Over Easy:Karen Carpenter’s Ghost is Unhappy
The A&M studio complex on La Brea Ave just below Sunset Blvd is an historic Hollywood location. It was built by Charlie Chaplin in 1917 and he filmed most of his silent movie classics there - including “City Lights”, “The Goldrush” and “Modern Times”. It’s currently owned by Jim Henson Productions and there’s a statue of Kermit the Frog as The Little Tramp at the gate. For over 30 years, starting in 1966 it was the home of A&M records and was one of the top studios in town. John Lennon, Joni Mitchell, Sting, Bryan Adams and many others made albums there. Studio 2 was the favourite studio of Richard and Karen Carpenter. I’d worked there once before when we shot the video for Alannah Myles’ “Our World Our Times” on the old Chaplin soundstage.
A few years before that, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers had been recording in Studio 2 and things just kept going wrong. Nothing major, but enough to derail the process and necessitate a series of calls to studio maintenance. A buzz here, a faulty patch there, funky headphone sound. Death by a thousand cuts. The band didn’t want to abandon the room they were comfortable in but eventually it was beyond nuisance level. And no one had a solution. Then someone suggested consulting a spiritual advisor.
“Karen Carpenter’s ghost is unhappy”, they were informed by the consultant and as a remedy it would be necessary to install a sizeable crystal in one of the studio walls. And the crystal had to be lit 24/7. Done! Tech issues solved. Happy Heartbreakers. Recording resumed.
I found myself working there because Diana Ross asked me to record a gospel choir for the song “Hope is an Open Window “ which Tim Tickner and I wrote with her and were producing for Diana. Since the album was done and time was tight, Diana wanted the choir recorded by Friday. The call came on Wednesday. Our project coordinator booked us into the Crystal Room at A&M.
Fortunately, the session went off without a hitch. The crystal did its job. The choir sang beautifully and Diana loved it. I don’t know if the crystal is still there but somehow I suspect it is. It seems to me it would fit in nicely in Muppet world.
One footnote - The video for “Ghostbusters” was shot there.
This was one of my most joy filled days as a songwriter, seeing the ideas that the song was built on become a glorious reality.
See the link in the comments below for hand held footage from the session. You can see the choir learning their parts and then recording them before adding a clap track. You can also briefly see the crystal behind the choir director.
