It has often been stated that even had she never recorded ‘TAPESTRY‘ Carole King would still rightly be regarded as one of the most important songwriters of the latter half of the 20th Century.
Through the late-50s and right through the 60s King, along with lyricist and first husband Gerry Goffin, wrote literally hundreds of superbly crafted three minute vignettes that were concise, melodic and catchy as hell.
Scores of lightweight acts benefited from the sure-fire hits that rolled off the Goffin-King conveyor belt – yet their material still had the artistic cache to be covered by such undisputed big-hitters as The Beatles, Dusty Springfield, Aretha Franklin and The Byrds.
The break-up of their marriage, coinciding with a move from New York to Los Angeles, did not at first disrupt their professional relationship – but when ‘Tapestry‘ came to be released in the early spring of 1971 King was now a solo artist in every sense, the occasional co-write aside, with an accomplished if occasionally hesitant debut album (‘Writer‘ 1970) behind her.
On ‘Tapestry‘ however every single aspect of the recording clicked – the exquisite blending of great songs, sympathetic production, deft musicianship and affecting vocals serving to create not just one of the greatest rock records ever made, but with confirmed worldwide sales of twenty five million, also one of the most commercially successful.
Listening to ‘Tapestry‘ again as the fiftieth anniversary of its release draws ever nearer, the fundamental reasons for the immense success and enduring appeal of the record are evident in every one of the twelve tracks.
Where she and Goffin once wrote romantic teenage dramas, the songs on ‘Tapestry‘ reveal a new found maturity, their appeal rooted in a beautifully-poetic simplicity that has turned tracks such as ‘You’ve Got A Friend‘ (a huge hit for her friend James Taylor, who features on ‘Tapestry‘ as acoustic guitarist), ‘I Feel The Earth Move,’ ‘So Far Away,’ and ‘It’s Too Late,’ into landmark recordings of their kind.
With producer Lou Adler never once guilty of over-elaborating, the arrangements allow the music to breathe easily, King on piano leading the small aggregation who along with Taylor provide background shade in the form of light drums, sinewy bass and sparing use of electric guitar.
The melodies maybe stylised in the emerging singer-songwriter tradition, but are never less than intimate or effective.
Taylor, along with Joni Mitchell, is utilised as a harmony vocalist on a re-working of ‘Will You Love Me Tomorrow‘ a song written by Goffin and King eleven years before that became a big hit for girl group The Shirelles. But in her version King takes the song at a much slower tempo giving it a more melancholy feel – the lyrical resonance increased with the writer delivering the vocal.
The same could also be said of (‘You Make Me Feel) A Natural Woman‘ the closing song on ‘Tapestry‘ that had become a signature hit for Aretha Franklin five years before – which is not to compare Franklin and King as vocalists, but the stripped down interpretation King offers, perfectly serves the intimacy that pervades her masterpiece.
Without wishing to overstate the case, as a singer King is certainly no Franklin or Linda Ronstadt – but the slight imperfections in her voice only add to the personal, emotive reading of the songs.
With the hindsight of passing decades the cultural significance of ‘Tapestry‘ has also become recognised. With the 60s counter-culture virtually out of steam before the decade ended, Utopian visions of peace and love sadly derailed by assassinations and the on-going conflict in Vietnam, it appears in America at least, audiences were turning away from self-conscious protest music – and toward artists more personal and contemplative in their outlook.
Thus, it is no surprise to find King and James Taylor riding the first wave of 70s soft rock singer-songwriters.
But such was the widespread appeal of ‘Tapestry‘ with its recurring themes of hope and compassion, it became an essential addition to any mainstream collection in much the same way ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water‘ by Simon & Garfunkel did – but in a way, for example, ‘Blue‘ by Joni Mitchell, despite its extraordinary virtues, did not.
Not to be overlooked either is the fact ‘Tapestry‘ was the first album by a female artist to take on the male dominated world of rock music and win hands down.
Yet for all the Grammy awards, platinum discs and perennial mentions in ‘greatest albums ever made’ discussions, the lasting beauty of ‘Tapestry‘ lays in the gorgeous refinement of the words and music – this superbly sequenced album reading like a well-plotted novel.
Carole King went on to make another dozen or so albums, some of which were admirably pleasant but none had the compelling charm of ‘Tapestry‘ – an LP that stands not just as her crowning glory but the singer-songwriter album by which all others are measured.
CAROLE KING – TAPESTRY (Released February 10 1971):
I Feel the Earth Move/So Far Away/It’s Too Late/Home Again/Beautiful/Way Over Yonder/You’ve Got a Friend/Where You Lead/Will You Love Me Tomorrow?/Smackwater Jack/Tapestry/(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman;
This article was first published on 30/8/2018.
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NEIL SAMBROOK is the author of MONTY’S DOUBLE – an acclaimed thriller now available in paperback and as an Amazon Kindle Book.