Today, Carole King turned 80 years – wow, it’s hard to believe! Admittedly, I would have completely missed the occasion, had it not been for a Facebook post I saw earlier this evening.
Ignoring the 80th birthday of one of my longtime favorite singer-songwriters simply wasn’t an option. Carole’s defining solo album Tapestry holds a special place in my heart. I devoted an entire series to this record around its 50th anniversary in February of last year.
Carole King & James Taylor
Not only is Tapestry a timeless gem, but it also was one of the very first vinyl music records I heard back in Germany when was about eight years old. This album became an essential part of what marked the start of my journey into the beautiful world of music, a journey I’m so glad I embraced, and a journey that continues to this day.
If you’re looking for a recap of Carole’s life and her impressive accomplishments, there’s a great bio on her website. Frankly, I probably couldn’t do better than that. Instead, I’d like to celebrate the happy occasion with some of the great music Carole has written.
I’m going to do this in the form of a Spotify playlist that is focused on Carole’s solo career. In case you’d like to read about her songwriting partnership with Jerry Goffin, you could check the aforementioned bio or this post I published in November 2020.
Let’s get to some music. The following career-spanning playlist is in chronological order, starting with Carole’s solo debut album Writer from May 1970 and going to Tapestry: Live in Hyde Park, released in 2017.
Tina Turner and Carole King have now joined Stevie Nicks as only female music artists inducted twice into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
On Saturday night, Tina Turner and Carole King were officially inducted for the second time into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Prior to them, only one other female music artist had accomplished that feat: Stevie Nicks.
I fully realize many music fans are highly critical of the Rock Hall, some to the point where they no longer care, as do certain artists based on what they’ve said. Debates about the secretive selection process and who’s in the Rock Hall and who’s not are certain to continue.
Instead of rehashing controversy, I’d like to celebrate these three amazing women, Stevie Nicks, Tina Turner and Carole King, and their great music. All three are among my longtime favorite artists and very deserving inductees, IMHO.
Stevie Nicks
Nicks was first inducted as a member of Fleetwood Mac in 1998, together with former and current band members Peter Green, Mick Fleetwood, Lindsey Buckingham, John McVie, Jeremy Spencer, Danny Kirwan and Christine McVie.
From Rock Hall website: After forming as a British blues band in the late ’60s, Fleetwood Mac evolved into one of the most influential rock groups of the ’70s. Not only did they write some of the decade’s most indelible songs—and release one of the best-selling albums of all time, 1977’s Rumours—but the troupe created a distinctive “California sound” that endures today as a sonic touchstone for countless bands.
Here’s one of my favorite tunes written by Nicks for Fleetwood Mac from the band’s second eponymous album that appeared in July 1975: Landslide. I really dig her singing and Buckingham’s acoustic guitar playing.
Nicks’ induction as a solo performer happened in 2019. From Rock Hall website: Stevie Nicks’ life and career have always had a touch of magical enchantment. Tonight represents a crowning validation of her spellbinding gifts as a rock & roll icon, as she becomes the first woman to be twice inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame – with Fleetwood Mac in 1998, and now as a solo artist.
Following is Stand Back, a tune from Nicks’ sophomore solo album The Wild Heart, which appeared in June 1983. Also released as a single, the song became one of her highest-charting, climbing to no. 5 in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at no. 10 in Canada, and reaching the top 40 in various other countries, including The Netherlands, Germany and Australia. It’s definitely a child of its time!
Tina Turner
Tina Turner was first inducted into the Rock Hall in 1991 as part of Ike & Tina Turner. From Rock Hall website: A charismatic bandleader and an unbridled whirlwind of sexual energy formed one of the most formidable live acts in history. Ike and Tina Turner were such a presence onstage that even their own albums don’t do them justice. The explosive duo made such enduring hits as “River Deep–Mountain High,” “Proud Mary” and “Nutbush City Limits.”Ike Turner was a talented songwriter and guitarist. Unfortunately, his physical and psychological abuse of Tina Turner will forever diminish him. Here’s the amazing Nutbush City Limits, which actually was written by Tina Turner – I always mistakenly had thought Ike had penned it! The tune was the title track of Ike & Tina Turner’s studio album from November 1973 and became a signature song.
From Rock Hall press release announcing 2021 inductees: …Tina Turner is known as the Queen of Rock & Roll, a title she earned not just once but twice. The first time, she rose to fame in the 1960s as part of the duo Ike and Tina Turner, belting out soulful rock songs in a non-stop stage show where she danced the audience into a frenzy. But all of that is backstory to the most successful and triumphant rebirth in the history of rock…
The most important album of Turner’s solo career is Private Dancer from May 1984, which not only turned her into a viable solo artist but an international superstar. Here’s the title track, written by Mark Knopfler. While it’s obviously a radical departure from the R&B sound of Ike & Tina Turner, I still love that tune!
