We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago…..
How tough is it to follow up one of the best albums of all time? We found out in late 1971 when Carole King released her 2nd LP of the year…”Music”. It, of course, was the follow up to “Tapestry” which was still on the charts at the time.
While not as ground-breaking as “Tapestry” was, this LP does show some of the same heritage. The longing songs…the breakup songs…the songs of love…and songs of the road.
The backing is similar to Tapestry as well featuring Charles Larkey on bass, Danny Kortchmar on guitar, Joel O’Brien on drums and Curtis Amy on sax & flute…plus a bunch of her friends including James Taylor who adds his voice and acoustic guitar to a number of the cuts including a solid tune called “Song of Long Ago”.
The singles were nice…”Sweet Seasons” rocked gently and a stripped down “It’s Gonna Take Some Time” contrasted nicely with the lush cover version from the Carpenters that also made the charts.
She also does a version of a tune that she & Gerry Goffin wrote in 1962 and was a hit for the Drifters. It worked better for them.
Some other standouts included the funky “Brother, Brothers” which some think was an answer to Marvin Gaye’s “Whats Goin On” from earlier in the year. I also like the linkage of the piano and horns on “Carry Your Load”, the expansive sax solo from Amy on the title track, and the uptempo love letter to her home state “Back To California” , which allowed her to workout on the electric piano.
It was her second straight LP to hit #1. It wasn’t Tapestry (what could be?) but it showed that King wasn’t a flash in the pan and would be around for awhile.
