She has made an amazing career for herself. I remember when a buddy and I called her 'Carrie Made of Wood' for her emotionless performances on American Idol. She proved us wrong, and is now the gold standard, the 'grande dame' of Country music.
On this, the day of her tragic passing in 1983, Karen Carpenter sertainly deserves a mention. Her voice was so pure, and her drumming ability was phenomenal.
This is a story of personal remembrance. Jennifer was the only girl in my year at Guitar Institute of America (now Musicians Institute) in 1979.
Nobody could have foretold what she would become. Jennifer Batten was a lovely girl, a shy little thing with wire-rimmed glasses and courderoy pants, and she became sort of a 'little sister' at GIT.
As most of us did, I jammed privately with her on several occasions, because we shared an interest in jazz, and she already had some chops, but she showed almost no confidence.
I will never claim to be the one that gave her the 'pep talk' that changed her life, but somebody did.
A few years later, she showed up on my radar again as Michael Jackson's lead guitarist. Well-deserved - she had put in a lot of work.