Carole King

Carole King (2012)

Carole King (born Carol Joan Klein in Manhattan , New York on February 9, 1942 ) is an American singer, songwriter and pianist. She also occasionally plays guitar during her live performances. With the album Tapestry , she made a decisive contribution to the establishment of the singer-songwriter genre. She is also one of the most successful songwriters in rock and pop music. More than a hundred of her songs were in the top 100 of the US Billboard singles chart .

Career

Songwriting duo with Gerry Goffin

King grew up as the child of Jewish parents in Brooklyn, New York . Carole King took piano lessons at the age of four and began composing songs during her school days. In high school , she dated Neil Sedaka , who later made his hit Oh! Named Carol after her; in return she wrote new lyrics and released a song called Oh! Neil . During her time at college, which Paul Simon attended, she met her first husband, Gerry Goffin . The two married on August 30, 1959. The couple formed next to Burt Bacharach and Hal David another important songwriting duo of the 1960s. While King was composing the melodies, Goffin wrote the lyrics for The Everly Brothers , The Drifters , The Byrds , Dusty Springfield and Aretha Franklin , among others . 18-year-old Carole King had her first number one hit with the song Will You Love Me Tomorrow , written for the girl group The Shirelles . Other top five hits included: The Loco-Motion ( Little Eva ), Take Good Care of My Baby ( Bobby Vee ), One Fine Day ( The Chiffons ) and Up on the Roof (The Drifters). Her admirers included the Beatles that on their first album Please Please Me , the piece Chains published. John Lennon and Paul McCartney later stated, "Our goal was to write compositions in the style of Carole King and Gerry Goffin."

From the early 1960s there are some releases with Carole King as the singer, including the hit It Might as Well Rain Until September. The single was first published in early 1962 on Companion No. 2000 and later appeared on Dimension No. 2000; the title reached number 22 on the US charts in 1962. The single He's a Bad Boy (US catalog number dimension 1009) reached 94th place in 1963.

Solo artist

Following her success with Natural Woman for Aretha Franklin , Carole King separated from Gerry Goffin and went to California, where she lived with her second husband, bassist Charley Larkey, and their two daughters Louise and Sherry in Los Angeles in the famous Laurel Canyon , in close contact with James Taylor , Joni Mitchell and many other emerging musicians of the time. She remained friends with Goffin, and both composed songs regularly in the years that followed. She recorded her first album in 1968 within the group The City, as she saw herself primarily as a songwriter and less as a singer.

Under the influence of James Taylor, she began her own stage appearances in 1970 and published her first solo album Writer , which was critically acclaimed but otherwise hardly noticed . The following year, Tapestry, one of the most successful albums in pop music, followed. With a gentle rock based on jazz, blues and soul, Carole King created her own style of music that had a lasting influence on pop and rock music. The album, which received four Grammys , sold over 25 million copies worldwide and remained the best-selling album by a solo singer for 25 years. It was awarded a diamond record (10 times platinum) for more than ten million copies sold in the United States . On Tapestry are classics like So Far Away, I Feel the Earth Move, It's Too Late, You've Got a Friend and Natural Woman . The released single It's Too Late stayed at number 1 in the US singles charts for five weeks in 1971.

The following record releases were also successful and went platinum several times . After the soul-oriented album Music (1971) and the bittersweet Rhymes and Reasons (1972), she showed on her concept album Fantasy (1973) that she is also an excellent jazz pianist and composer.

After the more commercial pop album Wrap Around Joy from 1974 and the included number two hit Jazzman, which was nominated for a Grammy in 1975, she brought out the critically acclaimed album Thoroughbred in 1976 , which was reminiscent of Tapestry . She wrote some pieces for it together with her ex-husband Gerry Goffin, including the melancholy ballad High out of Time with James Taylor as a background singer. On her album Simple Things (1977) she released the hit Hard Rock Cafe .

After separating from Charley Larkey, her third husband's sudden drug death and a few less successful albums, she retired from the music business in the early 80s. Carole King, who had always been politically active and, in the early 1970s, also in the peace movement, now campaigned for environmental protection projects.

