Carole King albums from before and after "Tapestry"

Thankfully we are now at the point where the record albums we listened to growing up way back when are finally coming out on CD, and since in the good old days an album had about a half-hour's worth of music what we are getting now about two albums on one CD. Of course, if you are talking Carole King there is no need to put "Tapestry" on a CD with anything else, since we are talking one of the best selling albums in the history of recorded music. But in terms of these "double" Carole King CDs this one would come first since it offers her first and fourth solo albums ("Tapestry" was the second). Why not the first and third? I think King's third album, "Music," was the longest of the three, which made these two an easier fit (although a King album called "Writer"/"Music" would certainly be appropriate.

Of course, King had been one of the most successful songwriters in the business for over a decade, in partnership with her eventual husband Gerry Goffin. Their songs were recorded by everybody from the Beatles, the Shirelles and the Monkees to Aretha Franklin and Little Eva (the couple's babysitter). In 1970, after her marriage ended, she was encouraged by close friend James Taylor to make another attempt at a solo career with this album, "Writer." The result ends up being a false start, with King still searching for the style that would make "Tapestry" one of the most successful albums in the history of the known universe. "Writer" offers up pop songs ("No Easy Way Down"), rock songs ("I Can't Hear You No More"), country songs ("To Love"), political songs ("Eventually"), and songs that defy categorization ("Raspberry Jam"). The two standout tracks on the album are her remake of "Up on the Roof" and "Goin' Back," which, not surprisingly, could have been right at home on "Tapestry." My hypothesis is that the difference between the two albums was that virtually all of the songs on "Writer" and Goffin-King compositions while "Tapestry" are solo compositions, albeit with a couple of superb covers of Goffin-King songs with "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?" and "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman." Ultimately, "Writer" ends up being more of historical interest, representing King's evolving effort to find herself as a performer. Think of this album as the cocoon that held the "Tapestry" butterfly.

"Rhymes & Reasons" was the second album Carole King released after "Tapestry." This time she only sings one of the songs she co-wrote with Goffin when they established themselves as one of the premier songwriting teams in music, with songs like "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" and "(You Make Me Feel) Like a Natural Woman." With almost exclusively new songs, several of which were written with a new partner, Toni Stern, the result is less than satisfying. But, to be fair, we are talking about a singer-songwriter who put out one of the best selling albums of all time. "Been to Canaan" was the biggest success on the album, making it to #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart but only #24 overall. The album made it to #2 on the charts, although this was undoubtedly due more to the large residue of affection from the success of "Tapestry" (when you sell that many albums you can do one-tenth as well and still have a "hit"). Still the Carole King albums before and after this one both hit the top spot.

What we have here are not a pair of great albums, but pretty good ones, and if you are a fan of Carole King's music then they would have to be part of your music library.

What a difference an album makes

Tapestry would be the album which brought a much smoother sound to King's work than what one would hear on "Writer." However, the earlier album has much to recommend itself. King's recording of "Goin' Back" and "Up on the Roof" are the highlights of the album. The first is so for its wistful lyrics, wonderul piano and acoustic guitar interplay during the instrumental passage of the song, and King's depth of expression with the lyrics. Taylor's contribution to the song with a countermelody at the end is also breathtaking. "Up on the Roof" is and was a classic, but King makes this listener forget completely the earlier Drifter's version. She gives it a wonderfully intimate feel with her signature piano work and a deft string arrangement. The other songs on this first album vary in performance from sounding not far from her early demo work to acceptable. However, the two spotlight songs foreshadow the musical success of "Tapestry."
With that album's release, King began to experiment with different sounds, and "Rhymes and Reasons" is perhaps her most "quiet" album. Most of the tracks feature a layered piano effect(two pianos recorded over each other), a softer, jazzlike guitar, and woodwinds or strings. The album is incredibly smooth sounding compared to "Writer," and the difference is immediately noticeable. Here we have an artist whose craft as a performer is equal to that of her songwriting ability. Songs like "Peace in the Valley," "Ferguson Road," and "Been to Canaan" rank among King's best work in terms of production, performance, and the song itself. There are no weak spots such as are evident in the "Writer" album, the sign of King assurance of her talents after the success of "Tapestry"
Please not, and Amazon is welcome to respond, I notice and saw no indication that these two albums have been digitally remastered.