Women, professionally composing songs, in the early 1960s, was extinctive little. And so, which in 18 years already had in his "portfolio" hit number 1, I know only one - Carol King.
Back in school years, she played with such future stars as Paul Simon and Nile Sedak. The latter even dedicated her friendly one of her most successful hits - "Oh, Carol" (1959).
However, Carol has enough of his musical hits. True, at first she composed them not herself, and with her husband - Jeffrey Hoffin. It's funny that in this creative tandem, it was Goffin who composed the texts for various devil themes, and the wife wrote exclusively to music. As a result, Carol King without exaggeration could be called the most successful woman-songwriter in the 1960s.
I will give only a few achievements of this marital tandem in American charts:
- The Shirelles - "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?" (1960, No. 1);
- Bobby Vee - "Take Good Care of My Baby" (1961, No. 1);
- Little EVA - "The Loco-Motion" (1962, No. 1);
- The Chiffons - "One Fine Day" (1963, No. 5);
- The Drifters - "Up on the Roof" (1963, No. 5);
- Aretha Franklin - "Like A Natural Woman" (1967, No. 8).
As you can see, a couple wrote mainly for other performers (among them even there was their nurse - Little Iva). Although Carol also knew how to sing and even occasionally recorded solo singles, they did not have success. According to her, she for a long time "did not think about himself, as a singer, and was very afraid to perform on stage." As it turned out, in vain ...
In 1968, the Carol King was raised in the life of Carol King. She divorced her husband, took the children and moved from the east coast to the West to Los Angeles. Carol settled in Laurel Canyon (the legendary area where Creative Bohemian was hanging out) and, according to her girlfriend Tony Stern, "began to dismissed the hair in the literal and figurative sense." Do not think anything bad - it was above all about creative self-realization.
Huge support in this regard was provided by Folk singer James Taylor. He not only convinced Carol to start the solo career, but also helped with the organization of public speeches and the record of the first albums. And if the debut album "Writer" (1970) was not particularly noticed, then the second "Tapestry" (1971) produced a furor.
Some critics found it "lightweight" - after all, in the songs Carol had no political statements or poetic delights characteristic of that era. This was evidenced by a relaxed "homemade" cover album, where the singer was depicted in a sweater and jeans for a couple with his cat.
But the listeners of the song Carol King were so accounted for in taste that "Tapestry" 15 weeks did not leave the top of the American Chart and was sold by a circulation of 25 million copies.
The single was promoted by a single, which, as they say, "shot from two sides." For the front side, publishers chose the song "I Feel The Earth Move" ("I feel the movement of the earth"). And they can be understood - it was an optimistic and energetic song with a memorable piano riff.
In the text of the singer compares a love passion with an earthquake. And although she does not speak directly about the classroom, the song is full of sexual tension. Critic Stewart Mason wrote that she sounds like a "drop-down libido of a quiet college student".
Translation author - Lana:
... I lose control in the very depths of the soul. I'm thrown in the heat, I'm all the cold. I feel like the earth moves under my legs. I feel that heaven are collapsed ... collapsed ... collapsed ...Oddly enough, over time, the song has become associated with real earthquakes. For example, it could be heard at the exhibition "Earthquake Room" in the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.
Such an association pretty hurt the singer named Martik. In 1989, she recorded an extremely successful dance cover on "I Feel The Earth Move." In Britain, he reached the 7th place, and in the USA - the 25th. Perhaps the Caver would have become even more successful, but an earthquake and American radio stations occurred in San Francisco, so as not to pour salt on the wound, removed the song from Ether.
But Return to Singla Carol King. If you remember, I said that he shot on both sides. Although it will rather say that the second side is with the song "IT's Tooo Late" - shot much more.
This time, the words composed not King, but the graduate of Tony Stern mentioned above. It was about parting. It would seem that hundreds of thousand times wrote on this topic. But in this song is surprising a calm, discreet and even friendly tone.
The lyric heroine does not tear his hair and does not roll hysterics. Moreover, it leaves the man, and not he from her. At the same time, the heroine does not blame her former. She says that they both just have changed and too late to resurrect the fastened feelings.
Translation author - Olga1983:
... It was easy to live here with you, you were bright and cheerful, and I knew what to do, now you look like a miserable, and I feel like a fool. And too late, baby, now too late, although we actually tried to cope, something inside died forever, and I can't hide it or pretend. There are good times and for us with you, but we just can not stay together, don't you feel it too? And still I am glad that we had, and that one day I loved you.Although Tony did not tell who "IT's Too Late" is dedicated, many have decided that the addressee is the same James Taylor, with whom she broke up just before writing poems. However, the poetess flatly refused to talk about whom this song.
Of course, with its popularity "IT's Tooo Late" is obliged not only to the text. Music in this song is much more sophisticated and interesting than in "I Feel The Earth Move". Here you can hear the soft rock, and soul, and jazz, and the main thing is a beautiful saxophone party from Curtis Amy.
Therefore, whether it is worthwhile to be surprised that radiogeans gradually began to put it more often, but the inverse side of the single. As a result, American charts headed "IT's Too Late".
So from the most successful woman-songratera 1960s Carol King turned into one of the most successful female performants of the 1970s.
To be continued…
Author - Sergey Kuriy
Source - Springzhizni.ru.