Carole King - Carole King - Her Greatest Hits: Songs Of Long Ago
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Artist: Carole KingBrand: Columbia
Edition: Music CD
Format: Extra tracks, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
CD Release Date: 1999-05-25
Music Label: Sony
Soundtracks:
- Jazzman
- So Far Away
- Sweet Seasons
- Brother, Brother
- Only Love Is Real
- I Feel The Earth Move
- It's Too Late
- Nightingale
- Been To Canaan
- Smackwater Jack
- Corazon
- Believe in Humanity
- Eventually - (bonus track, live)
- (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman (bonus track, live)
Music reviews of Carole King - Her Greatest Hits: Songs Of Long Ago
Music Review: Not a bad Collection - Shows more to King than 'Tapestry'
Rating: 3 Stars
I admit, I am not the biggest fan of Carole King as a vocalist. However as a songwriter and lyricist, I have been impressed with her work. Carole actually started out as a songwriter in the 1960s. She was well known for her songwriting collaborations with Gerry Goffin - these songs included Little Eva's "The Loco-Motion" and Aretha Franklin's "(You Make Me Feel) Like a Natural Woman". Eventually Carole would strike out on her own with a solo career. While her first solo effort, "Writer" was a bomb - her next album 1971's "Tapestry" became one of the landmark albums of the 1970s. Carole's albums that would follow "Tapestry" wouldn't measure up to the commercial success of that 1971 effort -but these follow-up albums still had much of the quality of that landmark album. Carole's recordings from the peak of her solo career from 1971-1975 are captured on the collection "Carole King - Her Greatest Hits: Songs of Long Ago". This selection captures some of her more popular tracks on one collection.
As mentioned, I am not the biggest fan of Carole's vocals. Although they are unique, they don't really impress me that much. Her music is what impresses me a lot more. Carole's music can best be described as a cross of Folk and Jazz. At times there are Blues interspersed in the mudic. The lyrics are also very folk-ish in style - but hey this was the 1970s and this was pretty much the trend for this time period. Although Carole incorporated a supporting band - it is the piano that is the core instrument used in her music. If Billy Joel is "The Piano Man", you can make an argument for Carole being "The Piano Lady".
This version is the remastered version of this collection. This collection contains 14 tracks. My version, the original version of "Her Greatest Hits" only included 12 tracks. Missing from my collection are the two bonus live tracks - "Eventually" and "(You Make Me Feel) Like a Natural Woman". But it is the 12 studio tracks that really are the core of this collection. These 12 tracks are taken from 6 albums. These 6 albums are: "Tapestry" ("It's Too Late", "I Feel the Earth Move", "So Far Away", "Smackwater Jack"); "Music" ("Brother Brother", "Sweet Seasons"); "Rhymes and Reasons" ("Been to Canaan"); "Fantasy" ("Corazon", "Believe in Humanity"); "Wrap Around Joy ("Nightingale", "Jazzman"); "Thoroughbred" ("Only Love is Real").
If you are looking at other Carole King greatest hits collection, the one collection that rivals "Her Greatest Hits" is "Natural Woman: The Ode Collection 1968-1976". This is a two-disc set that is much more comprehensive than "Her Greatest Hits". "Natural Woman" includes 36 tracks and does cover a larger period of time as well as going deeper. The 12-core studio tracks included on "Her Greatest Hits' are also included on the "Natural Woman" collection - the only exception to this is that "Believe in Humanity" is a live version. The two bonus live tracks that are included on the remastered "Her Greatest Hits" are not a part of the "Natural Woman" collection.
One thing that I usually prefer in a Greatest Hits collection is for the songs to be arranged in chronological order in which they were recorded and released. By listening to songs in chronological order, it allows me to see how an artist has progressed or changed over time. Unfortunately, "Her Greatest Hits" doesn't do this. The songs are in a mixed order with no real basis for how they were arranged.
As mentioned, Carole incorporates the use of a studio band. There have been some big name musicians that have worked with her on her efforts. The most notable name is Danny Kortchmar - who played electric guitar on several of Carole's albums. Leland Sklar - best known as the long-bearded basis from Phil Collins' "Serious" band plays electric bass on "Only Love is Real". That single also features "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack percussionist and musician Ralph MacDonald. In an ironic twist both Kortchmar and MacDonald, might have worked with "The Piano Lady", but they also worked with "The Piano Man" on separate occasions.
Carole is best known for her music from "Tapestry". Most people are familiar with the piano-laden songs "It's Too Late" and "I Feel the Earth Move" as well as the ballad "So Far Away". It is the fourth song from "Tapestry" that is included that I feel is the strongest. "Smackwater Jack" is a bluesy song that basically is a narrative. The music might be up tempo, but it is a dark narrative. It tells the story of a man named 'Smackwater Jack' who buys a shotgun and shoots down a congregation. He is eventually captured and hung without a trial.
I think Carole's strongest songs actually have come from other efforts she has released. "Jazzman" is probably my favorite track she has done. This song - while using the piano as the cornerstone instrument features some terrific horns. This song is a great example of the folkish lyrics integrated with a Jazz-like sound. I was disappointed only two songs from "Fantasy" were included. This was probably her most innovative work. However, the two tracks included still do justice. "Corazon" is a Latin tempo song. It could easily be mistaken for a Santana song with the guitar and percussion that is included. It is also impressive that the whole song is done in Spanish. "Believe in Humanity" is the other song from "Fantasy" - it has a bluesy piano sound - but lyrically sends a powerful message on the chorus "So don't tell me about the things you heard; Maybe I'm wrong but I want to believe in humanity".
The liner notes are pretty thin. There is an interesting twist on how the musician credits are told in the form of a narrative. While not as deep as "Natural Woman", this is still a pretty good collection to get acquainted with Carole's music. I'd recommend it.
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