Steverino
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Yes, without a doubt, Richard Carpenter showed his genius at song arrangement. 22-Oct-2023 21:10:33
| CorrsClub Time: 22-Jan-2025 19:56:14 |
I knew the names of the writers of "Superstar" but actually had not heard their version before. It has quite a different "feel" to be sure. I agree with you that the change to the minor key in that line of the verse makes a substantial difference. I *have* heard the version by Spring, a.k.a. American Spring, which consisted of the (then) wife of Brian Wilson, Marilyn Wilson and sister Diane Rovell. That particular version makes one appreciate Karen's vocals just as the original makes one appreciate the arranging skills of Richard. Richard also did his magic with "(They Long to Be) Close to You," the Bacharach/David song which a singer as great as Dionne Warwick recorded and released to much milder success in 1964.
I'm impressed also with how Richard also demonstrated his knack for recognizing the potential of a song, as he did famously with "We've Only Just Begun," which he heard, in an incomplete form, as the backdrop of the TV commercial for a bank. (I actually have a vague memory of that TV commercial.)
Everyone is right to give appreciation to Karen's glorious voice and vocal range, but Richard is the one more likely to be underappreciated. He may have looked (to me) like Fred from Scooby-Doo back in those days, but, based on numerous interviews that I've read and listened to, the musicians he worked with in the studio, such as the late great bassist Joe Osborn and drummer Hal Blaine, greatly respected his brilliance.
That's an interesting phenomenon: when a song gets a different arrangement from its original and achieves more success than the original. Another example might be "Without You" written by Pete Ham and Tom Evans of Badfinger, which was what sometimes is referred to an "album track" and yet became a major hit single for Nilsson, also because of great singing coupled with changes in the arrangement. Similarly, there were several previous versions of "You're No Good" in the '60s before Linda Ronstadt scored a major hit with her version in the '70s, which features great vocals from Linda and an arrangement with guitar solo that was worked up by Andrew Gold.
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