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Carpenters Fan Club Newsletter #48 (April 1976)

Hi Fans,

The long awaited news is now confirmed. The new album "A Kind of Hush" will be released June 11. Karen's lilting voice accompanying Richard's beautiful arrangements is super terrific. Every song is a winner, but my favorite is "I Need to Be in Love" composed by Richard and John Bettis, and was released as a single on May 21. The lovely birthday cards you send for Karen's and Mom Carpenter are sincerely appreciated. They send their combined thanks for your thoughtfulness and generosity. K & R worked on the new album until 3:00 a.m. the morning of their departure for Japan. Ray Gerhardt their sound engineer had put in long hours with K & R, and was looking forward to some relaxation while they were on tour. He was also eager to fully acquaint himself with the new Jaguar K & R had presented him in appreciation of the super engineering work he had done on their albums. Ray was twice nominated for grammy's, on both occasions for his engineering expertise on Carpenter albums. His relaxation dreams were wiped out when last minute plans included him in the trip to Japan to help Gary with Sound equalization. A passport was rushed through, and Ray found himself transported from the studio's Mix-3 to an American Airlines 747. The tour was successful and pleasant, including the one with two mishaps that added more humor to the show and delighted the audience. At concert opening, slides are projected on to a screen showing K & R as infants, toddlers, and teenagers, up to the present time, while Karen stands offstage singing "We've Only Just Begun". At one concert, one of the slides was erroneously shown upside down, and when Karen saw it, she cracked up and laughed so hard that she was unable to complete the songs, and the audience joined in the laughter. Later, at the same performance when she was seated at the drums, the snare drum stand broke and the snare slid kerplunk right into her lap, but the trooper that she is, kept on drumming without missing a beat. Winter weather was reluctant to leave Japan, and during their stay the weather was extremely cold with 98% rain and a little snow. The huge concert halls where they performed were almost impossible to heat, so electric heaters were set on stage facing the group, in spite of which they were chilled to the bone, but hot baths and massages before retiring prevented them from catching colds. Heaters in their dressing rooms kept them comfortable and warm, but outside the dressing rooms they could see their breath, a rare sight for Southern Californians! Always on the alert for ideas or changes to improve their show, they videotaped on e of their concerts for later viewing. The President and Vice-President of the Sony Corporation invited them to tour the building where they were shown the latest concepts of the Sound Industry, and presented them with beautiful cassette recorders. They also toured the National Corporation where Panasonic is manufactured, and Richard was very impressed with the new Tetnics Hi Fi equipment. There he received a very nice turntable. He was also the recipient of a super Panasonic receiver with AM/FM Marine band, short wave, etc; from Tats, their Japanese promoter. It was a cold, windy, rainy day when K & R visited one of the Japanese Temples, and respecting Japanese custom, they removed their shoes before entering. The icy cold floor almost froze their feet, so the visit was brief. From there they drove to the Ashiaya Steak House where they enjoyed an excellent meal. Much of their spare time was spent relaxing in their hotel suites watching American TV programs. Mom & Dad had video-taped their favorite programs that they were missing each night while working on the new album. Richard had a special case custom built on rollers, large enough to house their videocassette player and hundred plus tapes while in transit, so American TV rolled right along with them. Four more Gold Records were presented to K & R by King Record Co. "Live in japan", "Horizon", "Only Yesterday" and "Mr. Postman" all earned them each a Gold Record, bringing the total of Japanese awards to 18. "A Kind of Hush" will no doubt earn them another Japanese "Gold" as it was #1 in Japan while they were on tour there. It was being played wherever they went, even in the watch shop where they were browsing. Richard "digs" watches as he does cars! He purchased an extremely attractive seiko L.C.; the very latest in digital watches. It's called a Cronograph and features a quartz crystal, AM/FM indicator as well as date, hour and seconds plus a push button that makes it a stop watch. The whole group thought it was A-OK and each purchased a similar one before leaving Japan. Fans had showered them with gifts at every concert, presenting them to Karen from below stage while she was simultaneously singing, holding the mike and bending forward to shake hands and accept gifts. Incredible as it may seem, there were no duplications among the hundreds of items they brought home, though 2 wooden crates each 4 foot square by 4 foot high were built to transport them. At concert's end fans rushed the stage causing near riots. Excitement was so tremendous some nights that K & R were not allowed to shake hands for fear of being accidentally pulled offstage and getting injured. Though the language barrier was not a major problem, there were times they experienced difficulty ordering meals. The following is a quote from notes Karen kept to help me in writing the newsletter' "It's now Thursday morning, I've just had breakfast. I ordered 3 scrambled eggs and I got 3 ORDERS of scrambled eggs! I'm very full." Karen learned to speak a little Japanese (which is not the easiest language to learn) to enable her to thank fans for their concern while she was ill and let them know she is fine now. She spoke it fluently, even changing the dialect from city to city. After K & R returned home, mail poured in from Japan, praising and thanking them for speaking to them in their language. Their last day was a time racer which almost resulted in missing the flight home, but for the cooperation and swift action of Shorty, one of the Japanese road managers. A nine hour flight returned them to Los Angeles with fond memories and a tour well done. We held up the newsletter to wait for final information on a Tentative Tour Schedule now available as follows:

