RaR30 – You’ve Got a Friend
DIRECTIONS:
Listen to the recording of the tune by clicking the attached mp3 file. This will open the recording in a new window or tab. Listen and follow along with the listening guide in the book.
Read the liner notes below.
Read the information “What to Listen For”
Respond to the Rate-A-Record/Questions by clicking on the assignment link and then click on on the button “Write Submission” (to the right of Text Submission) to record your response. Do not use the comments field.
You’ve Got a Friend
By the time Carole King began recording her own songs she was a veteran of the music business. She started playing piano at the age of four and formed her first band in high school. King discovered rock and roll on the radio in her native New York and was frequently to be found at Allan Freed’s popular live rock and roll showcases. At Queens College she met Neil Sedaka, Paul Simon, and Gerry Goffin, who were also budding singer/songwriters, and they began to collaborate. Simon left the city shortly thereafter but King, Sedaka, and Goffin found work at Aldon Music Publishing, called the Brill Building, where they and other songwriters were charged with creating rock and roll tinged pop songs that would be acceptable to mainstream, white America. King and Goffin quickly formed a partnership (as songwriters and as husband and wife) and turned out a succession of hits, including “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow,” “Take Good Care of My Baby,” and “The Locomotion”; the last was recorded by their babysitter, Little Eva, whom they had pressed into making a demo.
King had never given up on her dreams of becoming a singer, and during the sixties she released a number of singles with various groups but none took off. She and Goffin divorced and she moved to Los Angeles, where she tried again with band called City. Though the group yielded her second husband, it did not produce a hit album. King was ready to give up when James Taylor, who had recorded “You’ve Got a Friend,” encouraged her to try recording as a soloist. Though her first album didn’t sell well the follow-up, Tapestry, remained in the Top Forty for six years and was the best-selling album of all time until bested by the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever in 1977. She produced several more hit albums before semi-retiring from show business; she has been more active in the last five years, and in 2004 she mounted the Living Room Tour, playing only in small clubs, community centers, and even the occasional living room.
WHAT TO LISTEN FOR:
Fantastic example of compound AABA form.
A great chorus that everyone can get with.
Unique vocal delivery that is very intimate and conversation-like.
Use of piano.
Use of string quartet.
Lack of drum sounds, except for a conga laying down a backbeat at times
RATE-A-RECORD/QUESTIONS TO ANSWER:
Why was music like this such a great thing for everyone who couldn’t get with the progressive rock movement?
Give it a rating: 0 = Bad, 100 = Awesome. Defend your number.
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APA
324 words