Happy Birthday, Carole King

Carole King is 82 today. Happy Birthday, Carole!
And now, my rant begins: She is a legend. Music is art. Art is subjective. I’ve concluded that giving awards for music and acting is as irrelevant as it would be to give awards for fine art.
Imagine applying this practice to the great painters: “And the award for best self-portrait by an artist with one ear goes to…” It’s stupid. The statue of David has been quite successful without the preface of “award-winning marble carving.” Art is what it is, personal, and the measure of its worth is in the response evokes from viewers or listeners. (If only I were in charge.) For that reason, a list of Carole King’s achievements is meaningless.

Okay, let’s do it anyway: aside from the 118 songs she has either written or co-written for others, she has recorded 25 solo albums. “Tapestry” held the record for “most weeks at No. 1 by a female artist” for over 20 years. Sales have exceeded 75 million copies worldwide; part of that count might have to do with the change in music formats. I’m responsible for some of that bump. I purchased “Tapestry” as an album, as an eight-track tape, a cassette, and a CD. I’m not sure if paid Apple to put on my iPod. That was the last time I bought music.
She has won four Grammy Awards, has been inducted into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of fame, the Gershwin Prize at the Library of Congress, and she is a Kennedy Center Honoree.

Forget the honors, be impressed by Carole King’s music. Her lyrics are poetry and when combined with her voice, an arrow piercing through the heart is too mild. I feel cleaved by the weight of a Damascus steel sword, and left to bleed out. I worship her music; I do.
“Will You Love Me Tomorrow” “So Far Away” “It’s Too Late” I could continue, or you could listen to the album.

The most surprising thing to me is the list of songs she has written for other people: “One Fine Day” ~The Chiffons, “Loco-motion” ~ Little Eva, “Take Care of My Baby” ~Bobby Vee, “Pleasant Valley Sunday” ~ The Monkeys “Some Kind of Wonderful” ~The Drifters “I’m Into Something Good” ~Herman’s Hermits, “You’ve Got a Friend” ~James Taylor, to name a few.

Many of these songs were still popular when I was a child. Some were before my time, but discovered later. I feel King belongs to my generation. As a child, I belted out her songs, when I was sure no one could hear me, as far back as I remember. I felt like she’d written them for me. My car ate my Tapestry eight-track tape and the album played on repeat until the threads were too worn to hold the needle. How many lives has her music touched?

Anyway, Carole King seems contemporary to me. Hearing her age today was shocking. My mother’s 90th birthday is in two weeks. It is unfathomable to me that only eight years separate them. They could not be more different.

Have I seen the play, the jukebox musical ‘Beautiful’ that encompasses her early career? No. I almost saw it twice. The first missed opportunity when it was on its initial run in London. I was there for a minute but couldn’t find anyone to join me, and was a coward who didn’t want to go alone.
When people reach a certain age, they’re asked if they have any regrets. The cliché answer is they regret the things they didn’t do. I can attest to that.
The second lost opportunity was this December. It was playing at a modest theater close to where I live. My theater nerd daughter said she’d go with me, but Covid struck. I admit, I was not heartbroken to miss it. I’m a snob about drama. This one in particular, I wonder, who could do her justice in a small theater?

Theater and concert prices have risen beyond my price range, the big shows. I’m old enough to remember seeing Broadway productions for $50. Let me qualify that. It was a seat with an “obstructed view” purchased the day of. My seat had me straddling a giant support beam, but hey, I can say I saw Tommy on Broadway. I went back another time and had a normal view. I’ve been lucky enough to see quite a few shows. There are affordable ways to experience plays if you’re flexible or have a generous sister. Here’s a tip: Broadway.com sells reduced price tickets on the day of. And for those of you who have made it to the end of this post, I’m going to share an app that I promised to keep on the down low. TixToday- same day tickets. Avoid “obstructed view” because they aren’t exaggerating.

Alright, Happy Birthday, Carol King, and thank you for your work.

*I hate “Natural Woman” but I forgive you. No one is perfect.