Carole King

Carole King (born February 9, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. She was most active as a singer during the first half of the 1970s, but she was a successful songwriter for considerably longer both before and after this period.

Biography

Born in 1942 in Brooklyn, New York, Carole Klein (as she was then known) started out playing the piano and then moved on to singing, forming a vocal quartet called the Co-Sines at Abraham Lincoln High School. While attending Queens College, King befriended Paul Simon, Neil Sedaka and Gerry Goffin.

Goffin and King soon formed a songwriting partnership, eventually marrying. Working in the famous Brill Building, where chart-topping hits were churned out during the 1960s, the Goffin-King partnership first hit it big with "Will You Love Me Tomorrow". Recorded by The Shirelles, the song topped the charts in 1961; it was later covered by Dusty Springfield, Laura Branigan, and King herself. Further hits written by the pair include "Take Good Care of My Baby" (Bobby Vee), "The Loco-Motion" (Little Eva, and later Grand Funk Railroad and Kylie Minogue), "One Fine Day" (The Chiffons), "Pleasant Valley Sunday" (The Monkees), "Up on the Roof" (The Drifters, and later James Taylor), "Chains" (The Cookies, and later The Beatles), "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" (Aretha Franklin, and later King herself), "Don't Bring Me Down" (The Animals), "Wasn't Born to Follow" (The Byrds), "I'm Into Something Good" (Herman's Hermits) and "He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss)" (The Crystals). She had a modest hit singing one of her own songs in 1962 with "It Might As Well Rain Until September." The pair had two daughters, Louise Goffin and Sherry Goffin Kondor who also became singers. In 1965, Goffin and King wrote a spec theme to Sidney Sheldon's new television series, I Dream of Jeannie, but the song was rejected in favor of an instrumental theme.

After failing several times at launching a solo career, King eventually helped pioneer a record label, Tomorrow Records, divorced Goffin and married Charles Larkey (of the Myddle Class). Moving to the West Coast, Larkey, King and Danny Kortchmar formed a group called The City, which released one album, Now That Everything's Been Said, but the album was a commercial failure. King then released Writer (1970), another commercial failure. Undaunted, the following year King gave thoughtful, folk-flavored reinterpretations of some of her early pop hits as a songwriter, placing them on an album alongside new compositions. Tapestry (1971) became a turning point in her career. Her best-received album, Tapestry was instantly recognized as one of the landmark albums of the singer-songwriter genre of the early 1970s. With numerous hit singles, Tapestry would remain on the charts for nearly six years and sell over 11 million copies, remaining her most popular album among fans and critics alike. Music (1971), Rhymes and Reasons (1972) and Wrap Around Joy (1974) followed, each selling respectably.

In 1973, Carole King performed a free concert in New York City's Central Park and broke all previous records for such a concert with over 100,000 people attending. *^*

Goffin and King reunited to write Thoroughbred (1975) with David Crosby, Graham Nash and James Taylor, a long-time friend of King's. She married another songwriting partner, Rick Evers, after releasing Simple Things (1977); he died of a cocaine overdose one year later. Also in 1975, King scored a number of songs for the animated TV production of Maurice Sendak's work, Really Rosie.

After releasing a collection called Speeding Time in 1983, King took a hiatus in Idaho, where she became an environmental activist. She returned to music in 1989, recording City Streets, followed by Color of Your Dreams (1993), with a guest appearance by Slash of Guns N' Roses. In 1990, Carole King was inducted, along with Goffin, into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the non-performer category for her songwriting achievements.

King is very politically active in the United States Democratic Party. In 2003 she began campaigning for John Kerry, performing in private homes for caucus delegates during the Democratic primaries. On July 29, 2004, she made a short speech and sang at the Democratic National Convention, about two hours before Kerry made his acceptance speech for the Democratic nomination for President. King continued her support of Kerry throughout the general election.

King's "Where You Lead (I Will Follow)" is the theme song to Gilmore Girls, in the theme song version she sings with her daughter. King herself — who has appeared sporadically in acting roles — has guest starred three times on the show (in its second, fifth, and sixth seasons) as Sophie, the owner of the Stars Hollow music store.

King launched her "Living Room Tour" (in a nod to her appearances in private homes during the Democratic primaries) on July 15, 2004 at the Auditorium Theatre (Chicago, Illinois). That show, along with the shows at the Greek Theatre (Los Angeles, California), and the Cape Cod Melody Tent (Hyannis, Massachusetts) were recorded live and released as The Living Room Tour album on July 12, 2005. The 2005 leg of "The Living Room Tour" kicked off on July 3, 2005 in Ontario, Canada.

Discography

1970: Writer
1971: Tapestry
1971: Music
1972: Rhymes and Reasons
1973: Fantasy
1974: Wrap Around Joy
1975: Really Rosie
1976: Thoroughbred
1977: Simple Things
1978: Welcome Home
1979: Touch the Sky
1980: Songs of Goffin and King
1982: One to One
1983: Speeding Time
1989: City Streets
1993: Colour of Your Dreams
1994: In Concert
1994: Time Gone By
1996: June 18, 1971
1997: Time Heals All Wounds
1998: Goin' Back
2000: Super Hits
2001: Love Makes the World
2005: The Living Room Tour

External links

Official site

www.caroleking.com

Other sites

Fan sites

Bob's Page of Carole King: A Tribute Page

Articles on Carole King

Douglas Wolk on Tapestry and Really Rosie, Salon, May 25, 1998
Rachel Louis Snyder on Carole King, Salon, June 19, 1999
Franck Scheck on Carole King, Hollywood Reporter, July 15, 2005