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This deserved to be a hit. Reminds me of the same power and strength of Deborah Allen's "Baby I Lied" which was huge and came out soon after. Terrific mix John.

Bravo! She is still dearly loved... Well done... Love, from Texas...

Superb selection and ideas. I am near 80 and your selections from the 50’s & 60’s with Karen, Richard and guests would be spectacular. This is from left field but you and Richard working with the promise of AI, there might be a way to put your ideas into reality.

Thank you Mr. Florez for your remembrances and your candor. I wanted to tell you how much I appreciated your memories in an earlier video of the great Jim Gordon. Thanks for sharing all of these stories!

Such a pleasure to hear your informative and entertaining stories John. Keep them coming! And I too had a Valium addiction as a teenager.

My god what an awesome voice oh my my my

❤ He was definitively underrated!

And check out Tori Holub if you haven't already John. She could make some of your songs and visions come true. Uncannily similar sound and phrasing like Karen. Would love to hear Tori and another singer do the Herb Albert and Karen duet you suggest.

My favourite Carl Graves song is The Next Best Thing. Not a bomb for me. In Jamaica it got heavy rotation, still is well loved.

What a wonderful song (that I've never heard). I love discovering songs like this. Terrific mix John.

John. Great ideas. I think the one with Herb Albert would work very well with Karen. I feel that letting Karen record duets from time to time with other singers would keep them current and up-to-date. In late 1974 Karen saying some of Perry Como's songs on his TV special. I wish she had a full version of it's impossible. A full version would have been a nice inclusion on an album

You are excellent and I agree with you 100%. The solo album wasn’t good for many reasons and I’m a huge fan!

'Going in Circles' is a masterpiece. The ending refrain/hook "spun out over you" brings me to tears. You and Ray are legends.

Your reimagined mix is so bright and fresh. With all due respect through, I don’t care for the cowbell. It sounds off beat - but maybe I’ve just been tarnished by the SNL cowbell skit! I don’t remember this Helen Reddy record at all and in 1979 I was still Paul g attention to popular music. Thanks for sharing your very interesting history!

My song suggestions for Karen are “You’ll Never Walk Alone” and “On the Street Where You Live.” And Barry Manilow’s “All the Time” and Boz Scaggs’ “We’re All Alone.”

What if when Cass Elliott was at RCA in the early 70s what would you have done with her to get her back on the charts. Because all 3 RCA Albulms did not produce any hits

If only she had recorded "Ebbtide"!! That would've been epic! Or "Evergreen", which would've been quite appropriate considering Paul Williams wrote the lyrics. You are so right on that Phil Ramone kept her in her upper register which is pitch perfect, but sounds rather thin after awhile. He totally should've lowered all the keys. But, I DO love "My Body Keeps Changing My Mind". I listen to it all the time and is a respectful disco song. I think it's wonderful. The other songs, however, are just not suited for her and were rather shallow, with the exception of "Last One Singing The Blues" and "If I Had You" which is quite complex with all of the vocal backgrounds. This song may be closest to the "Carpenters" sound taken up a notch. Thanks for your wonderful insight into this extraordinary person, Karen Carpenter and her solo album.

Love you tell the twelfth of never thank you darling wonderful man

Juan buenos dias busca a este trio en 1978 en chile en festival de viña del mar

Talk about live shows...I have seen alot but I went to see BRELAND in Chicago and it was the greatest show I ever saw in my life. I got to meet him and he was the kindest person I ever meant. It was worth the 400 Mile Drive each way to see him. Now for Karen I would have had her cover Jeannie Seely's Dont Touch me, Anne Murrys you Needed me, Martha and the Vandellas Heatwave with a country flavor and finally a nice cover of Patti Page's Go On with the wedding.

One of the biggest tragedies of Karen's passing was that she died just as the '80's were starting, and her voice, at that point in her career, was showing a new emotional openness in her delivery. It would have been stellar to hear her cover Leonard Cohen, in particular "If It Be Your Will," a prayer of forgiveness and surrender in the same vein as "Little Alter Boy" from the posthumous Old Fashioned Christmas album. I can envision her voice tackling a lyric like "If it be your will/ That a voice be true/ From this broken hill/ I will sing to you/ From this broken hill/ All your praises they shall ring/ If it be your will/ To let me sing..." One can only dream... Thanks for this, John...