May 29 - Fesno, CA - Selland Arena
Jun 10 - 23 - Lake Tahoe, NV - Sahara
July 1 - 7 - Las Vegas, NV - Riviera
July 27 - Edmonton, Canada - Coliseum
July 29 - Minneapolis, MN - Northrup Auditorium
July 30 - Madison, WI - Dane County Auditorium
July 31 - Aug 1 - Chicago, IL - Arie Crown Theater
Aug 2 - Indianapolis, IN - Convention center
Aug 3 - FOrt Wayne, IN - Coliseum
Aug 4 - Kalamazoo, MI - Wings Stadium
Aug 5 - 7 - Toronto, Canada - O'Keefe Center
Aug 8 - Binghampton, NY - Broome County Memorial Auditorium
Aug 9 - Fitchburg, MA - Wallace Civic Center
Aug 10 - Saratoga Springs, NY - Performing Arts Center
Aug 12/13 - Pine Knob, MI - Pine Knob Theater
Aug 26 - Sept 8 - Las Vegas, NV - Riviera

Please be sure to confirm these dates with your ticket outlets in advance to avoid last minute disappointment. In response to numberous inquiries, we regret to inform you, the Dinah Shore "Tribute to the Carpenters" show, has been cancelled indefinitely, but any changes will be announced in a future newsletter.

That's all for now - will rap later - Ev.

Carpenters Fan Club Newsletter #55 (September 1977)

Hi Fans!

Carpenters & staff hope you have all enjoyed a beautiful summer and fun vacations. K & R have had no time off this year and because of this we have good news for everyone and bad news for Japanese, Phillipine & Australian members. First, the bad news: All Japanese, Manilla and Australian concerts and the two scheduled for Hawaii have been cancelled, due to a much needed rest ordered by their doctor. The good news is: The new album is scheduled to be released September 23 and there's something on it for everyone, including opera lovers. Watch for "Passage" in your music stores. Their new single was released September 9th and it is a very unique space song. Look for "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft" in your music stores now. Without further ado, here is a bio of Dad Carpenter:

