Superstar by The Carpenters
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUVg8eh-gcAFrom the description:
"Superstar," written by Leon Russell and Bonnie Bramlett, had been recorded by Delaney and Bonnie in 1969 under the title, "Groupie." The song was about a groupie longing for the rock star with whom she had fallen in love. Rita Coolidge sang the song on Joe Cocker's album, "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" in 1970. In 1971, Richard Carpenter caught a performance by Bette Midler on "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson" when she sang the song. Midler's version was sung as a torch song, but Richard thought it would be a good song for Karen.
Karen wasn't as enthusiastic about the song as Richard was. She disliked the "feel" of the song and didn't care for the words. The original lyric, "...and I can hardly wait to sleep with you again," was changed to "...and I can hardly wait to be with you again." Richard felt that the original was too blatant for the Carpenters.
When it came time to record the song, Richard scribbled the new lyrics on a napkin for Karen to read as she recorded a work lead. The work lead was usually recorded with piano, bass, and drums. Richard would then finish the full arrangement, adding strings and woodwinds. After a complete music track had been recorded, Karen would come back into the studio and record new vocals. More often than not, Karen's work lead would be used as the definitive version.
When she sang "Superstar," it was the first time she had ever sang the song, seeing the lyrics for the first time that Richard had written on a napkin. Her doleful interpretation was considered to be so perfect and unrepeatable, that Richard used her "first take."
After she finished the recording, she told Richard she didn't care for the song. She recalled later that "he looked at me like I had grown three heads." It wasn't until she heard the finished recording that she finally understood what he saw in the song.
Lyricist John Bettis recalls, "That performance was our first real glimpse of where Karen's voice was heading. Just having her sing things in the room to you was getting to be almost a religious experience. Because Richard now really had the vocal range and placement down. He always knew about the lower register being Karen's hit voice, but he really gotten it by this point. He had recorded her so much that he had a tonal memory of her. So, when he composed, he could plug that singing voice in his mind; he knew what it would sound like. It was fabulous to watch him do that because I knew he could hear her in a way I couldn't do when I was writing."
"Superstar" would become what many fans and followers of the Carpenters would consider their finest, most ambitious performance. Karen was only 21 years old when she recorded it.
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