# Karen Carpenter as a drummer **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 24, 2003, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karen-carpenter-as-a-drummer/203510 "2003-09-24T10:45:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2014, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karen-carpenter-as-a-drummer/203510/21 "2014-03-15T01:43:30Z")
I love that this Thread has now been revived twice. I couldn’t be a prouder OP. Thank you, Karen. You were awesome. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2014, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karen-carpenter-as-a-drummer/203510/22 "2014-03-15T02:07:58Z")
I still find it hauntingly ironic that one of the greatest singers of the Twentieth Century would rather hide behind her drum set. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2014, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karen-carpenter-as-a-drummer/203510/23 "2014-03-15T02:44:04Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I still find it hauntingly ironic that one of the greatest singers of the Twentieth Century would rather hide behind her drum set. Huh? Did you watch any of the videos? She was clearly deliriously HAPPY while drumming. That \*might \*be a reason. And anyway, she didn’t hide. :rolleyes: Don’t get your comment at all. Unless it was irony. It wasn’t, was it? ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karen-carpenter-as-a-drummer/203510/24 "2014-03-16T16:56:33Z")
The sad thing is that (IMNSHO) if the music Powers That Be at the time had let her be a drummer who sang, she’d probably be alive today. ---
**Author:** ![SirGalahad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/71c47a/32.png) [@SirGalahad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirGalahad)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karen-carpenter-as-a-drummer/203510/25 "2014-03-16T17:52:04Z")
I’ve done several gigs with Karen’s bass player, Bob Messenger. He also played flute (and sax). He’s a real Jazz badass. Karen could play drums. She was a real musician. She was hip. ---
**Author:** ![Fleetwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fleetwood/32/271_2.png) [@Fleetwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fleetwood)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karen-carpenter-as-a-drummer/203510/26 "2014-03-16T20:00:30Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > The sad thing is that (IMNSHO) if the music Powers That Be at the time had let her be a drummer who sang, she’d probably be alive today. Maybe. You can’t tell. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2014, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karen-carpenter-as-a-drummer/203510/27 "2014-03-17T15:46:10Z")
> [@george\_b](#): > > Nowhere have I heard Richard quoted as you say. Just an FYI, the person you are replying to was banned quite some time ago and will more than likely never see your response. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2014, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karen-carpenter-as-a-drummer/203510/28 "2014-03-17T15:56:56Z")
> [@moog](#): > > Her skills were complimented by drummers Hal Blaine, Cubby O’Brien, Modern Drummer magazine, and even Buddy Rich himself." I recall Hal Blaine saying almost exactly what you did- that Karen was a very fine drummer, but that Herb Alpert wanted her out in front in a pretty dress, rather than behind a set of drums. Blaine had nothing but nice things to say about Karen as a singer, a drummer AND a human being. Richard, on the other hand, clearly rubbed Blaine the wrong way. ---
**Author:** ![emir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e47c2d/32.png) [@emir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emir)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karen-carpenter-as-a-drummer/203510/29 "2014-04-26T13:25:28Z")
Carpenter started playing the drums in 1964. She was always enthusiastic about the drums and taught herself how to play complicated drum lines with “exotic time signatures,” according to her brother.[8] Carpenter’s drumming was praised by fellow drummers Hal Blaine, Cubby O’Brien, Buddy Rich[10] and by Modern Drummer magazine.[11] According to her brother, Carpenter always considered herself a “drummer who sang.” Despite this, she was not often featured as a drummer on the Carpenters’ albums. She was, however, the only drummer on the album Ticket to Ride and on the songs “Mr. Guder” and “Please Mr. Postman.” The role of drummer in the Carpenters entourage was mainly taken over by Hal Blaine as she went from behind the drum set to the front of the stage.[12] She was a monster and whoever this young drummer is, or was in 2003 has been mislead by a few of you ---
**Author:** ![MrKnowItAll](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrknowitall/32/87_2.png) [@MrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karen-carpenter-as-a-drummer/203510/30 "2014-04-30T02:02:46Z")
Wow. I always thought she was competent. I never imagined she was that good. That’s remarkable. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karen-carpenter-as-a-drummer/203510.md?page=1)