Carole King Tapestry

Carole King Album Reviews

Born Carol Klein, Carole King was the most successful female songwriter of the second half of the 20th century in the U.S., writing more than 100 Billboard 100 hits. King grew up in New York, and attended Queens College, where she collaborated with other musicians of Jewish heritage; she recorded demos with Paul Simon, dated Neil Sedaka, and married Gerry Goffin.

The newly married Goffin and King wrote songs together at night, becoming professional songwriters when The Shirelles hit number one with ‘Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?’ They continued as hit-makers through the 1960s, writing a hit song for their babysitter (Little Eva’s ‘The Loco-Motion’), while King also flirted with a solo career, most notably with ‘It Might as Well Rain Until September’ in 1962.

In 1968 King and Goffin divorced, and King moved to Laurel Canyon. She formed The City with bassist Charles Larkey and guitarist Danny Kortchmar, releasing one album, Now That Everything’s Been Said. In 1970, she released her first solo record, Writer, featuring James Taylor on guitar and backing vocals. After these two unsuccessful records, King hit pay-dirt with her second solo LP, Tapestry. Recorded at the peak of soft-rock and singer-songwriters in 1971, it was phenomenally successful, with King reinterpreting old standards like ‘Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?’ and writing new ones like ‘It’s Too Late’.

King continued to record solid albums and enjoy commercial success through most of the 1970s. No other artist with a successful, long-term career has as many of their best-loved songs clustered on one LP as King does with Tapestry, but it’s well worth exploring other 1970s records. On albums like the slick jazz-pop of 1974’s Wrap Around Joy and 1973’s social conscience Fantasy, King successfully deviated from the Tapestry template. I’ve covered through to 1975’s Thoroughbred, which is the end of an era; King’s last album on the Ode label, and her last with producer Lou Adler. After Thoroughbred, King relocated to Idaho and became involved in environmental issues, releasing albums with less frequency and less success.

Carole King was successful despite a singing voice that’s nasal and flavoured with a heavy New York accent. She’s a capable pianist and with her track record of hits, it’s impossible to denigrate her abilities as a writer of durable, effective songs. Contemporaries like Joni Mitchell and Laura Nyro made more ambitious records, but King’s radio-friendly music is infused with musicality. It’s also notable that King achieved a blockbuster career in pop despite becoming a mother at the age of 18.

Carole King Album Reviews

Best Album: Tapestry
Overlooked Gem: Tapestry gets the attention, but albums like Fantasy, Wrap Around Joy, and Really Rosie are also worthwhile.

Now That Everything’s Been Said | Writer | Tapestry | The Carnegie Hall Concert: June 18, 1971 | Music | Rhymes & Reasons | Fantasy | Wrap Around Joy | Really Rosie | Thoroughbred | Simple Things | Welcome Home | Touch the Sky | Pearls: Songs of Goffin and King | One to One | Speeding Time | City Streets | Colour of Your Dreams | Love Makes the World | A Holiday Carole

Now That Everything’s Been Said – The City

Now That Everything's Been Said - The City Carole King

1968, 8.5/10
In 1967 Carole King left Gerry Goffin and headed for Laurel Canyon. She formed the band The City with Danny Kortchmar on guitar and occasional vocals and her future husband Charles Larkey on bass – both would reappear on her subsequent solo records. All three members were transplanted from New York City, hence the name – Larkey and Kortchmar had played together in The Fugs. The trio are accompanied by Jim Gordon on drums. The band were never successful – King’s stage fright prevented them from playing live. But in hindsight it stands as one of King’s finest albums – it’s not far from the organic singer-songwriter sound of Tapestry. It’s also an interesting bridge between her 1960s and 1970s work – half of the tracks were co-written by Goffin and the other half with Toni Stern and David Palmer, who would continue to work with King in the 1970s.

King has writing credits on all but one of the songs, and it’s a very strong tracklist. ‘Wasn’t Born To Follow’ was also recorded by The Byrds in 1968, but King’s version is also gorgeous. Opener ‘The Snow Queen’ is also one of King’s best songs, derived from Hans Christian Anderson’s fairy tale. Kortchmar takes lead vocals on ‘Man Without A Dream’, while Palmer provides lyrics for the gospel-tinged ‘Paradise Alley’. The record is a little frontloaded – if I arranged the tracks from my favourite to least favourite, my tracklist would look very similar to the final album.

Although it’s not technically a Carole King album, Now That Everything’s Been Said is excellent – if you loved Tapestry, it’s worth exploring.