According to a recent documentary, the rejection of Karen's solo album by her brother and A&M was a major emotional blow for Karen that she never came back from and pushed her further into Anorexia. Pity your ideas for her solo album never came into play John.

Such an amazing talented woman that left us way too soon. Awesome video,Mr.John!

Once again a beautiful song that gets no airplay. This is the kind of music I enjoy the most because it's REAL MUSIC!!!. The new mix sounds fantastic as usual; so lush...!

👍😃

I just ran across your video and wondered what happened to the 5th Dimension in the 1970s. That was cold-blooded. Love the honesty. I'm about to check out some more of your videos.

❤💝

Why weren't "Baby Hang Up the Phone" and "Walk Softly" included on Carl's 1975 self-titled album? I searched for Carl on the Discogs website and both songs were left off the album. The LP was produced by Spencer Proffer for The Pasha Music Organisation. Both songs were released together as a single in '74, but I think they should've been on his album too (just my opinion). Thank you, for that fun insider story. It's refreshing to hear about other artists and labels from the seventies beyond Aretha Franklin, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Motown, etc. Everybody in the industry played a part in music history.

Um excelente versátil e magnífico interprete, mas aprecio muito a versão para esta música cantada por Léa Roberts.❤❤❤

so cool to hear your perspective! I love Rock the Boat (one of the first songs I can remember ever knowing as child- I was born '71) thank you!

Where is Carl now?

Thom Bell an Absolute music Genius

Remake of the Climax (Featuring the late Sonny Geraci) song from 1972 & the follow up to "Precious And Few".

The Four Tops did it better (from the 1972 album "Keeper Of The Castle").

Neil Sedaka and Johnny Mathis 2 great legends! 💖💖💖

Baby Hang Up The Phone didn't chart here in the UK but I was aware of the terrific smooth soul sound and Carls voice. Another fascinating insight into the political workings of the music industry. Raw talent and great material/production is not enough on its own. Faces have to "fit" many palms have to be greased and even then the cut throat rivalries can destroy a career before it's even begun. The sample tracks from the unreleased album are as good as any of the contemporary soul tracks of the era by Philly acts such as the Stylistics, Blue Magic etc. Thanks once again for sharing these golden nuggets.

WOW!!!! WHAT A VOICE!!! LOVE that Stylistics/Thom Bell/Gamble and Huff sound!! This man should have been on the charts more!!

Thank you for sharing the story John. Now I know a bit more about Carl Graves. It's so sad that other people could have so much control over Carl's and your careers and creativity back then. But for as much as things didn't work out, your production and his voice have still touched lives, including mine. My other fav song of Carl's is Be Tender With My Love which of course the Bee Gees went on to have a massive hit with around the same time.

I first heard "Baby Hang Up The Phone" from Cousin Brucie's WNBC countdown show in late 1974, it was a Top 25 record there.

Billy Crash Craddock had a #2 Country hit at the end of 1975 with Walk Softly. Great song and I believe Carl Graves version should've been a smash as well. Great Soul sound.

What great music

I love this version but I'm kind of biased when it comes to Marilyn and the 5th Dimension their harmony was divine ❤

Luther vandross did wonderful cover of this timeless classic.

Stunning!

Maravilhosa música. Saudades....

The soul harmony in the chorus of "Family" is perfection. Speaking in retrospect, one of the "best" parts of disco was honestly the terribly punny, cheesy, "bad" lyrics. (Maybe "Thriller" is the apex example?) But it's definitely an either-you-like-it-or-you-don't thing.

I've always enjoyed this song and it sounds great; nice and fresh.

HI john how are you doing?hope all is fine thanks as always for the great music. Terry

I loved this song the first time I heard it, and played it on high rotation back when I started out on-air in my radio DJ days. And now I know you produced it John. What a wonderful surprise. I've googled Carl Graves over the years, but there's really no info about him out there. I'm so glad I've discovered your You Tube channel. Thank you John.

Such a wonderful song. Thank you John for waving your very talented 2024 Production wand over it. What treasured memories you have with the Fifth Dimension. Clive Davis can never take those away from you.