The Nineties

Colour of Your Dreams (Rockingale) March 1993

Released in March, 1993, on Carole 's indepentently-owned record label, King's X, distributed by Priority Records, this album contained "Now and Forever," the opening theme song used in Penny Marshall's 1992 hit film, A League of Their Own. Carole's version of that song, released to radio stations in June 1992, became one of the most played songs on adult/lite music radio stations around the world during that summer. [The song eventually earned a Grammy nomination as "Best Song from a Motion Picture" and should have earned Carole her first Oscar nomination had Disney not dominated the songwriter's branch of the Academy with their "Aladdin" fare.] The album, featuring guest solo by Slash on "Hold Out for Love," also contained the poignant "Lay Down My Life" for which Carole filmed a video (shot in a desert Californian town). Gerry Goffin wrote the lyrics for "It's Never Too Late," a soulful, bluesy number that sounds like it would be ideally suited for covering by Whitney Houston or Carole's pal Mariah Carey. Another Goffin-King collaboration, "Standing in the Rain," was debuted by Carole during her November 1990 Beacon Theatre concerts.

My Rating: B+

In its June 24th , 1993 issue, Rolling Stone's critic Kara Manning gave Colour of Your Dreams a rave (***1/2 *) review:

"In fact, she could be considered one of the spiritual forebears of the softly subversive underground of young female songwriters trying to break into the boy's club of the FM band. Ironically, King's battle for renewed recognition is frustrating testament to the bullheadedness of today's radio programmers - who no doubt grew up owning a well-worn copy of Tapestry."

Carole toured during the summer and fall of 1993 in support of Colour of Your Dreams. I saw her at Long Island's Jones Beach (6/12). As usual, Carole delivered a high energy performance that was as fresh as any show given that summer: this lady does not rest on her laurels. She was equally at ease performing her old standards, as well as her more rocking new material.

In Concert (King'sX/Priority) April 1994

Reprinted from Rolling Stone, April 24, 1994 ***? (out of possible *****) Showcasing such trad virtues as live musicianship, brick-solid song structures and stylistic breadth, this is one sweet set. Reprising Brill Building gems King penned with ex-husband Gerry Goffin - a stately "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?" particularly dazzles -and the '70s fare that made Tapestry (1971) the biggest-selling album in history at one time. King prefigured such figures as Tori Amos and Sarah McLachlan, and with the ubiquitous Slash guest starring, In Concert shows that her best remains vital - earnest, intelligent music whose formal elegance consistently satisfies.

Pearls/Time Gone By (June 1994)

also availabile as Time Gone By (single disk only)

The masters to Carole's Capitol catalog reverted back to her in the late '80s or early '90s, and Time Gone By is a one disk compilation of the highlights from three of those albums released in 1977-79. Included are the uptempo "Hard Rock Caf?" and "Main Street Saturday Night," but the best songs on this set are the more contemplative "In the Name of Love," "Morning Sun," "You Still Want Her" (which Carole said in her 1978 Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ concert was "written while under the heavy influence of Don Henley"), and "Passing of the Days."

My rating: B+ (available on King's X/Priority Records)

The Carnegie Hall Concert, June 18, 1971 (Sony/Epic/Ode)

Hot on the heels of KTS' excellent JT live at Carnegie Hall '74 CD comes yet another outstanding Carnegie Hall concert recording from the early 70's involving JT.

Sony Legacy today released as part of its "From the Vaults" series Carole King's June 18, 1971 show at Carnegie, with JT as her "special guest."

This is an outstanding CD. I have never heard Carole King's vocals come across as consistently moving, soulful and gutsy as they do throughout this performance, nor her piano work as effective. Three months pregnant, she performs 10 songs from her then-smash Tapestry album, a few of her early gems ("Snow Queen" from her "The City" album, "Child of Mine" from "Writer", her first solo album), two new pieces from her about-to-be-released "Music" album ("Song of Long Ago" (which she notes was "written under the heavy influence of James Taylor") and "Carry Your Load") and even a couple of previously-obscure pieces ("No Easy Way Down," "Eventually") and the unreleased "After All This Time" that are among the set's highlights.

She plays the bulk of the show unaccompanied, then brings out Charles Larkey on bass ("Song of Long Ago," Smackwater Jack")and Kootch on guitar ("It's Too Late"). She performs "Beautiful," "Way Over Yonder" and "Eventually" with a string quaret.