Writer

Carole King Writer

1970, 7/10
King’s debut album was released in 1970; she’d already written dozens of hits in a ten-year career. Former husband Gerry Goffin is co-credited as a writer on all these tracks, indicating that she’d had them stored up for a few years. In structure, Writer is close to Tapestry; a couple of standards from King’s 1960s songbook alongside new material. But Writer is also stylistically not as settled as Tapestry – more diverse, despite the presence of soft-rock maestros like James Taylor and Danny Kortchmar. The prominent swirling organ on some tracks is a 1960s remnant, while opener ‘Spaceship Races’ bursts out of the gate more vigorously than you’d expect from a 1970s Carole King record. The production is weaker than on her subsequent 1970s albums, recorded with Lou Adler.

The 1960s standards that King revisits include ‘No Easy Way Down’ and ‘Goin’ Back’, both already popularised by Dusty Springfield, while ‘Up On The Roof’ was recorded by The Drifters back in 1962. The mellow songs like ‘Goin’ Back’, ‘Eventually’, and ‘Child Of Mine’ are the most effective, which makes sense given the direction she’d later pursue. Still, it’s interesting to hear King play strait-laced country on ‘To Love’ and rock through ‘Spaceship Races’.

Writer is an uncertain but often fascinating record, a talented writer dabbling in different ideas before settling on her trademark soft-rock.


Tapestry

Carole King Tapestry

1971, 9/10
King recorded Tapestry simultaneously with James Taylor’s Mud Slide Slim – both albums shared musicians and both featured a version of King’s ‘You’ve Got A Friend’. At the height of the popularity of singer-songwriters and soft-rock, Tapestry was phenomenally successful, King’s elegant, relatable songs were beloved. Her limited vocals work in her favour, making her work more approachable. Lou Adler’s production is also a huge step forward from Writer, and Adler would continue to produce King for the rest of the 1970s.

Indeed Tapestry is so jam-packed with King’s best-loved songs that it’s overshadowed her subsequent career. King re-interprets her 1960s compositions ‘(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman’ and ‘Will You Love Me Tomorrow?’ – in particular, her gentle reading of the latter is devastating. New hits ‘I Feel The Earth Move’ and ‘It’s Too Late’ are just as memorable, and songs like ‘So Far Away’, ‘Tapestry’, ‘Home Again’, and the gospel-tinged ‘Way Over Yonder’ are gentle and excellent album tracks. There are a lot of great songs and a couple of weak points – ‘Beautiful’ hasn’t dated well, while the upbeat shuffle of ‘Smackwater Jack’ is incongruous with the outlaw lyrics.

Carole King’s never matched the wall-to-wall song quality of Tapestry again, despite a lengthy solo career, and it’s the album that she’s remembered for.


The Carnegie Hall Concert: June 18, 1971

The Carnegie Hall Concert: June 18, 1971 Carole King

1971 (released 1996), 7.5/10
Usually, it takes years of gigging before taking the stage at Carnegie Hall; amazingly, King made her live debut in Carnegie Hall in 1971. Accordingly, this album captures King’s first-ever gig, in the wake of the success of Tapestry. King starts solo on piano but is joined by Larkey, Kortchmar, and eventually James Taylor. Unsurprisingly, the song selection leans heavily on Tapestry, but King also dips into her back catalogue, and ‘Snow Queen’ from The City’s 1968 record is a highlight. She also features two songs from the upcoming Music, stating that ‘Song of Long Ago’ was written under the heavy influence of James Taylor. ‘After All This Time’ was covered by backing vocalist Merry Clayton in 1971, but never appeared on a King album.

It’s not essential, but Carnegie Hall is an interesting live document – it’s King’s first time on stage, and hearing her songs in less ornate arrangements than usual.


Music

Carole King Music

1971, 7.5/10
Tapestry was released in early 1971, and presumably, there was record company pressure to get a sequel into stores in time for Christmas. Music was released in December 1971 and reportedly sold 1.3 million units in the US on the day of release. “Sequel” is a good description of Music – it’s a very safe followup to Tapestry, using many of the same musicians, and the same mellow soft-rock sound. This places Music in a difficult position, as it’s merely a very good record, that lacks the knock-out classics of Tapestry.

Opening track ‘Brother, Brother’ breaks the most new ground for King – Bobbye Hall’s bed of percussion and the electric keyboards give the song different textures than anything on Tapestry. The rest of Music is classy soft-rock – ‘It’s Going To Take Some Time’ was also a hit for The Carpenters, while James Taylor duets with King on ‘Song of Long Ago’. ‘Too Much Rain’ is pretty and introspective with its acoustic guitar picking and piano.

