Bob wrote:
> It started the weekend before last, with my reading a review of Blue
posted
> in the Articles database here, in which Robert Hilburn of the LA Times
wrote
> that, in a rare year where albums by Carole King (Tapestry), Janis Joplin
> (Pearl) and Carly Simon (debut) had already made their bids for places
among
> the top 10 albums of the year, Joni added a fourth female entry with Blue.
He
> makes no further comparisons between Blue and those other albums, in what
is
> a shortish but highly favorable review.
I've snipped a great deal of your post - which I found very interesting, by
the way - but I thought I'd add my two cents worth on Carole King, since
I've been a fan of hers for much longer than I have Joni (that's not to say
MORE of a fan, but I have followed her career/history with some interest).
My brother gave me Tapestry when I was about nine years old (when I thought
Abba and the Bee Gees just RULED) and he said "You may not like this now,
but you'll thank me one day." Boy was he right! Tapestry is one of my
favourite albums, and although (IMO) Carole's later works pale in
comparison, and more so when you look at Joni's catalogue, it still ranks
right up there as one of the greats.
But I think in terms of writing "hit songs" Carole had a distinct advantage
over Joni - which may or may not have anything to do with Tapestry's
success. I don't have enough understanding to make any kind of definitive
comment. But my opinion is this: Carole came from a "career" with Atlantic
(I think?! - my brain is confused tonight), where she spent her days shut in
a sound-booth in the Brill Building, writing hit songs for the latest
"flavour of the month". I have a video where she talks about getting to
work in the morning, and being told something like "the Drifters need a new
hit record - you've got until Friday" and she and Gerry Goffin would tuck
themselves away until they had a song, along with several other song-writing
teams - she says at times it was almost like a competition to see who could
write the best song in the shortest time!
Obviously the process of writing the songs for Tapestry (at least the ones
she wrote) was different, and far more personal, but I'm sure it gave her an
advantage, and may be one reason why so many of those songs were hits -
along with some of her later hits like Jazzman, Hard Rock Cafe, etc.
As for the recording of Mud Slide Slim and Tapestry, Carole says on the same
video that she and James had been good friends for a long time, and that the
recording of the two albums felt like one big double album, as they were
recorded at the same time - and there was a real "family" feel about the
whole time. Many of the musicians (as you said) were being shared, and
apparently the studios were very close (geographically). I'll dig out the
video and transcribe exactly what she says - it's pretty interesting.
You also wrote:
> 11. After she and Goffin split up in 1967, she moved to Laurel Canyon
with
> her 2 daughters, and started a group called The City with her second
husband,
> Charles Larkey (bass - what's this with second husbands who are bass
players ?),
There's another similarity with Joni - Carole and Charles still get on fine,
and perform together on the video I've got. Obviously singer-songwriters
and bass players have very amicable break-ups and can continue working
together!
Hell
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