Last night, I came across the latest from Wings of Pegasus on YouTube. He was analyzing this cover of "We've Only Just Begun". All I can say is, "Wow!". This girl's voice is amazingly similar to Karen's. If your a fan, do give it a listen. You won't be disappointed.






Here's a video someone put together that allows you to hear the both original and the cover side-by-side as well as at the same time:





For those who are Wings of Pegasus fans, here is his take on the cover:

Ohhhhhhh Hoooooollleeee CRAP!!!!!! Simply Marvelous. I wonder if Beato has featured her in one of his vids?

ETA:
Doesn't seem Beato has picked her up on one of his vids yet. I'd say it's only a matter of time. A pure vocal talent like that CAN'T be ignored!!!

No way! I would have just said she's lip-syncing.

That song, co-written by Paul Williams, was originally the theme song for a bank commercial in California.

Just one word: Wow!

Although I was never a fan of the Carpenters I had enough of an appreciation for musical talent to recognize back then that Karen Carpenter had the smoothest most silky voice I ever heard. It's uncanny how this girl can cover her voice. The band is quite tight as well. Add this group to the list of the greatest cover bands of all time with Leonid and Friends.

I spent some time searching YT for Tori’s videos. She not only possesses a beautiful voice, but she’s also a very talented guitarist, both acoustic and electric. I saw short videos covering Heart’s “Crazy on You,” with Tori play Nancy Wilson’s acoustic intro, then the electric, then Ann Wilson’s vocal. She’s covered Patsy Cline and “Crazy,” and a Beatles’ song or two, and did a wonderful job on all of them. She’s hugely talented and blessed with a great voice; I hope she finds her own voice.

She is incredible!

Amazing voice as was Karen Carpenter.
Hopefully as her career develops, she’ll have some original songs that compliment that voice.

Wow, what an amazing similarity. The third video is awesome as well the way he dissects it. Thx for posting it.

Karen was a guilty pleasure many years ago, one of those you don't share with your buddies.

I was belly laughing when her music made it to the movie Tommy Boy.

Wow, if I closed my eyes, I would think it was Karen singing.

Simply beautiful.

Thank you for sharing.

Nah. Imitation. I did close my eyes and listen. Nope. Sounds good, but not even close. Sorry to burst your bubble, gentlemen. There can never be another deep warm voice that was Karen Carpenter's.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
Nah. Imitation.

I love The Carpenters, I listen to them all of the time.

Sorry to the OP, but imitation, a carbon copy of the song - I'm not a fan of. IMO, a high grade version of karaoke; same instrumental arrangements, tone, vocal phrasings and inflections. Good tribute bands do this. Basically trying to duplicate the song as close as possible, no creativity involved, a rote exercise.

What interests me is when someone takes the song, and makes it their own; their own creative take on it that expresses their vision of what the song might mean to them. I have this album and most of the songs are very interesting to my ears. This one in particular; the song was written from the viewpoint of a groupie/stalker, and this version is true to it.

I agree with Q and oddball. She sounds a LOT like Carpenter and has a very appealing sound to her vocal chords, but the world doesn't need a female version of an Elvis impersonator. I listened to her take on Ann and Nancy on YT, and that small vid clip more or less cemented it. Talented yes but she needs to make the music her own, not merely mimic.

Nicely done. I have heard a variety of 60’s and 70’s songs “redone” by others. Having lived those years and loved the originals I am pretty critical of the repeats.
This one is exceptional. Really well done. No, the Carpenters were not my favorite band, so I just enjoyed their stuff with all the others. I am not a Carpenters “expert”.
But this - nice, really nice.

A VERY talented singer!!! I don't think she's impersonating Karen Carpenter, so much as she has a similar voice and should be appreciated for what she's able to do with the song. I don't need a "re-interpretation" so much as a good voice hitting the notes just right. Bravo!

With the miracles of technology, you can make anything sound better than it might originally be.
I am always skeptical of a lot of these covers that "sing along".
They may actually be really good or it may be enhanced or even a well disguised lip sync.

I came back in to say the same thing as pulicords, just with more detail.

For the folks saying that Tori Holub needs to make the cover "her own", that's really not what this is about. On her YouTube channel, she states, "Tori Holub is a vocalist and aspiring audio engineer who has amassed over 200,000 followers and millions of views across social media for her unique music covers and recording technique content." This cover was an exercise/experiment as well as an homage to the original. The group utilized the same recording techniques as the Carpenters to come up with that classic Carpenters sound. They also used a special technique to follow the same tempo/timing as the original recording to get as close to it as possible. Apparently, if you start them together, they stay in sync until the last trail-off at the end.

Fil, of "Wings of Pegasus", has released a follow-up video. Evidently, some folks actually thought that the cover used the original track. In other words, it was something of a hoax. He uses the audio software to prove that it's definitely two different voices and also that, while their voices are quite similar, they are definitely different. Something Tori readily admits herself. I have provided the video here in case anyone wants to watch it. In the comments section, Tori responded about the various "opinions" of viewers who had watched the video. Here is what she had to say about the whole affair:

Fil!!!

Thank you so much for this video, and again for the last. Your process is so fascinating!
Your videos have brought so many wonderful new people to our channels. We really can’t thank you enough. The next cover is on its way!

So many of the comments on that last video were ridiculously black and white- either we “used the original track” and “there’s no way that’s not Karen singing,” or it “sounds nothing like the original” and
“you’re stupid if you think she sounds like Karen.” (Which is the basis for a lot of my original content as well, although majority of people are kind.)

We paid tribute to what we believe is one of the greatest groups in history. We spent the time to learn about and recreate the recording process as authentically as possible, and like you said, those comments
really take away from the hard work and time that especially James Wilkas (producer/musician) and the other musicians put in.
So thank you for putting the comment war to rest! There are a lot of differences between our voices. Karen was the GOAT! Any song I sing of hers is with complete respect to the enormous legacy that she and
Richard left behind.

Tori

Guys, a lot of bands and singers got their start by doing covers. The whole point is to build a fan base and then move on. In this case it's a good cover and very well sung. As for putting an individual Spin on a cover that can either be a success like "House of the Rising Sun from the Animals" or a total bomb from many other bands/performers performers you never heard of because it was just that bad.

My view for this is this may be someone to keep an eye on, because she can sing and is easy on the eyes. When Taylor Swift first broke into the music world I thought of her as just another blond pretty Country Singer. Now I respect her as a very talented artist who is very smart about managing everything related to her career.

Went through a Karen phase last year. Rediscovered the music of my youth. Best female vocalist. Any genre. Ever.

I learned only fairly recently that in addition to her vocals, she was also a quite good drummer. Singing while sitting behind the drums with arms, hands and sticks sometimes obscuring her face was not very "camera-friendly."