HELLO AMERICA!—During the seventies, the singing brother and sister act of “The Carpenters” were considered America’s sweethearts. Their songs were easy to listen and dance to; their smooth, beautifully arranged melodies and lyrics stuck in your mind, there was hope, life was good.

Their music was so powerful that Wanda Ray Willis and her brother Eldon Raynor decided to rearrange and musically reshape in the music in album form but as a video as well. They needed to make sure the world remembers what beautiful music represents the genius of The Carpenters time in the spotlight.

Wanda offers that the Carpenters songs’ represents love, survival and understanding. “Their songs made sense,” she said. This is why she and her brother were determined to get one of the best arrangers and musicians in the industry to work with them. “As far as I was concerned,” she said, “HB Barnum had to be the man for us. He goes deep into the music, to make a song fly and gives it the color that penetrates all reality. The man is magic with words and sounds itself. Working with HB has been the most exciting thing that we’ve experienced as musicians. We learned so much about ourselves as well as music. It’s been a beautiful journey working on the video and album. All the hard work was worth it.”

The album “The Raynors Sing the Music of the Carpenters” has been welcomed with tremendous approval by critics and fans across the country.  “We’ve not only received a great response from those of our generation,” Willis said, “but from this generation, too. Especially the video, kids really enjoy the dancing and the love songs.”

In the mean time, “The Raynors” are preparing for a national tour and media appearances in major cities throughout the country.  “It’s a dream come true,” Willis noted. “We hope the album and video remind people of the kind of music that made our country so unique and special.”

By Michael St. John