Harold Bertram Carpenter was born in Wuchou China in 1908. His father, George, a brilliant electrician and top notch salesman, was a British subject. On a visit to the U.S. he met Nellie Jane Lynn at a Methodist prayer meeting in Wellsville, NY where she had been born and raised. After they were married they decided to devote a few years to missionary work and were promptly sent to China, where they were transferred from city to city. Upon completion of their mission, George returned to his work in electrical sales and they settled in Yunnan, China in a section of the city that had been set aside for foreign dignitaries and professionals. Their home there was a beautiful big house with a huge yard and garden which was well cared for by numerous Chinese servants. Formal parties within the complex were frequent and when the Carpenters entertained, the dinner table was set with fine China and silver. Frequently young Harold with younger sister Esther would sneak downstairs where they could observe the festivities without being seen.
It was the era of the Boxer Rebellion and street fights and killings were frequent. No one walked the streets. All foreigners stayed within the complex and servants were sent out to do the shopping. Supplies of all kinds were limited. Most were ordered from Montgomery Ward, including huge supplies of food. The only available fresh fruit was persimmons. A lovely persimmon tree grew right outside Harold's bedroom window and he thouroughly enjoyed the succulent fruit it bore. Apples & oranges were seen only in the minds of Harold and Esther as their mother described the beauty and taste of these fruits so abundant in the U.S. Meals consisted of rice, vegetables and a little meat. Harold preferred eating in the kitchen with the servents where they prepared real Chinese dishes for themselves, using ginger-root as a basic spice. He loved to scoop out the pieces of ginger-root and eat them, using chopsticks as adeptly as the Chinese servants, The family dressed well in clothes that also had to be imported. Harold's excellent taste in clothes today probably stems from the lovely Eaton suits he wore as a youngster.
Transportation was a Chair on poles, carried on the shoulders of four servants. Each family owned their own chair but public taxi service was via Rickshaw. Toys and games were rare items. Harold's favorite activity wa sshooting the noisy, bothersome crows that were so plentiful in their garden. His father, an excellent hunter, provided him with a 22 and taught him how to use it correctly; and once each year they would travel to West Mountain to hunt pheasant. Though he and Esther each had their own pony, their rides were limited to roads within the compound. Though a tutor was hired for the youngsters education, it was a hit and miss affair and they did not receive a formal education until they were placed in schools in England. Harold was eight when plans were made for their trip to England to place them in schools. It was a long, difficult, dangerous journey that had to be made by train because WWI was in progress. They traveled across Siberia and because the Russian Revolution was also going on, the train was frequently stopped and searched by Russian troops. At each stop the children hid under the tables of the dining car. In Petrovgrad they left the train and were placed in a hotel for a few days there they existed on black bread and water, the only food available to them. Bombings were frequent and the hotel next to theirs was demolished during a bombing. Boarding another train they entered the Arctic circle in Finland and traveled to Sweden and then Norway where they were finally put aboard a ship at Bergen, where big ships embarked for England. They skirted the Shetland Islands in the North Sea the week that German U-Boats sank more passenger ships than any other week of the entire war. At the end of this nightmare voyage they disembarked at Liverpool, then continued on to Margate where Harold & Esther were placed in boarding schools. His mother with younger brother Richard, returned to China where eventually, two more younger sisters would be born. At war's end his mother and dad returned to England and bought a house in Hendon where Harold continued his education by attending Hendon Hall. His father went back to his electrical sales business in China. His mom remained in England until it was near time for her baby to be born, then again joined his father in China. Eventually they disposed of all their possessions in China and they both returned to England where they settled in Golder's Green, where his dad invented a burglar alarm. When business dropped off, his mother with the 5 children sailed to the U.S. to live with her mother. Harold was 14 and though his education in England was equivalent to a high school education in the U.S. he attended the Wellsville NY high school for 2 years. Due to his mother's illness, he left school at 16 to go to work. She had contacted a lung ailment in Singapore and eventually lost the use of one lung.
An uncle in Middletown, Ohio was night superintendent of a paper box industry and he put Harold to work there, feeding the press, and welcomed him into his home to live. When his uncle took a better job in Indianapolis, Harold moved along with them and again worked with his uncle on a press. His mother, brother and sisters came to Indianapolis for a brief stay then returned to England to be with Harold's father. harold remained in Indianapolis where he became interested in motorcycles and joined a cycle club. Once again he moved with his aunt & uncle to Maryland to accept still better jobs. He and a friend rode their bikes to Catonsville where he met Agnes, and after a 4 year courtship, they were married. Since then, his life parallels Agnes's which yu read about in Newsletter #54.
Harold has enjoyed good health all his life. His only surgery was an ear operation in 1960 which left him slightly hard of hearing in his right ear. Injuries consisted of 3 nasty motorcycle flops in Indiana and a more serious one to his arm when it wa accidentally caught under the rollers of a printing press he was working on at the time. He and Mom Carpenter have the same interests in music and TV shows but differ in favorite colors. His is red. When asked what his favorite food is, his answer was "the best way to answer that is to ask me what I don't like". The question was asked - "Which foods don't you like?". His answer "Stewed tomatoes. That is all - just stewed tomatoes".
The amazing talent that K & R possess comes partly, perhaps from grandmother Nellie and grandfather George. Both were fine pianists and ofts played piano for their guests a the formal dinner parties they held when they lived in China. Grandmother Nellie had a fine voice and would also render for her guests, beutiful songs. Harold was given piano lessons for a while (against his will) but was not interested in learning to play the piano and hated practicing. He did enjoy his parents renditions, however, and he also loved listening to lovely classical and semi-classical music from records played on the beautiful victrola they ahd in China. His favorite relaxation today is to relax on an easy chair in Richard's huge music room and surround himself with fine music from records played on the turntable of the fantastic stereo sound system in that room.
Though Dad Carpenter retired from the Conctainer Corp in 1970 he surely has not retired. He is busier now than at any time of his life. He & Mom are Collection Control Administrators of Richard's car collection and are responsible for bringing all cars purchased to mint condition. This means numerous trips from one car specialist to another and making numerous calls and trips to btain obsolete parts. Dad also reads numerous ads in search of cars that Richard wishes to add to his collection, and this, at times takes him & Mom to other states to check out possible purchases. He & mom have also been Richard's representatives in several car shows & parades.
To your list of Richard's cars, add a 58 Edsel Citation and a 56 Chevrolet Bel Air. This brings his collection to 57.
Rap later, EV