Carole King: The Essential Carole King

[The Absolute Sound]

<p>
<em>The Essential Carole King </em>is not your typical “greatest hits” package. Although this collection contains plenty of hits—King, after all, is fully or partially responsible for a startling number of chart-topping songs—the word “essential” suggests a deeper purpose: to place King in the pantheon of 20th-century singer- songwriters, and the first female of the bunch. Disc One, <em>The Singer, </em>focuses on 18 of King’s own recordings, starting with 1962’s doo-wop-ish “It Might As Well Rain Until September.” To these ears, the remaining tunes offer a very mixed set. Aside from four selections from King’s sole masterpiece, <em>Tapestry</em>, too many of these songs sound alike—treacle-washed, piano-driven ballads sung in King’s limited, rather nasal voice, which, despite its limitations, admittedly holds an allure. Disc Two, <em>The Songwriter</em>, offers a far livelier overview of King’s undeniably powerful gifts. Fourteen of these 15 tunes were co-written with King’s then-husband, Gerry Goffin, including The Shirelles’ “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” Bobby Vee’s “Take Good Care Of My Baby,” Little Eva’s catchy “The Loco-Motion,” Maxine Brown’s “Oh No Not My Baby,” Aretha Franklin’s “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” and The Byrds’ “Wasn’t Born To Follow.” Sonics, while serviceable, range from scratchy and compressed to a solid C+.*</p>



[Source: http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/carole-king-the-essential-carole-king/]

 

[GaryProtein]

<p>
<em>The Essential Carole King </em>is not your typical “greatest hits” package. Although this collection contains plenty of hits—King, after all, is fully or partially responsible for a startling number of chart-topping songs—the word “essential” suggests a deeper purpose: to place King in the pantheon of 20th-century singer- songwriters, and the first female of the bunch. Disc One, <em>The Singer, </em>focuses on 18 of King’s own recordings, starting with 1962’s doo-wop-ish “It Might As Well Rain Until September.” To these ears, the remaining tunes offer a very mixed set. Aside from four selections from King’s sole masterpiece, <em>Tapestry</em>, too many of these songs sound alike—treacle-washed, piano-driven ballads sung in King’s limited, rather nasal voice, which, despite its limitations,admittedly holds an allure. Disc Two, <em>The Songwriter</em>, offers a far livelier overview of King’s undeniably powerful gifts. Fourteen of these 15 tunes were co-written with King’s then-husband, Gerry Goffin, including The Shirelles’ “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” Bobby Vee’s “Take Good Care Of My Baby,” Little Eva’s catchy “The Loco-Motion,” Maxine Brown’s “Oh No Not My Baby,” Aretha Franklin’s “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” and The Byrds’ “Wasn’t Born To Follow.” Sonics, while serviceable, range from scratchy and compressed to a solid C+.*</p>

You mean like a pregnant horse???? :lol:

I would add her to the list of singer songwriters, which are mostly men, who should have other people sing their songs because of their vocal limitations.

 

[Mike]

You mean like a pregnant horse???? :lol:

I would add her to the list of singer songwriters, which are mostly men, who should have other people sing their songs because of their vocal limitations.

Ouch!

 

[MusicDirector]

I have Carol King's Tapestry album, no music collection is complete without it. I agree that she has a very limited vocal range, but who isn't limited? I also agree that there are songs that she should not have attempted to sing because they are out of her range. That said though, while I agree hearing her do Natural Woman is a bit hard on the ears, I have not heard anybody do "I feel the earth move" like she can do it, she rocks it. I find her enjoyable on the songs in her range and let's not put aside her writing skills. The other bad part though is that Tapestry was poorly engineered unfortunately, but not her fault.

 

[GaryProtein]

I like Carole King's music, I just can't listen to her sing it.

 

[MusicDirector]

It's just like everything else. Some stuff would sound weird if Carol King did not sing it and some stuff sounds bad when she sings it. It's like the battle I did between Petula Clark and Lulu. Petula Clark and Lulu are equally capable of rockin it pretty hard. For me personally I can listen to Petula longer than I can Lulu although both have a good set of pipes. Petula has a wider range than Lulu, but there are some things she just doesn't sound right on. All that though, I still enjoy both for their abilities and what they bring to the party.