Tapestry

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For the Don McLean album of the same name, see Tapestry (Don McLean album)

Tapestry
Studio album by Carole King
Released	March 1971 April 22, 2008 (Legacy)
Recorded	January 1971 at A&M Recording Studios
Genre	Pop/Folk rock
Length	44:31
Label	Ode Records Sony/BMG
Producer	Lou Adler
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Okayplayer (96/100; 2008 Legacy Edition) link Rolling Stone link Robert Christgau (A-) link
Carole King chronology
Writer (1970) Tapestry (1971) Music (1971)

Tapestry is a pop album by singer-songwriter Carole King, released in 1971. It features minimal production by Lou Adler. Tapestry was ranked US number 1 for 15 weeks, which is the longest time for an album by a female to occupy that position, and remained in the charts for over six years. In terms of time on the charts, it ranks fifth overall and in terms of length on the charts for solo musical acts it ranks second. It remains the longest charting album by a female solo artist. The album also garnered four Grammy Awards including Album of the Year, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, Record of the Year ("It's Too Late"), and Song of the Year ("You've Got a Friend").

Critic Robert Christgau wrote in Christgau's Record Guide (1981):

King has done for the female voice what countless singer-composers achieved years ago for the male: liberated it from technical decorum. She insists on being heard as she is—not raunchy and hot-to-trot or sweeet and be-yoo-ti-ful, just human, with all the cracks and imperfections that implies.

King wrote or co-wrote all of the songs on the album, several of which had already been hits for other artists such as Aretha Franklin's "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" and The Shirelles' "Will You Love Me Tomorrow". Three songs were co-written with King's ex-husband Gerry Goffin. James Taylor, who encouraged King to sing her own songs, and who also played on Tapestry, would have a #1 hit with "You've Got a Friend." Two songs were co-written with Toni Stern: "It's Too Late" and "Where You Lead". The album would eventually sell over 25 million copies worldwide and be certified diamond in the United States by the RIAA.

In 2003, the album was ranked number 36 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.^[1] In 2001, the VH1 TV network named Tapestry the 39th greatest album ever. In 2003, it was one of 50 recordings chosen by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry.^[2]

Various artists combined to re-record all the original tracks for more than one tribute album; the first, released in 1995, entitled Tapestry Revisited: A Tribute to Carole King, which was certified gold, and the second, released in 2003, entitled A New Tapestry — Carole King Tribute.

Track listing

All songs by Carole King except where noted.

Original vinyl release

1. "I Feel the Earth Move" – 2:58
2. "So Far Away" – 3:55
3. "It's Too Late" (lyrics by Toni Stern) – 3:53
4. "Home Again" – 2:29
5. "Beautiful" – 3:08
6. "Way Over Yonder" – 4:44
7. "You've Got a Friend" – 5:09
8. "Where You Lead" (lyrics by Toni Stern) – 3:20
9. "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?" (Gerry Goffin, King) – 4:12
10. "Smackwater Jack" (Goffin, King) – 3:41
11. "Tapestry" – 3:13
12. "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" (Goffin, King, Jerry Wexler) – 3:49

1980 Half-Speed Audiophile release

Released on the CBS Mastersound label, cut at half-speed and pressed on virgin vinyl; the track listing was identical to that of the original release. Epic 82308

CD reissue

The album was reissued in 1999 onto CD, with two previously unreleased bonus tracks.

1. "I Feel the Earth Move" – 2:58
2. "So Far Away" – 3:55
3. "It's Too Late" – 3:53
4. "Home Again" – 2:29
5. "Beautiful" – 3:08
6. "Way Over Yonder" – 4:44
7. "You've Got a Friend" – 5:09
8. "Where You Lead" – 3:20
9. "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?" – 4:12
10. "Smackwater Jack" – 3:41
11. "Tapestry" – 3:13
12. "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" – 3:49
13. "Out in the Cold" (bonus track) – 2:44
14. "Smackwater Jack" (Live) (bonus track) – 3:21

Note

Certain copies of the original CD issue list track 12 as "(You Make Me Feel) Like A Natural Woman" with the parentheses putting a different emphasis on the title. However, the inside liner notes of these CDs still use the standard form of the track title as listed above.

