Carole King
BORN: February 9, 1942, Brooklyn, NY
While the landmark album Tapestry earned her superstar status, singer/songwriter
Carole King had already firmly established herself as one of pop music's
most gifted and successful composers, with work recorded by everyone from
the Beatles to Aretha Franklin. Born Carole Klein on February 9, 1942 in
Brooklyn, New York, she began playing piano at the age of four, and formed
her first band, the vocal quartet the Co-Sines, while in high school. A devotee
of the composing team of Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller (the duo behind numerous
hits for Elvis Presley, the Coasters and Ben E. King), she became a fixture
at influential DJ Alan Freed's local Rock 'N' Roll shows; while attending
Queens College, she fell in with budding songwriters Paul Simon and Neil
Sedaka as well as Gerry Goffin, with whom she forged a writing partnership.
In 1959, Sedaka scored a hit with "Oh! Carol," written in her honor; King
cut an answer record, "Oh! Neil," but it stiffed. She and Goffin, who eventually
married, began writing under publishers Don Kirshner and Al Nevins in the
famed pop songwriting house the Brill Building, where they worked alongside
the likes of Doc Pomus, Mort Shuman, Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich and countless
others. In 1961, Goffin and King scored their first hit with the Shirelles'
chart-topping "Will You Love Me Tomorrow; " their next effort, Bobby Vee's
"Take Good Care of My Baby," also hit Number One, as did "The Locomotion,"
recorded by their baby-sitter, Little Eva. Together, the couple wrote over
100 chart hits in a vast range of styles, including the Chiffons' "One Fine
Day," the Monkees' "Pleasant Valley Sunday," the Drifters' "Up on the Roof,"
the Cookies' "Chains" (later covered by the Beatles), Aretha Franklin's "(You
Make Me Feel) Like a Natural Woman" and the Crystals' controversial "He Hit
Me (and It Felt like a Kiss)."
King also continued her attempts to mount a solo career, but scored only
one hit, 1962's "It Might as Well Rain Until September." In the mid-1960s
she, Goffin and columnist Al Aronowitz founded their own short-lived label,
Tomorrow Records; Charles Larkey, the bassist for the Tomorrow group the
Myddle Class, eventually became King's second husband after her marriage
to Goffin dissolved. She and Larkey later moved to the West Coast, where
in 1968 they founded the City, a trio rounded out by New York musician Danny
Kortchmar. The City recorded one LP, Now That Everything's Been Said, but
did not tour due to King's stage fright; as a result, the album was a commercial
failure, although it did feature songs later popularized the Byrds' ("Wasn't
Born to Follow"), Blood, Sweat and Tears ("Hi-De-Ho") and James Taylor ("You've
Got a Friend").
Taylor and King ultimately became close friends, and he encouraged her to
pursue a solo career. 1970's Writer proved a false start, but in 1971, she
released Tapestry, which stayed on the charts for over six years and was
the best-selling album of the era. A quiet, reflective work which proved
seminal in the development of the singer/songwriter genre, Tapestry also
scored a pair of hit singles, "So Far Away" and the chart-topping "It's Too
Late," whose flip-side, "I Feel the Earth Move," garnered major airplay as
well. 1971's Music also hit Number One, and generated the hit "Sweet Seasons;
" 1972's Rhymes and Reasons reached Number Two on the charts, and 1974's
Wrap Around Joy, which featured the hit "Jazzman," hit the Number One spot.
In 1975, King and Goffin reunited to write Thoroughbred, which also featured
contributions from James Taylor, David Crosby and Graham Nash. After 1977's
Simple Things, she mounted a tour with the backing group Navarro, and married
her frequent songwriting partner Rick Evers, who died a year later after
a heroin overdose. 1980's Pearls, a collection of performances of songs written
during her partnership with Goffin, was her last significant hit, and King
soon moved to a tiny mountain village in Idaho, where she became active in
the environmental movement. After 1983's Speeding Time, she took a six-year
hiatus from recording before releasing City Streets, which featured guest
Eric Clapton. 1993's Colour of Your Dreams included a cameo from Guns N'
Roses guitarist Slash; a year later, King made her Broadway debut in the
drama Bloodbrothers. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide