Tapestry

Why has Carol King's 1971 recording Tapestry stood the test of time? Two words: sincerity and emotion. The CD I bought from Amazon came with a sticker announcing: "4X Grammy Winner! Over 11 Million Sold! Every song's a classic!" But that really doesn't explain why, whether you're an "old timer" who got the original on vinyl or a young person experiencing King for the first time, Tapestry is so fresh, vital and appealing from start to finish. It's not just King's superb white-soul sing-along melodies, or her music's wonderful rhythms, or the incredible variety of songs on this beautifully remastered CD. King wrote for a LOT of other artists who recorded her music and became very famous doing so doing the songs on this CD. Indeed, when she recorded this in 1971 she was not as well-known to the general public as her music -- but that quickly changed when this became one of the great-selling LPs of all time. The secret is in her unpretentious, 100-per-cent post-liberated woman singing. She means EVERY word, every phrase and it comes across. Each jaunty song is a tasteful, at times playful, mini-drama. People often say that "so and so" (fill in the blank here) is the female equivalent of Frank Sinatra, considered the King of singing lyrics with supreme sincerity. But the REAL queen is definitely King. Her lyrics (happy and sad) don't just come alive, they're bursting with life-force as much as her music is bursting with worldclass melodies and rhythms. Example: James Taylor grew increasingly famous (and rich) with his smash recording of You've Got a Friend. But his does not contain one-millionth the sincerity of King's rendition. Anyone who's ever "down" should listen to her sing the song -- and you'll feel like you do have a friend. And gift this to a beloved friend or relative and tell them THAT SONG is for them and when they listen they will completely get the message, a message King delivers right from the heart. When the concert-challenged (she did not like to perform in public) King sings her songs the more famous versions of her music performed by more famous artists seem like elevator music in comparison. Her "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" is laced with vulnerability unmatched by any other singer. `It's Too Late" takes on a near-defiant tone due to her phrasing. She also does unparalleled work with the more upbeat songs such as "Where You Lead' and (my favorite) `I Feel the Earth Move" (our unofficial theme song here in California). If you've heard King, get, listen to and savor this remastered CD. If you love someone, gift it. If you're a young musician or singer listen to and EMULATE a master writer and performer. King's lyrics, music, rhythms and sincerity haunted and moved me in 1971 and they do today since this CD is every milligram good as it was when it was first recorded. According to the liner notes, Tapestry was #1 for 15 weeks, on the charts for more than six years, and earned four Grammies including Record of the Year (for It's Too Late) and Song of the Year (You've Got a Friend." This CD also contains two wonderful previously unreleased bonus tracks.

Best album. Timeless songs and perfect delivery. Essential

Rather than delve into the details of Carole King's best album that have already been stated by other reviewers, I will simply state my comments. This was one of my very favorite albums as a teen. I didn't buy a lot, and used my babysitting money (50 cents/hour back then!) for this one along with The Carpenters, Neil Diamond, John Denver, Jim Croce, Simon & Garfunkel - that was my youth's music! I loved Tapestry so much that when I was given an assignment in poetry class to review a record album for its lyrics, this is the one I picked. Fast forward 50+ years, and I am a Nana to a beautiful granddaughter who turns 16 next week. She is not your average 16 year old girl. Her parents are music lovers, and have introduced her to the great music of the 60s-70s, and she loves it, as well as jazz & blues, and some modern music too. She's very selective. She gets really into the lyrics, and life stories of the writers, and loves to discuss these with me and others. She loves Simon & Garfunkel, and has asked for a CD of them and/or Paul Simon alone for her birthday. So in addition to Bridge Over Troubled Water, she is getting her own copy of Carole King's Tapestry. I just recently bought one for myself, having lost track ov the album over the decades, and realized all over again how much this music impacted my growing up years. It's now in my sewing room's boom box rotation. I want the same for her - she needs to have You've Got a Friend memorized for her lifetime, just like I have. As well as the other wonderful pieces on this album. It's timeless!

Great product

Great CD This CD is one of the best by a talented artist who wrote for many other popular singers. I purchased the vinyl album when it first came out in 1971. I needed a version to play digitally in my vehicles, and this was it. Great quality audio ripped to a thumb drive to add to all my favorite music. .

