Richard Carpenter (musician)

Childhood[edit]

Richard Lynn Carpenter was born at Grace-New Haven Hospital (now called Yale New Haven Hospital) in New Haven, Connecticut, the same hospital where his sister, Karen, was later born.^[3] His parents were Agnes Reuwer Tatum (a housewife^[4]) (March 5, 1915 – November 10, 1996) and Harold Bertram Carpenter (November 8, 1908 – October 15, 1988). Harold was born in China, where his own parents were missionaries, and was educated at boarding schools in England,^[5] before working in the printing business.^[4][6] Richard and his sister were baptized into the United Methodist Church and as children were part of the Methodist Youth Ministry.^[7]


Carpenter frequently played the piano while his younger sister, Karen, played baseball outside.^[8] He and Karen also liked to listen to the children's records their father bought for them when they were young.^[8] Richard was introduced to Perry Como and Ella Fitzgerald, among many others through his father's record collection,^[9] and by age 12, he knew he wanted to be in the music business. His first public appearance as a musician was at age 16 in New Haven. Along with two older friends, a group was formed and they played at a local pizza parlor. Richard joined the venture to earn money to buy a car.^[9] The Carpenter family moved from New Haven to Downey, California, in June 1963. They wanted Richard to further his music career, and the family was tired of the cold New England winters.^[10][11]


After graduating from Downey High School in 1964, Carpenter studied music at California State College at Long Beach (now known as California State University, Long Beach). There, he met Frank Pooler, a conductor and composer who wrote the lyrics to the Christmas classic "Merry Christmas Darling" in 1968. Richard also met his good friend John Bettis, who co-wrote songs with Richard.^[12] At Long Beach, Richard also met Gary Sims, Dan Woodhams, and Doug Strawn, who later became members of the Carpenters’ live band.

Carpenter created the Richard Carpenter Trio in 1965 with sister Karen and friend Wes Jacobs. Richard played the piano, Karen played the drums, and Wes played the tuba and bass.


In 1966, the Richard Carpenter Trio played "Iced Tea" and "The Girl from Ipanema" at the Hollywood Bowl Battle of the Bands. They won the competition, and shortly afterward recorded three songs at RCA Studios: "Every Little Thing", "Strangers in the Night", and the Carpenter original, "Iced Tea". "Iced Tea" is the only recording that was officially released to the public.


Around 1967, Richard and Karen joined four other student musicians from Long Beach State to form a sextet, Spectrum, consisting of:


Although Spectrum played frequently at LA-area nightclubs such as Whisky a Go Go, they met with an unenthusiastic response—their broad harmonies and avoidance of rock 'n' roll limited the band's commercial potential. Yet Spectrum was fruitful in another way, providing the raw material of future success: Bettis went on to become a lyricist for Richard's songs, and all the other members, except Leslie Johnston, went on to become members of the Carpenters.. Following Spectrum, Carpenter formed Summerchimes. In a similar vein to Spectrum, the group was also short lived but produced "Don't be Afraid", "All of My Life" and several other songs which appeared on the Carpenters' debut album.