A recent Facebook game suggested that you research what song was the number one hit on the day of your birth, find a YouTube video of said song, and post it. I find that most people aren't super sharey about their age, so I suspected it wouldn't catch on, but I loved the idea. Here's mine:
What is the power of music?
Moving earth, untameable emotions, tumbling passion - Oh, I am born of this stuff. Forever intellectual, often oddly serious, I'll drop it all for a dance, a laugh, a drink, a song. Love.
Apparently, even frizzy hair was socially acceptable in 1971.
At my finger tips in 2012: iTunes and the power and the financial danger of instant access to most media. Click, click, spend, Click, click, spend. "I Feel the Earth Move" is from Carole King's album "Tapestry," and I bought it, and I listened.
The experience had an unexpected parallel to that time I finally sat down and listened to Nirvana's Nevermind. Didn't see that one coming.
Like "Nevermind" there are a surprising number of tracks that are awesome songs I already know: "So Far Away," "It's Too Late," "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman." "You've Got a Friend" was a big hit for James Taylor that year, and ended up on a sorority slide show I made in the early 90s. I remember one sorority sister was "so over it" but I used it anyway and the slide show, which involved multiple songs, was way too long.
And "Where You Lead": AWESOME, as the Gilmore Girls theme song. I love that that song got redefined by one of my favorite shows. To me it feels more about friendship and family, thanks to Gilmore Girls.
"Will You Love Me Tomorrow" made me think of Vonda Shepard, and the title track, "Tapestry" made me think of Lorrie Morgan's "Something in Red." "Will You Love Me Tomorrow," at least according to this page right here, was on Season 4 of Ally McBeal, performed by Lisa Nicole Carson and Vonda Shepard. (Seriously, somewhere in the recesses of my mind, I remembered that?!) But as for "Tapestry," I have to admit that "Something In Red" gives me goosebumps in a way that "Tapestry" does not.
The CD reissue version of the album that's available on iTunes also comes with a bonus track, "Out In The Cold." This song brought Wanda Jackson to mind, but it hits a preachy note without being particularly catchy, and the original vinyl album was stronger without it.
I'm thinking here about physical media of a particular length encouraging creative choices and cutting the fat. But it feels too much like, "Oh, The good old days" and I'm more of an "Onward, Ho!" type person. Now we have all the space in the world and we're just going to have to learn to constrict ourselves when our art calls for it and fight the urge to just throw stuff in because we can. A new creative skill, since digital isn't going to do it for you.
That said, any album reissue is going to make the business end want to add bonus tracks.
And my favorite song on the album, and one I hadn't heard before, is "Smackwater Jack." LOVE this song that totally hits my sweetspot, and the CD reissue version of the album came with a live version bonus. Score!
So you win some, you lose some.
Someday, I am going to buy myself one of those all-in-one record players so that I can play my vinyl. Which I still have, and which I will never part with despite my regular purging of other physical media like books and CDs, etc. (I guess I do have a touch of nostalgia for the good old days, at least when it comes to music.) And someday, in my record cabinet, I'm holding a spot for Carole King's Tapestry. It's a wonderful album, and someday, I'm gonna spin it.
"Tapestry" is, quite simply, one of the best albums ever released. The fact that I grew up with it (I was almost 14 when it was released) might have something to do with that opinion, but there it is.
But also don't miss Carole King's other albums, including "Music", "Rhymes and Reasons", "Fantasy", and "Wrap-Around Joy". I wouldn't do without all of those in my collection.
Posted by: Barry Leiba | February 09, 2012 at 08:47 AM
Thanks, Barry! I was pretty blown away by it, and definitely hope to check out more Carole King in the future.
Posted by: lizriz | March 15, 2012 at 07:24 AM