Richard Carpenter

Childhood

Richard Lynn Carpenter was born at Grace-New Haven Hospital in New Haven, Connecticut, the same hospital where his sister Karen later arrived. His father, Harold, was born in China to missionary parents and educated at English boarding schools before entering the printing business; his mother, Agnes, was a housewife. The siblings were baptized into the United Methodist Church and attended Methodist Youth Ministry as children. Richard frequently played the piano while Karen played baseball outside, and both enjoyed the children's records their father bought them.

Through his father's record collection, Richard was introduced to Perry Como and Ella Fitzgerald, and by age twelve he knew he wanted a music career. At sixteen he made his first public appearance in New Haven, forming a group with two older friends to play at a local pizza parlor so he could earn money for a car. The family moved to Downey, California in June 1963 to support Richard's musical ambitions and because Harold was tired of New England winters.

After graduating from Downey High School in 1964, Carpenter studied music at California State College at Long Beach, where he met Frank Pooler, who later wrote lyrics for "Merry Christmas Darling," and John Bettis, a frequent co-writer. There he also met Gary Sims, Dan Woodhams, and Doug Strawn, who became members of the Carpenters' live band.

Career

Richard and Karen signed with A&M Records on April 22, 1969. Herb Alpert told them, "Let's hope we have some hits," and granted them artistic freedom in the studio. After their first album, Offering, sold poorly, some at A&M reportedly urged Alpert to drop the duo, but he insisted on giving them another chance. Alpert suggested they record a Burt Bacharach and Hal David song, "(They Long to Be) Close to You," written in 1963.

Richard arranged it only at Alpert's insistence, and the song became an overnight success, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks in June and July 1970. While watching television, Richard saw a Crocker National Bank commercial featuring the voices of Paul Williams and Roger Nichols singing "We've Only Just Begun." He confirmed their involvement and asked if a full version existed; Williams said yes. Carpenter turned the jingle into an RIAA-certified Gold record that peaked at No. 2 and became a popular wedding song, launching the careers of Nichols and Williams.

Richard composed many Carpenters hits with lyricist John Bettis, including "Goodbye to Love" (1972, No. 7), which featured one of the first fuzz guitar solos in a pop ballad and influenced the power ballad; "Top of the World" (1972, No. 1), initially not released as a single until Lynn Anderson's country version reached No. 2; "Yesterday Once More" (1973, No. 2); and "Only Yesterday" (1975, No. 4).

Quaalude addiction and treatment

Richard Carpenter first used Quaaludes in the early 1970s after his mother, Agnes, gave him one of her own sleeping pills because she was worried he could not sleep. What began as a remedy for insomnia slowly turned into an addiction. By 1975, the strain of the Carpenters’ constant touring and high expectations was obvious. That year, a planned tour of Japan and Europe was called off because Karen’s health was failing, though they did perform in both places in 1976.

Richard kept relying on Quaaludes, and their packed schedule suffered more and more from health issues. In September 1978, he had to cut short a Las Vegas engagement at the MGM Grand due to his own health. Later that year, family and friends pushed him hard to deal with his addiction, offering “much encouragement (and browbeating) … to ‘face the music.’” In January 1979, while heavily under the influence of Quaaludes, he fell down a backstage staircase.

That accident finally made him accept how serious his problem was. He then spent six weeks at the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas, and overcame his addiction.

Post-Carpenters activities

Eight months after Karen Carpenter passed away, the family gathered on October 12, 1983, to see the Carpenters receive their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Richard addressed the crowd, calling it a sad day but also a very special and beautiful one for his family. He said his only regret was that Karen could not be there physically, but added that she remained very much alive in their minds and hearts. Richard began work on his solo album Time on June 26, 1986, and finished it on July 5, 1987.

The album included guest vocals from Dusty Springfield, Dionne Warwick, and Scott Grimes, as well as a song Richard wrote for Karen titled "When Time Was All We Had." That track opens a cappella before Richard's piano and Herb Alpert's flugelhorn enter. In 1989, Richard arranged, produced, and performed on Scott Grimes's first album. Seven years later, following a suggestion from music writer Daniel Levitin, he released Richard Carpenter: Pianist, Arranger, Composer, Conductor.

That album reworked many Carpenters favorites and closed with "Karen's Theme," a piece he had composed for the 1989 television film The Karen Carpenter Story. Richard put out two DVDs: Gold: Greatest Hits in 2002, which repackaged the 1985 VHS release Yesterday Once More, and Interpretations in 2003. The latter updated a 1995 VHS and cassette release, adding footage from the Carpenters' five TV specials and their 1971–1980 series. It included eleven Carpenters tracks never before released on DVD, all digitally enhanced and remastered in stereo.

On his 62nd birthday in October 2008, during a luncheon for The Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan, Richard announced a career comeback he called "Richard Carpenter Strikes Back." The plans involved re-releasing a Carpenters Christmas album and putting out a tribute album featuring other artists' versions of Carpenters songs.

Did You Know?

• In 1965, Carpenter formed the Richard Carpenter Trio with sister Karen and friend Wes Jacobs, playing piano while Karen played drums and Wes played tuba and bass.
• The trio won the Hollywood Bowl Battle of the Bands in 1966 with "Iced Tea" and "The Girl from Ipanema."
• Carpenter married his first cousin (by adoption), Mary Rudolph, on May 19, 1984; her brother Mark was the Carpenters' road manager and the radio call-in "contestant" in the "Medley" on Now & Then.