One of my biggest musical regrets has been understanding Carole King too late. Like many, I've enjoyed her songs and always kind of have generally known who she is. But it wasn't until Suzy and I saw the Broadway show "Beautiful" last year that I really had a sense for her broader place in music. Such an amazing story, such an amazing person. Not to mention amazing music.
Similar to many entertainment industry stories of the time - while Carole wrote James Taylor's biggest hit song "You've Got a Friend" (and though he is amazing and wrote and recorded many of his own songs) - she was content in his shadow gathering credit but for the most part remaining peripheral in many of our views as JT proceeded to define the American "singer-songwriter" genre as many of us know it.
Well, a new listen to the entirety of Tapestry, her so-appropriately-titled, definitive 1971 masterpiece tells you all you need to know about the "Singer-Songwriter" genre. Timeless, hopeful, beautiful. "You've Got a Friend" and the complete Tapestry album, for that matter, are mere slivers of the impact she has made in singing and songwriting through the history of modern American music. For the most part she stopped playing live in 2010, after contributing substantial music to our world. Wish I'd listened more closely earlier - I would have loved to hear and watch her in person. I now think she defined this genre as much as anyone.
Rolling Stone has Tapestry at No. 36 of their 500 greatest albums of all time, but it's much higher on my list. While only 3 of the top 36 has a woman as lead - a quick scan of the 33 men in front of her tells me why today's emphasis on giving women their due is so overdue. I believe this album is not only be ahead of the two women above her (with all due respect to Stevie Nicks at No. 26 and Joni Mitchell at No. 30 who are also phenomenal) - but more significantly - I can only imagine that it not being in the top 10 overall and way above most of the 33 male-fronted albums rated ahead of her is a result of the bias that so many are consciously adjusting for today. It's definitely in my top 5 overall and I appreciate a broad range of music created by both men and women.
Give it a fresh listen. Here's a great article to lean yourself into it.
https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2020/02/carole-king-tapestry-anniversary.html
And on that “this is only a sliver” front - see this list of other artists she contributed her talents to:
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/10-songs-you-didnt-know-carole-king-wrote-108268/
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