'I Feel The Earth Move' is a good song with good beats and great vocals by Carole King and her background singers; 'So Far Away' is a nice song with a nice melody and nice vocals by Carole; 'It's Too Late' is a nice yet sad song about a painful breakup (nice melody and nice vocals by Carole and her background singers and I can definitely relate to the lyrics in the song); 'Home Again' is another nice song with a nice melody and nice vocals; 'Beautiful' is a great song with a great melody, great lyrics and great vocals (once again, I can definitely relate to the lyrics in the song); 'Way Over Yonder' is a nice song with a nice melody and nice vocals by Carole and her background singers (the song sounds like a spiritual song and I love the lyrics); 'You've Got A Friend' is a very beautiful song with a beautiful melody, beautiful lyrics and beautiful vocals by Carole! I can, once again, relate to the lyrics in the song, it's a spiritual song and Carole definitely deserved the 'GRAMMY' for 'Song of the Year'! Singer James Taylor covered the song as well as other artists but I prefer Carole's version the best; 'Where You Lead' is a nice song with nice beats and nice vocals; 'Will You Love Me Tomorrow?' is a song girl group The Shirelles sang and their version is nice and Carole's version is even nicer with a nice melody and nice vocals by Carole and her background singers; 'Smackwater Jack' is a good song with good beats and good vocals (the song sounds like a Blues song); 'Tapestry' is a nice song with a nice melody and nice vocals; ('You Make Me Feel Like') 'A Natural Woman' is a song the late 'Queen of Soul' singer Aretha Franklin sang and her version is nice; Carole's version is also nice with a nice melody and nice vocals; 'Out In The Cold' (Previously Unreleased) is a good song with good beats and good vocals; 'Smackwater Jack' (Previously Unreleased Live Version) is good but I prefer the album version better. REST IN POWER to singer/songwriter Ms. Aretha Louise Franklin (March 25, 1942-August 16, 2018): 'You may be gone but you will never, ever be, forgotten.' The album is 50 years old (1971) and it is a classic album with classic songs that resonates with me. Thank you very much, Ms. King, for making such a beautiful yet brilliant album! Gog Bless you!

Will always be one of my all time favorite classic cds

Ok most are talking about the music, I am not going to do that in my review, any of you who read my reviews know that I I'm way more technical in my reviews then most may be, and if your here you allready know the album and the music on this 1971 classic. But if your interested in knowing what I think of the sound quality please keep reading. So let's focus on the sound quality, this has been Newly Mastered which can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how the Mastering is done and who is actually doing it. This is key as for those of you who may not know, the mastering process is the final step to polishing the sound and making sure that everything is perfect before it's actualy available to purchase. If the mastering engineer is top flight and knows his stuff he can make a great album sound like an amazing album. This is definitely the case with this CD, I own the original 1971 vinyl pressing, and I can say this is true to the original, unlike some CD's that were destroyed by pushing levels to the max and over limiting thus crushing the life from the music, or just adding a bunch of highs making for a harsh sounding CD, that is absolutely not the case here nothing has been crushed or sounds overdone as with so many re-releases and re-mastered versions this was very well done and it shows based on how it sounds. I am listining to this CD via a set of Polk monitors an Onkyo CD Player and an Onkyo Amp as my ref ... The main difference here is this CD has better clarity with a nice sheen present on all the tracks, and a dynamic punchy feel that's presented much better in this version then the original in my opinion, hats off to Sony for choosing the right guy for the job, they did not let Jon Astley touch this one, and a good thing he is known to really destroy most things he touches, "Jon if your reading this please sell scones instead of Mastering", I have a few Tori CD's that have been Mastered by him and they sound god awfulI, this on the other hand was Mastered by Vic Anesini from the original ODE source tapes, and I feel he did a fantastic job breathing new life into this classic, I actually really like the punchy dynamic quality of the tracks he brought out, they really come to life now. So overall I would say this is a def must have for any fan of the original, Note: that some are reviewing a 2 disc set, My review is based on the 1999 single CD, buy it you will not be disappointed.

The album, the 50th anniversary vinyl edition is very disappointing with a very muddy mix and sound. It would seem to me that it has not been re mastered for this vinyl edition. I use high end gear and the sound is not as it should be with Carols vocals often sitting to the right of centre. I have the CD so can make a comparison, again disappointing. I have not listened to it again.

Una pietra miliare del pop, ispirazione per numerose versioni dei pezzi inclusi, ma sono gli originali che fanno la storia

Grandes canciones. Gran álbum

This was a birthday gift for my daughter in law and I know she will really enjoy it

Amazing