Carole King
Carole King’s initial induction into the Rock Hall occurred in 1990, together with her ex-husband and former lyricist Jerry Goffin. From Rock Hall website: Gerry Goffin and Carole King wrote much of the soundtrack of the Sixties. Chances are, you have danced around to a hit single by the dynamic songwriting duo. Goffin wrote the lyrics and King wrote the music for such hits as “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” “One Fine Day” and “Don’t Bring Me Down.”
After their breakthrough Will You Love Me Tomorrow, which The Shirelles took to no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1961, Goffin-King became a hit machine. There are so many tunes I could have picked here. I decided to go with Chains, first recorded by American girl group The Cookies in 1962, climbing to no. 6 on Billboard’s R&B Singles chart and reaching a respectable no. 17 on the mainstream Hot 100. The tune was also covered by The Beatles and appeared on their UK debut album Please Please Me.
This brings me to Carole King’s second induction as a solo artist. From Rock Hall website: After writing the soundtrack of the 1960s, Carole King wove a tapestry of emotion and introspection as a singer-songwriter in the 1970s. Her solo work was a clarion call to generations of female artists and millions of fans – giving them voice and confidence. King has too many accolades to list – six Grammys, the 2013 Library of Congress Gershwin Prize, a 2015 Kennedy Center Honor, and beyond.
As somebody who has loved Carole King’s music since his childhood days, I’m very happy she also finally got the Rock Hall’s well-deserved recognition as a solo artist. It was also great to read that she was able to attend Saturday’s induction ceremony – unlike Tina Turner who is turning 82 on November 26 and sadly not in good health. You can watch King’s performance of You’ve Got a Friendhere, featuring Danny Kortchmar (guitar) and Leland Sklar (bass), among others – probably King’s last major public performance, since she has said she’s no longer touring.
Similar to Goffin-King, there were so many songs I could have picked from King’s solo career, including pretty much any track from Tapestry. Instead, I decided to highlight Hard Rock Cafe, a song from her eighth album Simple Things that appeared in July 1977. I’ve always liked this happy song, which also was released as a single and charted in the top 30 in the U.S., Canada, Australia and various European countries, including Austria, Belgium and Switzerland.
Inspired by Hans Postcard’s fun 2020 album draft, where 10 participants pick albums in 10 rounds for a total of 100, I decided to put together my list of 10 albums I would take on a desert island. Essentially, I already came up with such a collection in May 2018, but some things have changed in the meantime and this list features five new picks, including three different artists.
While each of the albums are longtime favorites, I still can’t exclude the possibility that my picks might be different in a month or two. Since I couldn’t figure out how to rank my selections, I ingeniously decided to put them in chronological order. Conveniently, this means kicking things off with my favorite band of all time.
The Beatles/Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (May 1967)
While I dig all albums by the Fab Four, on most days, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is my favorite. The innovative use of recording technology, the cover art and the combination of different music styles like vaudeville, circus, music hall, avant-garde and traditional Indian music with pop and rock make Sgt. Pepper a true masterpiece. The first album after The Beatles had stopped touring was influenced by The Beach Boys’Pet Sounds, which Brian Wilson had created in response to Revolver, as well as Freak Out! by the Mothers of Invention. Had it not been because of silly pressure from EMI to issue Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane as a single, Sgt. Pepper hands-down would have been the strongest Beatles album. Still, with tunes like the title track, Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, Within You Without You and the magnificent A Day in the Life, there’s lots of great music.
Carole King/Tapestry (February 1971)
Carole King’sTapestry perhaps is the ultimate singer-songwriter album. Her sophomore release from 1971 featured 10 new tunes and two reinterpretations of songs King had written together with her former husband and lyricist Jerry Goffin in the ’60s. Like many of their other songs, Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? and (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman became hits, in these cases by The Shirelles and Aretha Franklin, respectively. There’s really no weak tune on Tapestry and I could have selected any. It’s Too Late has always been one of my favorites.
The Rolling Stones/Sticky Fingers (April 1971)
I know many fans of The Rolling Stones consider Exile on Main St. or Some Girls as their best albums. While I can’t claim to know all of their records in detail, my favorite is Sticky Fingers. This was the second full-length record with Mick Taylor who had replaced Brian Jones in June 1969. Between Brown Sugar, Wild Horses, Can’t You Hear Me Knocking, Bitch, Sister Morphine and Dead Flowers, there are so many classics on this album. I just think the Stones never sounded better. And interestingly, it’s the country-influenced Dead Flowers that has become one of my favorite Stones tunes. I just love the guitar work!
