June 7: Carole King

Carole King (Carol Klein) released her best-selling recording, Tapestry, on this date in 1971. The album topped the charts for fifteen weeks and remained on the charts for six years, ultimately selling some 10.5 million copies. King was an accomplished songwriter by the time she emerged into stardom, writing or co-writing such hits as the Shirelles’ “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?,” the Everly Brothers’ “Crying in the Rain,” Little Eva’s “The Loco-motion,” Steve Lawrence’s “Go Away Little Girl,” the Animals’ “Don’t Bring Me Down,” and Aretha Franklin’s “You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman,” among many others. She has been active in the Alliance for the Wild Rockies and has three times testified on Capitol Hill on environmental issues. In 2004 she made a brief speech and sang at the Democratic National Convention and campaigned for John Kerry throughout the election. King was raised in New York and attended Queens College along with Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, and Neil Sedaka. She has won four Grammy Awards and is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. To see her performing her hit, “You’ve Got a Friend,” look below.
“If the sky above you
should turn dark and full of clouds
and that old north wind should begin to blow
Keep your head together and call my name out loud
and soon I will be knocking upon your door.” —Carole King, “You’ve Got a Friend”