Carole King

A little sad to have just finished Carole King's new memoir, A Natural Woman. I felt so inspired as I found myself immersed in her unending world of musical creativity. Some facts are just extraordinary - I was amazed to find out that she was only 18 when she wrote this song with Gerry Goffin for the Shirelles, including the string arrangement (I always loved that one)- her first attempt at string arranging for a recording I think. And of course, she also wrote some of my all-time favorite songs, wether sung by her or others...here are a couple of quotes from the book that struck a chord with me:

- (on songwriting) "Alabaster Lady is one of those songs that came through me, rather than from me. As soon as I recognize that a song is coming through me, I try to get out of the way and let the process be guided by whatever is driving me beyond what I think of as craft. People have different names for whatever inspires them, but anyone who's ever created anything from that place knows exactly what I'm talking about."

- (on recording Tapestry, and the amazing convergence of talents at that particular time and place -something I wish I could channel somehow!) "With the Carpenters recording in Studio A and Joni Mitchell recording Blue down the hall in Studio C with Henry Lewy engineering, Lou and I would be recording with Hank Cicalo in Studio B. Seven blocks east, Peter and James were recording Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon at Sunset Sound with Richard Orshoff at the control board. A constant stream of singers, musicians, friends and family flowed in and out of the recording studios along Sunset Boulevard. At A&M we commuted dow the hall. Sometimes we commuted between A&M and Sunset Sound."

Now I'm looking forward to watching this documentary.