![]() “There was a substantial amount of their gigs could not be found. ![]() “We were getting close to deadline,” Lennox recalls, noting they spent four years writing the book. This is somewhat rare, since many groups from that time don’t have detailed records of their tour schedules, let alone the dates of photo shoots. Tour dates, television appearances, chart positions, and other major events are laid out in immense detail. One chapter includes a Year in the Life, which maps out 364 days the duo spent in 1970 - from the release of their breakout single “(They Long to Be) Close to You” to their self-titled third album. Having full access to the Carpenters’ archives meant Lennox and May were able to provide an extensive history of the group. Karen rehearses at home, 1973 Richard Carpenter Collection He pushed us into things and kept us in the nonfiction section.” The word ‘authorized’ can be a very dirty word, and here we were trying to just focus on the music. “After reading the first draft, Richard said, ‘You’ve really got to deal with Karen’s anorexia by the time you get to late 1973, and you have to deal with my use of Quaaludes.’ These were things that he knew. “This was a book that intentionally didn’t want to dive into their personal demons, and we make that point really clear,” says Lennox. Soon, Richard was overseeing the entire project, and Lennox and May had gained his trust. “He realized our hearts and background,” May says. Lennox, a senior entertainment reporter at the Associated Press, and May, a music director and arranger, are both longtime Carpenters experts - they met online on a forum dedicated to the group. That changed when Lennox and May approached Richard to write the introduction to their book. We weren’t sure if we were going to get his blessing.” ![]() “Karen’s anorexia was much fresher,” says Lennox, “and he delivered what Richard calls ‘the anorexia book.’” Adds May: “He’s been down this road before, and he was very hesitant to do it again. The book marks Richard’s second time authorizing a Carpenters biography, after 1994’s The Carpenters: The Untold Story by Ray Coleman. And we sell a lot every year, all over the world - still.” The two of us are underrated, to this day. “Not how successful we were and continue to be, nor Karen’s voice and how timeless it is. “Between the TV movie and a number of unauthorized documentaries and articles, that’s what a lot of the attention is focused on,” Richard says. ![]() It made the whole thing seem irrelevant, like we were nothing, and in no time at all, no one would ever remember us.”Įvery Awful Thing Trump Has Promised to Do in a Second Term The rock critics, they didn’t like our audiences. “It was the way we looked and our audiences looked. “Well, that’s what were described as,” he says. Richard can only laugh when the quote is read back to him nearly 50 years later. As if all we do all day is drink milk, eat apple pie, and take showers. It’s like we’re Pat Boone, only a little cleaner. “This … thing they’ve built up, where it’s implicitly understood the Carpenters don’t smoke, the Carpenters don’t drink,” Richard said. Richard and Karen Carpenter, who had spent the past four years scoring massive soft-rock hits like “(They Long to Be) Close to You,” “We’ve Only Just Begun,” “Superstar,” and “Top of the World,” took the opportunity to vent to Nolan about the uncool, wholesome image that they felt the press had created for the sibling duo. In the summer of 1974, the Carpenters sat down with Rolling Stone writer Tom Nolan at Hollywood’s Au Petit Café for a cover story.
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