Toward the end of the set, she brings JT out to join her for "You've Got A Friend" and a great medley of "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow/Some Kind of Wonderful/Up On the Roof." The "YGAF" is the same as appeared on her '94 box set, but seems even more effective in context of the overall show. The medley is even better - as effective as the version that appeared on mid-70s bootlegs of her LA Troubador show (which took place a few weeks after this show), but with JT's signature guitar work, great harmonies, and a string quartet to boot. "Up on the Roof" is a true duet, not merely JT on a few background harmonies, as on the "Roses for Carole" recording.

This is one of the highest quality live performances I've ever heard on disc. Despite the 23-million-copy selling Tapestry, and her enjoyable '93 live CD, this is the quintessential Carole King recording - it captures her at a peak in her performing and writing. And JT's work only adds to the set's appeal.

With all the talk of a JT-Carly reunion tour, it seems that a JT-Carole tour would be even more appropriate, for they truly played a key role in each other's early careers, playing in each others' bands, and combining for one of the most impressive practically-joint recording sessions ever, which resulted in both the "Sweet Baby James" and "Tapestry" albums. --Ken Kwarlter

RATING: A-

Ken Kwarlter

CAROLE KING - Hits and Rarities from the Sixties

Carole King's career began as an aspiring singer-songwriter, segued into highly-respected-in-the-music-world songwriter (with momentary success as singer), then blossomed into legendary singer-songwriter. This CD covers that very early period of her career (1958-1959: when she recorded songs for Arhmet Artegun and Don Costa), as well as the songs she recorded in 1962 and '63 after having a demo she originally recorded for Bobby Vee become a top 30 hit. PLUS, there's a rare 1966 single and a few more obscure Goffin/King songs, performed by a couple girl groups of the time.

A total of 22 digitally remastered tracks to sweetly satisfy those fans who always wanted to hear those Carole King recordings we heard about, but never heard. "Oh! Neil" is a direct copy, at least of the music, of Neil Sedaka's tribute to his first girlfriend, "Oh! Carol" Klein, better known now as Carole King.

By then, Carole was already married to lyricist Gerry Goffin who for whatever reason decided to make the "Carol" in "Oh! Neil" a country hick. The result is a novelty record that understandably, went no where. But, it was 1959 and this IS the kind of pop music the world was singing. Still, you have to ask, "what was the point?" Much better songs, although not timeless, but of the times, are "Under the Stars," "the Right Girl," "Goin' Wild," and "Baby Sittin'." The former two are formula late-50's doo-wop with Carole breaking up solid vocals "the right girl, for you-oo-oo-oo," while the latter two are saxophone driven tracks the American Bandstanders would've given at least a "75" for their dance-inducing sounds.

The songs were all written by Carole on her own, and while the lyrics are hardly profound, they're fun. Carole's singing, while not as rich-sounding as it is today, is very good and direct, and as unaffected as the vocals on "Tapestry," i.e., no one coached her to sound like anyone else of the day. A writer once said that Carole sounds like Annette Funicello, on the novelty song, "Queen of the Beach." OK. Carole certainly had Annette in mind when she wrote and recorded a parody of Annette's "Tall Paul," entitled "Short Mort." Though certainly nothing to be ashamed of, both "Queen" and "Mort" are pure Mickey Mouse Club at best and might have gotten some airplay had they been recorded by a better known artist...say, hmmm...Annette Funicello, for instance. Carole's 1962 hit, "It Might as Well Rain Until September" is a delight. It is no surprise that this single which as aforementioned, was originally intended for Bobby Vee, became a hit both in the states and even more so, in the U.K.

The budding Beatles of the day knew exactly who Carole King was and aspired to be songwriters as good as she & Gerry Goffin. This song is rich with simple lyrical imagery and uplifting yet lilting melody, a perfect match of words and music; raindrops hiding tear drops; bouncy piano chords over wafting strings. It's a great song. "September" could have been the start of a recording career for Carole, but Carole didn't promote her hit with TV dance show appearances nor did radio programmers liken to the theme-copied songs that followed "September." Carole's as happy as a lark that September has arrived and school has commenced in "School Bells are Ringing" 'cause now she can be with her boy. It's catchy and it's fun; Carole sings with an hispanic-tinged accent and the vocals overall are right on. But how many kids out there, even today as in 1963, were really all that excited about the start of a new school season?