Marvin Gaye/What’s Going On (May 1971)
I think Marvin Gaye had one of the most beautiful soulful voices I know. This artist was a smooth operator, even when he sang about serious issues like on this album. …(Oh, crime is increasin’) Oh, woo/Trigger happy policin’/panic is spreadin’/God knows where we’re headin’/Oh baby/Make me wanna holler/They don’t understand/Make me wanna holler/They don’t understand…It’s remarkable these lyrics were written almost 50 years, yet they sound frighteningly relevant in America in the year 2020.
Neil Young/Harvest (February 1972)
I dig a good number of Neil Young songs and feel his first compilation Decade is one of the best greatest hits collections I can think of. When it comes to his albums, my favorites are Harvest from 1972 and Harvest Moon from 1992. While I think the title track of the latter is among Young’s best tunes, I have a slight preference for Harvest from an overall album perspective. Featuring David Crosby, Graham Nash, Stephen Stills, James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt as guests, it became Young’s most successful record and the best-selling album in the U.S. in 1972 – in part thanks to Heart of Gold, which remains Young’s only no. 1 song on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 to this day. There are many other gems on the record, including The Needle and the Damage Done.
Deep Purple/Machine Head (March 1972)
I don’t listen to hard rock a lot these days, but when I do, Deep Purple remain my favorite choice, especially their sixth studio album Machine Head from March 1972. I’ve always thought one of the cool things about this band are the equal roles the guitar and the keyboards play as solo instruments. Jon Lord was a true master of the Hammond organ who skillfully blended blues, hard rock and jazz with elements of classical music. Lazy is one of the tracks on which Lord shines in particular.
Pink Floyd/The Dark Side of the Moon (March 1973)
First, I was going to pick Meddle, Pink Floyd’s sixth studio album from October 1971. With the great Echoes, it foreshadowed the band’s classic mid-’70s sound on The Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here. All three albums are among my favorite Floyd records. Eventually, I settled on The Dark Side of the Moon. It’s a perfect album for headphones, and I’ve listened to it countless times at night in bed. The sound is just phenomenal. One of the standout tracks is The Great Gig In the Sky and the amazing vocal performance by British singer Clare Torry.
Bruce Springsteen/Born to Run (August 1975)
Bruce Springsteen entered my radar screen in 1984 with the Born in the U.S.A. album. While I’m still fond of that record, I subsequently explored and came to appreciate his earlier work. To me, Born to Run turned out to be Springsteen’s Mount Rushmore. After two albums that were critically acclaimed but not successful from a commercial perspective, he really needed a hit. Born to Run would turn out to be exactly that and catapult Springsteen to fame beyond the U.S. Apart from the title song, my favorite tracks on the album include Thunder Road, Backstreets, Jungleland and the beautiful soul-oriented Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out.
Stevie Wonder/Songs in the Key of Life (September 1976)
Stevie Wonder has been one of my favorite artists for 40 years. I dig many of his songs starting from when he was known as Little Stevie Wonder. But it’s his classic period in the ’70s I like the most, especially the albums Talking Book (October 1972), Innervisions (August 1973) and Songs in the Key of Life (September 1976). The latter became the best-selling and most critically acclaimed album of Wonder’s long career. Here’s his beautiful tribute to jazz legend Duke Ellington who had passed away in May 1974.
Steely Dan/Aja (September 1977)
I’m wrapping up this list with Steely Dan. Walter Becker and Donald Fagen made many great records, but it’s this gem from September 1977 that’s my favorite: Aja. As usual, Becker and Fagen assembled top-notch session musicians to record the album. There were also prominent guests, including Michael McDonald and Timothy B. Schmit. All of the tracks on this album are great. Deacon Blues is my favorite Steely Dan song, but since I previously featured it more than once, I’m going with the closer Josie.
Yesterday, I coincidentally listened to a new live album by The Monkees. And, nope, this isn’t some old material somebody had dug out from an archive. It was actually recorded in March 2019 from the so-called Mike & Micky Show and is the first live album released by Michael Nesmith and Micky Dolenz, who toured as The Monkees in 2018/2019. No matter how you feel about what initially was a fictitious band created for an American television show in the mid-’60s, listening to the 24 tracks isn’t only fun but also vividly illustrates how many great songs The Monkees have had. Plus, let’s not forget that Nesmith and Peter Tork had instrumental skills from the beginning and Davy Jones was a capable vocalist, while Dolenz eventually learned how to play the drums.
