Little Girl Blue The Life of Karen Carpenter

by Schmidt, Randy L.; Warwick, Dionne

• ISBN13: 9781556529764
• ISBN10: 1556529767
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-05-17
• Publisher: Chicago Review Press

Summary

Little Girl Blueis an intimate profile of Karen Carpenter, a girl from a modest Connecticut upbringing who became a Southern California superstar. Karen was the instantly recognizable lead singer of the Carpenters. The top-selling American musical act of the 1970s, they delivered the love songs that defined a generation. Karen's velvety voice on a string of 16 consecutive Top 20 hits from 1970 to 1976--including "Close to You," "We've Only Just Begun," "Rainy Days and Mondays," "Superstar," and "Hurting Each Other"--propelled the duo to worldwide stardom and record sales of more than 100 million. During their short musical career, the Carpenters released ten studio albums, toured more than 200 days a year, taped five television specials, and won three Grammys and an American Music Award. But that's only a part of Karen's story.Little Girl Bluereveals Karen's heartbreaking struggles with her mother, brother, and husband; the intimate disclosures she made to her closest friends; her love for playing drums and her frustrated quest for solo stardom; and the ups and downs of her treatment for anorexia nervosa. After her shocking death at 32 years of age in 1983, she became the proverbial poster child for that disorder; but the other causes of her decline are laid bare for the first time in this moving account. Little Girl Blueis Karen Carpenter's definitive biography, based on exclusive interviews with her innermost circle of girlfriends and nearly 100 others, including professional associates, childhood friends, and lovers. It tells a story as touching, warm, and involving as any of Karen's greatest songs.

Author Biography

Randy L. Schmidt is the editor of Yesterday Once More: Memories of the Carpenters and Their Music. He served as creative consultant for several television documentaries on the Carpenters, including those for E! True Hollywood Story, A&E’s Biography, and VH1’s Behind the Music. Dionne Warwick is a popular American singer, an actress, and activist; a United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization; and the former United States Ambassador of Health.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. xi
Author's Note	p. xiii
Prologue: Rainy Days and Rain Man	p. 3
California Dreamin'	p. 11
Chopsticks on Barstools	p. 21
Stand in Line, Try to Climb	p. 39
Sprinkled Moondust	p. 51
You Put Us on the Road	p. 63
Nothing to Hide Behind	p. 83
America at Its Very Best?	p. 99
Moving Out	p. 111
The Collapse	p. 127
I Need to Be in Love	p. 149
Just Let Us Know What the Problem Is!	p. 169
The Bird Has Finally Flown the Coop	p. 183
Pockets Full of Good Intentions	p. 197
White Lace and Promises Broken	p. 215
Beginning of the End	p. 233
Dancing in the Dark	p. 251
Too Little, Too Late, Too Soon	p. 269
Epilogue: A Song for You	p. 289
Acknowledgments	p. 301
Selected Discography	p. 306
Selected Television Appearances	p. 313
Notes	p. 317
Bibliography	p. 327
Suggested Reading	p. 338
Index	p. 340
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