There is no denying Carole King's talent as a songwriter and arranger, since there are dozens, hell hundreds, of examples of her work with or without Gerry Goffin.
As a solo artist? Well, we can't go by her early material for Dimension, since that was done in the usual Brill Building, girlgroup style they'd help pioneer. When she did get around to serious solo work in 1970 (WRITER: CAROLE KING) what one heard was a modest, maybe even bashful singer/pianist who had no problem covering some past glories to remind us from which she came, but didn't offer anything exciting enough to herald her as a new force in pop music.
Given her overall catalog, I still find TAPESTRY to be that rarity: a modest album but with some intensity, emotion, and magic--it has its own special charm, and for me the only time the artist harnessed that charm sufficiently in one place. After that, the Ode albums offer highlights--some were singles, some not--but not the elusive perfection of TAPESTRY. That the album sold so phenomenally well is one of those happy accidents that occasionally happens in music, but the magnitude of that success far outweighed King's talent, IMO. As Linda noted, "Been To Canaan" is a gem, but the album itself doesn't have a lot more going on--it's spins its wheels. She did do some interesting side trips, like "Corazon," but I still cringe when listening to "Jazzman," since it pays homage to the worst, laziest aspects of jazz in a pop context. I mean, I don't know about you, but if I want to hear a jazz honker, Tom Scott just ain't on the list, sorry. Worse, overall, was that King's original material of this time wasn't nearly as good as her older stuff--which she would, thankfully, later revisit and claim as her own, so far as she could.
I do hope to hear this one well decoded eventually. Don't remember it having a lot of separation, but certainly superior to her other quad's, which wouldn't take much.
ED
