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Yesterday I got my "Ray Coleman's- Carpenters the untold Story"... It costed me 27$ 1ST EDITION LIKE NEW... just amazing... cant stop reading it...

It's really sad reading about KC problems and addictions to Laxantives and Tyroid pills... I never knew that... But its just amazing...

I just wanted to share my Happiness and Thoughts about tha book...

Daniel


For those who have it... what do you think???
Edited by daniel1982spain, 20 September 2007 - 12:59 PM.

Glad to hear, Daniel! I plan on picking up a copy soon aswell.

I don't own it, but got it at the library in july or something. I think it's pretty good, and Richard gave a lot of cooperation with it, too,which is cool. But it did allow for the impression that karen's solo album was somehow bad, and that's what I expected, but was suprised of course. Mostly i think it's pretty well done. I believe coleman has done a book on Brian Epstein, too. I think he does a good job

Yeah Daniel!!!!

Enjoy the book! I think it's a good book.... good biography of the Carpenters and glad I own it!

When I read it, I was surprised by how much sadness and tension there was in the family... and Agnes tends to come across as the "mean stepmother" and Karen as a poor "Cinder Ella." Agnes doted so much on Richard and while she accepted Karen's success, she seemed to resent the fact that it took the shine away from Richard...

Also, I had always thought that Karen was cured and had her problem under control before she died, but when you read the book, it becomes clear that she was still dealing with a lot of issues... She had many physical warning signs during that last week... Every time I read about it, I get an ache in my chest - it's like watching "Titanic," seeing the people going through their lives, but knowing the disaster that was to come...

The final argument between Karen and Richard in Werner Wolfen's office where she "went off" on both of them seemed to be her way of exerting her independence... She must have really sensed that things were rapidly falling back into the old patterns and she more or less told them to butt out...

She really should have been back in the hospital at that point and Richard tried to get her to go, but the die was cast - at that point, anything Richard said to her, Karen interpreted as another way for him to get his controlling hand over her life again...

I couldn't agree more..... there are parts in the book that are sooooo sad Karen was far from cured or being over anorexia..... it just seems like she couldn't over come it..... anorexia had such a hold on her.

I remember looking for their biography book 3 years before it was actually published. lol. I remember finally finding it in the library and reading it through. I found very sad and interesting to learn about Karen's proglems more and also just the history of the Carpenters and their albums, etc. I remember I found it kinda disappointing to learn Karen interfered so much with Richard's girlfriends, but we're all human and have our things we do!

I dont' own a copy myself though. I was a poor person and couldnt afford to buy the book or the Top of the World box CD set I coveted in the music store.

Overall, I love the book.

But there are a few things that tick me off about Coleman (also having read his bio on John Lennon)... He really seems to like applying the songs/lyrics to the artists' lives. And that's bothersome to me. I think Karen recorded songs that were relevant and meaningful to LIFE IN GENERAL and not so much the personal life of the subject. Just because she recorded stuff like "I Need To Be In Love", that doesn't mean she was intending to make a personal statement about her love life. The book perceives it as such. Other than that, I love Coleman's work.

I was lucky enough to meet Coleman. He attended a Carpenters Function in England back in 95 (I think). He was a lovely chap, very softly spoken, offered myself and some of the others a lift to the station.

Sad he died. Pretty young, too.

Neil

Neato!

I forgot to mention that when I read the book, I actually started disliking Karen for a bit. But I got over it.

Let's remember that everything said in that book was said without the benefit of KAREN'S point of view, since she's not here to defend herself. I always keep that in mind when reading (and re-reading!) the "Untold Story"... And actually, the 1974 RS article called Karen "occasionally bitchy" - and Karen herself said that article was "a good one." So... I guess we're all human, all occassionally a little bitchy... and Karen was okay with folks knowing that, apparently.

Now, the more I read the Coleman book, the more I love Karen and get a little freaked out at how alike our personalities and familial issues are/were. The overwhelming thought is usually, "Man, we would have understood each other SO well..."

Does the book go into their childhood? Certain aspects that are unaware of, unless you read the book itself?
Edited by Marty, 21 September 2007 - 12:51 PM.

There are snippets of Karen's points of view taken from interviews conducted when she was alive... But many times while reading it, I kept thinking it would have been nice to have had her opinion about various events from the point of view of "looking back on how it was in years gone by..." All we have is Richard's remarks, and I think it was pretty clear that while he was candid and honest in his remarks, he was careful not to put himself in too bad a light...

As for interfering in each other's romances, I think they were both jealous of one another... They had a rule within the band not to date one another, but if I remember correctly, Karen and Dough Strawn had a brief romance... Also, I think Jim Squeglia was smitten with Karen, also. He was the backup drummer before Cubby O'Brien was hired. You can see him in the early Carpenter videos taking over the drums when Karen sings... (Watch the first BBC special for glimpses of him. He's a big, tall guy...) Supposedly, he kept trying out different drum licks during performance when Richard had insisted that the band play EXACTLY the way the songs sounded on records. Jim told him that he was bored playing the same way every night and when he started doing flourishes on the drums, Richard fired him... At least, that's what Richard says... Or could it have been a way of getting rid of another of Karen's boyfriends...? It would have been nice to have had Karen's opinion about that...

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Also, watch for some sad moments - "the hug" in Levenkron's office... The kimono incident... Karen crying after Richard said she was just "a dumb singer..." Karen crying after catching a glimpse of herself in the full length mirror at her aunt's house... The last meeting between John Bettis and Karen made me cry...

Wow, great information, Ned. I really need to get this book. I don't like reading, but this will be something that I know I will enjoy. I'll atleast enjoy knowing some more information on my heroes. May have some rough times reading it, though.