What a pleasant surprise. I recall my youth and the day I wondered if I had trouble relating to woman singers. I certainly enjoyed hearing Lesley Gore or the Ronettes on the radio but when I looked at my tapes I wondered why there were so few albums by female artists. I remember owning Sass Jordan’s albums (Racine and Rats hold up) and of course Janis Joplin’s Greatest Hits and that’s about it. I was a dumb kid, what do you want from me? Since then I’ve become marginally smarter.

I had long known of Carole King’s Tapestry album. But back in my classic rock & roll days, I could not conceive of mellow soft rock as having anything for me. Actually, you know, I may have been right. Perhaps if I had heard this album when I was a teenager I may have missed the poignancy of it, the gentle beauty. Fast forward to more recent times and the days lately when I am rabidly collecting physical media. I found Tapestry on vinyl first and upon first listen I was captivated. Usually a strutting soul vocal or a celebratory Friday night finger-popper can more easily resonate with me but I was surprised that this record spoke to me and in a much more substantial way. A couple of years later and I scored the album on CD. It was in the wake of listening to it again in the car on dark mornings driving into work in winter that it went next level for me.

Born in ’42 in Manhattan, Carole King married Gerry Goffin when she was 17 and the two became a prolific songwriting team. The two of them together in fact have penned many of the enduring classics of the golden era. In 1968, Goffin and King divorced. King was 26 and had an extensive back catalogue of hit compositions – hits for others – when she moved with her two young daughters to the magical land known as Laurel Canyon – definitely a topic unto itself for another day. There she met James Taylor, Joni Mitchell and others and joined in the creative atmosphere and the camaraderie. In May of 1970, Carole King finally released her own album, appropriately titled Writer.

For her next album, Carole called upon Lou Adler to produce. Hard to talk about Adler (born 1933) with any brevity but suffice it to say that he is a legend of the music business especially in the area of the California sound. Perhaps more an all-around mogul than strictly a record producer, Adler did found the Dunhill and Ode record labels and shepherded the sound of the Mamas and the Papas and he did produce all of Carole’s records for Ode – and that is not an insubstantial resumé. Adler garnered two Grammys for his production work on Tapestry, an album that has long been considered one of the greatest ever. I have run into Lou Adler while writing about Herb Alpert and Shelley Fabares; Lou and Herb – both Jewish and raised in Boyle Heights – worked together in the early days and Adler and Shelley were married in 1964 and Lou produced many of Shelley’s songs.

In January of 1971, Carole took a gang of friends into Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss’s A&M Recording Studios on N. La Brea in Hollywood and constructed an album of the highest quality featuring a program of songs that have endured, the record proving to be an historic document of an era, a style of music and of an exemplary songwriter at perhaps the height of her powers.

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From the first notes of this record, you hear what makes it special – the piano. King herself plays throughout and starts the album with her pounding left hand; always a dramatic and groovy sound. “I Feel the Earth Move” has been described as a song of passion as the singer shares the feeling of being close to her lover. The record company chose it as the opener and as the lead-off single due in part to it being more up-beat than the other tracks. This tune became one of the biggest hits of 1971 and spent five weeks at Number One. I like how it oscillates between the piano-pounding aggression of the opening segment with the “mellow as the month of May” bridge. King’s solo is controlled excitement as she interplays with Danny “Kootch” Kortchmar on guitar. We are off to an historic start but the record won’t stay in this lane.

The piano begins the second track, as well but in a much mellower vein. A forlorn lament, “So Far Away” features the sad and relatable line “doesn’t anybody stay in one place anymore?”. King sings with a certain weariness about the plethora of songs about “moving along the highway” and I feel her; sometimes, songs can be friends but yet another one about leaving sometimes doesn’t comfort you when you actually have to go. Sorrowful, this one. Another single; peaked in the Top 20. The first appearance on the record of King’s friend James Taylor on acoustic guitar.

We hear a piano riff that has become iconic on the next track, “It’s Too Late”. The song about the resigned acceptance of the end of a relationship features lyrics by one Toni Stern who sadly passed away in February of 2024. Stern wrote the words after the end of her relationship with James Taylor. Another Number One song as a double-A side with “I Feel the Earth Move”. Dig the electric piano tinkling behind the sax solo. “I’m glad for what we had and how I once loved you. But it’s too late…”. “Home Again” is incredibly gentle and contemplative but what marks it for me is King’s piano playing which contains the record’s first hints at the gospel tradition as does her vocal delivery. If you are susceptible to melancholy, watch out for this one. We rebound a bit with the positivity of the next track, an ode to self-esteem, “Beautiful”. We return then to a full gospel work-out with maybe my favourite track on the record, “Way Over Yonder”. A gorgeous blue-eyed soul vocal from Carole singing relatable words yet again on the album. Here she presents the idea that we have seen – in reality or in our mind’s eye – a place where “the sweet-tasting good life” can be found and that is where we would like to go – “maybe tomorrow”. A song of hope that has resonated with many over the years.

