Karen Carpenter: The Biography
After a severe hearing loss, I gave music up. My violin sounded like a screeching cat and most singers came across worse. Except for Karen Carpenter. To my ear she sounded like I remembered her before the virus attacked my cochlear.
Karen’s sound has a way to a listener’s heart. After my wife passed away, I listened to “I Won’t Last a Day Without You” and cried my eyes out. Later, I thought of the singer. Who was Karen Carpenter and why did she die at 32 years young?
That’s when I ordered Little Girl Blue: The Life of Karen Carpenter. The biography by Randy L. Schmidt is a well, researched bio of Karen’s life with a forward by Dionne Warwick, who nailed it when she wrote how Karen’s voice put a smile on her face.
Author Randy Schmidt conducted hundreds of interviews to report Karen’s life from her early childhood in New Haven, Connecticut to her high school days in Downey, California where she became an outstanding drummer for her high school band. Not until 1966 did Karen come into full voice. Prior to that “Her voice had lacked vibrato and any real depth or presence.”
Schmidt does an excellent job peeking into the Carpenter family’s skeletons coming up with reveling information that could explain Karen’s psychological problems that led to her anorexia nervosa condition and eventual death.
I was surprised to learn that Richard Carpenter, Karen’s brother, had an addiction to Quaaludes that sidelined the duo for over a year. Karen took advantage of this time off by working on a solo album that wasn’t released until after her death.
Little Blue Girl provides an intimate profile of one of the most popular singers of the 20th Century. Schmidt provides insight into the Carpenter’s string of top-20 hits including “Close to You,” “We’ve Only Just Begun,” and “Superstar.” The final chapters chronicles Karen’s struggle with anorexia nervosa, providing autopsy details that made me think, Karen died from stupid.
Schmidt’s biography is heart breaking, but provides an intimate look into a troubled musician’s life.
About the Author
Little Girl Blue was a New York Times Editor’s Choice and Wall Street Journal Best Seller. Randy Schmidt also wrote biographies about Judy Garland and Dolly Parton. He has served as creative consultant for several television documentaries on the Carpenters, including the E! “True Hollywood Story,” A&E’s “Biography,” and VH1’s “Behind the Music.” Schmidt teaches music in Denton, Texas.
The song “We’ve Only Just Begun” brings back memories from my younger days.
If you really read this book and the detailed description of Karen’s mental illness and messed-up family dynamics, and came away thinking Karen “died of stupid” … that is really sad.