Sunday, May 30, 2004
"You've got to get up every morning with a smile on your face..."
Lazy Morning, Saturday, May 29:
Carole King, Fantasy
Carole King, Rhymes and Reasons
It's been a busy spring. I can't really remember that last time I have had the opportunity to sit on the couch on a saturday morning, brew coffee, read, dick around online, and mine through my record collection. While I blame the lack of coffee brewing on the lack of grocery shopping as of late, it all points back to the same thing: being so damn busy. With both of my spring concerts behind me, a still-sleeping (I feel terrible that she feels the need to get up when I do) girlfriend, a virtually unread copy of Rolling Stone (thanks to my "christian" friend for giving me a half-year subscription for my b-day cos' it's only half as shitty as I thought this rag was), and the perfect amount of sunlight (or lack thereof) coming through my living room window, i went about my brewing and listening. It makes for hard choosing on mornings like this, because, like a good music supervisor for a film, you want to maintain or enhance the mood, rather than create it. Hmmm... laid back and relaxing, but interesting enough to keep me awake, yet not familiar enough that I'll still really feel like I am doing some hardcore, though, passive listening. One answer: Carole King: One of the most underrated songwriters EVER. Sure, we all know "I Feel the Earth Move", "So Far Away", and "It's Too Late" like the back of our hands (didn't all suburban moms of children born between 1974 and 1979 living in the New York Metro Area listen to 106.7, Lite FM>), did you know that she also wrote a bunch of songs that have been made ridiculously famous by other people. Take for example: "You've Got a Friend". While James Taylor DID play guitar on the Carole King's version (from Tapestry, and absolute neccessity in ALL collections), and made it a hit, it was she who wrote it. She's also repsonsible for "Up on the Roof" (The Drifters), "The Locomotion" (Little Eva), "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" (I forget, you do the research), all co-written with then-husband Gerry Goffin. She's also got a co-write credit on "(You Make Me Feel) Like a Natural Woman", which we all know either a) because we know Aretha Franklin is aweseome, or b) because we've seen those old Chic jeans commercials. Anyhoo, if I only wanted comfort, I would have reached for Tapestry, which I (and my entire family) know inside out and every which way to sunday; but like I said before, I wanted to feel like i was "discovering" something. Over the last year and half, I have been inheriting my girlfriend's uncle's record collection. So far, I have scored the entire Led Zeppelin catalogue, what MUST be the entire Olivia Newton John collection, the SECOND Meat Loaf record Dead Ringer, a Jim Steinman solo record, Blizzard of Ozz, and no less than TWO "Greatest Hits" Dionne Warick compilations. Also included in one of these shipments were all of the Carole King releases (save the one "No Easy Way Down" is on) from the 1970's. I really don't know any of the songs from either of the records I listened to yesterday morning, but I know that they were unmistakably Carole King. Aside from her soulful rasp and uncanny ability to make it sound like you're sitting next to her on the piano bench, you get all the other affectations on a King record: the silky smooth, yet organic sounding, 70's vibe, the earth tone album art, and most importantly and idicatively, mediocre session musicians trying to sound like a great R&B groub - but wait! - at some point in the middle of Fantasy I realized that the backing band actually sounded great. I don't know if she changed players or if they took a crash course with Motown folks (and it was a lazy saturday morn, thus too lazy a time to read liners, let alone compare them), but it sounded like a GOT-DAMN Marviin Gaye record!!! It has all sortsa great pre-disco grooves and, for once, made Carole King sound like what she actually is: the most soulful white woman since Dusty Springfield. Another great surprise: this record (Fantasy and NOT Rhymes and Reasons) had a real flow to it. I wasn't paying enough attention to test my theory (I was really enjoying th RS cover story on D12 at this point), but it seems like the songs melded seemlessly into one another. Between that, the 70's vibe, and the great playing by the backup band, this is definitely an album worth investigating further - even if it does ruin its "unknown" appeal. As per Rhymes and Reasons: I think i started washing dishes or something at that point... and so went my lazy saturday.