Hits From Tapestry

In total, eight of the twelve songs from Tapestry were or became hits, four of which became hits by Carole King.

Legacy Edition

On April 22, 2008, Sony/BMG, Epic, and Ode released the 2-disc Legacy Edition of Tapestry, featuring the original album fully remastered, and a bonus disc of live vocal/piano renditions of 11 of the 12 songs on the album recorded between 1973 (in Boston, Massachusetts; Columbia, Maryland; and Central Park, New York City, New York) and in 1976 (at the San Francisco Opera House, San Francisco, California). This deluxe edition also comes with an expansive booklet featuring extended liner notes and photos.

The Legacy Edition of Tapestry does not contain a live version of "Where You Lead." King smilingly stated on her Welcome to My Living Room DVD that during the time she wrote the song with Toni Stern (in 1970), "we women didn't need to follow our men anymore" and therefore did not feel comfortable performing the song live. However, when the television series Gilmore Girls used the song as the show's theme song, the song "got a new lease on life" and that she [Carole King] no longer minded doing live performances of the song.

Bonus disc track listing

1. "I Feel the Earth Move" (Live) - 3:07
2. "So Far Away" (Live) - 3:34
3. "It's Too Late" (Live) - 3:56
4. "Home Again" (Live) - 2:23
5. "Beautiful" (Live) - 2:29
6. "Way Over Yonder" (Live) - 4:25
7. "You've Got a Friend" (Live) - 4:50
8. "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?" (Live) - 3:21
9. "Smackwater Jack" (Live) - 3:08
10. "Tapestry" (Live) - 3:03
11. "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" (Live) - 4:01

Personnel

• Carole King – Piano, Keyboards, vocals, background vocals
• Curtis Amy – flute, baritone saxophone, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, string quartet
• Steve Barzyk – drums
• David Campbell – cello, viola
• Merry Clayton – vocals, background vocals
• Terry King – cello, tenor saxophone, string quartet
• Danny "Kootch" Kortchmar – guitar, conga, electric guitar, vocals
• Russ Kunkel – drums
• Charles Larkey – bass, electric bass, string bass, string quartet
• Joni Mitchell – background vocals
• Joel O'Brien – drums
• Michael Pultand
• Ralph Schuckett – electric piano
• Barry Socher – violin, tenor saxophone, viola, string quartet
• Perry Steinberg – bass, violin, tenor saxophone, string bass
• "The Mitchell/Taylor Boy and Girl Choir" (Joni Mitchell and James Taylor) – background vocals
• James Taylor – acoustic guitar, granfalloon
• Julia Tillman – vocals, background vocals

Production

• Producer: Lou Adler
• Engineers: Vic Anesini, Hank Cicalo, Bob Irwin, Carole King
• A&R: Steven Berkowitz
• Mixing: Bob Irwin
• Mastering: Vic Anesini, Steve Hall
• Surround mix: Paul Klingberg
• Product manager: Jessica Sowin
• Project manager: Jessica Sowin
• Project director: Howard Frank
• Preparation: Bob Irwin
• Art direction: Roland Young
• Design: Chuck Beeson
• Reissue design: Smay Vision
• Photography: Jim McCrary
• Liner notes: James Taylor

Charts

Awards

Song uses in popular culture

• "Where You Lead" (lyrics by Toni Stern) became the title song of TV show Gilmore Girls. The version played on the show featured King and her daughter Louise Goffin sharing the vocals.
• Reba McEntire performed "So Far Away" on her TV series Reba.

See also

• List of best-selling albums worldwide
• List of best-selling albums in the United States

References

Links

• Carole King Official Website
• Billboard