Search - Carole King :: Writer

Writer, It Isn't Well Known, Think Again!!!

Lee Armstrong | 04/23/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I wrote a review just like this but I found an error, I fixed it. This is the corrected version. Hi everyone, just a quick brush up. I wrote the review on "Writer," called, "Oh yes, Carole King so glad you are here!!!!!," on November 27, 2005. After listening to this album more, my appreciation for it grew. The reason Carole King is well known is for her timeless classic, "Tapestry." Has Writer with it's ever-flowing lyrics and soft, gentle music ever been called a "Timeless Classic"? Well it has now, by me. This timeless classic delivers 12 beautiful in a heart-warming and sweet way. Just think, doesn't "Goin' Back," remind you of your childhood? Does "Child Of Mine," make you think of that special child in your life. This album is priceless. The flowing lyrics and soft gentle music will be sure to make tears well up in your eyes. This album is excellent. This album makes us think of warm, cozy 70's, instead of the ones we had. "Writer," is a beautiful album by a truly heartful artist, give it up for Carole King, she has done it again. You may not know it, you may know it, but this album is MORE timeless than Elvis, the king of rock and roll. Again, that's just my opinion. Carole King has certainly out done herself with this excellent album. Let's hear it for "Writer," and Carole King.

P.S. I am now 11. I have been familiar with Carole King since I was 9. So take it from me, this album is excellent."

The Wonders You See

Lee Armstrong | Winterville, NC United States | 07/27/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Music can attach itself to a specific period in our lives. I was a freshman in college in Normal, Illinois with parents living in Asia. I entered school not knowing anyone. I rented a record player and music was my first companion. I recall going to the record store & having to order this album because the owner had never heard of Carole King. That was to change forever with the release of her next album Tapestry. I've picked up the CD because they don't make cars with turntables! Many lovely pieces of music this CD contains!



As I listen to this set, the thing that impresses me is how musically adventurous Carole's first set is. "To Love" is a beautiful song, albeit not one for which this set is usually remembered. Carole incorporates country elements as she sings, "There are those of us too cool for passion, We're the ones that it could do some good. And there are those who say it's out of fashion, they're the ones who only wish they could." Interestingly, Kim Carnes & Ian Matthews recorded the track, but there never was a hit country version as far as I know. Similarly, "Raspberry Jam" is not usually the song for which this set is recalled, yet Carole experiments with a jazz fusion such as her friends Danny Kortchmar & Abigale Haness who perform on "Writer" did in their cult classic of the same year Jo Mama. The interplay of guitars & piano and the breezy harmonies make it a lovely jazz track in the midst of this pop album, "It's time to begin again!" "Although you see the world different than me, sometimes I can touch upon the wonders that you see; All the new colors and pictures you've designed; Oh yes, sweet darlin', so glad you are a child of mine" Carole sings on "Child of Mine," one of the most beautiful songs about the joy of being a parent. "Goin' Back" is a tremendous song for its simple wisdom, lovely melody and Carole's lovely vocal expression, "Thinking young and growing older is no sin & I can play the game of life to win." Many including Freddie Mercury, The Pretenders and The Byrds have sung the song. There is a sweet version by Goldie on the compilation CD Goin' Back - Songs of Goffin and King. "Eventually" marries a lovely melody to another thoughtful lyric, "Love was a slogan coincidentally; and they told us they would work it out eventually." The set concludes with Carole's version of "Up On the Roof." "Writer" will always rest in the shadow of "Tapestry," but what a large place that is! It is well worth exploring and discovering nearly 40 years later. Bravo!

"

Carole King: Writer

James Peyton | columbia, sc United States | 07/14/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The title tells us of King's hesitation to embrace the spotlight of a solo artist, and her vocals on "The City" album sounds a more self-assured than they do here for the most part. However, "Writer" has three of the best tracks that King ever put on vinyl, "Goin' Back," "Child of Mine," and "Up on the Roof." Carole later recorded the first two songs on different albums, both more solidly than she did on Writer, but for whatever reasons, on this album they communicate more. Perhaps it is her youth here, her earnest approach, and the teaming up with Danny Kortchmar and James Taylor that make the tracks come alive more so than they do a decade plus later on "Pearls" or "For Our Children" (a Disney cd). "Going Back" thankfully has all of the interplay between Taylor and King at the end that was cut from the first pressing of the cd and barely audible on the vinyl. "Up on the Roof" is, of course, the highlight of the album, and Carole's phrasing, arrangement, and piano playing are equal to anything else she has recorded. I don't understand why James Taylor is listed on the song credit on the back for "Up On the Roof." He doesn't sing on the track, but does play guitar; he is much more a part of "Going Back" and the listing would have made sense there. One can only guess that his name is a marketing ploy where one is not needed. "No Easy Way Down" and "Eventually" are also great songs that make this a great album with typical Carole King keyboards and among the best lyrics that Gerry Goffin wrote. The one negative is the sound. First, Adler did not produce, and John Fishbach seems less sure of what to do with Carole's voice. It sounds as if he tried to enhance, and at time as the previous reviewer states, the voice becomes nasal. Also, if you are a musician and trying to get some hooks from the songs or play along, the pitch is slightly off. This is the only King album that I have ever encountered that had this problem, again a sign of a producer and recording engineer not trusting the product. Regardless, I am thankful for this new recording, clear and and more detailed, of Carole's first album. It has always given me a sense of an incredible journey in music I have taken with her for the last thirty plus years."