Monday, June 7, 2010

Still Friends

Carole King, now 68, has been a formidable presence on the music scene since, as a teenager, she wrote “Will You Love Me Tomorrow?” for the Shirelles in 1960 with her husband at the time, Gerry Goffin. Working primarily with Mr. Goffin, she wrote a staggering number of hits for other artists in the 1960s, including “Up on the Roof,” “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” and “Don’t Bring Me Down.” She was reluctant to perform, however, until James Taylor invited her to play piano in his band.  In the middle of his sets at the Troubador Club in Los Angeles, he would bring Ms. King forward to sing a few of her songs. 40 years later the two are on stage again, doing a world concert tour called "Troubadour Reunion". Well, it's not quite a reunion.  They were never formally a duo. They never fell out and never broke up. Most significantly they were never lovers. Maybe that's why Carole can still sing her song to James with conviction: "You've Got A Friend". 

1 comment:

  1. There are lots of cover versions of this song as well as approaches of harmonizing the melody – very interesting!

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