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Carole King
Wow, Carole King. To my mind, she’s been out of the limelight for so long that I never figured she’d venture back, but here she is. From the sound of things, though, it is fairly obvious that she is not trying to address the past two musical generations that have passed in her absence. Instead, she is addressing the faithful crowd that helped to boost her career in the early seventies, making her perhaps the most successful singer/songwriters of her generation. That is saying a lot, too, especially If you bother to recall that James Taylor, Jackson Browne, Gordon Lightfoot, Jim Croce and dozens of others were all vying for that title back then.
On this disk, there are a few new tunes, but the real purpose of this two-disk collection is to remind us of King’s relevance, and she achieves this with ease. The medley of early hits (co-written with her ex, Gerry Goffin) that closes disk one proves this amply enough all by itself, weaving together strands of “Take Good Care of My Baby”, “Go Away Little Girl”, “I’m Into Something Good” and “One Fine Day,” among others.
Besides showcasing that, at age 62, she still has a powerful voice and can perform her own songs with ease, this live collection spells out a career that both predates and post-dates the Beatles, something that very few others in the music industry could do successfully. Early songs that she wrote for others, like “Chains” (originally by the Cookies, but eventually covered by the Beatles, by the way), stand alongside solo hits like “It’s Too Late” and “So Far Away”. It’s a career retrospective that comes full circle with new material (“Welcome to My Living Room” is an amusing standout), especially when joined by her daughter Louise Goffin, when they duet on a reworked, ‘feminized’ version of “Where You Lead I Will Follow”.
Young kids might recognize “Jazzman” from an episode of the Simpson’s, but it’s doubtful that this collection will attract a younger audience for Carole King. It certainly will appeal to old fans from her own generation, though, while garnering much deserved respect for one of the most talented and versatile songwriters of the rock and roll era. For perspective, we’re talking about the woman who wrote “Pleasant Valley Sunday”, which I think sounds incredibly cool even today. Is it contemporary? No, but is it relevant? Absolutely.
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Grade: 
 
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