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| Author | Carole King |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Memoir |
| Publisher | Grand Central Publishing |
Publication date | April 10, 2012 |
| Pages | 484 |
| ISBN | 978-1-4555-1261-4 |
A Natural Woman: A Memoir is a 2012 memoir by musician Carole King.
| | |
| Author | Carole King |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Memoir |
| Publisher | Grand Central Publishing |
Publication date | April 10, 2012 |
| Pages | 484 |
| ISBN | 978-1-4555-1261-4 |
A Natural Woman: A Memoir is a 2012 memoir by musician Carole King.
The 484-page book was published by Grand Central on April 10, 2012. [1]
A Natural Woman spans King's career from musical beginnings in early childhood and the recording contract she signed as a teenager in the 1950s, through a career spanning more than six more decades. Writing in The Guardian , Caroline Sullivan describes the memoir as focused more on King's personal life and musical production than the fame that ensued:
"[W]hat she pours her heart into are lengthy descriptions of home life with her husbands (there have been four) and four kids...Though she writes in detail about the making of Tapestry, she barely mentions its subsequent success. It's an odd omission. Any record that spent a full six years in the Billboard chart is, at the least, a small cultural phenomenon. It must have been life-changing, yet she skims over what it felt like suddenly to be America's biggest-selling singer. There are three brief sentences about winning four Grammys in 1972 (she didn't attend the ceremony 'because it was in New York and I wanted to stay in California with my family'), and a bit more about how she coped with fame: 'I just wanted to do what I'd been doing as a wife and mother before the success of Tapestry. I made clothes for everyone in the family, tended our small garden and occasionally went out for sushi lunch in Little Tokyo…'" [2]
At the same time that the book dwells more on these private details rather than her public life, Helen Brown, writing in The Telegraph, found King's text "gently protective of the fascinating, but often destructive, people in King's life...Relentlessly empathetic, King hasn’t a bad word to say about anybody," even when describing marriages affected by a husband's drug use, mental illness, infidelity or domestic violence. [3] Several reviewers remarked on this characteristic of the book: Sullivan found A Natural Woman described "someone, you fancy, who would remember your birthday and return your calls" and notes this kindness and conscientiousness reflected in the book's prose: "And she writes that way, constructing sentences correctly, telling anecdotes with scrupulous attention to detail (avoiding drugs in the 60s had its benefits – she can actually remember the decade) and fretting maternally about family and friends." [2] In Vanity Fair, Bruce Handy noted the consonance of the memoir's warm tenor with the same in King's music: "King is the woman who wrote the lyric: 'You got to get up every morning/With a smile on your face/And show the world/All the love in your heart.' And that is very much the woman who wrote her memoir." [4]
A Natural Woman received predominantly favorable reviews. In The Independent , Liz Thomson wrote: "what a memoir: intelligent, honest, self-effacing, well-written." [5] Handy argued that King's "characteristic generosity of spirit" marks the book "for good and ill...Spite is a horrible emotion, but memoir-writing might be the one activity where it comes in handy, at least from a readers' point of view." However, in The Los Angeles Times, Evelyn McDonnell found King's memoir, if "sometimes, determinedly unglamorous", "far more original" than "the usual celebrity story of hardship, riches, overindulgence, downfall and rehab." [6] Brown's Telegraph review gave the book three of five stars. [3]
Carole King Klein is an American singer-songwriter and musician. One of the most successful female songwriters in the US, she wrote or co-wrote 118 pop hits appearing on the Billboard Hot 100 over the latter half of the 20th century. She also wrote 61 hits that charted in the UK, making her the most successful female songwriter on the UK singles charts between 1962 and 2005.
Sir Grayson Perry is an English contemporary artist, writer and broadcaster. He is known for his ceramic vases, tapestries, and cross-dressing, as well as his observations of the contemporary arts scene, and for dissecting British "prejudices, fashions and foibles".
Parker Christian Posey is an American actress. She was labeled "Queen of the Indies" for her roles in a succession of independent films throughout the 1990s, such as Dazed and Confused (1993), Party Girl, The Doom Generation, Kicking and Screaming, The Daytrippers (1996), The House of Yes, Clockwatchers, and Henry Fool (1998). She is the recipient of nominations for an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Satellite Award, and two Independent Spirit Awards.
Gerald Goffin was an American lyricist. Collaborating initially with his first wife, Carole King, he co-wrote many international pop hits of the early and mid-1960s, including the US No.1 hits "Will You Love Me Tomorrow", "Take Good Care of My Baby", "The Loco-Motion", and "Go Away Little Girl". It was later said of Goffin that his gift was "to find words that expressed what many young people were feeling but were unable to articulate."
Tapestry is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Carole King, released on February 10, 1971, by Ode Records and produced by Lou Adler. The album's lead singles, "It's Too Late" and "I Feel the Earth Move", spent five weeks at number one on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Easy Listening charts.