Music is a very competent followup to Tapestry, but a composite twelve-song album from the two would be dominated by songs from Tapestry.


Rhymes & Reasons

Carole King Rhymes and Reasons

1972, 6/10
Rhymes & Reasons is a strange choice for a title given that another soft-rock star, John Denver, released an album with the same name in 1970. It’s sometimes regarded as Tapestry III, but it’s different in character without James Taylor and without dipping into King’s 1960s catalogue. Instead, it’s the mellowest album that King had released to date, centred on her piano – song titles like ‘Come Down Easy’ and ‘Peace in the Valley’ indicate a gentle listen. With no new elements to King’s sound, Rhymes & Reasons represents diminishing returns, a solidly written set of songs that are sometimes perfunctory.

Charles Larkey’s only co-writing credit in King’s catalogue is on the intimate, affecting ‘The First Day in August’. Otherwise, the best songs are clustered towards the end – the lead single ‘Been To Canaan’ is tuneful, if low key like the rest of the record, while ‘Ferguson Road’ has pretty piano work and a nice hook.

Rhymes & Reasons is a pleasant listen, but King wisely tackled a more ambitious project for her next record.


Fantasy

Carole King Fantasy

1973, 8/10
After a couple of formulaic records, King wrote a song cycle for Fantasy where the pieces segue into each other. While her previous work often used lyricists, usually either Gerry Goffin or Toni Stern, here King wrote all of the lyrics. Half of these songs are typical Carole King fare, and the other half are social commentary, not unlike Curtis Mayfield’s contemporary records. It’s not just the lyrics – the social commentary songs follow Mayfield musically as well, with R&B rhythms, horns, and tougher vocals from King.

Most confrontingly, ‘Haywood’ tells the story of a drug addict, and the segue into ‘A Quiet Place to Live’ is affecting. ‘Believe in Humanity’ is a hopeful and sincere closer. King uses Latin rhythms on ‘Corazón’; it’s atypical for King, but it works beautifully. There are still songs that would have fitted easily onto previous albums – ‘You Light Up My Life’ (thankfully not a cover) is as humble and pretty as anything in her catalogue with the lovely “you bought me faith, and hope, and love, and light” hook.

In terms of song-writing Fantasy isn’t necessarily more impressive than King’s previous two records, but its increased diversity and ambition makes it a more interesting listen.


Wrap Around Joy

Carole King Wrap Around Joy

1974, 8.5/10
In early 1974, Joni Mitchell released the jazz-flavoured Court and Spark, featuring Tom Scott’s L.A. Express. It’s reasonable to assume King took a few pointers, featuring Scott and a jazz-influenced, sophisticated sound on Wrap Around Joy. Jazz/pop works beautifully for King – her rhythm piano sounds terrific, and her melodies and vocals are confident. She’s augmented with backing vocalists, notably her daughters Louise and Sherry Goffin on ‘Nightingale’. King collaborated with lyricist David Palmer, best known for his stint as vocalist on Steely Dan’s Can’t Buy A Thrill.

The singles, in particular, are her most confident and memorable songs since Tapestry – ‘Jazzman’, written about Curtis Amy from the Ray Charles band, features Tom Scott’s saxophone solos, while ‘Nightingale’ is joyous and tuneful. There are memorable album tracks too, with propulsive choruses on ‘My Lovin’ Eyes’ and ‘You’re Something New’. There are traces of doo-wop on the title track, while ‘A Night This Side of Dying’ is dark and dramatic.

The confident jazz-pop of Wrap Around Joy is different in flavour from the home-spun vibe of Tapestry, but it’s King’s next best album, showcasing her melodic skills.


Really Rosie

Carole King Really Rosie

1975, 8/10
Maurice Sendak, best known for the children’s book Where The Wild Things Are, asked King to write music and perform the songs for an animated TV special based on several of his books. Like King, Sendak was from Brooklyn and of Jewish heritage. King also voiced the titular character, as the studio had trouble finding a child actor to match King’s singing voice.

A soundtrack album, featuring the seven songs from the TV special and some extra material. The soundtrack is the least ornate studio record of King’s career with minimal arrangements, and it’s just about a family affair, with King on piano and vocals, Larkey on bass, and Louise and Sherry Goffin on backing vocals, along with Andy Newmark on drums and occasional uncredited guitar.

Really Rosie is most memorable for the educational singalongs like ‘One Was Johnny’ and ‘Alligators All Around’, but hook-laden piano work and durable tunes abound. With Sendak’s lyrics, Really Rosie is clearly a children’s album, but it’s still very enjoyable. King’s clear, direct melodies and thin voice suit the project, and it’s one of her stronger 1970s records.


