Tapestry (album)

Production

King wrote or co-wrote all of the songs on the album, several of which had already been hits for other artists such as Aretha Franklin's "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" and The Shirelles' "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" (in 1960). Three songs were co-written with King's ex-husband Gerry Goffin. James Taylor, who encouraged King to sing her own songs and who also played on Tapestry, would later have a number one hit with "You've Got a Friend". Two songs were co-written with Toni Stern: "It's Too Late" and "Where You Lead".

The cover photograph was taken by A&M staff photographer Jim McCrary at King's Laurel Canyon home. It shows her sitting in a window frame, holding a tapestry she hand-stitched herself, with her cat Telemachus at her feet.

Critical reception

The album was well received by critics; Robert Christgau felt that her voice, raw and imperfect, free of "technical decorum", would liberate female singers while Jon Landau in Rolling Stone felt that King was one of the most creative pop music figures and had created an album of "surpassing personal-intimacy and musical accomplishment".

Awards

Along with being selected Album of the Year, it also received Grammys for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, Record of the Year ("It's Too Late"), and Song of the Year ("You've Got a Friend"), making King the first solo female artist to win the Grammy Award for Record of the Year, and the first woman to win the Grammy Award for Song of the Year.

The album remained on the Billboard charts for 313 weeks (second only to Pink Floyd's 724 weeks with The Dark Side of the Moon).

Commercial performance

Tapestry was number one on the Billboard 200 for 15 consecutive weeks, and held the record for most weeks at number one by a female solo artist for over 20 years until surpassed by Whitney Houston's The Bodyguard: Original Soundtrack Album in 1993, which spent 20 weeks at number one. It still holds the record for most consecutive weeks at number one by a female solo artist. The album has been listed on the Billboard 200 for over 300 weeks between 1971 and 2011, the longest by a female solo artist. In terms of time on the charts, it ranks fifth overall, and in terms of length on the charts for solo musical acts it ranks second. Of all the albums by female artists to be certified Diamond, it was the first released, although it was not the first being certified. In Canada, the album was number one for 9 weeks beginning July 3, 1971

Legacy

Several of the songs on Tapestry were recorded by other artists and became hit singles while the album was still on the charts: James Taylor's 1971 recording of "You've Got a Friend" hit number one in the US and number four in the UK, and Barbra Streisand's 1971 studio recording of "Where You Lead" reached number 40 while a live recording of a medley in which Streisand paired the song with the Sweet Inspirations hit "Sweet Inspiration" reached number 37 the following year.

Various artists combined to re-record all the original tracks for more than one tribute album; the first, released in 1995, entitled Tapestry Revisited: A Tribute to Carole King, which was certified gold, and the second, released in 2003, entitled A New Tapestry — Carole King Tribute. In 2010, Australian recording artist Marcia Hines recorded a tribute album, Marcia Sings Tapestry.

In 2003, Tapestry was named number 36 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, was listed by VH1 as number 39 on their list of 100 Greatest Albums, and was one of 50 recordings chosen to be added to the National Recording Registry. Recordings added to the National Recording Registry are picked to be preserved in the Library of Congress, the largest library in the world, as they are "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important."

In March 2016 it was announced that Carole King would perform the album live in its entirety for the first time at the British Summer Time Festival in Hyde Park, London on 3rd July 2016.

Track listing

All songs written by Carole King except where noted.

Side 1

1. "I Feel the Earth Move" – 3:00
2. "So Far Away" – 3:55
3. "It's Too Late" (lyrics by Toni Stern) – 3:54
4. "Home Again" – 2:29
5. "Beautiful" – 3:08
6. "Way Over Yonder" – 4:49

Side 2

7. "You've Got a Friend" – 5:09
8. "Where You Lead" (lyrics by Toni Stern) – 3:20
9. "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?" (Gerry Goffin, King) – 4:13
10. "Smackwater Jack" (Goffin, King) – 3:42
11. "Tapestry" – 3:15
12. "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" (Goffin, King, Jerry Wexler) – 3:59

The album was reissued in 1999 on CD, with two previously unreleased bonus tracks.

13. "Out in the Cold" (bonus track) – 2:44
14. "Smackwater Jack" (Live in Boston, May 21, 1973) (bonus track) – 3:21

In 2008, Sony/BMG, Epic, and Ode released a 2-disc "Legacy Edition". One disc is the original album remastered; the second disc is live performances of 11 of the 12 songs, recorded in 1973 at Boston, Columbia, Maryland, and Central Park, New York; and in 1976 at the San Francisco Opera House. "Where You Lead" is the song not included on the live disc.

Live disc track listing

1. "I Feel the Earth Move" – 4:17
2. "So Far Away" – 4:44
3. "It's Too Late" – 5:06
4. "Home Again" – 3:33
5. "Beautiful" – 3:39
6. "Way Over Yonder" – 5:35
7. "You've Got a Friend" – 6:00
8. "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?" – 4:31
9. "Smackwater Jack" – 4:18
10. "Tapestry" – 4:13
11. "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" – 5:11

Personnel

Additional musicians

Technical

Certifications

BPI certification awarded only for sales since 1994.