Send "Carole King " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Popmatters |
 It’s amazing that here we are, a decade into Sony’s Essential series, which has given us (sometimes overly) exhaustive compilations of seemingly everyone under the label’s large umbrella, and they’re just finally getting around to Carole King. The concept of the Essential series is usually straightforward: typically two discs of the subject’s hits and fan favorites in chronological order, in a recognizable package requiring little imagination or effort on the company’s part, but with reliably high-quality results. They rarely deviate from the formula; Bruce Springsteen’s entry in the series included a third disc of rarities, and now Carole King’s is split even more radically, into a disc of King as “The Singer” and one of King as “The Songwriter”, often in tandem with her one-time husband Gerry Goffin.Despite the seeming obviousness of pairing the singer’s hits with the songwriter’s, this is a relatively underused approach. Sony did something similar, and revelatory, with Kris Kristofferson’s work in the early ‘90s, but it’s surprising how rarely anyone else has done anything of the sort. In King’s case, what could’ve been a slapdash piece of product—who’d have been surprised if Sony had taken 1994’s A Natural Woman: The Ode Collection, redone the packaging, and voila: The Essential Carole King? —instead winds up being an illuminating listening experience. Listen to King’s hits on the first disc, and then hear how those melodic gifts were already abundant in the early ‘60s. It won’t surprise anyone who’s familiar with King’s track record, but it’s nice to have all these songs together in the same package. Unfortunately, both the “Singer” and “Songwriter” discs leave something to be desired, and it’s hard to decide which disc seems more like an afterthought. Let’s consider the “Songwriter” disc first. Only a curmudgeon could bemoan the absence of “Don’t Say Nothin’ Bad (About My Baby)”, “I’m Into Something Good”, “It’s Going to Take Some Time”, “Keep Your Hands Off My Baby”, “Porpoise Song”, “Some of Your Lovin’”, or any number of well-remembered Goffin/King hits, when “The Songwriter” does include songs like “Will You Love Me Tomorrow”, “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman”, “The Loco-Motion”, and “Up on the Roof”, songs that belong on any list of the finest pop records of any era. But allow me to be that curmudgeon for just a moment: In this age of the biggest record companies having ownership of the majority of older labels’ catalogues, and with cross-licensing no longer being the prohibitive hurdle that it was in the reissue-happy ‘90s, why not give us more Goffin/King on the second disc? 15 songs is a lovely taste, the biggest songs are here in their very-familiar hit versions, and it’s an enjoyable listen—even Billy Joel’s “Hey Girl”, the lone post-‘60s track, is welcome— but it’s hard not to wish for more. An 80-minute rundown of the best of the Goffin/King songbook wouldn’t have a second of dull space....full text |
| Blogcritics |
| Browse through any music fan's collection, and chances are good he or she owns a copy of Carole King's Tapestry. That album kicked off the singer-songwriter movement of the 1970s, and established her as a performer in her own right. Before that achievement, however, she amassed an impressive number of hits as a songwriter, often collaborating with partner Gerry Goffin in the 1960s. A new collection, The Essential Carole King, provides a thorough overview of both sides of her career, and is a must-own for any music enthusiast. The compilation consists of two discs: disc one concentrates on her singing career, while disc two focuses on her as a songwriter. Two major elements are evident while listening to so many instantly familiar songs: first, an astonishing variety of artists performed some of her most well-known songs. King was equally versed in rock (The Monkees's "Pleasant Valley Sunday"), soul ("Oh No Not My Baby" by Maxine Brown), pop ("The Loco-Motion" by Little Eva) and folk -rock (The Byrds's "Wasn't Born to Follow"), just to name a few genres. Few other songwriters span such a broad amount of styles. Second, listening to The Essential Carole King is like witnessing the birth of a mature, introspective artist. Her early solo work, such as 1962's "It Might as Well Rain Until September," reflected typical themes such as being away from a lover. But as the years wore on, she began writing about more serious issues, such as the unabashed sexual fulfillment of Aretha Franklin's "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman," or the moral dilemma of The Shirelles's "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow." Essentially asking "will he still respect me in the morning" is a serious topic for top-40 radio. "Pleasant Valley Sunday's" lyrics still resound with images of dull suburbia and fear of convention: "Charcoal burning everywhere /Rows of houses that are all the same /And no one seems to care." ...full text |
