Wednesday, April 16, 2008
I was confident I could do it but in the interest of honest and accurate journalism, I put myself to the test.
Carole King's "Tapestry" was an album I played countless times (we're talking THOUSANDS of hours) in high school. I had memorized every word of every song back then, and I was certain I could sing along with the newly-released, remastered "Tapestry" CD and not miss a note or a lyric.
So, on a warm afternoon, 37 years after the original "Tapestry" was released on vinyl, I put the disc in my car stereo and drove around town, singing at the top of my lungs. I was right. I remembered every word. (Ironic, isn't it? I can't recall the first name of my mail carrier but I can recite every word of a decades-old album. Go figure.)
King's 1971 masterpiece was, literally, the soundtrack of my life as a teenage girl. Listening to it again, brought me back to my sophomore year in high school, cruising with the windows down in my girlfriend's car, belting out "It's Too Late" or "I Feel the Earth Move" without a hint of inhibition.
The contest to win one of 5 copies of the new Tapestry Legacy Edition 2-CD set is closed, and we'd like to thank all of the BoomerGirls who shared their memories with us! We'll be sharing the winning entries with you as well, soon. Watch this space!
Comments
golfergirl (anonymous) says...
I don't have a specific memory so I won't enter the contest but it's great how these old songs have stood the test of time. My daughter even knows several of them. Right on, Carole!
April 16, 2008 at 5:05 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
lostinthe70s (anonymous) says...
i agree, golfergirl. im not sure i know every song by heart but i once did. i was in college at the time tapestry came out. i was in love with a guy who was across country at another college. "so far away" became my anthem.
April 16, 2008 at 10:56 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
llewis (anonymous) says...
"You've got a friend" was one of my favorite songs by Carol. I am one of the youngest baby boomers, born in 1964 the last year of boomers and I remember listening to Carol in a unique way. I had a transister radio that I would hold up to my ear and listen to for hours on end, singing along with the radio to whatever my favorite artists were singing. Carol King, James Taylor, Peter, Paul and Mary, Simon and Garfunkel, and Boby Dylan, just to name a few. From the age of 3 I loved music and it was a huge part of my life. My father used to take me to the coffee houses to hear all types of singers perform while my mother was home alone studying for college. This inspired a life long love of music which I have shared with my 15 year old son. The one who loves to raid my old music!
April 17, 2008 at 4:27 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
llewis (anonymous) says...
"You've got a friend" was one of my favorite songs by Carol. I am one of the youngest baby boomers, born in 1964 the last year of boomers and I remember listening to Carol in a unique way. I had a transister radio that I would hold up to my ear and listen to for hours on end, singing along with the radio to whatever my favorite artists were singing. Carol King, James Taylor, Peter, Paul and Mary, Simon and Garfunkel, and Bob Dylan, just to name a few. From the age of 3 I loved music and it was a huge part of my life. My father used to take me to the coffee houses to hear all types of singers perform while my mother was home alone studying for college. This inspired a life long love of music which I have shared with my 15 year old son. The one who loves to raid my old music!
April 17, 2008 at 4:28 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
patmcq (anonymous) says...
I was in grad school at the University of Kansas, living in a crackerbox of an apartment a block from the Street People hangout. One night a former undergrad. roommate appeared at the door holding Tapestry. Seems she had a KC friend who delivered albums upon request: "Give me 24 hours and I'll get you anything at half price." Hmmmm-- Anyway, the album got me through who knows how many papers (God, the thought of typing them on a typewriter makes me shudder) and campus disruptions. I took it with me when I returned to the "real" world to live in an even worse apartment as I taught junior high. I still have it I think, though I have nothing to play it on. Sooo last year I picked up a CD version--not well re-produced--but the ambience is still there.
April 18, 2008 at 6:02 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
karen7854 (anonymous) says...
I am a Baby Boomer Carole King is my teenage years. If I close my eyes I am laying on my twin bed listening to her album playing on my record player She made my Earth Move and my boyfriend did And I slept with his T-shirt to feel even closer-Nothing like the teenage love so passionate Carole King was the 70's
April 20, 2008 at 10:43 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
linreporter (anonymous) says...
"Tapestry" reminds me of the exhilarating freedom I felt in the fall of 1971 as a sophomore in college. It was my first year of living off campus, and I was so happy to be free of rules from my parents and regimented dorm life that I endured my freshman year.
One of the six women with whom I shared a big old brick house played the album seemingly nonstop. My room and her room were off of the kitchen, so there was no escaping Carole King. I didn't particularly care for the album, but it grew on me.
Funny how time changes your perspective.
In the years that followed, every time I heard a song from "Tapestry" I would think of Suzie H. who played the album over and over. She would leave her bedroom door wide open, and come out into the kitchen, singing along. I had heard later she married a minister and moved to Japan. I have no idea where she is now, and I wonder if she ever plays "Tapestry."
Because I grew to like the album musically, and for the memories attached to it, I have been tempted over the years to buy the CD, but have not done so yet.
Whenever I hear one of those songs on the radio, I think of those warm fall days on Wilson Street, the beautiful colorful leaves on the trees, the thrill of living on my own and the group of women - especially Suzie - who shared my second year of college in that big house.