The theme goes somber and the melody turns ballad for "I Didn't Have Any Summer Romance." "Nobody bothered to break my heart in two." That bit of subtle humor helps this sad teen tale. Like "School Bells" it's not all that bad really, perhaps it's the mis-leading song titles. You think you're going to hear something pretty lame when you put on "He's a Bad Boy," and OK, while it's not Dylan and it's still Carole King, 21 year old teen queen, it's all right. "Bad Boy's" acoustic guitar takes the lead in this mid-tempo ballad; Carole was experimenting. Goffin's lyrics are certainly not thought-provoking, but how many pop songs of that era were? Hey, it made it to number 94 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Featured here is Carole's version of the Everly Brothers hit she wrote with Howie Greenfield (typically Sedaka's writing partner), "Crying in the Rain." Her two vocals harmonize well, but the production is demo, at best. Listening to this, though, one gets the sense of Carole's craft at musical arrangements, particularly for vocals. In fact, most all of the tracks here demonstrate her splendid sense of harmony. She pays tribute to Sedaka with a good Carole King version of "Breaking Up is Hard to Do." This is the Carole we know and love today. She's straightforward and unaffected; she knows this is a good song and sings it that way, making no move to imitate Sedaka. Goffin co-wrote a hit with another Brill Building inhabitant named Jack Keller. That song, "Oh! Oh! It Started All Over Again" is Carole King at her 1963 best.Had she been better known as an artist at the time, radio programmers might have played this version.

It's 1966 and times have changed and so has Carole King and Gerry Goffin's music. They formed a new label called Tomorrow and wrote songs for a group called the Myddle Class, and one song which Carole recorded herself entitled, "A Road to Nowhere." The label, the Myddle Class and the song went nowhere, indeed. "Road," nevertheless, hints strongly at the musical direction Carole decided to take. Rhythm and blues or soul had been a part of Carole's music before ("Up on the Roof," "When My Little Girl is Smilin'" and so on) but now one can hear the blend of pop and soul and even a tinge of the blues.

Arguably, the lyrics don't live up to the melody; they seem to be crammed in at the last minute in some phrasings ("Our love it has rotted, right down to the core,"), but you just can't deny being drawn in to the hook and infectious rifts of the chorus..."we've got to get off...this road to no-where!" It borders on Phil Spector's "wall of sound" sound, but mercifully doesn't get too carried away with boom, crash and bang. Again, Carole's own vocal harmonies come through. Three Goffin-King songs by the Honey Bees are included in this CD. One can almost hear Carole doing the "shoo-doo-wee-oop, shoobie-doobie-doo" background harmonies (and directing them) in "One Wonderful Night." It's a song that might have been a great "One Fine Day" follow-up for the Chiffons. A song called "You Turn Me on Boy" might be something the Manhattan Transfer could revive for the 90's. "Some of Your Lovin'" is a note-for-note copy of Dusty Springfield's classic version, but is nonetheless enjoyable.

One wishes that this CD company had provided us with Carole King's solo version of "Some of Your Lovin'." (It was originally the flip side of "A Road to Nowhere.") The CD ends with the Shirelles-like "Make the Night a Little Longer" by the Palisades. It's another could've been a hit song, which was recorded in the midst of the British Invasion. This is CD is a MUST for any Carole King fan and a good addition for anyone who collect rarities. It's a trip down memory lane to the sounds of the late fifties and early sixties; of an artist honing her already abundant talent into the deserving legend she is today. -Matt Barry

VH-1 --Divas Live 1997-Epic Records

Five divas were announced as the stars of this live broadcast from New York's Beacon Theater: Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Gloria Estefan, Aretha Franklin, and Shania Twain, but, the real star of the evening was surprised guest, Carole King. The New York Times even took note of how King refused to let Aretha Franklin shut her out of vocals on the song she wrote, and Franklin made famous. Carole not only looked like a million bucks, VH-1 Pop Up Video reported that she was wearing quite expensive jewelry from one of the world's better known jeweler.

But,far more important than how beautiful she looked, was the fact that all of the divas -except Carey and Franklin, were in awe of her and performed beautifully with her during the closing medley of two of King's best known songs: "You've Got a Friend" and "Natural Woman."

I bet Aretha was Queen who wished King had stayed home; millions of viewers were thrilled she hadn't.

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