Carole King was one of pop music’s greatest and most prolific writers long before she found international fame with 1971′s Tapestry. King had already written hits such as Will You Love Me Tomorrow?, The Loco-motion, Take Good Care Of My Baby, One Fine Day, Up On The Roof, I’m Into Something Good and Pleasant Valley Sunday, often working with co-writer Gerry Goffin.
Tapestry was King’s second solo album, and it was a huge hit. King wrote or co-wrote all of the tracks, and included some of her favourite songs that had previously been recorded by other artists.
Eight of the album’s 12 tracks were hit singles – It’s Too Late, I Feel The Earth Move, So Far Away and Smackwater Jack for King, Will You Love Me Tomorrow for The Shirelles, (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman for Aretha Franklin, You’ve Got A Friend for James Taylor and Where you lead for Barbra Streisand.
The album itself for number one in the US for 15 consecutive weeks – a record for a female artist – but only hit number 3 in the UK. The Legacy version on Spotify also features live versions of 11 of the 12 tracks.
Graceland was a landmark album for Paul Simon and for pop music in general. For a start, Simon was going through a lean period of musical success – Graceland was his first UK number 1 album in 14 years. And secondly, no mainstream pop artist had so clearly embraced African music. Graceland is loaded with African sounds and rhythms – specifically from South Africa.
Recording an album in South Africa during apartheid was deeply controversial, but the album is not particularly political, offering no support to the South African government, and providing a valuable showcase to many black South African musicians. The result is a strikingly fresh and original album, and something that few mainstream music fans had heard the like of before.
Highlights include the three singles, Graceland, Boy in the Bubble and You Can Call Me Al, which was accompanied by a popular music video featuring Chevy Chase. The remastered edition on Spotify also features three bonus tracks.
So why listen to Graceland now, 24 years after it was recorded? Because it still sounds remarkably fresh and vibrant – let’s face it, it sounds like a Vampire Weekend record, as the New Yorkers have pretty much based their entire career on this one album. Original and influential, Graceland is well worth revisiting.
In a new regular series, we’ll be digging through the Spotify catalogue to pick out some classic albums. To start, here’s a relatively modern classic from one of Britain’s greatest groups.
Much-loved and critically-acclaimed, yet never best-sellers, Glasgow’s Teenage Fanclub have influenced a generation of indie groups – Kurt Cobain once named them as the best band in the world. Formed in 1989, the band will release their ninth studio album, Shadows, later this year. But it is 1995′s Grand Prix that is perhaps the most beloved among the Fanclub’s, erm, fanclub.
The real strength of Teenage Fanclub is that the band has three excellent songwriters in Norman Blake, Gerard Love and Raymond McGinley. Grand Prix, the Fannies’ fifth release, was probably the first time Love and McGinley really stepped out of Blake’s shadow to offer songs of equal prominence. As a result, the album is a triumph from start to finish, and singles Mellow Doubt and Sparky’s Dream even gave the band a couple of top 40 hits.
Overall, Grand Prix is quintessential Teenage Fanclub, packed full of glorious Byrds and Big Star-influenced jangling pop songs about love and longing. Top tracks include Love’s soaring Don’t Look Back and Blake’s fantastic Neil Jung. Grand Prix is a great highlight of a golden era of British pop music – and one of the best British pop albums of all time.
Carole King was one of pop music’s greatest and most prolific writers long before she found international fame with 1971′s Tapestry. King had already written hits such as Will You Love Me Tomorrow?, The Loco-motion, Take Good Care Of My Baby, One Fine Day, Up On The Roof, I’m Into Something Good and Pleasant Valley Sunday, often working with co-writer Gerry Goffin.