Since the late 1980s: singer, songwriter, actress

Carole King (2000)

After a long musical break, she has been bringing new releases onto the market at irregular intervals since the late 1980s, with the support of musicians such as Eric Clapton , KD Lang , Slash and Babyface , among others . In July 1989 she reached the German single charts with City Streets for the only time (number 67). She continues to be very successful as a songwriter - also in the R&B genre ; for example, she wrote hits for Mariah Carey and Celine Dion . With her rocking album Color of Your Dreams , released in 1993, and the top 20 single Now and Forever - at the same time the title song for the feature film A Class of Its Own with Tom Hanks, Geena Davis and Madonna - she also made a commercial comeback on the music scene.

In the course of the renaissance of the singer-songwriter genre in the 1990s by singers like Tori Amos or Tracy Chapman , who repeatedly named Carole King as a model for their musical style, the artist was given a musical memorial with the album Tapestry Revisited in 1995. The twelve songs on her album from 1971 are interpreted by well-known artists such as Aretha Franklin , Rod Stewart , Amy Grant and Faith Hill .

At the 1998 “VH1 Divas” concert, she appeared alongside stars such as Aretha Franklin, Shania Twain , Mariah Carey, Celine Dion and Gloria Estefan with You've Got a Friend and Natural Woman as a surprise guest.

Carole King is also active as an actress, having enjoyed great success on Broadway in the 1990s . Politically, she continues to support the left-wing liberals and the civil rights movement. She supported the Democrats in the 2004 US election campaign. She celebrated her 60th birthday in Cuba , together with Fidel Castro , in order to set an example for a policy of reconciliation.

With her publication Love Makes the World (2001), she again earned critical acclaim.

In the summer of 2004, Carole King went on a concert tour in the USA after more than ten years off. The recording of the Living Room Tour came on the market in the summer of 2005 and reached number 17 on the Billboard album charts . Together with her daughter Louise Goffin, she also recorded the song Where You Lead as the theme song for the television series Gilmore Girls in a modified version. In this series, King also appeared as a guest star and played the music shop owner Sophie several times.

At the end of 2006 she toured Australia and New Zealand for the first time.

Her autobiography A Natural Woman was published in April 2012 . On December 3, 2012, she got her star number 2486 on the Hollywood Walk of Fame .

musical

The life and music of King served as the template for the musical Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, which was first performed at the Curran Theater in San Francisco from September to October 2013 before the first test screenings in November 2013 at the Stephen Sondheim Theater on Broadway . The play has been running in regular play since January 2014. The main role is played by Jessie Mueller. The recording with Mueller and other actors received a Grammy in 2015 for the best musical album of the year.

Honors

1972 - Grammy Awards in four categories:
- Album of the Year ( Tapestry )
- Single of the Year (It's Too Late)
- Best female vocal contribution (Tapestry)
- Best Song ( You've Got a Friend )
1987 - Induced into the Songwriters Hall of Fame
1990 - Induced into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
2013 - The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song
In 2015 she received the Kennedy Prize .
In 2015, Rolling Stone listed King and Goffin as seventh of the 100 best songwriters of all time .

Discography

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
year	title	DE	AT	CH	UK	US	Remarks
1970	Writer	-	-	-	-	US84 (27 weeks) US	First published: May 1970
1971	Tapestry	-	-	-	UK4th × 2 Double platinum (135 weeks)UK	US1 diamond (318 weeks)US	First published: February 1971
1971	Music	-	-	-	UK18 (10 weeks) UK	US1 (44 weeks) US	First published: December 1971
1972	Rhymes & Reasons	-	-	-	UK40 (2 weeks) UK	US2 gold (31 weeks)US	First published: November 1972
1973	Fantasy	-	-	-	-	US6th gold (37 weeks)US	First published: June 1973
1974	Wrap Around Joy	-	-	-	-	US1 gold (29 weeks)US	First published: September 1974
1976	Thoroughbred	-	-	-	-	US3 gold (21 weeks)US	First published: January 1976
1977	Simple things	-	-	-	-	US17th gold (14 weeks)US	First published: July 1977
1978	Welcome home	-	-	-	-	US104 (8 weeks) US	First published: May 1978
1979	Touch the sky	-	-	-	-	US104 (9 weeks) US	First published: June 1979
1980	Pearls: Songs of Goffin and King	-	-	-	-	US44 (17 weeks) US	First published: June 1980
1982	One to one	-	-	-	-	US119 (11 weeks) US	First published: April 1982
1989	City Streets	-	-	-	-	US111 (16 weeks) US	First published: April 1989
2001	Love Makes the World	-	-	-	UK86 (1 week) UK	US158 (1 week) US	First published: September 2001
2011	A Holiday Carole	-	-	-	-	US52 (8 weeks) US	First published: November 2011

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

More albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
year	title	DE	AT	CH	UK	US	Remarks
1975	Really Rosie	-	-	-	-	US20 (15 weeks) US	First release: February 1975 soundtrack album
1978	Her Greatest Hits: Songs of Long Ago	-	-	-	-	US47 gold (13 weeks)US	First published: April 1978 compilation
1994	In concert	-	-	-	UK97 (1 week) UK	US160 (3 weeks) US	First release: March 1994 live album
1994	Natural Woman: The Ode Collection	-	-	-	UK31 silver (3 weeks)UK	-	First published: September 1994 compilation
2005	The Living Room Tour	-	-	-	-	US17 (15 weeks) US	First release: July 2005 live album
2010	Live at the Troubadour	-	-	-	UK33 (3 weeks) UK	US4th gold (37 weeks)US	First release: May 2010 live album (with James Taylor )
2012	The Legendary Demos	-	-	-	-	US56 (3 weeks) US	First published: April 2012 compilation
2015	A Beautiful Collection	-	-	-	UK32 (3 weeks) UK	-	First published: March 2015 compilation

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

more publishments

1968: Now That Everything's Been Said (with The City)
1983: Speeding Time
1993: Color of Your Dreams
1994: Time Gone By
1996: The Carnegie Hall Concert
1998: Goin 'Back
2000: great hits
2005: Carole King
2006: Collections
2010: The Essential (UK:silver)
2013: Live in Tokyo 2008
2015: The Sounds of Carole King and Friends
2016: It Might As Well Rain Until September
2017: The Real: The Ultimate Collection
2017: Tapestry: Live in Hyde Park
2017: Original album Classics

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
year	Title album	DE	AT	CH	UK	US	Remarks
1962	It Might as Well Rain Until September	-	-	-	UK3 (17 weeks) UK	US22 (9 weeks) US	First published: August 1962
1963	He's a bad boy	-	-	-	-	US94 (3 weeks) US	First published: April 1963
1971	It's Too Late / I Feel the Earth Move Tapestry	-	-	-	UK6 (12 weeks) UK	US1 gold (17 weeks)US	First published: April 1971
1971	So Far Away / Smackwater Jack Tapestry	-	-	-	-	US14 (10 weeks) US	First published: August 1971
1972	Sweet Seasons Music	-	-	-	-	US9 (10 weeks) US	First published: January 1972
1972	Been to Canaan Rhymes and Reasons	-	-	-	-	US24 (10 weeks) US	First published: November 1972
1973	Believe in Humanity / You Light Up My Life Fantasy	-	-	-	-	US28 (9 weeks) US	First published: July 1973
1973	Corazon Fantasy	-	-	-	-	US37 (10 weeks) US	First published: October 1973
1974	Jazzman Wrap Around Joy	-	-	-	-	US2 (16 weeks) US	First published: August 1974
1974	Nightingale Wrap Around Joy	-	-	-	-	US9 (12 weeks) US	First published: December 1974
1976	Only Love Is Real Thoroughbred	-	-	-	-	US28 (11 weeks) US	First published: February 1976
1976	High Out of Time Thoroughbred	-	-	-	-	US76 (3 weeks) US	First published: April 1976
1977	Hard Rock Cafe Simple Things	-	AT19 (8 weeks) AT	CH12 (3 weeks) CH	-	US30 (11 weeks) US	First published: July 1977
1980	One Fine Day Pearls: Songs of Goffin and King	-	-	-	-	US12 (17 weeks) US	First published: May 1980
1982	One to one, one to one	-	-	-	-	US45 (10 weeks) US	First published: March 1982
1989	City Streets City Streets	DE67 (10 weeks) DE	-	-	-	-	First published: May 1989

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

More singles

1958: Right Girl / Goin 'Wild
1958: Baby Sittin '/ Under the Stars
1959: Oh Neil / A Very Special Boy
1959: Short Mort / Queen of the Beach
1962: School Bells Are Ringing / I Didn't Have Any Summer Romance
1966: A Road to Nowhere / Some of Your Loving
1977: Simple Things
1978: Morning Sun
1992: Now and Forever
2001: Love Makes the World
2007: Girl Power
2013: I Believe in Loving You

Awards for music sales

Golden record

Australia Australia
- 2006: for the video album In Concert
- 2010: for the video album Live At The Troubadour
Japan Japan
- 2004: for the album Tapestry
Canada Canada
- 1978: for the album Greatest Hits

Platinum record

New Zealand New Zealand
- 1996: for the album Tapestry
United States United States
- 1995: for the album Carole King Music

6 × platinum record

United States United States
- 2018: for the video album Live At The Troubadour

8 × platinum record

Australia Australia
- 2018: for the album Tapestry

Note: Awards in countries from the chart tables or chart boxes can be found in these.