April 20, 2008 at 1:36 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
viola (anonymous) says...
I was in high school-- and I was the weird girl on the periphery of the popular kids. Managed to get myself elected to student council, although no one could figure out how.
So I was a bit nerdy and a lot picked on.
I used to cry whenever I heard "You've Got a Friend." I wanted a friend like that.
I have a few of those now.
I still remember all the words of every song-- even the one I didn't like... which still seems to get way more radio play than it should!
April 21, 2008 at 2:05 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
bornin1955 (anonymous) says...
viola, do tell - what was the song you didn't like? the one they still play on the radio?
April 21, 2008 at 9:09 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
viola (anonymous) says...
Smackwater Jack... can't stand that song.
April 22, 2008 at 6:41 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
joanna414 (anonymous) says...
I can remember my mother playing this album over and over and over again while I was growing up. My mother used to sing along with Carole and my mother is actually quite a soulful singer! My favorite memories of this album do not relate to ONE specific song, but to an era of my life that really helped form me into who I am today! Carole's music makes you feel loved, and safe and secure. Her lyrics make you feel like you are not alone in any problems or issues that you may be facing. She writes about Friendship, and loss, and brings everyday realities to the forefront. Her words and music are just as powerful today as they were 20 years ago!
April 24, 2008 at 8:10 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ladyfinz (anonymous) says...
Ah,1971. A great year for wines and a high school student like myself. Our family had just moved from the city to the suburbs the previous year and I was still trying to assimilate into the culture. They say music opens a lot of doors and hearts and that was certainly true in my case. Being a new girl on the block was a bit intimidating but then Carole King came along. In the cafeteria one day, a new acquaintance stopped by where I was sitting, practically breathless with enthusiam. "Have you heard the new Carole King album, its awesome"! I said I hadn't, we chatted a bit, me becoming impatient as I was off to talk to some musicians I had recently met to start the interogations about this woman who had obvious talent, and who I knew little about.
The day was life changing for me. I found out about Carole King, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell et al. King's music paved the way for me to start conversations with people I wanted to get to know as we shared common, sacred ground. Her music was therapy that didn't cost more than the standard price of the album. She sang what we felt, what we wished and hoped for and at times eased our pain. It was a comfort to know that in her elevated and creative state, she felt what we felt, we all were sisters.
Many years later, I had surgery for cervical cancer scheduled and found out she was coming to Philadelphia on the same day. I proceeded to cancel the surgery and bought tickets to the concert for myself, my young daughter and my sister. I had missed her so many times before and was bound and determined to go see her if it was the last thing I did before I died (literally!). We went to the concert and I can't remember any part where my eyes were dry. King sang like an angel, had amazing possession of every musical instrument she touched and even in middle age exuded the same spiritual aura and physical beauty she carried as a 20 year old! I returned home that night, a high school student in my heart and mind. Full of hope, encouraged and renewed I rescheduled my surgery and had Carole Kings tapes at the hospital to help speed my recovery. The med students and my attendings loved the music and I was out in record time.
This 19 years later and cancer free since surgery, Carole King's videos, DVD's, old tapes and a few pictures adorn my sacred spaces in house. When I need to go "Up on a Roof", it is she who accompanies me. I play her music and am transformed. It can take me out of a funk, make me dance or still bring a tear to my eye. My husband (not as big a fan as I) had the great fortune to see her at a political fund raiser a few years back. He came home energized and beaming to tell me the news that he had met her(a suprize appearance). He could finally appreciate my respect and love for her music. Needless to say when Carole King music comes on the radio or TV, we both cast each other a knowing look and then go back to her,mesmerized.
April 26, 2008 at 12:14 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
foontou (anonymous) says...
"It's Too Late" My first boyfriend. He cheated and we broke up. I used to cry while singing along to that song. And after a week or so I felt better and felt my self esteem came back. I felt strong and ready to forget what's his name. I even dated his best friend, who turned out to be a wonderful person and is a friend till this day! I still cry a little when ever I hear that song. Yet I have great memories of the Tapestry
album and how that song helped me get over my first boyfriend!
April 26, 2008 at 1:49 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
3JSMOM (anonymous) says...
WOW!!! The very first CD I bought was "Tapestry". I'm from the "album" era. I was in highschool when the album first came out and I loved it!I played every song over and over again then and now. When I bought my little ipod shuffle, (that little thing has changed my life, but thats a different story), the first songs I had my daughter put on it was songs from that album!! What memories it brought back! Another thing that makes it special to me is...My sisters and I went to see Carole King in 2004 in Meabowbrook, N.H. What a show, the stage was set up as her own living room! so personal and cozy. Well at the time we didn't know that one of our sisters was very ill, (neither did she), and it was the last concert we got to enjoy together, (one of our pastimes was concerts). She passed away 5 months after that concert and for awhile I couldn't listen to Carole King's songs as it was too painful and saddened me so. Now I cherish that last concert and the happiness of what Carole King brought us that night. love her!
May 23, 2008 at 1:11 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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