Carole King

“BEAUTIFUL” by Carole King

March 5, 2015

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It’s Throwback Thursday! Today’s #tbt song is from one of my all time favorite albums of all time – Tapestry by Carole King, released in 1971. 

I grew up on Carole King. I was only a very young child when Tapestry was released in 1971, but in my early youth it became one of my favorite albums and it has stayed on that list. I love every song off the album and I can sing the words to all of them.

I did not know until years later that Tapestry was one of the most highly celebrated albums of all time. The album won four Grammy Awards, including the biggest awards of the year – Album of the Year and Song of the Year. Carole King also won Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Female and Record of the Year. In addition, the album is ranked #36 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list. It definitely has staying power and is probably loved by even more people today than it was back then. Carole King is a music legend!

The album has been getting a lot of play time at our home after we went to see the musical, “Beautiful – The Carole King Musical” on Broadway a couple of weeks ago. Wow! What an incredible show. I was not the only one who was singing along as the show progressed through Carole King’s repertoire of fabulous music. If you get a chance to see the show, I would definitely recommend it. I loved it!

This is such an incredible song and I love the powerful message. I hope that it might spark you to crank those old Carole King tunes again too.

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SONG OF THE DAY – “NEED THE SUN TO BREAK” by James Bay

February 3, 2014

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On the surface, I am guessing that you think I am posting this song today because of the weather … and I guess you could be right. The Super Bowl totally lucked out with the weather yesterday because late last night/early this morning it started to snow heavily and it is still coming down. All the schools around us (including our own) are canceled and we probably have at least 6 inches outside already and it is still snowing. I guess the groundhog didn’t lie!

However, I did not choose this song because of the weather, as fitting as it may be. 🙂 I wanted to share this song because I love the lyrics and I love the way James Bay sings them. He has one of those great raw, rugged voices that just draws you into his music, and that acoustic guitar … I love it! I guess figuratively I can also relate to needing to have the sun break.

James Bay is an incredibly talented singer-songwriter. He is in his early twenties and is another young, emerging artist from the UK. There are so many talented musicians who come from the UK! I have to admit that my fervor for music exploded during my time living in London; there is just something remarkable about the amount of talent and the passion for music that exists there.

Bay comes from a small town called Hitchin in Hertfordshire, England. He has gained a strong fan base and a great reputation from his many live performances.  He released his debut album last summer and, unfortunately for me because I missed it, just did some touring across the US – recently finishing up in Nashville. I will definitely be watching for his return … or maybe I need to make a visit to London instead. 🙂 He does promise not to be gone long.

In reading about James Bay, I found out that his musical heroes include Carole King, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Jackson Browne, and James Taylor. I would have to say that his music is a great combination of all these artists, along with his own unique twist. No wonder I like him so much, as I love the music of his musical heroes as well. Enjoy James Bay on this #MusicMonday.