Carpenters - Help "Live"

Okay, here's one that is definitely mimed. Although the little snippet of "Close To You" that they open the show with is live, just Electric Piano and Karen's vocal. You can see Richard turn the volume on the Electric Piano down before "Help" starts. The guitar and bass have no leads coming from them as do they do on the live songs. I'm becoming really obsessed with the Carpenters.
The Carpenters-Help.mov

Comments

[Drew Miller]

Must also confess to Carpenters interest. So much more interesting to see them after all these years, with Karen playing drums. In Montreal a few months ago, I could not resist picking up a Carpenters karaoke DVD at a Vietnamese CD shop. Obvious bootleg - the "p" in the logo was Photoshopped out...perhaps this would be useful for some sharity?

Thanks for all the great material, Spike!

[Mark]

I secretly listened to the Carpenters when I was a punk in the early eighties!

[Bigislandguy]

Yep, lip-synched alright (the keyboard in the recording is a Hammond B-3 yet he's there pounding on a Fender Rhoades). Note, however, that Karen is hitting the cymbals fairly hard and the two singers are both playing tamborines along with the recording. It adds verisimilitude to the performance, just like it does in the *live* ones. I'm not trying to be a spoil-sport here but I had a little experience with music/television back in the 60's and very little was done live because of the difficulty in controlling sound (and the expense of re-doing flawed performances).

[salad and ice tea]

actually, he's playing a wurlitzer electric piano... but, yeah, that's the clincher. but is the singing live?