T/S: the vocals of Karen Carpenter vs. Chrissie Hynde

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Listening to some of the Pirate Radio box just now. I'd never heard the Pretenders cover of "Angel of the Morning," but I was struck in the face by the vocal similarites (especially in the lower register) between Hynde and Karen Carpenter.

Of course, they're plenty different most of the time. Choose one.

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Friday, 12 May 2006 19:46 (twenty years ago)

i know juice newton's and (obv) merilee rush's, don't think i've ever heard a carpenters or pretenders version

― j blount (papa la bas), Friday, 12 May 2006 19:59 (twenty years ago)

I don't know that the Carpenters even did a version, but Chrissie sounds a lot like Karen on the cover I heard today.

The question itself was more a general T/S question, though.

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Friday, 12 May 2006 20:25 (twenty years ago)

i mean i love Chrissie Hynde and all, but there's really no comparison

― rentboy (rentboy), Friday, 12 May 2006 22:51 (twenty years ago)

Karen.

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 12 May 2006 22:52 (twenty years ago)

chrissie gets points for having such a recognizable voice and getting the most out of a little, but Karen is easily one of the top pop vocalists of the last 50 years if you can get past the saccharine (not a problem for me).

― timmy tannin (pompous), Friday, 12 May 2006 23:00 (twenty years ago)

Chrissie is less tragic, though it's likely she had it far rougher personally, and you can hear that toughness in her voice even though it can be quite sweet and (suprisingly) pretty at times. Karen sounds delicate and sad almost exclusively which seems a bit less interesting.

― Kim (Kim), Friday, 12 May 2006 23:15 (twenty years ago)

Chrissie Hynde by like 10,000,000 light years. I like Karen Carpenter, but c'mon.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Friday, 12 May 2006 23:25 (twenty years ago)

You know what? I like Chrissie Hynde a lot, and own no Carpenters to speak of, but I still say Karen had the better set of pipes. Alfred, it's nice to have an opposite opinion from yours for once! We're balanced.

― honorary joy division roadie (Bimble...), Saturday, 13 May 2006 02:16 (twenty years ago)

Also I'd like to hear this Angel Of The Morning track Fever speaks of.

― honorary joy division roadie (Bimble...), Saturday, 13 May 2006 02:18 (twenty years ago)

i think when people say "i don't like Karen Carpenter's voice that much" they are really saying "i don't care for melancholy in music" I love it almost above any other expression in music, so that's why i dig Karen, even though the material isn't always what I would normally be drawn to.

― timmy tannin (pompous), Saturday, 13 May 2006 03:36 (twenty years ago)

besides one being the quintessential rock chick and the other not, aren't they also quite different in that KC is known for perfect pitch while CH has a distinct vibrato? i know she's famous for tough talk but chrissie also has that fragile, vulnerable side like karen. yet i can't quite envision KC doing, e.g., talk of the town (maybe the 'up in the sky' line) or i'll stand by you. chrissie simply owns those. nor can i quite grab chrissie doing 'goodbye to love' but somehow i can totally hear her on the chorus to 'superstar' especially the 'i really do' line. the country style song karen is best known for is the optimistic 'top of world'. but sometimes i hear a sad one and think karen could have killed it, e.g., casket vignette (bobbie gentry).

― Carlos Keith (Buck_Wilde), Saturday, 13 May 2006 10:20 (twenty years ago)

Karen Carpenter is a laughably better singer than Chrissie Hynde. If "rock 'n' roll!" and "attitude!" & unschooled chops are yr thing then Chrissie's who you wanna go with, but Carpenter as a singer is light years ahead of Hynde - not in a Satriani-vs.-Thurston-Moore sort of way, but in a Sinatra-vs.-Dean-Martin sort of way. Astonishing natural chops vs. terrific personal presence. If the question is "whose persona do you prefer?" then a strong case can be made for Hynde. If the question is "who's a better singer?" there's really only one answer.

― Thomas Tallis (Tommy), Saturday, 13 May 2006 12:52 (twenty years ago)

also Karen would have nailed "Talk of the Town"

― Thomas Tallis (Tommy), Saturday, 13 May 2006 12:52 (twenty years ago)

But you're all making Hynde sound like an amateur, when in fact she DID have a great voice, period, irrespective of presence.

For anyone who doubts Hynde's chops, listen to "Chill Factor" or "Thin Line Between Love & Hate." She nails the sudden key changes like a pro. Pat Benatar and Karen would have approved.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Saturday, 13 May 2006 12:55 (twenty years ago)

the lack of vibrato is also key, reason why astrud gilberto is also one of my favorite singers, although technically way worse than karen (and probably Chrissie too).

― timmy tannin (pompous), Saturday, 13 May 2006 15:38 (twenty years ago)

karen!

― derrick (derrick), Saturday, 13 May 2006 23:52 (twenty years ago)

Hynde is a very fine rock singer! Karen Carpenter, on the other hand, had perfect pitch. Musically speaking there just isn't any comparison.

― Thomas Tallis (Tommy), Sunday, 14 May 2006 00:31 (twenty years ago)

(also Hynde's upper register is pretty weak, this is especially audible in "I'll Stand By You" after the modulation)

― Thomas Tallis (Tommy), Sunday, 14 May 2006 00:35 (twenty years ago)

also Karen would have nailed "Talk of the Town"

OTM!

― brooklyn of the stone age (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 14 May 2006 01:47 (twenty years ago)

two years pass...

i was listening to karen's voice today, i think it really is the best female voice of the 1970s (at the very least)

― velko, Sunday, 19 October 2008 09:41 (seventeen years ago)

one month passes...

as much as I love Karen Carpenter, hearing her deliver the line "I fear I'll do some damage one fine day" in her version of "Still Crazy After All These Years" is pretty loltastic, as is "we talked about some good times & we drank ourselves some beers" - not to beg the authenticity fallacy but no, Karen, you did neither of those things and we all know it

― J0hn D., Thursday, 4 December 2008 21:10 (seventeen years ago)

Chrissie Hynde remains my favorite singer, ever.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Thursday, 4 December 2008 21:16 (seventeen years ago)

I cannot understand this position

― J0hn D., Thursday, 4 December 2008 22:13 (seventeen years ago)

I love "Still Crazy" (never heard the Carpenters' version - seriously wtf?) and always think of it as the soothing ode Paul Simon sings to himself before going on a shooting spree

― Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 4 December 2008 22:23 (seventeen years ago)

It's not the Carpenters, it's from Karen's shelved (but released in '96 and recently available on iTunes: it's remarkable, though it's not produced by Richard, so it's very different) solo album.

― J0hn D., Thursday, 4 December 2008 22:25 (seventeen years ago)

Alfred you should check latest Arthur issue for yr gal Chrissie

― Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 4 December 2008 22:31 (seventeen years ago)

five years pass...

Hynde is releasing her very first solo album. Here's a song from it (that's not bad, really): https://soundcloud.com/chrissiehynde/dark-sunglasses

― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, 25 March 2014 17:31 (twelve years ago)

Chrissie Hynde remains my favorite singer, ever.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Thursday, December 4, 2008 9:16 PM (5 years ago)

i have started to think this is true for me too.

― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Tuesday, 25 March 2014 17:38 (twelve years ago)

one year passes...

I've fallen down a Karen rabbit hole tonight spurred on by a (maybe 20 year old?) doc that just aired on the local PBS station. Funny bit I learned: after the first couple years of being famous, Richard made a deal with Karen that she had to come out from the drum kit just to sing the ballads...80% of what the Carpenters did were ballads! IT'S A TRAP!

― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Sunday, 13 March 2016 02:33 (ten years ago)

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