Album Reviews

In 1972 and '73 you'd hear this classic album playing in every hippie crash pad and college dorm room in America. It was a "chick" album guys could dig. Her friend James Taylor had encouraged the veteran song writer to sing her own songs.

Despite her Brill Building songwriting accomplishments that included everything from "The Locomotion" to "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" (covered here too)—the list could go on for webpages— King remained in the background and thought of herself more like an early '60s housewife in the Laura Petrie mold than as a free-spirited artist.

The '60s and female liberation helped change all of that. Thus the long-haired, barefoot cover look that King wore better than many of her same-aged compatriots who tried to catch up.

With Lou Adler producing at A&M Records, King recorded this set of originals probably on a low budget with equally low expectations, backed by a small, changeable bass/drum/guitar combo that often included Taylor and friend Danny "Kootch" Kortchmar as well as Russ Kunkel and other names familiar even then to album jacket credit aficionados.

The simplicity of the arrangements gave the set an almost publisher's demo quality with which King was certainly familiar. The spare sound put her voice front, center and larger in the mix than even many more accomplished and experienced singers were placed on their records.

King's direct, forthright singing and the basic nature of both the recording and the arrangements were perfect for the singer, the songs and the times. The goal was to strip away the previous generation's slickness and make Carole part of the next generation and it was perfectly realized musically and even sonically.

Whatever the expectations, even had they been high, were surely exceeded by wide margins. The album won 4 Grammys® including "Album of the Year". Even though the awards were and are highly politicized and Adler had the Rolodex to get things done, Tapestry surely got the awards based on merit.

The album is packed with classics that haven't at all dated. Songs like "Beautiful", "You've Got a Friend," and of course "(You Make Me Feel LIke) A Natural Woman" became a generation's anthems but they continue to resonate, though probably not with Katy Perry fans (though I bet with Perry).

There's not a less than brilliantly crafted song among the dozen and if you listen to "Way Over Yonder" I can't help but think you'll agree that it is the inspiration for "Saturday Night Live's" closing theme.

Despite being recorded on the old Chaplin soundstage at A&M— a superb sounding room—and probably mastered by Bernie Grundman who ran A&M's mastering facility, I never thought of the original as being a particularly great sounding record—not after some of the previous decade's sonic extravaganzas. However, in 1999 when Classic reissued the album the improvement was noticeable. King's voice remained warm sounding, the close-miking still somewhat obtrusive and congesting, but the original's boxiness had been relieved and if you didn't inappropriately turn the volume up it still sounded somewhat like an underproduced demo, but a good underproduced demo.

This new double 45rpm reissue from ORG Music mastered by Bernie Grundman and Chris Bellman takes Tapestry as far as it probably will go and it's gone far! It sounds is if they've removing much of the boxiness, particularly from around King's voice. That diminishes somewhat the bass line but the improvement in clarity and rhythmic pacing makes it well worthwhile. The overall tonal balance is greatly improved. Whether its the 45rpm speed or something else, the kick drum on "So Far Away" pops as never before and that's just the start of what those familiar with the album might notice for the first time, like the clarity of the electric piano lines on "It's Too Late". The instrumental separation and overall spaciousness have never been more pronounced. Nor have the closely miked drums ever sounded this clean and full.

While I suggested that the production was sort of like a demo, it wasn't played like one. The level of musicianship is of course way beyond a demo toss-off and the love and support of all involved for Carole's endeavor was obvious then and more so now. The production's intimacy has never been this well served on record.