I think it’s the Guardian that runs a lifestyle feature that, among other music related questions, asks the celebrity of the week to name a song that they inexplicably know all the lyrics to. Should I ever be posed that question, my answer would be the whole of the Carpenters compilation album ‘The Singles 1969-1973’. Yeah, every damn track. I know this because, since stumbling upon a documentary about Karen Carpenter on tv earlier this week, that album has been accompanying my daily trips ferrying stuff to the lock-up. It’s just full of great songs. Karen’s contralto voice, lower and richer that of other female singers, had the ability to wring emotion out of trite tunes like ‘Sing’, but give her something meaningful like ‘Rainy Days and Mondays’ - ‘Talking to myself and feeling old, sometimes I’d like to quit, nothing ever seems to fit’ - and she could tear at your heart strings. Her brother’s discreet use of the oboe on the production on ‘For All We Know’ takes that song into the territory of Aretha’s ‘Say A Little Prayer’. The oboe is there again on ‘Superstar’, a song originally recorded by Delaney and Bonnie as ‘Groupie’. Apart for the title, all the Carpenters do is change one word. Where Karen sings “Loneliness is such a sad affair and I can hardly wait to be with you again”, Bonnie sings ‘ I can hardly wait to sleep with you again’, which also alters the meaning of the following line. If you’ve never heard the original, you should check it out, as it's brilliant and Bonnie Bramlett’s earthy vocals stand in such stark contrast to Karen Carpenter’s pleading vocal take. Also, it will enhance your appreciation of ‘Superstar’ to know precisely what the seemingly strait-laced Miss Carpenter is really singing about. And the harmonies! That was the great attraction of a Carpenters single - you listened in the hope that at some point they’d do that fabulous ‘singing chord’ thing that seems so natural to siblings. The Watersons could do it too and they were also siblings. 1/2 - Swipe to see the remainder of my post. And find the link to the clip (pictured) in my bio