Carole King Tribute in Mexico
I went to a Carole King Tribute performance Sunday night at a place called the Bravo! Theater in Mexico and realized how much of the soundtrack of my life she created, from “Locomotion” to “You’ve Got a Friend” to “I Believe in Loving You”. I was too young to note that she was the songwriter behind “It Might as Well Rain Until September” and “Will You Love Me Tomorrow”, but I sure knew the songs.
The host/singer of the Tribute, Suzanne Sims, told anecdotes from King’s life that illuminated the circumstances and inspiration behind key songs. And there are many anecdotes, given the rich life she has led and continues to lead.
Carole King is to me one of the most influential American songwriters and singer‑songwriters of the past sixty years; essentially, she occupied much of my musical life. The fact that I attended one of three performances of a tribute to her in Mexico shows what a Sin Fronteras artist she is.
King first found fame in the late 1950s and 1960s in New York’s Brill Building, where, with lyricist and first husband Gerry Goffin, she wrote a string of hits for other artists, including “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” “The Locomotion,” (recorded by her baby sitter, Eva Boyd, who subsequently became Little Eva), and “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman.”
King and Goffin married in 1959, had two daughters, and divorced in 1968, amid the cultural upheavals of the 1960s. After the divorce, King moved to Laurel Canyon in Los Angeles, formed the band The City, and then stepped forward as a solo artist with encouragement from her friend and collaborator James Tylor. Her second solo album, Tapestry (1971), became a landmark, selling about 30 million copies worldwide and winning four Grammy Awards.
Over her career, she has released 25 solo albums, written over 240 songs, sold more than 75 million records, and written or co‑written well over 100 charting songs, and been covered by approximately 1,000 artists. King’s accolades include four Grammys, induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, two inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, and a Kennedy Center Honor, cementing her status as a towering figure in popular music. Wow, no wonder she occupied much of my musical life.
King has been married four times and has four children, two of whom are in the music industry. Many of her songs were inspired by these kinds of turning points or shifts in her life. You’ve Got a Friend” (1971) was about stepping out as a solo artist and her professional bond with James Taylor. King wrote “You’ve Got a Friend” in the early 1970s as she transitioned from Brill Building songwriter to solo performer, partly as an answer to James Taylor’s line “I’ve seen lonely times when I could not find a friend” in “Fire and Rain.”
Tapestry ( 1971) album seems about reflecting on a whole life unravelling and being rewoven. inspired by marital breakdown, cross‑country move, and redefining herself in her late twenties. “Been to Canaan” (1972) – leaving, longing, and the idea of “home”, written after she had lived in both the New York area and rural Canaan, Connecticut. “Been to Canaan” expresses a desire to return to a “promised land,” blending literal memories of that town with a metaphorical longing for a safe, rooted place after years of upheaval.
In 2012, she announced she was retiring from music and that the Troubadour Reunion Tour with James Taylor would probably be her last tour, but soon after clarified she was really “taking a break,” not ending all activity. And she hasn’t; since then, she has made select appearances—such as performing Tapestry at London’s Hyde Park in 2016, and doing special events tied to Beautiful: The Carole King Musical and archival releases.
Her most recent album of new studio material is generally considered “A Holiday Carole” (also issued as A Christmas Carole) from 2011; since then, releases have mainly been live albums, reissues, and special projects.More recently, she has put out individual tracks and special recordings, including singles such as “One (2018)” and “I Believe in Loving You”.
As I write this and reflect on the impact Carole King had on my life and that of millions of others, I think I agree with our host and lead singer, Suzanne Sims’ introduction of Carole King as the Taylor Swift of her time.
Patrick O’Heffernan
Banner: “Up on the Roof” being performed by James Taylor (right center, playing acoustic guitar) and Carole King (left center, playing piano) during a show on their Troubadour Reunion Tour at Madison Square Garden in New York. Photo: Jonathan Schilling through Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported. Cropped for space.
