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The Very Popular Brother and Sister Duo - The CarpentersLoading The Carpenters, Richard and Karen, were active from the years 1969 to 1983. They remain very popular today particularly with students learning English with music. Their musical genres are pop, soft rock and adult contemporary.
'We've Only Begun' We've only just begun to live White lace and promises A kiss for luck and we're on our way We've only begun Before the risin' sun, we fly So many roads to choose We'll start out walkin' and learn to run And yes, we've just begun Sharing horizons that are new to us Watching the signs along the way Talkin' it over, just the two of us Workin' together day to day, together And when the evening comes, we smile So much of life ahead We'll find a place where there's room to grow And yes, we've just begun Sharing horizons that are new to us Watching the signs along the way Talkin' it over, just the two of us Workin' together day to day, together, together And when the evening comes, we smile So much of life ahead We'll find a place where there's room to grow And yes, we've just begun Biography Richard and Karen produced a gentle musical sound that made them the number one musical act in America in the 1970's. Between the years of 1970 and 1984, the duo had 10 gold singles, nine gold albums, one multi-platinum album and 17 singles in the Top 20; 12 in the Top 10, three number 1 songs and six songs at number 2. Their fourteen year career ended with the sudden and unexpected death of Karen in 1983 from cardiac arrest, which was related to complications with her anorexia illness. Extensive news coverage opened the gates for a flood of awareness into the consequences of eating disorders. Richard was born on October 15, 1946, and Karen on March 2, 1950in Connecticut. They both took an interest in music from a young age but Richard was the more serious musician and entered California State University as a music major in 1964. Karen had learned to play the drums. At College Richard teamed up with a tuba and bass player, Wes Jacobs, and the three of them formed the Richard Carpenter Trio. They played for dances and weddings, and entered a prestigious talent contest "The Battle of the Bands" at the Hollywood Bowl. The Album, "Offering", was released in November of 1969 and featured their first single, "Ticket to Ride," That was soon followed by "Close To You," which would become Karen and Richard's breakthrough recording that took just six weeks to reach #1 where it remained for four consecutive weeks. "Close to You" became an international hit, beginning a five-year period where the Carpenters were one of the most popular recording acts in the world. During that period, they won two Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist of 1970, and had a string of Top Ten hits, including "Rainy Days and Mondays," "Superstar," "Hurting Each Other," "Goodbye to Love," "Yesterday Once More," and "Top of the World." At the height of their fame, The Carpenters sold nearly 100 million records worldwide. Karen's voice is considered by many to be one of the finest and most expressive in popular music.
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