"My life has been a tapestry of rich and royal hue"
- TAPESTRY
- MUSIC
- FANTASY
What do Aretha Franklin and The Monkeys have in common? They've covered songs written by Carole King, a talented singer, songwriter and piano player who just happened to make it big in the early seventies with an album called Tapestry, but had been in the music biz since the late fifties. As a songwriter, she's only surpassed by Joni Mitchell, her voice, although of a somewhat limited range, is expressive and conveys a homely atmosphere and her albums are unpretentious and fun for the most part. I don't know what else I can say, so let's just go on with the reviews, shall we?
Together with Fleetwood Mac's Rumours, this is one of the most successful pop albums of the decade, but all the way I get the feel that Carole could do much better. Sure, many songs here are classics, but others just make yawn. And sure, the occasionally jazzy accompaniment is a welcome addition, but the sameness of the arrangements tends to get monotonous. And the lyrics, heartfelt as they are, are really reiterative ("You've Got a Friend" and "Where You Lead" both deal with the "I'll be there for you" theme, and there are too many straightforward love songs). So, "why would have so many people spent their hard earned money on this piece of plastic?", you may ask. Well, in my opinion it was because Tapestry included a string of killer singles ("It's Too Late", perhaps the less regretful break-up song I've heard, "You've Got A Friend") and a couple of masterful reworkings of earlier hits ("Will You Still Love Tomorrow", "Natural Woman") that made the public realize who was the songwriter behind all those songs they had heard on the radio. But historical importance aside, this is far from being Carole's peak: for every great ballad ("So Far Away", title track) there's an uninteresting one ("Where You Lead", the generic and boring gospel number "Way Over Yonder"). And, for heaven's sake, don't get me started about "Smackwater Jack", a crude, awkward and inadequate rocker with laughable lyrics, bass lines that resemble "California Girls" and incredibly annoying vocal harmonies. Frankly, I don't know what is this song doing in such a "sensitive" album. The live version is a bit better, but still... One more thing, if you follow the hype, buy this album and feel a bit disappointed like I did, give her another chance. You may be surprised.
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"Music is playing inside of my head, over and over and over again, and it won’t let the world get me down". Hmm, that sounds like the soundtrack to my life. How pathetic. Where was I? Oh yes, I was going to review (ehem) this little album. Music came out the same year that Tapestry, and it's a weak follow-up, because there's no way you can you top such a masterpiece, right? Well, not quite. While the songs here are not necessarily better, and hardly grab you like "I Feel The Earth Move" did, they strike me as more intimate, mellow and jazzy. What, considering it's Carole we're talking about, can only be a good thing. She manages to avoid clichéd string arrangements and mostly goes for a more fusion-tinged sound, with horns, congas and stuff, that sometimes reminds of none other than Return To Forever (now go and tell that the sax solo of the title track doesn't sound like "La Fiesta"). Wait a moment. Return To Forever would be formed in 1972! And they ripped-off Carole King! Weird. Seriously now, there's only one old song ("Some Kind Of Wonderful", dating back to 1964), and somehow she found the time to write a lot of new ones, like the soul influenced "Brother, Brother" or the marvellous title track, as well as some simple and effective ballads like "It's Going To Take Some Time This Time" and "Song Of Long Ago" (James Taylor shows up again in the refrain, just like in "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow"), none of them as sketchy as "Home Again" or "Beautiful" from the last album. At the end we get yet another mindless rocker, "Back To California", that sticks like a sore thumb among all these great love songs, but it's not quite as awful as "Smackwater Jack". So there, this album is really better than Tapestry. You can take my word for it.
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When a pop star that isn't supposed to do anything but sappy love songs delivers an ambitious concept album showing unexpected social consciousness, reactions are likely to be mixed. Fantasy was such an album, and it was received accordingly: neither it was a hit nor had good critics. It's a pity, because this is arguably Carole's best, a set of songs dealing with everyday problems. In that sense, it is comparable to such early seventies landmark recordings as Marvin Gaye's What's Going On or Curtis. Luckily for us, King's characteristical optimism shines through even in the most hopeless situations, whether she is singing about drug addiction ("Haywood") or routine alienation ("Weekdays"). All the songs flow effortlessly into each other, the lyrics are now interesting and thoughtful and the diversity of the arrangements is surprising: from funk to salsa, she really stretches out musically. And there are no stand out tracks, all of them are equally strong: the short title song that opens and closes the album is beautiful, "You've Been Around Too Long" and "Haywood" feature funky orquestrations, "Being At War With Each Other", "That's How Things Go Down" (what a moving organ solo!), "A Quiet Place To Live" and "You Light Up My Life" are all lovely ballads, "Believe In Humanity" is an anthem that doesn't make you cringe. And I've yet to mention "Corazón", with its catchy and simple melody, its Santana-esque percussion... It's such a fun song. And the lyrics are in Spanish. Cool. If anything, this album is a bit overproduced, but it has such a groovy sound that I couldn't care less. It never fails to put a smile on my face. Buy it now.
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A children's album! Well, what were you expecting? Really Rosie is a side project with writer Maurice Sendak (the lyrics are hers), a soundtrack to an animation film starring a little girl from Brooklyn who wants to be famous. But it's not as horrible as it may seem, mainly because Carole’s melodic sense is as sharp as ever and the inevitable children's vocals are rather bearable. If you were expecting any Broadway-ish orchestrations, forget it, the piano is, of course, the most prominent instrument, with only a very discreet rhythm section and some guitar to back it up. And you're likely to love it right from the title track: some drumming, the same piano intro you've heard thousands of times in her other songs and then Carole starts singing with her mellow voice a really great melody, which gets reprised at the end of the record, but it's better first time around. Many of the songs are delightfully short didactic ditties: you will learn the alphabet ("Alligators All Around"), the numbers ("One Was Johnny") and the months ("Chicken Soup With Rice"), but the most important lesson contained herein is: thou shall never swallow chicken soup very fast or thou shall die with a chicken bone stuck in yer throat! (I'm not making this up, listen to "The Ballad Of Chicken Soup"). That Sendak really seems to have a bizarre fascination with chicken soup... There are also some nondescript ballads ("Avenue P", "My Simple Humble Neighbourhood") that apparently deal with Rosie's disillusionment with fame, although there's not much of a plot, and make me lower the rating a bit (yes, I really wanted to give to this lightweight album the same score than Tapestry, what just goes to show how inconsistent my ratings are). That shouldn't prevent you from buying it if you're in the mood for some innocent and good-natured music, though.
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