Carpenters: An Illustrated Discography

by Randy L. Schmidt

Overview

With more than 100 million records sold worldwide, the Carpenters are among the most beloved and enduring musical acts of the last 50 years. Randy L. Schmidt, author of the acclaimed bestselling biography Little Girl Blue: The Life of Karen Carpenter has assembled a team of commentators—journalists, authors, musicians, and other entertainment industry figures—for a series of in-depth, insightful, and opinionated conversations on every release. Beautifully presented with more than 200 images, many never before seen, the result is a must-have for pop music lovers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781643073217
Publisher:	Mascot Books
Publication date:	07/02/2019
Edition description:	Illustrate
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 11.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Randy L. Schmidt is the author of the critically acclaimed Little Girl Blue: The Life of Karen Carpenter, a New York Times Editor’s Choice and Wall Street Journal bestseller. His latest publication is Dolly on Dolly: Interviews and Encounters with Dolly Parton, a title in the Musicians in Their Own Words series from Chicago Review Press. He also compiled and edited Yesterday Once More: The Carpenters Reader and Judy Garland on Judy Garland: Interviews and Encounters. Schmidt 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. More recently, he contributed to Karen Carpenter: Goodbye to Love and Autopsy: The Last Hours of Karen Carpenter, both produced for ITV in the United Kingdom and Reelz TV in the United States. A music educator for more than twenty years, Schmidt teaches elementary music in Denton, Texas.

Editorial Reviews

09/09/2019

Schmidt follows up Little Girl Blue: The Life of Karen Carpenter with this illustrated history of 1970s brother-sister duo the Carpenters. Taking a chronological, photographic, album-by-album look at the musical accomplishments of Karen Carpenter (1950–1983) and her brother Richard Carpenter in their 16 group and solo recordings, Schmidt compiles insightful quotes from the siblings’ friends and colleagues to show the pair’s parallel artistic evolution and present solid descriptions of Richard’s “seamless” arrangements, “tailored for ’70s AM pop radio.” English singer Harriet Roberts reflects on the title song of their fourth and most popular album, A Song for You, which, like many of their songs, was written by Leon Russell (“It’s so touching and very powerful”). Producer Matt Wallace, who worked with Nirvana and the Replacements, argues that Karen’s “emotionally and technically” stunning vocal prowess made her “the Adele of her time and even beyond.” And Houston Grand Opera music director Patrick Summers details how Richard’s arrangements “have affected an entire generation of classical musicians.” Illustrated with more than 200 images from concerts, records covers, and backstage moments, this book will delight the Carpenters’ still expansive fan base. (BookLife)

Publishers Weekly