The location was A&M Recording Studios in Los Angeles. It was January 1971. Two of the great singer-songwriters of their generation were at work in adjoining rooms. In Studio B, Carole King was galloping through the sessions for what would become the Tapestry album. In Studio C, Joni Mitchell was taking considerably longer to record her fourth album, the aptly named Blue. Studio A, incidentally, was occupied by the Carpenters, who were making a self-titled third album now considered to be one of their best.
Rarely has any studio been as stuffed with such gilded talent. It had been home to the Charlie Chaplin Studios for most of the 20th century but A&M Records took it over in 1966. The label chose it as the location for its top signings to realise their sonic dreams and in January 1971, a great deal of gold was mined just off Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.
The sound of someone finding their way in the world : Carole King s 1971 album Tapestry
The sky was blue, the breeze was cool, the Hollywood Hills twinkled in the sun. And as she sped towards Laurel Canyon with the roof down, 26-year-old Carole King could feel life hurtling forward to met her at a headlong pace.
“I turned right onto Laurel Canyon and revelled in the rush of wind blowing through my hair,” the singer-songwriter would write of her first experiences of LA in her 2012 memoir, A Natural Woman. “Other drivers were cruising up and down the canyon without a specific destination. I was going to the West Coast office of Columbia Music.”
chains the beatles did, i m into something good, which is part of the british invasion. we did discover this remarkable woman, carole king. carole king made the transition from being behind-the-scenes woman to a star in her own right. i feel the earth move under my feet, i feel the sky tumbling down i feel my heart start to trembling whenever you re around carole king is the embodiment of what happens. because in the 60s she is trying to write hit songs for other people. then in the 70s with tapestry it s the definition of an album of self-expression. let me go into my house in laurel canyon and tell you about my life. after church you always went out for pancakes. if you were lucky enough to ride in one of the girls cars, you know what you re listening to? tapestry.
out well i hit the rowdy road and many kinds i met there many stories told me all the ways to get there ooh so on and on i go the seconds tick the time out there s so much left to know and i m on the road to find out everyone was just trying to do whatever came into their head. in the early days paul and i, we wanted to be the goff and king of england. they were very big those days. we had no idea who the people were, who the mysterious mr. king was. we d written all these songs and chains that the beatles did, i m into something good, which was
very big those days. we had no idea who the people were, the mysterious mr. king was. who had written all these songs, chains the beatles did, i m into something good, which was part of the british invasion. we did discover this remarkable woman, carole king. carole king made the transition from being behind-the-scenes woman to a star in her own right. i feel the earth move under my feet, i feel the sky tumbling down i feel my heart start to tremble whenever you re around carole king is the embodiment of what happens. because in the 60s she is trying to write hit songs for other people. then in the 70s with tapestry it s the definition of an album of self-expression. let me go into my house in laurel canyon and tell you about my life. after church you always went out for pancakes. if you were lucky enough to ride in one of the girl s cars, you know what you re listening to? tapestry.