Country / Region	silver	gold	platinum	diamond	Sales	swell
Awards for music sales (country / region, awards, sales, sources)
Australia (ARIA)	0! S.-	2 × gold2	8 × platinum8th	0! D.-	575,000	aria.com.au
Japan (RIAJ)	0! S.-	gold1	0! P-	0! D.-	100,000	riaj.or.jp
Canada (MC)	0! S.-	gold1	0! P-	0! D.-	50,000	musiccanada.com
New Zealand (RMNZ)	0! S.-	0! G-	platinum1	0! D.-	15,000	nztop40.co.nz
United States (RIAA)	0! S.-	7 × gold7th	8 × platinum8th	diamond1	16,600,000	riaa.com
United Kingdom (BPI)	2 × silver2	0! G-	2 × platinum2	0! D.-	720,000	bpi.co.uk
All in all	2 × silver2	11 × gold11	19 × platinum19th	diamond1

literature

Carole King: A Natural Woman . Grand Central Publishing, New York 2012. ISBN 1-4555-1547-7 .
James E. Perone: Carole King. A bio-bibliography . Greenwood Press, Westport 1999. ISBN 0-313-30711-3 .
Sheila Weller: Girls Like Us. Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon and the Journey of a Generation . London 2008.

Web links

Commons : Carole King - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Carole King in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Official Website of Carole King (Engl.)
Carole King in the Songwriters Hall of Fame
Works by and about Carole King in the catalog of the German National Library
William Yardley, Peter Keepnews: Gerry Goffin, Songwriter With Carole King, Dies at 75. Obituary for Gerry Goffin in the New York Times, June 20, 2014, New York edition, p. B18 (English)

Individual evidence

↑ Gold & Platinum . Recording Industry Association of America Web site , accessed April 8, 2016.
↑ For more information on this title, see Bronson, Fred: The Billboard Book of Number One Hits . 3rd revised and expanded edition, Billboard Publications, New York, 1992, p. 294.
↑ Hollywood star for US pop legend Carole King . ( Memento of April 8, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) dpa article on FR Online , December 4, 2012, accessed on April 8, 2016.
^ Adam Hetrick: Beautiful: The Carole King Musical Will Play Pre-Broadway Engagement in San Francisco . Playbill , May 1, 2013, accessed April 8, 2016.
Beautiful: The Carole King Musical on Broadway . beautifulonbroadway.com, accessed April 8, 2016.
^ President and First Lady to Host Concert Honoring Carole King in the East Room . White House press release of May 17, 2013, accessed April 8, 2016 (George Gershwin Prize Awarded to Carole King)
↑ The 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time. Rolling Stone , August 2015, accessed August 8, 2017 .
↑ ^a ^b ^c Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US

personal data
SURNAME	King, Carole
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Klein, Carol (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American rock / pop musician
DATE OF BIRTH	February 9, 1942
PLACE OF BIRTH	Manhattan , New York City

[1] Gold & Platinum . Recording Industry Association of America Web site , accessed April 8, 2016.

[2] For more information on this title, see Bronson, Fred: The Billboard Book of Number One Hits . 3rd revised and expanded edition, Billboard Publications, New York, 1992, p. 294.

[3] Hollywood star for US pop legend Carole King . ( Memento of April 8, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) dpa article on FR Online , December 4, 2012, accessed on April 8, 2016.

[4] Adam Hetrick: Beautiful: The Carole King Musical Will Play Pre-Broadway Engagement in San Francisco . Playbill , May 1, 2013, accessed April 8, 2016.
Beautiful: The Carole King Musical on Broadway . beautifulonbroadway.com, accessed April 8, 2016.

[5] President and First Lady to Host Concert Honoring Carole King in the East Room . White House press release of May 17, 2013, accessed April 8, 2016 (George Gershwin Prize Awarded to Carole King)

[6] The 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time. Rolling Stone , August 2015, accessed August 8, 2017 .

[charts-7] Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US