The Carole King Musical

“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 – “IT’S TOO LATE” by Carole King

June 12, 2014

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It’s Throwback Thursday! Today we are going way back to 1971 for the #tbt song. 

Today I got to spend the day with a dear friend of mine who I don’t get to see nearly often enough. It was such a sweet day and I loved the time together. We spent the morning walking the entirety of Central Park, talking and catching up on life the entire time. During the conversation we both mentioned that the one show we were dying to see on Broadway is “Beautiful – The Carole King Musical.” If you are not familiar with the show,” it is the story of Carole King’s life and it is currently one of the most popular shows on Broadway, with tickets that are nearly impossible to obtain. It just seemed to make it a fitting day to use one of her song’s as my TBT song.

Carole King is one of my all time favorite artists. She is literally one of the most talented songwriters and singers of this generation, and just an all-around classy lady. Plus, what about that piano! I would have to credit my parents with introducing me to Carole King back in my growing up days. We used to listen to her music around the house all the time.

One of my very favorite albums of all time is Tapestry. Today’s song is from that album, which was released in 1971. It was difficult for me to pick just one song! Once I got started playing the album, I kept saying “Oh, this is the one. No, I am going to do this one. Wait … maybe this one.” This went on for a solid hour as I just sat and enjoyed listening to this amazing album. I finally decided on this song because it was one of her biggest hits as a singer and it is a great example of what she is so well known for … honest, powerful, emotional music that just really connected with the listeners. It is still as powerful today as it was when it was released so many years ago.

Carole King started as a songwriter, penning songs for other artists. It was thanks to encouragement from her friend, James Taylor, that she began singing her own songs. What an incredible decision that was, as she has since become one of the most prolific singer-songwriters of all time. The album, Tapestry, has been listed by Rolling Stone Magazine as #36 in the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.  This is really no surprise … is there anyone out there who can’t sing along with at least one of the songs on this album? My son was amazed that I could sing every single word to this album while we were listening to it tonight. It is a Masterpiece!

Enjoy this throwback today! I hope it inspires you to go back and listen to the entire Tapestry album.