Tapestry - Carole King

...to have a listen to Tapestry by Carole King” … Not wanting to doubt the musical references of dad, I trotted off to research the contents. I must say that I was amazed by how many songs I actually knew from the album, and by the few more that I knew upon hearing the words/melodies. I’d got out the bath on a cold November night, or something vaguely poetic like that ;) and lay down to listen to it for the first time – quite ...
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-- Tapestry –

This brings us to the title track, and although there is another track following this one (as well as a live version of Smackwater Jack), you get the impression that Carole might have furnished the last track as an afterthought. They say that all good songs should tell a story, and it’d be fair to say that some songs do it more appropriately and subtly than others – we’re not ... more

Oh Carole
I am not a fool
Darling I love you
Though you treat me cruel
… You hurt me
And you made me cry
But If I lose you
I will surely die

Etc. etc. For those of you who haven’t caught on by now, those were the words of Neil Sedaka, singing his 1959 smash “Oh Carole.” Now for those of us who’ve thought about it, or even thought it worth thinking about ;), they will be an “Oh yeah! Written about Carole King!” moment, and for those of us who haven’t, and it’s probably worth noting that your life’s more interesting than mine if this is the case, it was probably the first thing we heard about Carole.

The album Tapestry, released way back in 1971, was definitely the album that jumped Carole King up on to the superstar stage, although by this time, she had already been writing and singing for over 6 years. Is anyone reading this old enough to remember or know of “It might as well rain until September”?
Well this was probably her first hit in the 60’s, so old in fact, that it’s currently taking up humble residence on a great 60’s compilation of mine. Upon first hearing it, I thought no more, as clearly, being only a young whipper snapper of a lad, I had no idea who she was.

However, over the last year or so, I have been taking interest in some more folky stuff to relax to – beth Orton, Dido, Joni mitchell etc. and my dad said to me “you ought to have a listen to Tapestry by Carole King” … Not wanting to doubt the musical references of dad, I trotted off to research the contents. I must say that I was amazed by how many songs I actually knew from the album, and by the few more that I knew upon hearing the words/melodies. I’d got out the bath on a cold November night, or something vaguely poetic like that ;) and lay down to listen to it for the first time – quite frankly I was blown away by it, and it’s taken a firm grasp on the number 3 slot on my favourite albums of all time.

-- I feel the earth move -–

The opening track of the album is an abrupt and energetic introduction to a fine musical work. Although I didn’t initially recognise the title, I soon found myself remembering nights in a Majorca disco when I was about 7, recalling that the then pop princess Martika had also covered the same song. The first track creates the overall impression for the whole album – mucho piano, Carole’s husband and fellow song writer James Taylor on guitar and occasionally backing vocals, and some great soothing vibes. It’s possibly the most lively track on the album an quite unlike any of the others, but one that all music lovers should recognise and appreciate.

-- So far away –

We calm down hear, and experience the first ballad of the album. Although I have no idea which tracks were singles and which weren’t, I would guess that this is the first album track. It’s quite wistful and sensual, and appears to be about lovers separated by miles of urban life – left in their own loneliness …. You get the idea. Now I would take a moment out here to remark on the opinion of many that Carole is not the world’s greatest singer. Although she had written with people such as Sedaka and Paul Simon in the past, as well as writing songs that were later performed by such giants as The Beatles, Aretha Franklyn and The drifters, King never realised her own singing talents until the 70s. Many writers including George benson did this, and found that they had an equal level of comfort with their instrument and their vocal capability. This track explores quite a wide range of Carole’s vocal spectrum and is slow and moving. One of my faves.

-- It’s too late –

This is a stunning track, that’s all I must say to begin with. King puts herself in the shoes of someone sitting in a relationship that has gone stale, continuing more out of habit than out of love, and as this is so often the case for some couples these days, I found it quite topical and original. The track was later covered in 1991, and very well too I might add, by Dina Carroll, where she kept the same absent minded and mildly apathetic tone. One of the longer tracks this one, including a nice guitar solo (from Taylor one can only presume) and another on the sax. This was another case of hear the cover first and the original later for me, and I wasn’t disappointed.

-- Home again –

-Back again to another album track “sounding” song. It’s not one of my favourite tracks but then again it’s not bad at all. It conjures up images of wintery nights, fire sides, and anything of that sort that’s romanticised in 60’s and 70’s films. The song again features the prominent drum and piano work heard in the past tracks, with some subtle yet not intrusive guitar work. Short and sweet, but a good link track.