"You've Got a Friend" is a 1971 song written by American singer-songwriter Carole King. It was first recorded by King and included on her second studio album, Tapestry (1971). Another well-known version is by James Taylor from his album Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon. His was released as a single in 1971, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and number four on the UK Singles Chart. The two versions were recorded simultaneously in 1971 with shared musicians.
Lynn Barber is a British journalist who has worked for many publications, including The Sunday Times.
The Living Room Tour is a live album by Carole King released in 2005. It consists of live recordings of most of the songs from Tapestry. Her daughters Louise and Sherry and background singer and guitarist Gary Burr joined her on several songs. This album debuted at #17 in the US, becoming King's highest-charting album since 1977. That was largely due to television advertisements and that it was available in Starbucks retailers.
"(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" is a 1967 song by American soul singer Aretha Franklin released as a single by the Atlantic label. The lyrics were written by Gerry Goffin from an idea by Atlantic producer Jerry Wexler, and the music was composed by Carole King. Written for Franklin, the record reached number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100, and became one of her signature songs. It made history on the UK Singles Chart a week after her death, finally becoming a hit almost 51 years after it was first released, entering at No. 79. Franklin also included a live recording on the album Aretha in Paris in 1968.
"Will You Love Me Tomorrow", sometimes known as "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow", is a song written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King. It was first recorded in 1960 by the Shirelles; released as a single that November, it became the first song by an African-American girl group to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It has since been recorded by many other artists, including King on her 1971 album Tapestry.
Minka Kelly is an American actress and philanthropist. She rose to fame for her role as Lyla Garrity on the NBC drama series Friday Night Lights (2006–2009). In 2011, Kelly starred in the films The Roommate and Searching for Sonny, had a recurring role as Gaby on NBC's family drama series Parenthood (2010–2011) and a main role as Eve French in the revival of ABC's action series Charlie's Angels (2011). Kelly portrayed Dawn Granger / Dove on the first three seasons of the DC Universe/Max superhero series Titans (2018–2021).
"Where You Lead" is a song written in 1970 by Carole King with lyricist Toni Stern, introduced on King's iconic 1971 album Tapestry. A Top 40 hit for Barbra Streisand in both a studio and a live version — the latter in a medley entitled "Sweet Inspiration/ Where You Lead'" — the song has also served as the main theme song for The WB dramedy series Gilmore Girls in a lyrically revised version recorded by King and Louise Goffin.
Her Greatest Hits: Songs of Long Ago is the first official compilation album by Carole King. It was released in 1978 and features twelve songs that had previously appeared on her six studio albums released between 1971 and 1976. The album was re-released on CD/Cassette in 1999 with two additional tracks.
The Troubadour Reunion Tour was a 2010 international concert tour by Carole King and James Taylor. It celebrated the 40th anniversary of their first performance together at The Troubadour in November 1970, and was a continuation of their reunion at the Troubadour in November 2007.
The Legendary Demos is a compilation album by pop rock artist Carole King. It was released on April 24, 2012 on Hear Music. The album contains thirteen demo recordings, ranging in time from "Crying in the Rain" (1962) to six tracks that appeared on King's 1971 hit album Tapestry.
Judith B. Newman is an American journalist and author. She writes about entertainment, relationships, parenthood, business, beauty, books, science, and popular culture. Her work has appeared in more than fifty periodicals, including The New York Times, Vanity Fair,Harper's, The Wall Street Journal, Allure and Vogue. Newman's books include the memoirs You Make Me Feel Like an Unnatural Woman: The Diary of a New (Older) Mother and To Siri With Love.
Beautiful: The Carole King Musical is a jukebox musical with a book by Douglas McGrath that tells the story of the early life and career of Carole King, using songs that she wrote, often together with Gerry Goffin, and other contemporary songs by Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Phil Spector and others.
"Beautiful" is a song written by Carole King that was first released on her 1971 award-winning album Tapestry. It has also been covered by other artists, such as Barbra Streisand and Richard Marx, and included on several of King's live albums. It was also used as the title song of the 2014 Broadway musical Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.
Life with My Sister Madonna is an autobiography by American artist, designer and interior decorator Christopher Ciccone and author Wendy Leigh. The book is a memoir and tell-all book about Ciccone's life, with heavy focus on his relationship with his sister, the American singer-songwriter and actress Madonna, and was released on July 14, 2008, by Simon Spotlight Entertainment. It details Ciccone's life spent with Madonna, as well as unknown aspects of the singer's life. The relationship between Ciccone and his sister had deteriorated over the years following the singer's refusal to employ him as her tour director. Writing the book was considered "cathartic" for Ciccone, and he contacted Leigh, a biographer, for help and advice. Together they developed the project secretly and offered it to Simon Spotlight Entertainment for publication.
Evelyn McDonnell is an American writer and academic. Writing primarily about popular culture, music, and society, she "helped to forge a new kind of feminism for her generation." She is associate professor of journalism and new media at Loyola Marymount University.
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