Write Away Magazine - Issue No:13

Karen Carpenter
It’s no secret that the 60’s and 70’s was an oasis of incredible
musicians on the popular music front. The variety of skill
and talent was simply mindblowing.
Quite a generic start for an article I admit but when talking
about Karen Carpenter, you have to use words like ‘incredible’
and ‘mindblowing’. It’s funny though, to the casual music
listener, very few would accredit Karen Carpenter as a
drummer. Many wouldn’t know that she actually started her
music career this way, not singing until some time later. In fact
she often described herself as a drummer who could sing.
By the time of her death in 1983, she had one of the most
unique voices in popular music. Of course, it was truly
beautiful but it had a power which could reach right into the
soul of any mere mortal without the hint of effort. So we begin
our story of Karen Carpenter...
Karen was born in 1950 in New Haven, Conneticut, the
youngest of two children. Her brother, Richard was older by
three years and would later become the other half of the duo,
The Carpenters.
During Karen’s younger years, she loved dancing and by the
age of four was already involved in Tap and Ballet classes.
Her brother was already learning piano and becoming a very
talented musician.
In 1963 the family moved to Los Angeles and a year later, at
the age of 14, Karen joined her school band. To begin with she
was given the Glockenspiel, an instrument she was not very
fond of but soon found herself drawn to the drums. Her family
bought her a drum set and within a year she was playing very
complicated and skilled drum signatures.
Carpenter was initially nervous about performing in public,
but said she “was too involved in the music to worry about it”.
She graduated from Downey High School in the spring of 1967,
receiving the John Philip Sousa Band Award, and enrolled as a
music major at Long Beach State where she performed in the
college choir with Richard. The choir’s director, Frank Pooler,
said that Karen had a good voice that was particularly suited to
pop, and gave her lessons in order for her to develop a threeoctave
range.
In 1965, Karen, Richard, and his college friend Wes Jacobs, a
bassist and tuba player, formed the Richard Carpenter Trio.[16]
The band rehearsed daily, played jazz in nightclubs, and also
appeared on the TV talent show Your All-American College
Show.[8] Richard was immediately impressed with his sister’s
musical talent, saying she would “speedily maneuver the sticks
as if she had been born in a drum factory”.[17] She did not sing
at this point; instead, singer Margaret Shanor guested on some
of their songs.
After Jacobs left the band in 1967, Richard and Karen were
keen to try out other music styles and with Gary Sims and John
Bettis they formed the band Spectrum. However, this was not
to prove successful.
In 1969, A&M Records signed the Carpenters and the first
album, The Offering (later retitled Ticket to Ride) was written.
10 of the 13 songs were written by Richard with Karen singing
most of the songs as well as playing drums and bass.
Their next album ‘Close to You was to provide the Carpenters
with two hit singles, (They long to be) Close to you and We’ve
only just begun reaching No:1 and No:2 in the charts.
During the mid 1970’s both were plagued by health issues.
Richard had drug addiction problems while Karen was battling
with weight loss and Anorexia. The result was many cancelled
gigs and tours.
In 1979, while Richard was taking a year off for addiction
treatments, Karen decided to record a solo album. Many of the
recordings on the album were shelved but later released after
her death.
Karen’s personal life had become turbulent, not finding stable
romance until 1980 when after a whirlwind relationship, she
married Thomas Burris. This would also prove to be ill-fated
and 14 months later the couple split.
Her ongoing illness with her weight was also becoming very
apparent at public appearances as she was looking more
and more frail. Karen was frequently in and out of hospital
undergoing treatments for Anorexia and her addiction to
laxitives.
On 4th February 1983, Karen collapsed at her parents home.
Paramedics were called and found her heart beating just once
every ten seconds. She was rushed to Downey Community
Hospital but was pronounced dead at 9:51am.
Carpenter’s funeral was held February 8, 1983, at Downey
United Methodist Church. Approximately one thousand
mourners attended, including her friends Dorothy Hamill,
Olivia Newton-John, Petula Clark and Dionne Warwick. Her
estranged husband Thomas Burris also attended, and tossed his
wedding ring into her casket. Carpenter was buried at the Forest
Lawn Memorial Park in Cypress, California. In 2003 her body
was moved, to be placed with her parents in a mausoleum at the
Pierce Brothers Valley Oaks Memorial Park in Westlake Village,
California.
An autopsy released on March 11, 1983, ruled out drug
overdose, attributing death to “emetine cardiotoxicity due to
or as a consequence of anorexia nervosa”. She was discovered
to have a blood sugar level of 1,110 milligrams per decilitre,
more than ten times the average. Two years later, the coroner
told colleagues that Carpenter’s heart failure was caused by
repeated use of ipecac syrup, an over-the-counter emetic often
used to induce vomiting in cases of overdosing or poisoning.
This was disputed by Levenkron, who said he had never known
her to use ipecac, or seen evidence she had been vomiting.
Carpenter’s friends were convinced that she had abused
laxatives and thyroid medication to maintain her low body
weight and thought this had started after her marriage began to
crumble.
Again, Rock ‘n’ Roll had claimed yet another young life but
Karen’s silky voice can never be forgotten. ALthough her voice
is where she will be remembered, it is fitting to remember that
she simply called herself ‘the drummer that sang’.
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