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Your favorite
"Kid" starring in
their owt ~

The King Of Music

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A tribute to Carole and Tapestry ...

GARY GRAFF SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

n 1971, the world wasn't ex-
actly waiting for Tapestry.
That's not to say that Carole
King didn't have a reputation
— and a good one. The former
Carole Klein, born in Brooklyn
29 years before, was a well-es-
tablished songwriter; at New
York's Brill. Building, she and ex-
husband Gerry Goffin churned
out a battalion of hits for the
Shirelles ("Will You Love Me To-
morrow?"), Little Eva ("The Lo-
comotion"), Aretha Franklin
("You Make Me Feel Like A Nat-
ural Woman") and dozens of oth-
ers.
But as a performer in her own
right, King was an unknown
quantity. She recorded a few sin-
gles and two albums — one with
a group, The City; the other on
her own. Both earned good re-
views, but neither caused much
of a sensation.
Tapestry was a revelation,
however. It was a dozen won-
derful songs with performances
to match. Spare, bare-bones pro-
duction gave full berth to King's
singing, allowing her to turn each

I

Faith Hill: One of the performers on the
CD Tapestry Revisited.

song into a passionate, personal
expression — even the previous-
ly recorded gems "A Natural
Woman" and "Will You Love Me
Tomorrow?"
Fans concurred. Tapestry
spent 15 weeks at No. 1 and
spent 302 consecutive weeks on
the Billboard charts. It won four
Grammy Awards — including
Record, Album and Song of the
Year — and was responsible for
two others awarded to James
Taylor's version of "You've Got a
Friend" and Quincy Jones' cover
of "Smackwater Jack."
Since its release, Tapestry has
sold more than 22 million copies
worldwide. Now, it's the subject
of a unique all-star testimonial,

Tapestry Revisited: A Tribute to
Carole King (Lava/Atlantic). Of
the myriad tribute albums re-
leased during the past few years
— you can find them for every-
one from Kiss to the Carpenters,
Leonard Cohen to George Jones
— this one has the distinction of
paying homage to an individual
album.
That it's not nearly as good as
King's original is to be expected.
Tapestry was King's liberation, a
firm, resolute step from writing
and producing for others to be-
coming the best voice for her own
material.
So the artists who take part in
Tapestry Revisited do their best
to give new voice to King's music,
resulting in a mixed bag that has
impressive moments but no per-
formances that can be considered
definitive.
A case in point: Celine Dion's
version of "A Natural Woman" in
Revisited. Yes, her attempt is a
fine piece of singing, but it has
neither the aching joy of King's
rendition nor the raw emotion of
Franklin's rendition. "Smack-
water Jack" suffers a similar fate;
The Manhattan Transfer flesh-
es it out into a Stax-style soul
number, an interesting approach
but not nearly as urgent as King's
spare, hand-clapping original.
Singer Curtis Stigers is the
real standout on Revisited, slip-
ping into his best Ray Charles
voice to belt out a barnstorming
"Home Again." Aretha Franklin
teams up with BeBe and CeCe
Winans for a nicely retooled
"You've Got a Friend" — the
chorale vocal arrangement brings
a new dimension to the song —
while Faith Hill's generally faith-
ful take on "Where You Lead" has
enough of a modern country fla-
vor to make it distinctive.
Those who stumble on Revis-
ited try to make too much out of
the songs; they seem to forget the
simplicity that made the original
Tapestry work so well. So we get
the R&B trio Eternal doing a
slick, Mariah Carey-styled "I Feel
the Earth Move," and Rod Stew-
art's over-emotive "So Far Away."
And the Bee Gees treat 'Will You
Love Me Tomorrow?" like a left-
over from the Saturday Night
Fever soundtrack sessions.
Revisited can hardly be called
a failure; there's too much gen-
uine effort and emotion for that.
But the best thing this tribute
does is remind us of the original
Tapestry's virtues — and send us
scrambling back to it. ❑ •

small ~ FIT oko

will make your kid the star of his or her own full color, musical,
20 minute video! Their picture appears throughout the video and
their name is mentioned as they climb through the ABC Learning
Tree. It's educational and lots of fun for kids aged 2-6. Kids will
enjoy seeing themselves on TV as they learn their ABCs.
This is a wonderful, unique gift idea for your child, grandchild,
niece, nephew or any favorite "kid" on your gift list.
Easy to order. Just send your favorite "kid's" color photo
(front view, unobstructed...no hats please) along with the order
form below.

A HOLIDAY GIFT CERTIFICATE will arrive in time to
let your favorite kid know their very own
personalized ABC learning video is on its way!

FULL COLOR, MUSICAL,
20 MINUTE VIDEO

MAIL PHOTO AND ORDER FORM BELOW TO SMALL FRY FLICKS, 20300 W. 12 Mile Rd. Suite 101, Southfield, MI 48076
Each Video is $39.95 including shipping & handling. Allow 3-4 weeks for delivery. Questions call 810-352-1429

yE5I

r

PLEASE SEND A SMALL FRY FLICK TO ME:

PLEASE WRITE YOUR PERSONAL GREETING BELOW.
Greeting will appear at the beginning of the video.
Limit 15 words. Please print clearly.

NAME

ADDRESS

cliE)A5

STATE

CITY

.ANCLUDE5
& HANDLING

ZIP

"Small Fry's Name"

PHONE (In Case)

ENCLOSED IS MY CHECK FOR $

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Your Tribute Gift helps the agency serve people of all ages,
lifestyles and circumstances.

To phone in a Tribute Gift or for convenient Tribute Order
Forms, please call (810) 559-1500.

-

JFS Program and Name Funds are also available to support
specific agency services. Please call 559-1500 for additional
information.

Minimum Tribute Card donation remains only $5.00/card.

JEWISH. FAMILY SERVICE
24123 Greenfield Road • Southfield, MI 48075• (810)559-1500
6960 Orchard Lake Road • Suite 202 • \Nest Bloomfield, MI 4832:2 • (810) 737-5055

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