29 December 2016
I feel no disrespect for Ringo Starr or Richard Carpenter. Quite the opposite! They are both competent craftsmen who have expressed a little artistry at times. Good for them! But seriously, if it weren’t for The Beatles and Karen, The Richards of Rock would likely never have been so widely known.
I imagine professionals and the cognocenti would have recognized them as serious studio musicians, and if you were looking for a playful drummer or a bright touch on the keys, you might ask for one of the Richards.
But they wouldna been famous.
What they did was luck out and step up to their very good deals; they measured up and they didn’t disgrace themselves. But I expect they never would have been headliners in their own right.
Well, maybe Ringo. How can ya not love Ringo? And as for Richard Carpenter? I think he never quite figured out whether he wanted to be The Beatles or The Ray Coniff Singers.
update 210112 — I don’t know whether or not Bud wrote the phrase,
“Garfunkel and Oates,” but ’twas from his lips I first heard it. And sure… “Garfunkel and Oates” IS funny, but now I somehow feel like the joke kind of disses Richard Carpenter a little, too. But seriously, all three of those gentlemen are brilliantly gifted, and Oates’ composition,
“Had I Known You Better” is the most beautiful love song ever written by Daryl Hall or Paul Simon or Richard Carpenter or Ringo Starr or Art Garfunkel or John Oates (and I would be super grateful if anyone could point me to a better one!)