№ 34 of 100
Tapestry
Tapestry by Carole King (1971), № 34 in The Lead-In’s 100 greatest albums. Carole King moves from writing other people's hits to writing songs for herself. The whole singer-songwriter decade begins on this piano.
Carole King at twenty-nine, after a decade as a Brill Building songwriter for other artists, made her own singer-songwriter LP. The album that defined the early-1970s singer-songwriter era. Released February 10, 1971.
- Released
- February 10, 1971
- Label
- Ode Records (A&M distribution)
- Producer(s)
- Lou Adler
- Runtime
- 44:46 (12 tracks)
- Chart peak (US)
- #1 (Billboard 200, 15 weeks)
- Chart peak (UK)
- #4 (Record Retailer)
- Certifications
- Diamond, 13× Platinum (RIAA); 25M+ units globally
- Awards & honours
- Grammy Album of the Year (1972); Grammy Record of the Year ('It's Too Late'); Grammy Song of the Year ('You've Got a Friend'); Library of Congress National Recording Registry (2003); ranked #25 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums (2020)
Carole King's second solo album. Recorded at A&M Studios in Hollywood in January 1971. The album that became the bestselling LP of 1971 and defined the early-1970s singer-songwriter era.
Carole King had been a Brill Building songwriter since 1958, half of the Goffin-King writing partnership that had produced dozens of hits for other artists ('Will You Love Me Tomorrow' for The Shirelles, 'Up on the Roof' for The Drifters, 'The Loco-Motion' for Little Eva). She had married Gerry Goffin at age seventeen and divorced him in 1968. She had moved to Los Angeles in 1969 to begin her solo career.
Recording took place at A&M Studios in Hollywood in January 1971. Lou Adler produced. The band included James Taylor (acoustic guitar), Russ Kunkel (drums), Charles Larkey (bass), Danny Kortchmar (electric guitar).
The album's signature feature is King's vocal performances, direct, unaffected, conversational. She had been writing songs for other singers for thirteen years; the album was the first time she committed to singing her own material.
The album's twelve songs include 'I Feel the Earth Move,' 'So Far Away,' 'It's Too Late,' 'Home Again,' 'Beautiful,' 'Way Over Yonder,' 'You've Got a Friend' (later a #1 for James Taylor), 'Where You Lead,' 'Will You Love Me Tomorrow' (the Shirelles 1961 hit, retreaded), 'Smackwater Jack,' 'Tapestry,' '(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman.'
Tapestry belongs at number thirty-four because it is the album that defined the early-1970s singer-songwriter form. It sold 25 million copies worldwide, held #1 for fifteen weeks, won four Grammys.
Pressing guide — the one to own
Original 1971 US pressing on Ode Records (manufactured and distributed by A&M), catalog SP 77009, in a gatefold sleeve with the lyrics printed inside. It is a stereo issue; the genuine first press carries the early 'Ode '70' label logo. The title was pressed simultaneously at several plants (Monarch, Terre Haute, Santa Maria, Pitman, Jacksonville), all legitimate 1971 first-year copies distinguished by their deadwax plant codes, so there is no single 'the' pressing plant.
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