One of the most prolific songwriters of the twentieth century, Carole King began her career composing dozens of pop hits in the 1960s, including the dance fad “The Locomotion” for Little Eva and “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” for Aretha Franklin. She would eventually write over a hundred Billboard Hot 100 hits by the turn of the century.

Tapestry, released in 1971, was King’s second solo album featuring her personal renditions of songs previously written and released for other artists and new compositions. Even tempos, lively piano and honest vocals characterize the album. King’s singing voice hits all the right notes without much technical polish.  She rises above her reputation as merely a songwriter to a musician and singer herself.

In the eponymous song, “Tapestry,” King engages masterfully poetic verse to describe her life at the peak of her career.

“My life has been a tapestry of rich and royal hue

An everlasting vision of the ever changing view

A wondrous woven magic in bits of blue and gold

A tapestry to feel and see, impossible to hold”

At the end of the song, she sings “Now my tapestry’s unraveling, he’s come to take me back.” If this is to be interpreted that her career would soon come to a downfall, this prediction would turn out to be false. King would later release over a dozen albums of her own.

One song on the album, “Beautiful,” gives the name for the 2013 Broadway musical that follows King’s humble beginnings as an idealistic sixteen year old and teen mother to hit songwriter and soloist. While the truth was stretched for drama and entertainment, at its core, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical revived King’s story and music for new generations.

Ironically, I first learned about King by watching Beautiful. I was captured by the strong vocals and vaguely familiar songs, not knowing who Carole King was nor why an entire musical was made about her. Maybe this is the nature of her being a songwriter for artists more well-known than herself. King’s music now finds a place on my rotation of 60s and 70s pop tunes. Though King has not released an album since 2011, her contributions to music are timeless.