Thoroughbred

Carole King Thoroughbred

1975, 6.5/10
Even though it was recorded later than either, Thoroughbred is like the missing link between 1972’s Rhymes + Reasons and 1974’s Wrap Around Joy, melding the mellow, slight songs of the former with the sophisticated, jazzy sound of the latter. With the beach cover shot, there’s a hint on yacht rock about Thoroughbred, with the smooth rhythm section of Russ Kunkel and Leland Sklar.

Thoroughbred marked the end of an era, King’s last album with Lou Adler producing and her last record on the Ode label. Fittingly, several key players from King’s past reappear after a long absence – Gerry Goffin writes lyrics for four songs, while James Taylor sings harmonies on ‘There’s a Space Between Us.’ Charles Larkey’s gently exploratory bass, an important component of King’s 1970s records, had already been dispensed with.

Like Rhymes + Reasons, the short length of Thoroughbred perhaps indicates that King was short on inspiration this time around, but it’s helped by the more detailed arrangements. ‘High Out Of Time’ features Crosby and Nash on backing vocals, and it’s sophisticated and melodic. The mellow AM pop of ‘Ambrosia’, featuring Dave Palmer’s lyrics, is even better with some surprising emotional power in the pretty lead guitar and lyrics like “I need to be replenished/I need to overflow.”

Thoroughbred is a minor pleasure from Carole King’s 1970s catalogue, a mellow record with limited ambitions.


Simple Things

Carole King Simple Things

1977, not rated
After a string of successes, 1977’s Simple Things marked a change in King’s fortunes. It was her last album to go gold, and was savaged by Rolling Stone, who named it the worst of the year. King moved to Idaho in 1977 and became involved in environmental issues.

Ten Best Carole King Songs

Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?
It’s Too Late
So Far Away
Tapestry
I Feel The Earth Move
Jazzman
Snow Queen
Corazón
Nightingale
Ambrosia

Return to 1970s Album Reviews

23 Comments

  1. A lot of her hardcore fans, like myself, prefer the two or three albums surrounding Tapestry as their favorite. Actually I think that Writer through Fantasy are pretty much all of a piece, my 2 favorites being Writer and Music.. After that her Melodies really fell off in quality, and since that’s what her true talent is, nothing she did after those five albums could be considered part of her classic period. Tapestry still has the greatest number of strong tracks on it of course, but if you are a fan of her melodies and her piano, then the 4 albums surrounding Tapestry are just as satisfying . As well as each being a little different musically.

  2. Forgot about Really Rosie even though you reviewed it and I pretty much agree. I kind of forgot about it sometimes because it’s a specialty album from a TV soundtrack rather than a regular release album, but musically its probably her most fully realized album since tapestry. Most of the tunes are pretty strong and the arrangements are pretty good. Because it’s just children’s songs it might seem too slight, but musically it’s not at all. About half of the tracks work as well as anything she did before.

    • I wasn’t even alive when they were released, but I would have thought around Thoroughbred and Simple Things would be the fall from losing her touch. I think there are a bunch of strong tunes on Wrap Around Joy.

  3. Goin Back (1970 version)
    Brother Brother
    No Easy Way Down
    Up On the Roof
    Tapestry
    It’s Too Late
    Been to Canaan
    It’s Going to Take Some Time
    You Light Up My Life
    Home Again

  4. The best thing about being a self taught musician is that you are not constrained by the notes ona page. You can play from the heart and that’s where creativity comes from. When I was in high school a friend of mine played me the tapestry album. She played in the school band so she took music lessons. When I heard home again I pulled out a cheap guitar and started playing like Johnny cash. Not cool. High school kids weren’t supposed to like Johnny cash. She said it doesn’t go like that. Well it does when I play it.

  5. I didn’t know all this about Carole King. I have heard some of her songs on Youtube. I have read she wrote songs for other artists, but this is impressive! I think she’s now in the rock and roll hall of fame as a songwriter and solo artist! ?

    • Yup, she should have been in as a solo artist years ago. I reckon. Probably didn’t get around to it since she was already in as a songwriter.

  6. I like your new design It’s really nice and it seems easier to use or something. Did you add new stuff or does it just look that way?

    • Thanks for noticing! I haven’t made any huge changes but have been playing with headings etc.

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Aphoristic Album Reviews is almost entirely written by one person. It features album reviews and blog posts across a growing spectrum of popular music.

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Graham Fyfe has been writing this website since his late teens. Now in his forties, he's been obsessively listening to albums for years. He works as a web editor and plays the piano.

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