What can you say about an album that has been sold millions of times? Some of tracks entered the American Songbook right away and became perennial favorites on FM radio. Tapestry by Carole King has been given the reissue treatment with the original twelve tracks on disc 1, and 11 live versions on a bonus disc (Where You Lead is missing, because she did not play at the time).
Songs like You've Got A Friend, Will You Love Me Tomorrow and (You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman have been played to death over the years, especially at wedding parties. OK, they can hold their own, but they overshadowed the truly great tracks like Smackwater Jack about a guy who picks up a shotgun and starts shooting up the entire congregation, and the great break-up song It's Too Late.
The set comes with an essay by Harvey Kubernik who offers some useful insights about the album. Too band they faiued to include track-by-track information about where the live versions were recorded. It just says that it is her on piano recorded 1973 in Boston, Columbia, MD, Central Park, NYCa, and in 1976 at the San Francisco Opera House. They could have done better when they decided to release it as a so-called Legacy Edition of an album that was picked as one of the 50 albums to be included in the Library of Congress.
Tapestry (Legacy Edition) is released on Ode/Epic/Legacy.
Want more? Check out the Legacy Podcasts about the making of Tapestry: part #01| part #02.
MP3: Carole King - Smackwater Jack
» caroleking.com