Forty-five years after becoming a global sensation with her album Tapestry, Carole King is finally ready to sing it in public.
The 1971 work by the New York-born singer soared to number one in the US and several other countries and won the prestigious Grammy for Album Of The Year but King, paralysed by stage fright, did not tour to support it.
The now 74-year-old King announced recently that she would sing Tapestry for the first time in its entirety on July 3 as she headlines the BST Hyde Park festival in London.
King said on Facebook that she would be performing with Don Henley, a founding member of The Eagles, as well as her daughter Louise Goffin.
Tapestry, which sold more than 25 million copies around the world, featured major pop hits like I Feel The Earth Move and It’s Too Late.
The album closed on (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman which King had initially written for Aretha Franklin who made it a hit in 1967.
King had been little known at the time of Tapestry, making her living as a behind-the-scenes songwriter for established acts.
But Tapestry had star power through backing musical support by Joni Mitchell and James Taylor, major folk rockers from the 1960s counterculture.
Tapestry won a following in part by offering easy-on-the-ears positive messages at a time of political tumult in the US. King nonetheless has in later years become known for her political activism, especially on environmental causes.
While King never played Tapestry from front to back in public, she has toured regularly in recent years, although the London show will be her first in Britain since 1989.
King has enjoyed a revival of interest with the launch of a Broadway musical on her life entitled Beautiful, which is being turned into a movie co-produced by Tom Hanks. – AFP Relaxnews