| Wordpress |
| “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow.” “(You Make Me Feel Like a) Natural Woman.” “Up on the Roof.” “You’ve Got a Friend.” All of these songs have found a permanent home as part of The Great American Songbook, and all come from the pen of one Carole King. Her repertoire as both singer and songwriter is celebrated with this week’s release of Legacy’s The Essential Carole King (Ode/Epic/Legacy 88697 68257 2), the first set to focus on both aspects of King’s now 50-plus year career. Producers Lou Adler, Steve Berkowitz and Rob Santos made the smart decision to compile Disc One as “The Singer,” and Disc Two as “The Songwriter.” (Adler, in particular, is well-qualified to assemble this set, having originally produced all but five tracks on “The Singer.”) Thus Disc One opens with the 1962 single “It Might As Well Rain Until September,” with young King emulating the girl group sound that prevailed at that time, a sound which she helped engineer as composer of hits like “One Fine Day” and “Chains” (more on them later). “September,” though, is a quaint precursor to the mature music that follows. Adler & co. jump a number of years to 1970, and we pick up with the Brill Building Queen (as named in Andrew Loog Oldham’s entertaining liner notes) having moved to L.A.’s Laurel Canyon as the 1970s began. Unfortunately nothing is heard from The City, the short-lived band featuring King, Charles Larkey and Danny “Kootch” Kortchmar. The smoldering “Hi-De-Ho (That Old Sweet Roll),” rocking “Now That Everything’s Been Said” or elegant “Snow Queen” would all have been great choices for inclusion. But with “Child of Mine” from 1970’s Writer, we hear the style fully in place that would lead to King’s most familiar hits and establish her as an icon and influence to a new generation. Defining album Tapestry has been pared to four songs, and if “Where You Lead,” “Beautiful” and “Smackwater Jack” are all missed, it’s likely that any purchaser of The Essential Carole King will already own that truly essential title. Indeed, Disc One of this latest addition to Sony’s Essential series is about the best single-disc overview of King’s career imaginable. While nothing is heard from her short-lived tenures at Capitol or Atlantic, the set concludes with her comeback song from the film A League of Their Own, “Now and Forever,” taking in 2001 collaborations with Celine Dion and Babyface along the way. For completeness’ sake, a song from those largely-fallow Capitol years might have been preferable to one of the two tracks from children’s television special Really Rosie or even to the live medley with old friend and current touring partner James Taylor, but it’s impossible to go wrong with this eminently-listenable disc. Arguably even better is Disc Two, titled “The Songwriter.” This disc only features 15 tracks as opposed to the first disc’s 18, most likely because of the high cost of licensing 13 of the 15 songs selected. But what songs! Again, this is about as definitive a look at the big hits penned by King and her then-husband Gerry Goffin throughout the 1960s as may be possible. (For an alternative view of this period, see Ace’s two incredible volumes Goffin & King: A Gerry Goffin and Carole King Song Collection 1961-1967 (Ace CDCHD 1170, 2007) and Honey & Wine: Another Gerry Goffin & Carole King Song Collection (Ace CDCHD 1216, 2009) which place many rarities alongside the big hits.) It’s too bad that “I’m Into Something Good” couldn’t be included, as Oldham even refers to the Herman’s Hermits smash in his liner notes. But virtually every other big song is here, and King’s evolution as a songwriter is easily traceable, from the teen pop of “Take Good Care of My Baby” to the Phil Spector majesty of The Righteous Brothers’ “Just Once in My Life” and the early country-rock of The Byrds’ “Wasn’t Born to Follow.” Deep soul isn’t in short supply, either, with Aretha Franklin’s galvanic “Natural Woman” and Dusty Springfield’s sublime “No Easy Way Down.” All of these styles would blend to create King’s own signature sound. The durability of these compositions is shown via Billy Joel’s 1997 cover of “Hey Girl,” originally recorded by Freddie Scott. Only The Beatles are missed here, as early word leaked that their cover of “Chains” would be featured. It was eventually, if unsurprisingly, replaced by The Cookies’ original. It’s a disappointment, good though The Cookies’ version is. Many British Invasion acts found chart success with Goffin and King compositions, and it would have been terrific to see this period represented, as well. And who better than The Beatles?...full text |
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