- Person
- Carole King
- Lived
- b. 1942
- Field
- Songwriting
- From
- American
The story
Carole King was born Carol Joan Klein in Manhattan in 1942 to Jewish parents, a teacher and a firefighter, and grew up in Brooklyn. As a teenager she began writing songs professionally with her lyricist husband Gerry Goffin for Don Kirshner's Aldon Music, among the writers of the Brill Building sound. Their “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” recorded by the Shirelles in 1960, reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 before King turned 20, and the pair wrote dozens more hits, including “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” for Aretha Franklin.
After her marriage ended, King moved to Laurel Canyon in Los Angeles with her two daughters, where she met James Taylor, Joni Mitchell and the lyricist Toni Stern. Her first solo album, Writer, appeared in 1970. Its follow-up was recorded at A&M Studios in January 1971, produced by Lou Adler, with Taylor and Mitchell among the musicians. Several of the same players were working at the same time on Taylor's album Mud Slide Slim, and both records included King's “You've Got a Friend,” which became a number-one hit for Taylor.
Tapestry was released on February 10, 1971, on the Ode label. It mixed new songs such as “It's Too Late,” “I Feel the Earth Move” and “So Far Away” with King's own versions of “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” and “A Natural Woman.” “It's Too Late” spent five weeks at number one, and the album held the top spot on the US album chart for 15 consecutive weeks, still a record for a female solo artist. It stayed on the Billboard chart for more than six years. Estimates of its worldwide sales range from about 25 million to more than 30 million copies.
At the 1972 Grammy Awards, Tapestry won four awards, including Album of the Year. King became the first solo female artist to win Record of the Year and the first woman to win Song of the Year. Critics praised its intimacy, and Robert Christgau suggested that her unpolished voice would free other female singers.
Tapestry was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998 and added to the Library of Congress National Recording Registry in 2003. King later received the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, as its first female recipient, and Kennedy Center Honors, and she was inducted twice into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Why it matters
King's songs, from “You've Got a Friend” to “Natural Woman,” have offered comfort and joy to listeners for more than sixty years and opened doors for women as songwriters and performers.
About Carole King
Brooklyn-raised songwriter of 1960s classics with Gerry Goffin who became a star in her own right with Tapestry (1971), one of the best-selling albums ever.
More about Carole King
- Carole King played free to 100,000 in Central ParkOn 26 May 1973 Carole King gave a free concert in New York's Central Park, drawing an audience of at least 100,000 people.
- Carole King and Maurice Sendak made Really RosieIn 1975 Carole King wrote and sang the music for Really Rosie, an animated television special with lyrics by Maurice Sendak, still loved by children and parents.
- The Beatles and the Drifters recorded Carole King songsCarole King's early songs were recorded by artists from the Drifters, who sang Up on the Roof, to the Beatles, who recorded Chains on their first album.
Sources
- Carole King Wikipedia
- Tapestry (Carole King album) Wikipedia
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