Carole King, Fantasy
Carole King, Rhymes and Reasons
It's been a busy spring. I can't really remember that last time I have had the opportunity to sit on the couch on a saturday morning, brew coffee, read, dick around online, and mine through my record collection. While I blame the lack of coffee brewing on the lack of grocery shopping as of late, it all points back to the same thing: being so damn busy. With both of my spring concerts behind me, a still-sleeping (I feel terrible that she feels the need to get up when I do) girlfriend, a virtually unread copy of Rolling Stone (thanks to my "christian" friend for giving me a half-year subscription for my b-day cos' it's only half as shitty as I thought this rag was), and the perfect amount of sunlight (or lack thereof) coming through my living room window, i went about my brewing and listening. It makes for hard choosing on mornings like this, because, like a good music supervisor for a film, you want to maintain or enhance the mood, rather than create it. Hmmm... laid back and relaxing, but interesting enough to keep me awake, yet not familiar enough that I'll still really feel like I am doing some hardcore, though, passive listening. One answer: Carole King: One of the most underrated songwriters EVER. Sure, we all know "I Feel the Earth Move", "So Far Away", and "It's Too Late" like the back of our hands (didn't all suburban moms of children born between 1974 and 1979 living in the New York Metro Area listen to 106.7, Lite FM>), did you know that she also wrote a bunch of songs that have been made ridiculously famous by other people. Take for example: "You've Got a Friend". While James Taylor DID play guitar on the Carole King's version (from Tapestry, and absolute neccessity in ALL collections), and made it a hit, it was she who wrote it. She's also repsonsible for "Up on the Roof" (The Drifters), "The Locomotion" (Little Eva), "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" (I forget, you do the research), all co-written with then-husband Gerry Goffin. She's also got a co-write credit on "(You Make Me Feel) Like a Natural Woman", which we all know either a) because we know Aretha Franklin is aweseome, or b) because we've seen those old Chic jeans commercials. Anyhoo, if I only wanted comfort, I would have reached for Tapestry, which I (and my entire family) know inside out and every which way to sunday; but like I said before, I wanted to feel like i was "discovering" something. Over the last year and half, I have been inheriting my girlfriend's uncle's record collection. So far, I have scored the entire Led Zeppelin catalogue, what MUST be the entire Olivia Newton John collection, the SECOND Meat Loaf record Dead Ringer, a Jim Steinman solo record, Blizzard of Ozz, and no less than TWO "Greatest Hits" Dionne Warick compilations. Also included in one of these shipments were all of the Carole King releases (save the one "No Easy Way Down" is on) from the 1970's. I really don't know any of the songs from either of the records I listened to yesterday morning, but I know that they were unmistakably Carole King. Aside from her soulful rasp and uncanny ability to make it sound like you're sitting next to her on the piano bench, you get all the other affectations on a King record: the silky smooth, yet organic sounding, 70's vibe, the earth tone album art, and most importantly and idicatively, mediocre session musicians trying to sound like a great R&B groub - but wait! - at some point in the middle of Fantasy I realized that the backing band actually sounded great. I don't know if she changed players or if they took a crash course with Motown folks (and it was a lazy saturday morn, thus too lazy a time to read liners, let alone compare them), but it sounded like a GOT-DAMN Marviin Gaye record!!! It has all sortsa great pre-disco grooves and, for once, made Carole King sound like what she actually is: the most soulful white woman since Dusty Springfield. Another great surprise: this record (Fantasy and NOT Rhymes and Reasons) had a real flow to it. I wasn't paying enough attention to test my theory (I was really enjoying th RS cover story on D12 at this point), but it seems like the songs melded seemlessly into one another. Between that, the 70's vibe, and the great playing by the backup band, this is definitely an album worth investigating further - even if it does ruin its "unknown" appeal. As per Rhymes and Reasons: I think i started washing dishes or something at that point... and so went my lazy saturday.
