Hi Fans!

The long awaited news is now confirmed; The new album A Kind of Hush will be released June 11th. Karen's lilting voice accompanying Richard's superb arrangements is masterpiece. Every song is a winner, but my favorite is I Need To Be In Love. composed by Richard and John Bettis, and was released as a single May 21st. The lovely cards you all sent for Karen & Mom birthdays were sincerely appreciated. They express combined thanks.

Richard & Karen worked on the new album until 3:00 a.m. the morning of their departure for Japan. Ray Gerhardt, their sound engineer, had put in long hours with them, and was looking forward to some relaxation while they went on tour. He was also eager to fully acquaint himself with the new Jaguar Richard & Karen had presented him in appreciation or the superb engineering work he had done on their albums. Ray was twice nominated for his engineer expertise on Carpenters albums. His relaxation dreams were wiped out when last minute plans included him in the trip to Japan to help Gary with Sound Equalization. A passport was rushed through. and Ray round himself transported from the studio's mixer to an American Airlines 747!

The tour was successful and pleasant, including two mishaps that added more humor to the show and delighted the audience. At concert opening, slides are projected on to a screen showing Richard & Karen as infants, toddlers, and teen-agers, up to the present time, while Karen stands offstage singing We've Only Just Begun. At one concert one of the slides was erroneously placed upside down, and when Karen saw it, she cracked up and laughed so hard, she was unable to complete the song, and the audience joined in the laughter. Later, at the same show, she was seated at the drums, the snare drum stand broke, and the snare slid kerplunk right into her 1ap, but she continued a faultless performance.

Winter weather was reluctant to leave Japan, and during their stay, weather was extremely cold with 95% rain and little snow. The huge concert halls were almost impossible to heat, so electric heaters were placed on stage, in spite or which, they were chilled to the bone, but hot baths and massages before retiring prevented them catching colds. Heaters in their dressing rooms kept them comfortable, but outside they could see their breath a rare sight for Southern Californians!

Always on the alert for ideas or changes to improve their show, they video-taped one or their concerts for later viewing.

The President & Vice President of Sony Corporation invited them to the building where they were shown the latest concepts of the Sound Industry and presented them with beautiful cassette recorders. They also toured the National Corporation where Panasonic is manufactured, and Richard was very impressed with the new Technics Hi Fi equipment. There he received a new turntable. He was also the recipient of a super Panasonic receiver with a Marine band, short wave etc., from Tats the Japanese promoter.

It was a cold windy day when Richard & Karen visited one or the famous Japanese Temples, and, respecting their hosts custom, they removed their shoes before entering. The icy cold floor almost froze their feet, so the visit was brief. From there they drove to the Ashiaya Steak House where they enjoyed an excellent meal. Much of their spare time was spent relaxing in their hotel rooms watching American TV programs! Mom & Dad had video-taped their favorite programs they had missed while working on the new album. Richard had a special case custom built on rollers, large enough to house the video-cassette players & hundreds of tapes while in transit, so American TV rolled right along with them.

King Record Co. presented them with 4 more Gold Records: Live In Japan, Horizon, Only Yesterday and Mr. Postman, bringing the total of Japanese awards to 18. A Kind or Hush will no doubt earn them another "Gold" as it reached #l while they were on tour there. It was being played wherever the went, even in the watch shop where they were browsing. Richard 'digs' watches as he does cars! He purchased an extremely attractive Seiko L.C. the very latest in digital watches. It's called a Cronograph, and features a quartz crystal. AM/FM indicator, as well as date, hour, seconds, and a push button that makes it a stop watch. The whole group thought it was A-OK, and each purchased a similar one before leaving Japan.

Fans had showered them with gifts at every concert, presenting them to Karen from below stage while she was simultaneously singing, holding the mike, and bending forward to shake hands and accept gifts.

Incredible as it may seem, there were no duplications among the hundreds of items they brought home which were transported in two wooden crates each 4 ft. square.

At concert's end, fans rushed the stage causing near riot. Excitement was so tremendous some nights, that Richard & Karen were advised not to shake hands for fear of being accidentally pulled off stage and getting injured.

Though the language barrier was not a major problem, there were times they experienced difficulty ordering meals. The following is a quote from notes Karen kept to pass on to me for the newsletter. "It's now Thursday morning, I've just had breakfast. I ordered 3 scrambled eggs, and I got 3 ORDERS of scrambled eggs.! I'm very full". Karen learned to speak a little Japanese (which is not the easiest language to learn) to enable her to thank fans for their concern while she was ill, and to let them know she is fine now. She spoke it fluently, even changing the dialect from city to city. After they returned home, mail poured in from Japan, praising and thanking them for relating to them in their language.

Their last day in Japan was a time racer which almost resulted in missing the flight home, but for the cooperation and swift action of 'Shorty', one of the Japanese road managers, a nine hour flight returned them to Las Angeles with fond memories, and a tour well done

We held up the newsletter to wait for final info on TENTATIVE TOUR SCHEDULE now available as follows:

May 29th, CALIFORNIA; Fesno, Selland Arena

June 10-23th NEVADA; Lake Tahoe, Sahara

July 1-7th NEVADE; Las Vegas, Riviera

July 27th CANADA; Edmonton, Coliseum

July 29th MINNEAPOLIS; Northrup, Auditorium

July 30th WISCONSIN; Madison, Cane County Auditorium

July 31st ILLINOIS; Chicago, Arie Crown Theater

AUGUST 1st ILLINOIS; Chicago, Arie Crown Theater

August 2nd INDIANA; Indianapolis, Convention Center

August 3rd INDIANA; Fort Wayne, Coliseum

August 4th MICHIGAN; Kalamazoo, Wings Stadium

August 5,6,7th CANADA; Toronto, O'Keefe Center

August 8th NEW YORK; Binghampton, Broome County Memorial auditorium

August 9th MASSACHUSETTS; Fitchburg, Wallace Civic Center (Tentative)

August 10th NEW YORK; Saratoga Springs, Performing Arts Center

August 12&13th MICHIGN; Pine Knob, Pine Knob Theater

August 28th through Sep. 8th NEVEDA; Las Vegas, Riviera

Please be sure to confirm these dates with your ticket outlets in advance to avoid last minute disappointment a REMINDER: we still have supply of stationery pads, pens, pencils, memo pads, desk organizers, needlepoint kits, posters etc; Collectors please note: New program books are now being designed, so old issues will no longer be available when present stock is exhausted. Please keep in mind. with the exception of posters and programs, Carpenters keepsakes are available ONLY to fan club members. They are not sold in stores, therefore you will bet the only people possessing them when collectors search for Carpenters memorabilia a few years hence.

The sale or these items helps to absorb the enormous expense of producing your newsletter, and we appreciate your loyal support.

Will rap later. EV.

Last changed: Mon Jun 20 22:49:33 EDT 2005