-- Beautiful –

When I first heard this one, I didn’t quite know what to make. It’s got an uneasy country feel to and sounds vaguely like something Billy Joel would have written in terms of it’s southern melody and feel. However, the verses are a nice changes with some interesting, if not slightly clichéd chord progressions. However, what this shows is something that I have observed for quite a while with people such as James Taylor in that there is quite a fine line between some folk and country music – although “The Line Is There” I must stress :). Although you would imagine that Carole used a grand to record her works, there are some interesting sounds going on in the bridge and choruses – perhaps double tracking or something similar.

-- Way over yonder –

This is probably the slowest song on the album and one of the more folky. It’s slow lilting melody and mildly gospel influence place it as one of the more alternative tracks on the album, but the telling of an ideal place and the journey to it that features highly in the lyrics help to build up the mood. A pinch of strings and sax complete the picture – long, but well worth the time set aside.

-- You’ve got a friend –

Now maybe it’s just me, but I would say that this is one of the all time classic tracks of it’s time, let alone of Carole King, and has been covered with varying degrees of success by countless artists (James Taylor and The Brand New Heavies to name a few of the better ones). It’s like the Motown situation of numerous artists performing the same track and not quite being sure who wrote it, but I am quite sure that King, perhaps if not on her own, wrote the masterpiece. As you might guess, the song’s about having someone there to depend upon in good and bad times – and generally being there for someone. I love it.

-- Where you lead –

Now the great thing I love about this album is the wide variety of styles and influences that it incorporates – ballads, folk, groovier numbers; they’re all there. This one falls into the latter category, with strains of devotion, loyalty and moving from place to place. This one is definitely vaguely motowny – especially with the backing vocals which although aren’t generally used at all, do work well on this track. Not much else to say really – decent.

-- Will you love me tomorrow –

Well they just keep getting better don’t they? Another very well known track, but a big surprise for many, or at least me anyway, in that it’s not the version that I was used to. Although I found out that King did write the song first, the version that most of us will have heard is that by the Shirelles, featured on the Dirty Dancing soundtrack if I’m not mistaken. This version is far slower, and far more reflective, and has less of an early 60’s feel to The Shirelles take on the song. The song’s about one night stands and long term relationships – and re-assuring yourself about the difference between a fling and a romance. I’d be very surprised if anyone doesn’t know this one, and I can also detect the vocal strains of Mr. James Taylor, as well as his trademark guitar style on this one – so perhaps him and Carole had well and truly got it together by this time. ;)

-- Smackwater Jack –

No I make no mockery of this song, but must stress that we are entering worryingly close to the country genre here. Smackwater Jack is an outlaw, who apparently went into a church, shot a load of people, and later got chased and hung for his crime – very American … As well as the usual piano work, there’s some nice Ray Charles and Zombies style electronic piano to accompany it, as well as some twangy fender to top it off as you might have expected what with the country style and everything. It’s a nice bouncy song with a bluesy baseline. But “Talking ‘bout Smack, talking ‘bout Jack”….? I doubt very much that Carole knew much about the Liverpool drug culture at the time so I think she should be let off. ;)

-- Tapestry –

This brings us to the title track, and although there is another track following this one (as well as a live version of Smackwater Jack), you get the impression that Carole might have furnished the last track as an afterthought. They say that all good songs should tell a story, and it’d be fair to say that some songs do it more appropriately and subtly than others – we’re not talking Jim steinman style epics here. The song, although slow, has an overwhelming sense of relief and happiness to it and tells a fairytale inspired story of a magical land woven into a canvas.

-- Natural woman –

<Cough cough blush> Ok well Tapestry wasn’t the last but one standard track but the last but 2. This brings us on to the song that was probably made famous by the great Aretha Franklyn, and there’s not a great deal of difference between the two versions to be quite honest. Perhaps this song places more emphasis on the piano, but then you’d expect that wouldn’t you – from someone who has been playing since she was 4. I don’t think that anyone needs telling about this song – as it’s generally covered live by any self respecting diva or amateur diva.

-- Out in the cold –

Ok well this IS now the last track (apart from the live one of course) and is far more light hearted than any of the others, which is quite surprising really as the morale of the song is to be happy with the person you have, and not to commit adultery. I do like this one actually, with it’s organ undertones and blended mix of light weight and also some more melodramatic chords. It points clearly at the ill informed morning chat show projection of broken marriages and reminds us that it isn’t only men who play away – thank you Carole! :)

So, tapestry, what can I say? A superb classic is what I can say, and one that I wish I had added to my collection a long time ago. Although some of her later releases are much more hit and miss, Tapestry shows King at her best – with the live track on the end showing that she is as good live as in a studio. I would recommend this album to anybody except metal lovers – I really don’t think it’s their scene. However, saying that I have managed to get yhwman into Dido so maybe there’s hope … :)

I’ve enjoyed listening to this great album once again.
Cheers. 

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