to go to in the 80s and 90s, and they had
all kinds of rare to find stuff and was THE bootleg headquarters in the
Philly area, and one time shopping in there around the time the solo
album seen the light of day, I found a bootleg tape of the 9 cuts. I
remember paying 40 something dollars for it, which at the time, was a
lot of money for a bootleg. But on the upside, being pre-internet, I had
to be one of the very few who had or knew about these. Lord knows where
they got em?
RH: Which of the unreleased songs are you especially fond of? How about favorites from the album that was finally released?
JM: For
the unreleased ones... "Midnight", "Don't Try To Win Me Back" and her
cover of Paul Jabara's "Something's Missing In My Life". For the
released stuff...would have to say the original 1979 mix of "Lovelines",
"My Body Keeps Changing My Mind" and "Guess I Just Lost My Head".
Karen Carpenter - Don't Try To Win Me Back Again (Jimmy Michaels Mix)
RH: What fueled your interest in mixing/remixing the KC solo tracks?
JM: Honestly?
Just having fun and jamming with em originally. "Lovelines" kind of
started the whole handful off, because my mind pondered of what would
have been had it got released in 1980, and what would the 12'' disco
remix that would have came out with it sound like. So, wanted to try to
bring my vision to life the best I could without a multi-track master
(which pre-internet times these were, no chance something like that
could even be leaked as so many multi-tracks do now days, you needed the
original tape in hand - which naturally, would never happen).
RH: You mixed only some from the album and a few from the unreleased tracks, why didn’t you mix all 21 of KC’s solo songs?
JM: The
whole thing was a very random and sporatic kinda situation over a long
period. Some were done in the 90s and some in the early 2000's. All done
for fun and personal enjoyment. Never imagined the whole world would
some day know of these when I did em.
RH: How did you go about mixing them? What sort of equipment did you use?
JM: Well,
depending on which tune, it all varies. The early ones from the 90s
were re-edited on reel to reel and then overdubbed rhythms live on
cassette while doing the playback of the edits off the reel. Like for
instance, "Lovelines" is nothing more than the regular song played
straight through with just the bridge repeated an extra time. The actual
"remix" portion of that is simply me playing a steady 4/4 kick and
snare disco rhythm live on the drums to the playback (and carefully
leveled in so it blended just right).
Then if you take one from
the early 2000's like "Guess I Just Lost My Head", we have a bit of
early digital technology entering into that one, in which what I did was
made 2 WAV file copies of the song direct off the CD, one of them was
recorded into the computer with the channels stripped, and the other
normal. Dropped em both into digital multi-tracking at the same time and
took the stripped channel one, put a little reverb on it, and leveled
it into the normal one. Hence, bringing out hidden instrumentation and
making it appear similar to a real multi-track master tape remix.
RH: How did your mixes get leaked to the internet?
JM: In
the early days of the net here, I had originally made mediocre/soso mp3
copies at a 192 bitrate of everything I had for a buddy of mine, as
well as sharing them with an underground yahoo group (anyone remember
those?) I hung around in at that time. The actual "leak" came about as a
result of the buddy (who was non-related to this yahoo group), when he
asked me if he could give copies to this person and that person...and I
was like, "yea sure, knock yourself out, have fun"..not having any idea
of just how wide spread these were going to be. And I have to say, i'm
very pleased and honored that millions of people know about these and
are still discovering them today!
If I could have seen the
future, I would have copied them in much better quality for my buddy
back then. Unfortunately, a lot of the master sources for these (most
were tapes) are long lost and only a few still sit in my closet
somewhere deep in random boxes of tapes and so far, have only recovered 1
of them.
RH: Do you plan on doing anymore KC mixes? How about
Carpenters mixes? I’d love to hear a Jimmy Michaels mix of “B’wana She
No Home.”
JM: That's a tough question. A lot has changed since when I
did these for sheer fun and enjoyment years ago. Being back in the
indie music biz, now running a label and doing other things, I really
don't do home made remixes like that anymore. However, if by some
ungodly miracle, I could gain access to the original multi-track masters
for any of the KC solo material or Carpenters, you can bet I'd be on it
in a heartbeat!
This petition requests that Richard produce Karen’s
remaining unreleased songs.Let
Richard know that if he agrees, fans worldwide will welcome this special
tribute album dedicated to the memory of Karen.
