Interview (Your Navy Presents)

Rich and Karen Carpenter
Hey, that was something else, you people
You work mighty well together, I must say
I thought brothers and sisters were always fighting

We are always fighting, Sam
For the right sound
But we fight our musical battles as a team
Right, Karen?

Yup, you're right
Brother
You're the senior member
You're 23 and I'm 20

You've both been on the music scene a very long time
You must have teamed up early

We did
I started on the accordion as a school kid
And switched to the piano a little later
For a few years I played at, uh
Some jazz at some clubs and parties and stuff like that, the usual

Then your family moved from Connecticut to Southern California
Karen, how did you like the trip?

That was pretty nice
But it was kind of rough getting my drums over the Rockies along with my electric base

But you both did get to Hollywood and the Hollywood Bowl in 1966
That's not bad for two youngsters, I'd say

We were fortunate enough to win the Hollywood Bowl Battle of the Bands
Karen, her old brother, and a base man
The Carpenter Trio
Our base picker also played the tuba
And that night he knocked everybody's eyes with a sensational solo
We won the contest, then a recording contract

You were a jazz trio then, as I remember
A little later, you went rock with a sextet and called yourselves
The Spectrums?

That's correct
We dug around the rock scene in L.A. for about a year
Played some of the top nightclubs
Rich and I were lead singers as well as members of the band
Then

We decided to concentrate on singing, playing, and creating our own special arrangements

Arrangements?
That's the word, arrangements are very important
It's like a fellow making arrangements today for his career tomorrow
We'll hear some more of the Carpenters' arrangements in just a few seconds