Carole King: Tapestry

Released 1971, Sony Records

Tracklist

CODE

1. I feel the Earth Move
2. So Far Away
3. It's Too Late
4. Home Again
5. Beautiful
6. Way Over Yonder
7. You've Got a Friend
8. Where You Lead
9. Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?
10. Smackwater Jack
11. Tapestry
12. (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman

"Pacific rock, to be sure, but with a sharpness worthy of a Brooklyn girl" - Robert Christgau, Christgau's Record Guide

Throughout the 1960s Carole King had worked as a songwriter with her husband Gerry Goffin, creating the likes of the LocoMotion for Little Eva and Will You Love Me Tomorrow for the Shirelles. However, it wasn't until 1971 and her third solo album that she achieved the recognition she deserved as an artist in her own right.

Opening with a thundering, upbeat piano piano, a funky bass line and those cracked, emotional vocals, it's clear that this album isn't a throw album of pretty songs by a pretty woman. Mixing funk and the LA jam rock of the era, touching on delicate balladry and all fused together with lyrics of life and love, Tapestry has become one of the most influential albums around.

The album's flexibility of style is shown perfectly when you move onto the second track. Instead of the chunky piano rhythms, here we have the delicate So Far Away. "Doesn't anybody stay in one place any more/It would be so fine to see your face at my door." The transition from the faster to the slower feels natural, and demonstrates perfectly King's ability to perform a variety of styles.

These two opening songs set the tone for the album. A combination of heart warming and wrenching lyrics and clever musicianship. The simple, basic production allows the melodies and different instrumental parts to merge well - it hasn't got too much polish, it merely allows the playing to show itself, be it in the laid back soloing of It's Too Late or the chugging rhythm of Beautiful.

The album also features some truly classic songs. It features classic renditions of You've Got a Friend, Will You Love Me Tomorrow? and (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman. If for no other reason than these three songs, the influence of this album is wide spread. Alongside the likes of Joni Mitchell, this album opened the way for female singer songwriters to be taken seriously and to have their own well deserved place among the greats. It can easily be argued that without Tapestry there's be no Tori Amos, no Norah Jones, and no Beth Orton among many others.

It says something about the importance of this album that it spent nearly 6 years on the charts, selling over 13 million copies. It also earned her 4 Grammy Awards - album of the year, best pop vocal performance (female), record of the year for It's Too Late and song of the year for You've Got a Friend.

Carole King: Tapestry

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