The second side starts with “You’ve Got a Friend”, a song that is only perfect. Meaning I acknowledge the flawless lyric and heartfelt sentiment but the song has not impacted me personally. Carole wrote it in response to a line in Taylor’s “Fire and Rain” – “I’ve seen lonely times when I could not find a friend” – and says the song practically wrote itself. James Taylor included it on his album Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon, a record that was being recorded at the same time as Tapestry and one that included much of the same personnel. James plays on Carole’s version of this song. Taylor’s version became his only Number One song on the US Pop charts and won Grammys for himself and for King.

“Will You Love Me Tomorrow?” is a classic oldie. A Number One song for the Shirelles in 1961, Carole wrote the song with Gerry Goffin. The Shirelles’ hit version is a staple of oldies radio and is taken at a mid-tempo trot. For Tapestry, Carole slows it down to a devastatingly tender pace. This brings out the longing in the lyric, a plea for parity in a relationship. This is absolutely gorgeous. Taylor and Joni Mitchell sing back-up. “Smackwater Jack” is a bit of a flyer as the lyric of this bouncy rocker tells of a confrontation between country boy Jack and the chief of police. I always say that I need a bit of variety in my albums and “Smackwater Jack” lets the listener off the hook a bit after the introspection and seriousness.

Speaking of seriousness, we go now into the title track on which Carole sings that her “life has been a tapestry” and, indeed, a tapestry that King herself made is pictured inside the album’s gatefold jacket. Here’s an ambiguous song of some depth that references the singer’s encounter with a mystic figure. Hard to tell – for me, anyways – what Carole is saying here. We close with King’s version of her own “A Natural Woman”. Aretha Franklin’s hit version is a favourite of mine – “Oh, baby, whatcha done t’me (whatcha done t’me)” – but, like with the previous Shirelles tune, Carole performs this in a subdued manner that amplifies the soul and the feeling of the song. Listen to the four descending notes she hits after the opening “I used to feel so uninspired”. This type of piano playing is why I love the instrument so much. Such drama and emotion in those four notes. Also in the rolling notes between the “you make me feel”‘s of the chorus. Here, King’s piano is like an orchestra. This is an incredibly fitting end to the record, just Carole and her wonderful piano (and some string bass) and an extremely heartfelt performance.

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It is nigh on impossible to overstate the impact of this record – on the public, on the recording industry and on cultural history. It has sold an estimated 30 million copies worldwide making it one of the biggest-selling records of all-time. It went to Number One where it spent 15 consecutive weeks and – even in the age of Beyoncé and Taylor Swift – it still holds the record for most consecutive weeks at Number One by a solo female artist. Tapestry spent six years on the charts, second only to Dark Side of the Moon and for more than 40 years it was the longest-charting record by a female (Adele’s 21). It won four Grammys including Album of the Year and King became the first woman solo artist to win Record of the Year and first to win Song of the Year.

I’ve often thought it odd and sad that Carole King scaled the heights with Tapestry but then could no longer make an impact with her subsequent albums. But, what do I know? Her next release from later the same year, Music, also went to Number One (where it stayed for three weeks) and reportedly sold 1.3 million copies on the day of its release. Later albums either topped the charts or landed in the Top Ten and although they haven’t resonated down through the years like Tapestry has, they proved that Carole King had a ton of good music in her. She remains a legendary figure in music and one of the most significant female artists of all-time. The feminist strength of Tapestry‘s lyrics and King’s success with this record and her career in general should be considered a supreme triumph when it comes to assessing women’s roles in music history.

Perhaps one could say that more important than all of the awards and acclaim is the album’s pervading mood. It is an incredibly organic-sounding record that is marked by impeccable musicianship, songcraft and writing. It is moving, emotional, reflective and confessional while exuding strength, positivity and hope. Life is tough, yes, but… It exemplifies the very best of its genre – while maintaining a place as one of the greatest records of all-time. Period. Life is tough, yes, but thankfully there are albums like Carole King’s Tapestry.

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Tapestry (SP-77009 – 1971) from Ode Records

Produced by Lou Adler

Side One: “I Feel the Earth Move”, “So Far Away”, “It’s Too Late”, “Home Again”, “Beautiful”, “Way Over Yonder”

Side Two: “You’ve Got a Friend”, “Where You Lead”, “Will You Love Me Tomorrow?”, “Smackwater Jack”, “Tapestry”, “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman”

Carole King, lead and backing vocals, piano and keyboards // Ralph Schuckett, electric piano // James Taylor, acoustic guitar and backing vocals // Danny “Kootch” Kortchmar, acoustic and electric guitars, conga and backing vocals // Perry Steinberg, bass guitar // Charles Larkey, bass guitar and string bass // Russ Kunkel, drums // Joel O’Brien, drums // Curtis Amy, flute and baritone, soprano and tenor saxophones // Merry Clayton, backing vocals // Joni Mitchell, backing vocals

Recorded at A&M Recording Studios Studio B, Hollywood, California