Karen Carpeneter died 42 years ago.

@grislybutter "I am no expert."

Me either...and I got one of my first kisses at a junior high school dance with the Carpenters' "Close to You" playing in the background.  She will be forever be among my favorites just for that.

Just listened to The Carpenters - Top Of The World the other night , the clarity of that recording / her voice is mind blowing! RIP..

@unclewilbur I can't remember if there was an orchestra with them or not but i kind of doubt it although there is a pit at the A&S auditorium.  Yes, i heard many of the songs from that album and Yesterday Once More remains my all time favorite of theirs.  I remember Karen had a grade school class come on the stage with her while she sang a song but i don't remember which one it was.  Similar to my Elvis experience though and being more of an Allman Brothers/Skynyrd/James Gang fan, i hadn't planned on going to see them but my girlfriend begged and once again i was forever grateful. Most of today's female vocalists can only dream of having a voice like that.

As for Elvis i still have the program from that show and he was indeed at his height--i've seen many concerts over the years including Stones, Skynyrd, Dead, CSN&Y, Clapton...but i still think Elvis was the greatest entertainer i ever saw--he put everything he had into that show...i still remember all the women lining up to kiss him and give him their panties and bras...

BTW in later years i always wondered why the Carpenters came to Laramie of all places--i guess they were booked at a lot of universities and that's the only one in Wyoming...

@77jovian @grislybutter I'm no vocal expert either; however, many sources say she had a 3 octave range but it was the purity of her contralto that set her apart from other female vocalists and she was once quoted as saying "The money's in the basement".  I also read that Neil Sedaka called her the greatest female pop vocalist of all time but then again i don't know what his credentials are...😀