The collection spans the entire 50-plus year catalog of The Monkees. Frankly, I had not realized how active the band had remained in more recent years. Their latest studio album Christmas Party appeared in October 2018. And while it has a Christmas theme, it’s not just pop versions of holiday tunes. It also came out only less than two years after Good Times!, their previous studio release from May 2016. By the way, both of these albums were co-produced by Fountains of Wayne co-founder and key song contributor Adam Schlesinger, who passed away last Tuesday from complications caused by COVID-19. It’s kind of crazy how much the coronavirus already has impacted the music industry in less than two months!
Michael Nesmith (left) & Micky Dolenz
Even after The Monkees had become a “real” band, they largely continued to rely on outside writers like the songwriting duos of Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart and Jerry Goffin and Carole King. But they also penned some of their songs themselves, especially Michael Nesmith. The album features various tunes he wrote, such as The Girl I Knew Somewhere, Listen to the Band and Papa Gene’s Blues. Two of them, St. Matthew and Auntie’s Municipal Court, the band didn’t perform during their heyday. ‘Nuff talk, let’s get to some music!
The album kicks off with Last Train to Clarksville, the band’s debut single released in August 1966. It’s one of the tunes written by Boyce and Hart. And it’s certainly no coincidence that it sounds very Beatle-esque. Frankly, this is an awesome song that is comparable to some of the mid-’60s tunes by The Beatles, and I say this as a fierce Fab Four fan! Here’s the official video.
Nesmith wasn’t the only member who contributed to the band’s own songs. For Pete’s Sake was co-written by Peter Tork and Joey Richards. The tune appeared on The Monkees’ third studio album Headquarters from May 1967.
A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You, a tune written by Neil Diamond, was the band’s third single released in March 1967. It didn’t quite match the chart success of their previous smash hit I’m a Believer, but still climbed to no. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, hit no. 1 in Canada, and reached the top 10 in many other countries. It’s a fun tune that reminds me a bit of That’s What I Like About You by The Romantics.
Next up, one of the above noted Nesmith tunes: Papa Gene’s Blues. As Nesmith points out, it’s an acoustic version. Originally, that song appeared on The Monkees’ eponymous debut album from October 1966. Apart from the track, it’s kind of entertaining to listen to the announcement, with Nesmith and Dolenz trading jokes.
Let’s do two more. I’ve always loved these tunes and simply couldn’t skip them. Daydream Believer, written by John Stewart, is a track from the band’s fifth studio album The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees released in April 1968. It’s the perfect sing-along, and not surprisingly, Mike & Micky asked the audience to join them – feel free to follow their lead!
And, of course, no concert by The Monkees would be complete without I’m a Believer. Their second single from November 1966 and biggest hit topping the charts in the U.S., Canada, Australia and numerous European countries is another Neil Diamond composition. It also was included on the band’s sophomore album More of the Monkees, which came out in January 1967.
At the time Nesmith and Dolenz were planning their 2018/2019 tour, Tork was still alive but declined to join. Sadly, he since passed away in February 2019. Jones had died seven years earlier in February 2012. Initially, Nesmith and Dolenz had planned to take their show out on the road again in the U.S. and Canada starting later this month. But given COVID-19, most dates have been pushed back until July and September. The current schedule is here.
Everybody makes a dream this time of year From now on it’s gonna be good for you All your friends and family Gather ’round in peace and harmony…
I came across the above clip this morning and felt it was the perfect tune to post on New Year’s Day. Carole King recorded this beautiful song for her holiday album A Holiday Carole, released in November 2011.
The track was co-written by Louise Goffin, the daughter of Carole and Jerry Goffin, and English songwriter, musician and record producer Guy Chambers. Louise, who not only has a striking resemblance to her mother but is a singer-songwriter as well, also produced the album, which received a Grammy nomination.
…And it could be the time of your life Everything’s gonna turn out alright It’ll be okay, in every way makin’ it better It’s New Year’s Day…
Such uplifting words – dig it! Hope you will as well.
Earlier today, the sad news broke that Aretha Franklin passed away at age 75 from advanced pancreatic cancer. Not surprisingly, obituary after obituary has been published since. Instead of putting together yet another review of her life, I’m posting the above clip to celebrate Franklin’s music. I think the above footage of (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman says it all why Franklin rightly was called the Queen of Soul.
Co-written by Carole King and Jerry Goffin with input from producer Jerry Wexler, the beautiful tune was released by Franklin as a single in September 1967. It also was included on her 14th studio album Lady Soul from January 1968. King also recorded her own version of the song for her 1971 landmark record Tapestry.
Since Franklin certainly deserves more than this brief post, I’m planning to do additional writing about her in the coming days.
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