212. Carole King - Tapestry (1971)




















Track Listing

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

Review

You will know most, if not all the songs in this album and if you think they are covers, think again. Carole King was writing music for other artists for a long time before she put out this album, singing her own songs.

The sound is quite different from other versions of these songs recorded before and after this album. The production is purposefully unintrusive, giving the album a homely feel. Like Carole is actually just singing her songs in her house with a piano and her cat. This is actually quite lovely and in the end makes for a great album.

Carole is a superb songwriter and even though her voice isn't as polished as that of those who sung her songs this doesn't in anyway detract from her music. She is also putting out this album at the precise right time, whne people like James Taylor and Joni Mitchell are coming into their own, and the idea of the bucolic, soothing singer-songwriter is not something weird. She is not Dylan or Cohen, but that is not her objective, and what she does, she does perfectly. So, do buy it from Amazon UK or US.

Track Highlights

1. I Feel The earth Move
2. (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman
3. Where You Lead
4. You've Got a Friend

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

It has earned a spot as one of the quintessential recordings of the rock era. Tapestry was ranked US number 1 for 15 weeks and remained on the charts for over six years. The album also garnered four Grammy Awards including Album of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female, Record of the Year ("It's Too Late"); and Song of the Year ("You've Got a Friend").

King wrote or co-wrote all of the songs on the album, several of which had already been hits for other artists such as Aretha Franklin's "(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman" and the Shirelles's "Will You Love Me Tomorrow". Three songs were co-written with King's ex-husband Gerry Goffin. James Taylor, who encouraged King to sing her own songs, and who also played on Tapestry, would have a #1 hit with "You've Got a Friend."

In December 2003, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Tapestry as the 36th greatest album ever. Also in 2003, the VH1 TV network named Tapestry the 39th greatest album ever. In 2003, it was one of 50 recordings chosen by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry.

Various artists combined to re-record all the original tracks for more than one tribute album; the first, released in 1995, entitled Tapestry Revisited: A Tribute to Carole King, and the second, released in 2003, entitled A New Tapestry — Carole King Tribute.

I Feel The Earth Move: