0:00:02 > 0:00:03Welcome to the White House, everybody.
0:00:03 > 0:00:05Tonight, it is my great pleasure
0:00:05 > 0:00:10to present America's highest award for popular music
0:00:10 > 0:00:13to a living legend, Carole King.
0:00:13 > 0:00:17She's passionate. As a musician, she's brilliant.
0:00:17 > 0:00:21As a songwriter, she's brilliant
0:00:21 > 0:00:25and intellectually, she's right at the top.
0:00:25 > 0:00:30I think she's one of the greatest American songwriters of our time.
0:00:30 > 0:00:35And her voice touches us because it's honest.
0:00:35 > 0:00:40By the age of four, Carole was already mastering the piano.
0:00:40 > 0:00:44By 15, she'd already conducted her first orchestra.
0:00:44 > 0:00:49By 17, she'd already written her first number-one hit,
0:00:49 > 0:00:53Will You Love Me Tomorrow, with Gerry Goffin.
0:00:53 > 0:00:56So at this point, all of you are feeling like underachievers, I understand.
0:00:56 > 0:00:58LAUGHTER
0:00:58 > 0:01:04She really has her finger on the pulse of, er...of human emotions.
0:01:04 > 0:01:08And she can paint them in a song.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11And then, in 1971 came the biggest break of all
0:01:11 > 0:01:12when she showed the world that
0:01:12 > 0:01:15she couldn't just write hit songs, she could sing them, too.
0:01:15 > 0:01:20If Carole had never written a song after that era,
0:01:20 > 0:01:23she would still be a legend.
0:01:23 > 0:01:25If Tapestry had never happened,
0:01:25 > 0:01:28she'd be one of the most important people in rock'n'roll history.
0:01:28 > 0:01:32So the fact that she pulled off that whole other career, you know,
0:01:32 > 0:01:36er...is just mindboggling.
0:01:36 > 0:01:38Nobody else has done what she's done.
0:01:38 > 0:01:44Her album, Tapestry, struck a chord with a whole new legion of fans.
0:01:44 > 0:01:46Carole has written more than 400 compositions
0:01:46 > 0:01:50that have been recorded by over 1,000 artists,
0:01:50 > 0:01:53resulting in over 100 hits.
0:01:53 > 0:01:56As Carole tells it, the secret to her success is that,
0:01:56 > 0:01:58"I try to get out of the way
0:01:58 > 0:02:02"and let the process be guided by whatever is driving me."
0:02:02 > 0:02:05That's what makes her songs so personal
0:02:05 > 0:02:07and so powerful. So enduring.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10She has a quality of...
0:02:10 > 0:02:14sympathy and..and...normalcy,
0:02:14 > 0:02:19but in fact, it's accompanied by also a quality of genius.
0:02:19 > 0:02:20Carole King.
0:02:20 > 0:02:22RAPTUROUS APPLAUSE
0:02:33 > 0:02:36# You've got to get up every morning
0:02:36 > 0:02:37# With a smile on your face
0:02:37 > 0:02:41# And show the world all the love in your heart
0:02:43 > 0:02:46# Then people going to treat you better
0:02:46 > 0:02:49# You're going to find, yes, you will
0:02:49 > 0:02:56# That you're beautiful as you feel. #
0:02:56 > 0:02:58APPLAUSE
0:03:03 > 0:03:09My mother had a piano, you know, right from before I was born.
0:03:09 > 0:03:12And so I was able to play it
0:03:12 > 0:03:15and work on it by ear and write little ditties.
0:03:15 > 0:03:19But my mother also had been trained in piano,
0:03:19 > 0:03:22so she trained me so I knew how to read music, as well.
0:03:22 > 0:03:23I know some music theory.
0:03:25 > 0:03:31My mother and father both were supportive and were can-do people.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34I just started writing little tunes
0:03:34 > 0:03:38and then when rock'n'roll was being born with Alan Freed,
0:03:38 > 0:03:41I was hearing the music and thinking, "I could do that!"
0:03:41 > 0:03:45Every high school in Brooklyn during the '50s had a rock'n'roll group.
0:03:45 > 0:03:47They were all over the place. They were proliferating.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50Danny and the Juniors were singing in the Bronx
0:03:50 > 0:03:52and Neil Sedaka at that time with The Tokens,
0:03:52 > 0:03:53was singing out of Lincoln High School.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56Well, there must have been something in the water
0:03:56 > 0:03:59but a lot of people have achieved fame or notoriety
0:03:59 > 0:04:03as songwriters and singers and recording artists.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06Barbra Streisand grew up in Brooklyn around the same time.
0:04:06 > 0:04:07Neil Diamond, Neil Sedaka,
0:04:07 > 0:04:10though I didn't know any of them except Neil Sedaka.
0:04:10 > 0:04:12We started the Cosines,
0:04:12 > 0:04:15which I believe she got the idea for in junior high school.
0:04:15 > 0:04:19The name of the quartet, it was so imaginative, the Cosines.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22And we were taking trigonometry at the time.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25We performed at school dances and parties.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28Anywhere we kind of had a chance
0:04:28 > 0:04:30or, you know, school shows.
0:04:30 > 0:04:32She was the singer, she was the writer,
0:04:32 > 0:04:34she was the piano player for the group.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37And she wanted this.
0:04:37 > 0:04:39She wanted this as a career.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42In those days, you could be a kid, as Carole was,
0:04:42 > 0:04:4416 years old, coming from Brooklyn,
0:04:44 > 0:04:48you could be a kid and go into 1650 Broadway or into the Brill Building,
0:04:48 > 0:04:50one of the two buildings people think of
0:04:50 > 0:04:52when they're talking about the Brill Building Sound.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55And I'd always been fascinated by that culture,
0:04:55 > 0:04:59which is to say an office building in New York City, in Times Square,
0:04:59 > 0:05:02that used to be where the Tin Pan Alley songwriters
0:05:02 > 0:05:05came in the '20s to sell their songs.
0:05:05 > 0:05:11And now, in the '50s, was taken over by kids, teenagers, a lot of them,
0:05:11 > 0:05:13to create the new sound of rock'n'roll.
0:05:13 > 0:05:15You could knock on a door, you could get a producer
0:05:15 > 0:05:18or someone in the business to listen to your song.
0:05:18 > 0:05:20There were pianos in all those offices.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23She came in, she played her piano for people.
0:05:23 > 0:05:26And they'd hear the song and they'd think, "OK, I can sell that song."
0:05:26 > 0:05:29And I was in the waiting room and there was this kid there.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32She looked like she was about 15 years old, in jeans.
0:05:32 > 0:05:34And I started to talk with her.
0:05:34 > 0:05:38And I thought to myself, "God, this girl is so confident."
0:05:38 > 0:05:41And I said to myself, "If this girl has talent,
0:05:41 > 0:05:43"she's going to be a huge star."
0:05:43 > 0:05:45And it happened to be Carole.
0:05:45 > 0:05:47She was simply being paid to write songs
0:05:47 > 0:05:49for top groups that needed songs.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52Because in those days, there were very few singer/songwriters.
0:05:52 > 0:05:55That phenomenon had not yet really occurred.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58It was made-to-order song writing.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01You were either writing for a specific artist
0:06:01 > 0:06:03or you were writing a song that the publisher
0:06:03 > 0:06:06you were working for would go out and shop
0:06:06 > 0:06:08to various singers.
0:06:08 > 0:06:12There was a breakdown in those days
0:06:12 > 0:06:15between who wrote the song and who sang it.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18# There's a lot of things I want
0:06:18 > 0:06:22# A lot of things that I'd like to be
0:06:27 > 0:06:33# But, girl, I don't foresee a rags-to-riches story... #
0:06:33 > 0:06:36I was going to be a teacher and marry some nice doctor.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39Instead, I married Gerry Goffin.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42# There's just one little dream
0:06:42 > 0:06:44# I've got to make come true
0:06:44 > 0:06:47# There's just one round I've got to win
0:06:47 > 0:06:52# I can't be a loser with you
0:06:54 > 0:06:58# Baby, baby, just once in my life
0:06:58 > 0:07:00# Let me get what I want...#
0:07:00 > 0:07:02He definitely came at a time in my life
0:07:02 > 0:07:04when I needed somebody to write better lyrics than,
0:07:04 > 0:07:07"Baby, baby, baby, baby sitting."
0:07:07 > 0:07:10There's a myth we used to write in the Brill Building.
0:07:10 > 0:07:12We actually wrote in 1650 Broadway.
0:07:12 > 0:07:14Aldon Music was a music-publishing company
0:07:14 > 0:07:16that was started by two fellas.
0:07:16 > 0:07:19Don Kirshner and Al Nevins.
0:07:19 > 0:07:22So the name is Al and Don together.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25And they built up such a great reputation.
0:07:25 > 0:07:29Don Kirshner was the best publisher that I've ever come across.
0:07:29 > 0:07:31And their company became so powerful
0:07:31 > 0:07:35that he would get record companies to promise him
0:07:35 > 0:07:38the backside of a record just to get our material.
0:07:38 > 0:07:40In those days, records had two sides.
0:07:40 > 0:07:43That's right. There were things called records, too.
0:07:43 > 0:07:45- I forgot that!- They had two sides. - Right.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48Donny Kirshner, who was a great publisher
0:07:48 > 0:07:53who had a really good ear, um...that group of writers,
0:07:53 > 0:07:56Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Howie Greenfield,
0:07:56 > 0:07:58Neil Sedaka, Carole, Gerry,
0:07:58 > 0:08:01and some others in that group,
0:08:01 > 0:08:05they had 36 top-ten records in three years.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08All of us then were fans of American music
0:08:08 > 0:08:11and would study every detail of the label.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14And, of course, the names Goffin and King
0:08:14 > 0:08:16kept occurring in those little brackets
0:08:16 > 0:08:18under some of our very favourite songs.
0:08:20 > 0:08:22Goffin and King wrote songs to order.
0:08:22 > 0:08:27It was like, OK, somebody needs a hit, you write the song.
0:08:27 > 0:08:29I hate the word "factory." I really hate it.
0:08:29 > 0:08:31It was a songwriting school.
0:08:31 > 0:08:32You went in in the morning
0:08:32 > 0:08:36and you went to your cubicle or your little office.
0:08:36 > 0:08:38There was a piano there.
0:08:38 > 0:08:43One of you sat there and the other one jotted down some words.
0:08:43 > 0:08:47And you both sang or one of you sang and you tried to come up with songs.
0:08:47 > 0:08:49I like that but it's got to be harder.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52You know, when we write the lyrics to it, it will be different.
0:08:52 > 0:08:56# La-la La-la La-la La-la La-la. #
0:08:58 > 0:09:00Let's sing again.
0:09:00 > 0:09:02# La-la La-la La-la. #
0:09:02 > 0:09:07On the right side of the main room, there were about four different cubicles
0:09:07 > 0:09:09and the cubicles would have an upright piano
0:09:09 > 0:09:13and a piano stool and one chair and an ashtray
0:09:13 > 0:09:16because everybody smoked like crazy back then.
0:09:16 > 0:09:20And it's amazing we didn't get cancer.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23- There's still time!- Thank you!
0:09:23 > 0:09:26Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann, who was her husband,
0:09:26 > 0:09:29and Gerry Goffin and I, who were at that time married,
0:09:29 > 0:09:33were a pair of writing teams that wrote for Don Kirshner.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36They would write a song they picked, they'd start and finish.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39There was no, let's work on it for a few days
0:09:39 > 0:09:40and see what we come up with.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43There was none of that. They would start, they would finish.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46Some of the best songs you ever heard done in 20 minutes,
0:09:46 > 0:09:49half an hour, 45 minutes. Unbelievable, you know.
0:09:49 > 0:09:51It came surprisingly quickly.
0:09:51 > 0:09:54It was a craft to finish them off,
0:09:54 > 0:09:57but we already had the model in front of us
0:09:57 > 0:10:00in the last hit that that artist had.
0:10:00 > 0:10:02So all we had to do was catch the mood.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05It wasn't too hard to do for us.
0:10:05 > 0:10:07It was a lot of fun too.
0:10:07 > 0:10:09It would be very competitive.
0:10:09 > 0:10:12With Carol and Gerry we ended up being really good friends
0:10:12 > 0:10:15but at the same time, we would be jealous of each other
0:10:15 > 0:10:19if the other team got the record.
0:10:19 > 0:10:24And that was very confusing to us because as friends we loved them.
0:10:24 > 0:10:26But if they got the record, we hated them!
0:10:26 > 0:10:30'Will You Love Me Tomorrow' was a follow-up to a hit by The Shirelles.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33Their hit was 'Tonight's The Night'.
0:10:33 > 0:10:35In writing 'Will You Love me Tomorrow',
0:10:35 > 0:10:39we tried to write 'Tonight's The Night' sideways and upside down,
0:10:39 > 0:10:43so it had some of the same feeling and yet was a new idea.
0:10:43 > 0:10:50# Tonight you're mine completely
0:10:54 > 0:11:01# You give your love so sweetly.
0:11:04 > 0:11:11# Tonight the light of love
0:11:11 > 0:11:14# Is in your eyes
0:11:17 > 0:11:24# But will you love me tomorrow. #
0:11:25 > 0:11:28There's a reason why that song has lasted
0:11:28 > 0:11:30and why people keep coming back to it.
0:11:31 > 0:11:34There's an extraordinary beauty in it
0:11:34 > 0:11:40and a kind of emotional texture that you might not ordinarily
0:11:40 > 0:11:43hear in something you would think of as a pop hit.
0:11:43 > 0:11:48We had at that time one child. That was in '61. That was Louise.
0:11:48 > 0:11:50Sherry wasn't born until '62.
0:11:50 > 0:11:53Gerry was working as a chemist to support the family.
0:11:53 > 0:11:58I was at home with the child. The traditional male-female roles.
0:11:58 > 0:12:02We were also writing to try and make it to free ourselves from the nine to five,
0:12:02 > 0:12:05except I was still taking care of the child and the house as well.
0:12:07 > 0:12:10But that was fine. It worked out fine.
0:12:10 > 0:12:15This was pre-Beatles, so a lot of pop music was bubble gum music.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18And a lot of it was... I don't know.
0:12:18 > 0:12:22There wasn't a lot going on in pop music and they stood out completely.
0:12:22 > 0:12:27# I'd like to know that your love
0:12:29 > 0:12:35# Is a love I can be sure of
0:12:35 > 0:12:39# So tell me now
0:12:39 > 0:12:42# And I won't ask again.
0:12:43 > 0:12:48# Will you still love me tomorrow. #
0:12:48 > 0:12:53Gerry Goffin wrote those words from a woman's perspective.
0:12:53 > 0:12:59But Carole wrote this incredibly beautiful music that has this drama
0:12:59 > 0:13:04of that moment of making your sexual passage.
0:13:04 > 0:13:07# So tell me now
0:13:07 > 0:13:09# And I won't ask again
0:13:11 > 0:13:16# Will you still love me tomorrow. #
0:13:16 > 0:13:19'Will You Love Me Tomorrow' was a big hit and it went to number one
0:13:19 > 0:13:22and we were delighted because then we could devote ourselves
0:13:22 > 0:13:24to working on songs full-time.
0:13:24 > 0:13:29Carole's melodies are sometimes more joyful than Gerry's lyrics.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33The lyrics can sometimes have a lot of darkness in it
0:13:33 > 0:13:37that she sets off with a more optimistic melody.
0:13:38 > 0:13:41# Take good care of my baby
0:13:42 > 0:13:46# Now don't you ever make her cry
0:13:47 > 0:13:49# Just let your love surround her
0:13:49 > 0:13:52# Paint a rainbow all around her
0:13:52 > 0:13:54# Don't let her see your cloudy sky
0:13:56 > 0:13:58# Once upon a time
0:13:58 > 0:14:00# That little girl was mine.
0:14:00 > 0:14:02# If I'd been true
0:14:02 > 0:14:05# I know she'd never be with you
0:14:05 > 0:14:09# So take good care of my baby
0:14:10 > 0:14:13# Be just as kind as you can be
0:14:15 > 0:14:17# And if you should discover
0:14:17 > 0:14:20# That you don't really love her
0:14:20 > 0:14:22# Just send my baby
0:14:22 > 0:14:25# Back home to me. #
0:14:26 > 0:14:32We were so into writing for other artists that after 'Take Good Care Of My Baby' was written
0:14:32 > 0:14:34we liked the demo I did on it so much
0:14:34 > 0:14:37that we did another demo in that mode.
0:14:37 > 0:14:41I think we were going to give that to Bobby Vee but we said no, let's put this one out.
0:14:41 > 0:14:43And that was my first record as an artist
0:14:43 > 0:14:45called 'It Might As Well Rain Until September'.
0:14:45 > 0:14:47# What should I write
0:14:47 > 0:14:49# What can I say
0:14:49 > 0:14:52# How can I tell you
0:14:52 > 0:14:55# How much I miss you
0:14:57 > 0:14:59# The weather here
0:14:59 > 0:15:02# Has been as nice as it can be
0:15:03 > 0:15:06# Although it doesn't really
0:15:06 > 0:15:08# Matter much to me
0:15:10 > 0:15:12# For all the fun I'll have
0:15:12 > 0:15:15# While you're so far away
0:15:15 > 0:15:20# It might as well rain until September. #
0:15:23 > 0:15:27We got to the point where we were spending a lot of time in the studio making demos
0:15:27 > 0:15:32and I used to bring Louise to the studio in her little playpen.
0:15:32 > 0:15:34And it got kind of hard to do both
0:15:34 > 0:15:36so Little Eva came to stay with Louise
0:15:36 > 0:15:39and people had the impression she was pushing a broom
0:15:39 > 0:15:41around the kitchen one day, singing
0:15:41 > 0:15:45and we heard her sing and said, "Stop! We must record that voice."
0:15:45 > 0:15:49But the fact of the matter is, we knew she could sing when she came to work for us
0:15:49 > 0:15:53and it was just a matter of time before we were going to have her singing some of our demos.
0:15:53 > 0:15:57# Everybody's doing a brand new dance now
0:15:57 > 0:16:00# (Come on baby do the loco-motion)
0:16:00 > 0:16:04# I know you'll get to like it if you give it a chance now
0:16:04 > 0:16:07# (Come on baby do the loco-motion)
0:16:07 > 0:16:11# My little baby sister can do it with ease
0:16:11 > 0:16:14# It's easier than learning your ABCs
0:16:14 > 0:16:16# So come, on come on
0:16:16 > 0:16:19# Do the loco-motion with me. #
0:16:19 > 0:16:23There never was a dance the loco-motion until after it was
0:16:23 > 0:16:28a number one hit record and everybody says, how does this dance go?
0:16:28 > 0:16:30So Little Eva had to make up a dance!
0:16:31 > 0:16:33# Chains
0:16:33 > 0:16:36# My baby's got me locked up in chains
0:16:38 > 0:16:40# And they ain't the kind
0:16:42 > 0:16:44# That you can see. #
0:16:46 > 0:16:50The original image was that old street corner music, you know.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53Three people standing there just doing it in harmony,
0:16:53 > 0:16:55which we do in concert sometimes.
0:16:56 > 0:16:58# Chains
0:16:58 > 0:17:01# My baby's got me locked up in chains
0:17:01 > 0:17:04# And they ain't the kind
0:17:05 > 0:17:07# That you can see
0:17:09 > 0:17:12# Oh-oh, these chains of love
0:17:12 > 0:17:14# Got a hold on me
0:17:14 > 0:17:15# Yeah. #
0:17:15 > 0:17:18When the Beatles started to write songs,
0:17:18 > 0:17:20I have no question they looked to Goffin and King
0:17:20 > 0:17:24and they overtly spoke of Goffin and King as among their inspirations.
0:17:26 > 0:17:27# Chains
0:17:27 > 0:17:31# I can't break away from these chains
0:17:31 > 0:17:34# Can't run around
0:17:35 > 0:17:38# Cos I'm not free. #
0:17:39 > 0:17:42I thought it was really neat when the Beatles did my song 'Chains'
0:17:42 > 0:17:45because they were this big phenomenon in this country
0:17:45 > 0:17:49and everybody was going, "Oh, wow!" And "They're great song writers."
0:17:49 > 0:17:51Gerry and I had written 'Chains' for The Cookies
0:17:51 > 0:17:54and had a record with it here and then they went and did it.
0:17:54 > 0:17:58I sort of feel like I'm still learning things about Carole King.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01I mean, this woman wrote so many amazing songs.
0:18:01 > 0:18:04# I walked home and she held my hand
0:18:04 > 0:18:08# I knew it couldn't be just a one-night stand
0:18:08 > 0:18:12# So I asked to see her next week and she told me I could
0:18:12 > 0:18:15# (I asked to see her and she told me I could)
0:18:15 > 0:18:18# Something tells me I'm into something good
0:18:18 > 0:18:21# (Something tells me I'm into something)
0:18:21 > 0:18:25# (Something tells me I'm into something)
0:18:25 > 0:18:28# Something tells me I'm into something good
0:18:28 > 0:18:31# (Something tells me I'm into something)
0:18:31 > 0:18:33# To something good
0:18:33 > 0:18:34Oh, yeah. #
0:18:34 > 0:18:39I remember making a suggestion about writing something about a secret place.
0:18:39 > 0:18:42Some place somebody goes, you know. Where do you go?
0:18:42 > 0:18:44In New York, where we lived at the time,
0:18:44 > 0:18:50one of the few places you could go to get away was up on the roof.
0:18:50 > 0:18:53# When this old world starts getting me down
0:18:53 > 0:18:57# And people are just too much
0:18:57 > 0:18:59# For me to face
0:19:02 > 0:19:05# I climb way up to the top of the stairs
0:19:05 > 0:19:09# And all my cares just drift
0:19:09 > 0:19:11# Right into space
0:19:14 > 0:19:19# On the roof's the only place I know
0:19:22 > 0:19:27# Where you just have to wish to make it so
0:19:27 > 0:19:31# Let's go up on the roof
0:19:31 > 0:19:33# Up on the roof. #
0:19:33 > 0:19:36My mum wanted to live in the suburbs.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39My dad probably would have loved to live in the West Village
0:19:39 > 0:19:42or in New York City somewhere.
0:19:42 > 0:19:45But my mum just wanted to be a normal housewife.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48So all I remember is this house in West Orange, New Jersey,
0:19:48 > 0:19:52and having these two kind of weird-ish parents,
0:19:52 > 0:19:55compared to the other parents on the street.
0:19:55 > 0:19:57She was traditional in the sense
0:19:57 > 0:19:59that she wanted a house in the suburbs.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02That was what she thought her life would be.
0:20:02 > 0:20:06She also was the only person our age I knew who played mahjong.
0:20:06 > 0:20:08She said you'll find out that even
0:20:08 > 0:20:10when I was a teenager I was an old Jewish lady.
0:20:10 > 0:20:13That's what I was right from the beginning.
0:20:13 > 0:20:17So she wanted a house and a tree and the yard and the kids
0:20:17 > 0:20:19and the dog and the cat.
0:20:19 > 0:20:21That is so much who she is
0:20:21 > 0:20:25and I think that's why people feel connected to her.
0:20:25 > 0:20:27# You make me feel. #
0:20:27 > 0:20:30Jerry Wexler presented Gerry Goffin and me with the title
0:20:30 > 0:20:32and said I need something for Aretha.
0:20:32 > 0:20:34Here's the title - 'Natural Woman'.
0:20:34 > 0:20:37Then he rolls up the window in his limo
0:20:37 > 0:20:39and drives off and we were like, OK.
0:20:40 > 0:20:45# When my soul was in the lost and found
0:20:47 > 0:20:51# You came around to claim it
0:20:54 > 0:20:58# I didn't know just what was wrong with me
0:20:59 > 0:21:04# Until your kiss helped me name it
0:21:06 > 0:21:11# Now I'm no longer doubtful of what I'm living for
0:21:12 > 0:21:16# Cos if I make you happy Do I need to do more
0:21:16 > 0:21:19# Because you make me feel
0:21:21 > 0:21:23# You make me feel
0:21:25 > 0:21:29# You make me feel like a natural woman. #
0:21:32 > 0:21:35'Natural Woman'. That is a Gerry Goffin lyric.
0:21:35 > 0:21:41That is a man writing about what a woman feels, which is incredible.
0:21:41 > 0:21:44That's how great he was as a lyricist.
0:21:44 > 0:21:48"When my soul was in the lost and found you came along to claim it."
0:21:48 > 0:21:53Those words, how he packed all that emotion in those words is a miracle.
0:21:53 > 0:21:56For Carole to sing a song, or anyone,
0:21:56 > 0:21:59that Aretha Franklin had sung
0:21:59 > 0:22:05is, you know, I mean, that takes something.
0:22:05 > 0:22:07Carole's voice is so personal,
0:22:07 > 0:22:11it really seemed as if you were reading something
0:22:11 > 0:22:14written in someone's soul.
0:22:15 > 0:22:20# Oh, baby, what you done to me
0:22:23 > 0:22:28# You make me feel so good inside
0:22:32 > 0:22:36# And I just want to be
0:22:38 > 0:22:40# Close to you
0:22:40 > 0:22:44# You make me feel so alive
0:22:44 > 0:22:48# You make me feel
0:22:48 > 0:22:53# You make me feel
0:22:53 > 0:23:00# You make me feel like a natural
0:23:00 > 0:23:03# Natural woman. #
0:23:03 > 0:23:07It was socially conscious writing without the sledgehammer.
0:23:07 > 0:23:10"Another pleasant valley Sunday here in status symbol land."
0:23:10 > 0:23:12You know?
0:23:12 > 0:23:17Lyrics like that that are a comment
0:23:17 > 0:23:21and yet were very much attuned to the times and very much
0:23:21 > 0:23:26reflective of that he and Carole had moved to the New Jersey suburbs.
0:23:26 > 0:23:29# Rows of houses that are all the same
0:23:29 > 0:23:33# And no-one seems to care. #
0:23:34 > 0:23:38I think he felt that he was trapped in suburbia
0:23:38 > 0:23:43and 'Pleasant Valley Sunday' was his anthem of rebellion.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47# See Mrs Gray she's proud today
0:23:47 > 0:23:49# Because her roses are in bloom
0:23:52 > 0:23:54# And Mr Green he's so serene
0:23:54 > 0:23:57# He's got a TV in every room
0:24:00 > 0:24:04# Another Pleasant Valley Sunday
0:24:04 > 0:24:08# Here in status symbol land. #
0:24:08 > 0:24:12I remember being so impressed when my mum and dad
0:24:12 > 0:24:15had a song on The Monkees album
0:24:15 > 0:24:17because The Monkees were all that then.
0:24:17 > 0:24:21And I do remember Davy Jones came over to our house one time,
0:24:21 > 0:24:23which just floored me.
0:24:23 > 0:24:27At six years old, Davy Jones was, you know,
0:24:27 > 0:24:29he's the perfect height for a six-year-old!
0:24:31 > 0:24:36But he was just the whole world to me.
0:24:36 > 0:24:39Those songs are, to my mind, they are masterpieces, you know.
0:24:42 > 0:24:47Without the self-consciousness of Dylan or something like that,
0:24:47 > 0:24:51you can go back and revisit those songs and really enjoy them
0:24:51 > 0:24:54and find a lot of meaning in them.
0:24:54 > 0:24:57There's a lot of forgiveness in her music.
0:24:57 > 0:24:59There's a lot of compassion in her music.
0:24:59 > 0:25:01But forgiveness is a key thing.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04She goes through a real break-up in her life.
0:25:04 > 0:25:08Her husband has been unfaithful to her more than once.
0:25:08 > 0:25:11She loved him a lot. He loved her too but it couldn't work.
0:25:11 > 0:25:13They were married very young, very young,
0:25:13 > 0:25:17when they were teenagers because she got pregnant.
0:25:17 > 0:25:21And that infidelity came out of a real frustration that they
0:25:21 > 0:25:25had been married for four years and Gerry was still only 23.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28They had been surrounded by, he was a very handsome guy,
0:25:28 > 0:25:30there were a lot of beautiful women around all the time
0:25:30 > 0:25:33and he told Carole about it before he did it.
0:25:33 > 0:25:35It's one of the interesting things about the story.
0:25:35 > 0:25:37He kind of asked for her permission.
0:25:37 > 0:25:42I remember the divorce happened simultaneous with the move to LA.
0:25:42 > 0:25:46They were splitting up and moving into separate houses
0:25:46 > 0:25:50as we moved to LA from our house together.
0:25:50 > 0:25:53And I just thought, "Oh, cool, we're going to have two houses!
0:25:53 > 0:25:56"That's going to be so cool."
0:25:56 > 0:25:59It didn't hit me like, "Oh, my God, my parents are splitting up."
0:25:59 > 0:26:01And they kept writing together.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04Even after they split up they would get together
0:26:04 > 0:26:08and write often enough to me that it looked like there was harmony.
0:26:08 > 0:26:13It was like part of our family was being taken away from us.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16It was very disturbing for us.
0:26:16 > 0:26:19And I worried about her and I worried about the kids
0:26:19 > 0:26:21and I worried about him.
0:26:21 > 0:26:23and what was going to happen to everybody.
0:26:23 > 0:26:28I moved to California in about 1968 and James Taylor
0:26:28 > 0:26:31was just in the process of coming over with Peter Asher
0:26:31 > 0:26:36and Charles Larkey, who I had known back East was moving there also.
0:26:36 > 0:26:41So James's guitar player was Danny Kootch.
0:26:41 > 0:26:45We all were looking at California as the place to be.
0:26:45 > 0:26:48One year ago you were cycling home from school in London
0:26:48 > 0:26:51at four in the afternoon and it was raining and dark,
0:26:51 > 0:26:54and suddenly you're in a Mustang convertible and it's not raining,
0:26:54 > 0:26:57it's not dark and there are beautiful blondes everywhere.
0:26:57 > 0:26:59And you go, this is probably an improvement!
0:26:59 > 0:27:01I think this is a good move!
0:27:01 > 0:27:04Most of the musicians in New York, they did pit bands,
0:27:04 > 0:27:07they did work for the Broadway shows, things like that.
0:27:07 > 0:27:09In LA, everyone was doing rock 'n' roll.
0:27:09 > 0:27:13They were making Jan and Dean records, Beach Boys records. So it was very different.
0:27:13 > 0:27:16It was a very exciting scene at the time.
0:27:16 > 0:27:19We were all friends and liked to play the same music.
0:27:19 > 0:27:22Before too long I found myself teamed up professionally
0:27:22 > 0:27:24and personally with Charles Larkey.
0:27:24 > 0:27:27Charles Larkey moved in with us.
0:27:27 > 0:27:32He was my stepdad. He moved into Wonderland with us.
0:27:32 > 0:27:39# When the sun comes up in the canyon
0:27:41 > 0:27:49# And you are feeling lost and abandoned
0:27:50 > 0:27:56# Some stranger may knock upon your door. #
0:27:56 > 0:28:01I was contacted by Carole when she moved out here from New York.
0:28:01 > 0:28:03She didn't know a lot of people out here,
0:28:03 > 0:28:06or a lot of people in the music industry for sure.
0:28:08 > 0:28:10She had gotten together with Danny Kortchmar
0:28:10 > 0:28:15and Charlie Larkey as a group called The City.
0:28:15 > 0:28:20That's the first thing I recorded with Carole on the West Coast.
0:28:20 > 0:28:23'Now That Everything's Been Said' was the name of the album.
0:28:23 > 0:28:27Lou produced. We recorded it at a studio on Gower in Hollywood.
0:28:27 > 0:28:30It was the first album I played on.
0:28:30 > 0:28:32The first full-length album I had ever played on.
0:28:32 > 0:28:36And certainly, I had never met anyone like Lou, who was a brilliant record producer.
0:28:36 > 0:28:41My friend and mentor, Bert Schneider, had been encouraging me
0:28:41 > 0:28:47to write lyrics and Carole had just divorced from her husband.
0:28:47 > 0:28:49She had come into Bert's office
0:28:49 > 0:28:51and he was producing The Monkees movie.
0:28:51 > 0:28:54Bert pulled the lyrics out of his desk,
0:28:54 > 0:28:57handed them to Carol and she said, "They're good, did you write them?"
0:28:57 > 0:28:59He said, "No, my friend Toni did."
0:28:59 > 0:29:03And we just got along well and I remember feeling good about it
0:29:03 > 0:29:04and obviously she did too.
0:29:04 > 0:29:07She became my writing partner from that night on
0:29:07 > 0:29:10and we worked together for around five years.
0:29:10 > 0:29:12The City album probably happened
0:29:12 > 0:29:15because Carole didn't want to be a solo artist.
0:29:15 > 0:29:18And Charlie and Kootch, Danny Kortchmar,
0:29:18 > 0:29:22probably talked her into recording as a group.
0:29:22 > 0:29:26The thing I remember about The City is the songs are wonderful.
0:29:26 > 0:29:31Remember the tempo. They were just getting their sea legs as a band.
0:29:31 > 0:29:35If you listen closely you can see the roots,
0:29:35 > 0:29:37or the beginnings of 'Tapestry'.
0:29:37 > 0:29:40# How come you want to leave me here
0:29:40 > 0:29:43# Is there something else I should know
0:29:43 > 0:29:47# You may think it's strange I never noticed the change
0:29:47 > 0:29:50# That made you want to get up and go
0:29:50 > 0:29:53# Get up and go
0:29:53 > 0:29:57# Now that everything's been said
0:29:57 > 0:30:00# Now that everything's been done
0:30:00 > 0:30:06# How come you want to leave me here. #
0:30:08 > 0:30:11I would write the lyrics first, I would give it to Carole
0:30:11 > 0:30:15and she would write the melodies to my lyrics in an hour.
0:30:17 > 0:30:20Including the arrangement.
0:30:20 > 0:30:26The first thing that I envisioned with Carole after The City album,
0:30:26 > 0:30:30which I had to treat as a group,
0:30:30 > 0:30:35was a solo artist that you always felt,
0:30:35 > 0:30:39she was sitting at the piano and singing to you.
0:30:39 > 0:30:42That was the basis of 'Tapestry'.
0:30:42 > 0:30:44At the time the 'Tapestry' album came,
0:30:44 > 0:30:48James was also doing his second album which was the 'Sweet Baby James'
0:30:48 > 0:30:52album and so Peter was working with James in one studio
0:30:52 > 0:30:55and Lou was working with me and Charles in the other studio.
0:30:55 > 0:30:57Lou was the kind of guy,
0:30:57 > 0:31:00he likes to have things very cool and very quiet.
0:31:00 > 0:31:02No fuss, no muss.
0:31:02 > 0:31:06Whatever had to be done with Carole, they would discuss it in the office.
0:31:06 > 0:31:09When they got to the studio,
0:31:09 > 0:31:13I got into the room and it was up to Carole.
0:31:13 > 0:31:18A & M was located on the corner of Sunset and La Brea
0:31:18 > 0:31:22and it's a former Charlie Chaplin Studios, which isn't bad to
0:31:22 > 0:31:26have that sort of vibe going, if you will.
0:31:26 > 0:31:30The Carpenters were in studio A, and they were creating.
0:31:30 > 0:31:32Joni Mitchell doing 'Blue' in studio C.
0:31:32 > 0:31:34She liked that small intimate room.
0:31:34 > 0:31:36Carole was here.
0:31:36 > 0:31:41We were making a good record. We knew that. It was a simple record.
0:31:41 > 0:31:45Records like 'Tapestry' could be overproduced in a minute.
0:31:45 > 0:31:49Let's add more guitars, let's add more of this or that.
0:31:49 > 0:31:52Lou and Carole wanted that simplicity.
0:31:52 > 0:31:54They wanted it to be nice and warm
0:31:54 > 0:31:58and a very comfortable record for people to enjoy.
0:31:58 > 0:32:01# I feel the earth move under my feet
0:32:01 > 0:32:04# I feel the sky tumbling down
0:32:06 > 0:32:09# I feel my heart start to trembling
0:32:09 > 0:32:15# Whenever you're around. #
0:32:17 > 0:32:22I wanted it to stay that simple and always have that feeling that
0:32:22 > 0:32:24Carole was singing to you and playing the piano.
0:32:26 > 0:32:29We turned all the lights down in the room, all the lights we are
0:32:29 > 0:32:32seeing and all the background lights down and all that stuff.
0:32:32 > 0:32:35Everything was what makes an artist comfortable
0:32:35 > 0:32:40so you had all of that ambiance and environment going.
0:32:40 > 0:32:43After a while they got so comfortable with that,
0:32:43 > 0:32:45they were like playing in their living room.
0:32:45 > 0:32:47It felt a lot like family
0:32:47 > 0:32:51and everyone wanted everyone else to succeed.
0:32:51 > 0:32:56'Will You Love Me Tomorrow', Joni and James sang background on.
0:32:56 > 0:32:59James was on a lot of 'Tapestry'.
0:32:59 > 0:33:02If he wasn't singing, he was playing.
0:33:02 > 0:33:06They were all friends. Joni and James, they were all friendly.
0:33:06 > 0:33:10It was fun. They would come in and Carole knew what she wanted.
0:33:10 > 0:33:14When it comes to her music, she is in control of what it's going
0:33:14 > 0:33:17to be and how it's going to come out.
0:33:17 > 0:33:20It's wonderful to work with her and wonderful to work with
0:33:20 > 0:33:23a person that has that kind of confidence in what they want.
0:33:23 > 0:33:27A lot of the material they are recording or the show they are putting on,
0:33:27 > 0:33:32it makes it really easy for someone like me to find out what they need and give it to them.
0:33:32 > 0:33:36We were doing two or three tunes a day. It's hard to imagine now.
0:33:38 > 0:33:42The day we cut 'I Feel The Earth Move',
0:33:42 > 0:33:44we did two other tunes that day.
0:33:44 > 0:33:50It took us three weeks to make 'Tapestry'. 22,000.
0:33:50 > 0:33:54She got involved in every single part.
0:33:54 > 0:33:57She had specific ideas of what she wanted me to play.
0:33:57 > 0:34:00Specific ideas for the bass player to play.
0:34:00 > 0:34:04I played the solos off the floor. The solos were not even overdubbed. They were just played live.
0:34:04 > 0:34:07I didn't have time to think about it and it's a good thing
0:34:07 > 0:34:10because if I'd thought about it, I would've screwed them up.
0:34:10 > 0:34:14I didn't have time to think about it. Carole just said, you play a solo here, and I did.
0:34:15 > 0:34:17GUITAR SOLO
0:34:28 > 0:34:30Vinyl used to have two sides.
0:34:30 > 0:34:33There used to be a logical place for a pause
0:34:33 > 0:34:38and we as the creators of that product had to build in
0:34:38 > 0:34:42a place for that pause and I think that made for a really
0:34:42 > 0:34:46interesting theatre almost, it would be like the intermission in a play.
0:34:46 > 0:34:51And then the actual sequencing of an album is kind of a lost art.
0:34:51 > 0:34:54Sequencing at that time was very important
0:34:54 > 0:34:59because you go through one side, you turn it over
0:34:59 > 0:35:06and so all of that was based on one person listening to it
0:35:06 > 0:35:12and not, how is this going to go over with 25 million people?
0:35:12 > 0:35:17Lou saw what was going on and he described it, in an interview,
0:35:17 > 0:35:19he said this is going to be the Love Story -
0:35:19 > 0:35:21Love Story at the time was the big book and movie -
0:35:21 > 0:35:25the Love Story of albums, and he was right on the money.
0:35:25 > 0:35:28# As I watched in sorrow
0:35:28 > 0:35:31# There suddenly appeared
0:35:31 > 0:35:34# A figure grey and ghostly
0:35:34 > 0:35:37# Beneath a flowing beard
0:35:37 > 0:35:40# In times of deepest darkness
0:35:40 > 0:35:44# I've seen him dressed in black
0:35:44 > 0:35:48# Now my tapestry's unravelling
0:35:48 > 0:35:51# He's come to take me back
0:35:51 > 0:35:56# He's come to take me back. #
0:35:56 > 0:35:58'Tapestry' was one of those albums
0:35:58 > 0:36:03that it come out and it was everywhere immediately.
0:36:03 > 0:36:07Maybe 'Sgt Pepper' was the only other experience, at least I've
0:36:07 > 0:36:11ever had like that, where the record appears and then suddenly
0:36:11 > 0:36:15every song and everywhere you go, people are playing it.
0:36:15 > 0:36:16The album exploded.
0:36:16 > 0:36:20It wasn't one of those where we had to sit around and wait
0:36:20 > 0:36:23and see what was going to happen. It truly exploded.
0:36:23 > 0:36:27I was reading Rolling Stone and there was a review of her album.
0:36:27 > 0:36:30It was an incredible review.
0:36:30 > 0:36:33I went out and I bought the album and I started listening to it
0:36:33 > 0:36:35and her lyrics just blew me away.
0:36:35 > 0:36:39I was so surprised. She was a really good lyricist.
0:36:39 > 0:36:43And I remember shopping in grocery stores and hearing it.
0:36:43 > 0:36:45# And it's too late, baby. #
0:36:45 > 0:36:47And going, "I hear my mom's voice."
0:36:47 > 0:36:50Oh, I thought it was my mom calling me.
0:36:50 > 0:36:53The same timbre of voice that goes "Sherry!"
0:36:53 > 0:36:56is the voice that was,
0:36:56 > 0:36:58# Too late, baby. #
0:36:58 > 0:37:02I hear my mom... Oh, she's on the radio.
0:37:02 > 0:37:06It was the right songs at the right time for the audience
0:37:06 > 0:37:08that was ready for them.
0:37:08 > 0:37:11They said everything that people were feeling
0:37:11 > 0:37:13and couldn't really express.
0:37:13 > 0:37:15She never did any press, interviews, anything.
0:37:15 > 0:37:19She never brought any of that home so it still felt like this
0:37:19 > 0:37:24thing was going on outside of our world in the big world.
0:37:24 > 0:37:29The transition from the '60s to the '70s in the US was a very complicated time.
0:37:29 > 0:37:36I'm sure it was everywhere, but here the Vietnam War was still raging.
0:37:36 > 0:37:42There were 550,000 American troops in Vietnam in 1969.
0:37:42 > 0:37:45Vietnam is not that big a country. It's half a million troops.
0:37:49 > 0:37:52There were still the after-effects of the assassinations
0:37:52 > 0:37:54of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King.
0:37:54 > 0:37:59There was still a lot of anger in the atmosphere
0:37:59 > 0:38:02and it was very unpleasant.
0:38:02 > 0:38:06A very unpleasant period in the history of America.
0:38:06 > 0:38:10'The great '60s ambitions, the great utopian hopes,
0:38:10 > 0:38:13'clearly weren't going to materialise,'
0:38:13 > 0:38:17so people began looking inward and that was the singer-songwriter movement.
0:38:17 > 0:38:22Carole's record was so warm and so welcoming
0:38:22 > 0:38:27and so made you feel that a friend was taking care of you, and a
0:38:27 > 0:38:32friend was saying things that you were feeling, but couldn't express.
0:38:32 > 0:38:35First of all, it instantly touched me.
0:38:35 > 0:38:41It felt intimate and it felt like she could be singing for me,
0:38:41 > 0:38:45or I could be singing those songs myself.
0:38:45 > 0:38:50I think it really hit home for so many people, especially women.
0:38:50 > 0:38:56It was my go-to record for any time I wanted to feel better.
0:38:56 > 0:38:58It was like a friend.
0:38:58 > 0:39:02The record was like having a close friend
0:39:02 > 0:39:05and her voice was your girlfriend.
0:39:05 > 0:39:07It still affects women to this day
0:39:07 > 0:39:11because it wasn't trying to do anything or trying to be anything.
0:39:12 > 0:39:15It was a very honest album.
0:39:15 > 0:39:18Carole has, to me, one of the great voices,
0:39:18 > 0:39:21but it's not classically a great voice.
0:39:21 > 0:39:27It's not like Aretha or Barbra or Celine. It's not.
0:39:27 > 0:39:33It's a voice that every woman thinks she could have.
0:39:33 > 0:39:36It's an art to be able to connect with a listening audience
0:39:36 > 0:39:40the way Carole did and I think the simplicity of the songs and
0:39:40 > 0:39:45the simplicity of the arrangement and the trueness of the emotion
0:39:45 > 0:39:48that came out through them, people could relate to that.
0:39:48 > 0:39:50And they made it their own.
0:39:50 > 0:39:53It was an artist expressing what she felt.
0:39:53 > 0:39:58That is what was different about it. All of a sudden
0:39:58 > 0:40:02the artists were singing the songs that they wrote about their lives.
0:40:02 > 0:40:04SONG: "It's Too Late"
0:40:04 > 0:40:07# Stayed in bed all morning just to pass the time
0:40:08 > 0:40:13# There's something wrong here there can be no denying
0:40:13 > 0:40:15# One of us is changing
0:40:15 > 0:40:19# Or maybe we just stopped trying
0:40:22 > 0:40:26# And it's too late baby now
0:40:26 > 0:40:28# It's too late
0:40:28 > 0:40:32# Though we really did try to make it
0:40:33 > 0:40:36# Something inside has died
0:40:36 > 0:40:42# And I can't hide it I just can't fake it
0:40:42 > 0:40:47# Oh, no, no, no, no... #
0:40:49 > 0:40:53This is a song about disappointment,
0:40:53 > 0:40:57but the ever-youthful optimism of youth.
0:40:57 > 0:41:02And I'm an optimistic person, so the last verse addresses that,
0:41:02 > 0:41:06that we both have a future, though not with one another.
0:41:06 > 0:41:08That's what the song is about.
0:41:08 > 0:41:12# There'll be good times again for me and you
0:41:12 > 0:41:14# But we just can't stay together
0:41:14 > 0:41:17# Don't you feel it too?
0:41:17 > 0:41:20# Still I'm glad for what we had
0:41:20 > 0:41:24# And how I once loved you... #
0:41:24 > 0:41:25You get it right.
0:41:25 > 0:41:29It's the right combination of the songs, the lyrics,
0:41:29 > 0:41:34the way Carole sang them, the band, the way Lou did it.
0:41:34 > 0:41:36Just everything came out right.
0:41:36 > 0:41:42It's just one of those records that couldn't be bettered.
0:41:42 > 0:41:45She was reluctant to go out on the road for months
0:41:45 > 0:41:49and leave her daughters and to be gone.
0:41:49 > 0:41:53She was very reluctant to go out. She didn't want to tour.
0:41:53 > 0:41:54It was mixed for me.
0:41:54 > 0:41:57There was times when she'd go on the road and she would take us.
0:41:57 > 0:42:01That was a really special, wonderful time for me.
0:42:01 > 0:42:04When she went on the road and we couldn't go
0:42:04 > 0:42:07because we were in school, she left us home with a friend of hers who
0:42:07 > 0:42:11was taking care of us. I would get really...
0:42:11 > 0:42:14I remember crying listening to So Far Away,
0:42:14 > 0:42:16like she was singing it to me.
0:42:16 > 0:42:22What's your take on how difficult it is for a woman to have a
0:42:22 > 0:42:24career in the performing arts
0:42:24 > 0:42:27and also maintain a family?
0:42:27 > 0:42:29Very difficult. Very difficult.
0:42:29 > 0:42:35The only time, I guess, when I had really young children, that I ever was on tour, was with you.
0:42:35 > 0:42:40I remember we were away for six weeks, home for two weeks
0:42:40 > 0:42:42and then away for another six weeks.
0:42:42 > 0:42:45And that six weeks was very difficult.
0:42:45 > 0:42:47SONG: "So Far Away"
0:42:47 > 0:42:51# So far away
0:42:51 > 0:42:57# Doesn't anybody stay in one place any more?
0:42:57 > 0:43:04# It would be so fine to see your face at my door
0:43:05 > 0:43:08# It doesn't help to know
0:43:08 > 0:43:12# You're just time away
0:43:13 > 0:43:17# Long ago I reached for you and
0:43:17 > 0:43:20# There you stood
0:43:20 > 0:43:22# Holding you again
0:43:22 > 0:43:25# Could only do me good... #
0:43:25 > 0:43:27I like that song a lot.
0:43:27 > 0:43:30That song...
0:43:30 > 0:43:33The part I'm playing on it's incredibly simple
0:43:33 > 0:43:36but that song meant a lot to me because
0:43:36 > 0:43:38I have spent my whole life on the road
0:43:38 > 0:43:43and that brings certain kind of, um...
0:43:43 > 0:43:45a kind of weight to bear
0:43:45 > 0:43:47when you're away from your family and your loved ones.
0:43:47 > 0:43:50I've always had confidence in the fact that
0:43:50 > 0:43:52when I played music,
0:43:52 > 0:43:56it touched people in some way and...
0:43:56 > 0:43:59The place I didn't have confidence was as a performer,
0:43:59 > 0:44:02that's where I had no confidence
0:44:02 > 0:44:03and that's where you came in.
0:44:03 > 0:44:05It was James and me saying to Carole,
0:44:05 > 0:44:09"Look, would you sing some of them to open the show?"
0:44:09 > 0:44:12And she agreed to do so.
0:44:12 > 0:44:15She was very nervous, she was scared.
0:44:15 > 0:44:18She got over her stage fright very quickly
0:44:18 > 0:44:23because she had an incident that happened when she was performing at the Troubadour.
0:44:23 > 0:44:27She sits down and plays one-and-a-half songs
0:44:27 > 0:44:30and then Doug Weston, who owns the Troubadour, says,
0:44:30 > 0:44:33"I'm sorry, we're going to have to empty the building, we've had a bomb threat."
0:44:33 > 0:44:36So we walked out and then we came back in
0:44:36 > 0:44:39and Carole sat down at the piano and they cleared it and she said,
0:44:39 > 0:44:42about the bomb,
0:44:42 > 0:44:44"As long as it's not me."
0:44:44 > 0:44:48That cracked the audience up and she said from then on, she was not nervous.
0:44:48 > 0:44:51Which is terrific, I mean, that's great.
0:44:51 > 0:44:54When she finally stepped up to the plate herself
0:44:54 > 0:44:57it was like hitting a major vein,
0:44:57 > 0:45:00you know, like a seam of water
0:45:00 > 0:45:02flowing underground or something.
0:45:02 > 0:45:04It just welled up.
0:45:04 > 0:45:08She hates to travel, she hates the hotels, she hates the dressing room,
0:45:08 > 0:45:10but as soon as she gets on stage with the fellas
0:45:10 > 0:45:14and we start playing, she lights up and nobody can light up like Carole.
0:45:14 > 0:45:18Carole is like a Christmas tree. She lights up and the whole room glows.
0:45:18 > 0:45:19Oh!
0:45:19 > 0:45:26JAZZY PIANO INTRO
0:45:26 > 0:45:30# Now, big Jim the Chief stood for law and order,
0:45:30 > 0:45:33# Yes, he did, yes, he did.
0:45:33 > 0:45:36# He called for the guard to come
0:45:36 > 0:45:39# And surround the border... #
0:45:40 > 0:45:44James and I were standing on the balcony at sound check
0:45:44 > 0:45:47and she played You've Got A Friend for the very first time.
0:45:47 > 0:45:51I can't remember anything for one year either side of hearing this song
0:45:51 > 0:45:55but I remember standing there and hearing Carole play this song.
0:45:55 > 0:45:58And that's where James fell in love with the song.
0:45:58 > 0:46:02He thought it was one of the most perfect pop songs ever written, which remains true to this day.
0:46:02 > 0:46:05In an amazing act of generosity
0:46:05 > 0:46:08she let me cut this tune first, release it first,
0:46:08 > 0:46:12and I was amazed because she was cutting Tapestry at the time.
0:46:12 > 0:46:14APPLAUSE AND CHEERING
0:46:14 > 0:46:17I didn't realise at the time that I would be singing that song
0:46:17 > 0:46:20every single night for the rest of my life.
0:46:20 > 0:46:23LAUGHTER
0:46:23 > 0:46:27# If the sky above you
0:46:27 > 0:46:33# Should grow dark and full of clouds
0:46:33 > 0:46:36# And that old North wind
0:46:36 > 0:46:39# Should begin to blow
0:46:44 > 0:46:48# Keep your head together
0:46:48 > 0:46:54# And call my name out loud now, baby,
0:46:54 > 0:47:01# Soon I'll be knocking upon your door...
0:47:01 > 0:47:04I love him so much it's that real...
0:47:04 > 0:47:06Everybody says, "were you a couple?"
0:47:06 > 0:47:08No.
0:47:08 > 0:47:10"Do you ever think about it?" No.
0:47:10 > 0:47:12The first connection was musical.
0:47:12 > 0:47:15It turned out we spoke the same language.
0:47:15 > 0:47:19We sat down and we slipped back into the mother tongue, really.
0:47:19 > 0:47:20It was great.
0:47:20 > 0:47:24We played on each other's records, we just had a common mind, you know.
0:47:25 > 0:47:28# All I want
0:47:28 > 0:47:32# Is a quiet place to live... #
0:47:32 > 0:47:36Leaving California was something that didn't come easy.
0:47:36 > 0:47:38It had been my home for ten years.
0:47:38 > 0:47:40In 1977 I left and went to Idaho.
0:47:40 > 0:47:43Charlie was the first new dad that I had.
0:47:43 > 0:47:46And, er...
0:47:46 > 0:47:49He walked into a situation, there was no winning in that situation.
0:47:49 > 0:47:52Rick Evers was a whole different situation.
0:47:52 > 0:47:53My mom,
0:47:53 > 0:47:57she was just hypnotised by him.
0:47:57 > 0:48:02I moved to Hot Springs community and it had hot running water
0:48:02 > 0:48:06and cold running water outside of the house. It had no indoor plumbing.
0:48:06 > 0:48:10We used outhouses, it had no electricity, no phones.
0:48:10 > 0:48:18I'm pretty sure I was 14 when Rick met my mum and quickly took us
0:48:18 > 0:48:21to Idaho. It wasn't like she was moving for work or necessity.
0:48:21 > 0:48:26She was moving cos he said so, and so I resented it that much more.
0:48:26 > 0:48:29I knew he was a terrible guy. I lived with him
0:48:29 > 0:48:32and he had a really scary temper.
0:48:32 > 0:48:35When he'd get angry, I would feel scared,
0:48:35 > 0:48:39I would, like, run in a room and lock the door.
0:48:39 > 0:48:43Even though he'd never hit you, I felt like he was going to.
0:48:43 > 0:48:46It doesn't surprise me that he did actually hit her
0:48:46 > 0:48:48and it's horrifying.
0:48:48 > 0:48:52He was obviously a troubled, deeply, deeply troubled
0:48:52 > 0:48:56screwed up individual and was making Carole's life miserable
0:48:56 > 0:48:58and also making the rest of our lives miserable.
0:48:58 > 0:49:03They hated him and they had every right to and as a person,
0:49:03 > 0:49:07they didn't like him and they didn't like the way he treated Carole
0:49:07 > 0:49:12and they didn't like the way he treated the band and...
0:49:12 > 0:49:15You probably know, at one point,
0:49:15 > 0:49:21he hit Danny Kortchmar coming offstage and hit him hard.
0:49:21 > 0:49:24She's a brilliant, intelligent,
0:49:24 > 0:49:29insightful woman who married a creepy guy. This happens.
0:49:29 > 0:49:32And then one day, she snapped out of it. It was...
0:49:34 > 0:49:38We were back in LA, we lived in Idaho, but we'd come back to LA
0:49:38 > 0:49:41because Carole wanted to make an album.
0:49:41 > 0:49:44It turns out that prior to meeting Carole, he was a junkie.
0:49:44 > 0:49:49My mum just said, "I've had enough, I'm leaving, Sherry, come on."
0:49:49 > 0:49:52We flew to Hawaii and when we got to Hawaii,
0:49:52 > 0:49:56we got a message that Rick died. He killed himself.
0:49:56 > 0:50:03He actually shot up too much drugs. In my own head I went, "Good."
0:50:03 > 0:50:05It's terrible to say about another human being,
0:50:05 > 0:50:08but he's the guy that caused so much pain in our family,
0:50:08 > 0:50:12so much chaos and he did it to himself.
0:50:12 > 0:50:15It's not like, you know, some tragic thing happened to him.
0:50:15 > 0:50:18He just was stupid.
0:50:18 > 0:50:22# What kind of fool do you think I am?
0:50:22 > 0:50:27# To believe you really give a damn
0:50:27 > 0:50:30# You're looking out for number one
0:50:30 > 0:50:35# What kind of chance are you willing to take?
0:50:35 > 0:50:40# Are you willing to give just a little bit for your own sake?
0:50:40 > 0:50:44# That's really looking out for number one...#
0:50:44 > 0:50:49I guess it was in 1978, after Rick Evers died,
0:50:49 > 0:50:52I decided I was definitely going to go back to Idaho with my two
0:50:52 > 0:50:54younger children, Molly and Levi.
0:50:54 > 0:50:57She fell in love with Idaho.
0:50:57 > 0:51:01She fell harder for Idaho than she fell for Rick, ultimately.
0:51:01 > 0:51:03She's still in love with Idaho.
0:51:03 > 0:51:06She loves the mountains, she loves the winters there,
0:51:06 > 0:51:11she loves the air. If she could, she'd be there all the time.
0:51:11 > 0:51:16Living in Idaho, which is part of the Northern Rockies ecosystem,
0:51:16 > 0:51:22and 20 years ago, most people hadn't heard the word, ecosystem.
0:51:22 > 0:51:26What it means in my area of the country is that a bear doesn't
0:51:26 > 0:51:29get to a state line and say, "Oh, that law in this state
0:51:29 > 0:51:33"means I'm protected here so I'd better not go into the next state,
0:51:33 > 0:51:35"where I'm not protected."
0:51:35 > 0:51:38I think the wide open spaces were calling to her.
0:51:38 > 0:51:44This is where she wanted to, I think, have her, sort of, her life.
0:51:44 > 0:51:47We treat the Northern Rockies as an ecosystem
0:51:47 > 0:51:49and there's a piece of legislation that
0:51:49 > 0:51:54I work on called the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act.
0:51:54 > 0:51:59She's come to Capitol Hill, just not to get the door open,
0:51:59 > 0:52:04she understands the landscape, she understands the politics,
0:52:04 > 0:52:06she's telling them about the science,
0:52:06 > 0:52:12she's talking about what the habitat destruction is doing.
0:52:12 > 0:52:14She understands the economics of it.
0:52:14 > 0:52:16Of the forest that once covered America,
0:52:16 > 0:52:20only 5% remain intact but we can still save some.
0:52:20 > 0:52:22We can save some cover, some food supply
0:52:22 > 0:52:25and endangered species in the Northern Rockies,
0:52:25 > 0:52:29because it is the largest viable ecosystem in the lower 48.
0:52:29 > 0:52:34Her manager on the show would say to folks,
0:52:34 > 0:52:37"On the road with Carole,
0:52:37 > 0:52:44"Carole talks about the tour, about this much. NREPA, this much."
0:52:45 > 0:52:49This is Carole's passion for the environment,
0:52:49 > 0:52:51protecting these places.
0:52:51 > 0:52:55# I know this world needs changing
0:52:55 > 0:52:57# I know the shape we're in
0:52:58 > 0:53:01# But with all the confusion
0:53:01 > 0:53:03# I've reached the conclusion
0:53:03 > 0:53:08# There's only one place to begin and that's
0:53:08 > 0:53:10# One to one... #
0:53:10 > 0:53:13She's happiest with the quiet life in Idaho.
0:53:13 > 0:53:19She will still tour and play shows and she records from time to time,
0:53:19 > 0:53:22but she loves Idaho with a passion
0:53:22 > 0:53:30and she wants to preserve a great area of incredible natural beauty.
0:53:30 > 0:53:34She just loves the environment there and she's an environmentalist,
0:53:34 > 0:53:38so, if you're going to meet an environmentalist, you're going
0:53:38 > 0:53:40to live in the environment.
0:53:42 > 0:53:48In January 2014, Beautiful, the musical based on my mom's life,
0:53:48 > 0:53:51opened on Broadway.
0:53:51 > 0:53:55The idea started of making a musical based on all four of us, based on
0:53:55 > 0:54:00our friendship and our competition with each other in the early '60s.
0:54:00 > 0:54:02That's how it basically started.
0:54:02 > 0:54:04I thought these are four interesting people.
0:54:04 > 0:54:06I'd met Carole, Gerry, Barry and Cynthia.
0:54:06 > 0:54:10They were really interesting, charming, funny and smart.
0:54:10 > 0:54:16# I'd like to know that your love
0:54:20 > 0:54:27# Is love I can be sure of...#
0:54:27 > 0:54:30If she was told it's going to be called Beautiful,
0:54:30 > 0:54:32the Carole King musical, what do you think?
0:54:32 > 0:54:35She'd have gone, no, that's not happening.
0:54:35 > 0:54:39After the first reading, the feedback that they got was,
0:54:39 > 0:54:44were you stopping before Tapestry? You can't do that.
0:54:44 > 0:54:47The most interesting art, the one that people are going to
0:54:47 > 0:54:49want to see is Carole's art.
0:54:49 > 0:54:52So, we need to focus on her a little more
0:54:52 > 0:54:56and step back on everyone else and Barry and Cynthia agreed with that.
0:54:56 > 0:54:59We became supporting players.
0:54:59 > 0:55:01We've used to joke that they were Lucy and Desi
0:55:01 > 0:55:03and we were Fred and Ethel.
0:55:04 > 0:55:07I knew going into it I couldn't do a mimicry,
0:55:07 > 0:55:09I just knew it wouldn't work.
0:55:09 > 0:55:12For many reasons, some of the logistical reasons being that
0:55:12 > 0:55:16her voice is so unique, there is no way I could copy her voice.
0:55:16 > 0:55:21# And it's too late baby now it's too late
0:55:21 > 0:55:25# Though we really did try to make it
0:55:26 > 0:55:30# Something inside has died and I can't hide...#
0:55:30 > 0:55:34Too late is one of the ones that always hits me every night
0:55:34 > 0:55:37when you sing it. I can feel it in the audience.
0:55:37 > 0:55:40Oh, my gosh, we get to hear the song because we love it.
0:55:40 > 0:55:44Then the audience realising what that song means to them.
0:55:44 > 0:55:48# You've got to get up every morning with a smile on your face
0:55:48 > 0:55:54# And show the world all the love in your heart...#
0:55:54 > 0:55:57One of the things I always loved about her was her honesty
0:55:57 > 0:55:58and her authenticity.
0:55:58 > 0:56:02When she performs, she has such joy and it's so honest and it's
0:56:02 > 0:56:07like there's nothing between her and the music she's making.
0:56:07 > 0:56:09She likes to be the centre of attention and at the same time,
0:56:09 > 0:56:12she's like, "Don't make me the centre of attention."
0:56:12 > 0:56:15She's like, no, I want my life, I want to be a normal person,
0:56:15 > 0:56:21so I think she's been kind of smart about drying those boundaries.
0:56:21 > 0:56:23A lot of people watching, musicians and artists,
0:56:23 > 0:56:26what advice would you give to songwriters
0:56:26 > 0:56:29and musicians starting writing songs today? What would you say?
0:56:29 > 0:56:34Write from the heart, write what you feel and just, yes, we can.
0:56:34 > 0:56:36There you are.
0:56:36 > 0:56:38You heard it from one of the master songwriters of all time.
0:56:38 > 0:56:42For a lot of people, things are discouraging out there right now.
0:56:42 > 0:56:47Things seem hopeless and all I can say is persevere.
0:56:47 > 0:56:50I've had hopeless times in my life about different things
0:56:50 > 0:56:54and you just have to persevere because one day, that door does
0:56:54 > 0:56:58open and if you don't persevere, you won't be there
0:56:58 > 0:57:01when it does, so persevere, don't give up hope
0:57:01 > 0:57:03and don't be discouraged.
0:57:03 > 0:57:06Her legacy will be enormous.
0:57:06 > 0:57:09Her legacy may be like a Gershwin legacy
0:57:09 > 0:57:13or a Rodgers and Hammerstein legacy because
0:57:13 > 0:57:17there is a generation now that just adores her stuff
0:57:17 > 0:57:18and it keeps it alive.
0:57:18 > 0:57:21# Soon I will be there
0:57:21 > 0:57:28# To brighten up even your darkest night...#
0:57:28 > 0:57:33There's no pretence to anything Carole does and that's
0:57:33 > 0:57:35so true of her writing and performing.
0:57:35 > 0:57:39I just always admired the way she goes out on stage
0:57:39 > 0:57:41and just sits down and does it.
0:57:41 > 0:57:44You go, oh, my God, I totally know what that song is about.
0:57:44 > 0:57:47That's happened to me, or that's how I feel right now,
0:57:47 > 0:57:50or that's how I felt then
0:57:50 > 0:57:53and no-one's ever been able to say it that way before.
0:57:53 > 0:57:54They make it their own.
0:57:54 > 0:57:57I would think honesty is the prevailing
0:57:57 > 0:58:02emotion of Carole as a writer and a performer.
0:58:02 > 0:58:04She said exactly what I was going to say.
0:58:04 > 0:58:06Yeah, but I'm the lyricist, so I said it.
0:58:06 > 0:58:09# I'll be there, yes, I will
0:58:09 > 0:58:11Hey now.
0:58:11 > 0:58:16# Now ain't it good to know that you've got a friend...#
0:58:16 > 0:58:19Her singing, it doesn't have a lot of artifice in it
0:58:19 > 0:58:21or ornamentation.
0:58:21 > 0:58:23It's pure, it's like, here's who I am.
0:58:23 > 0:58:26I think people... I think that's what they love about her.
0:58:26 > 0:58:32# And take your soul if you let them
0:58:32 > 0:58:34# Oh but don't you let them...#
0:58:36 > 0:58:38If Tapestry never existed,
0:58:38 > 0:58:43Carole King would still be among the handful of most
0:58:43 > 0:58:48important song writers in pop music history, so let's just say that.
0:58:48 > 0:58:51# I'll come running
0:58:51 > 0:58:54# Oh, yes I will
0:58:54 > 0:58:56#To see you again
0:58:56 > 0:59:01# See you again and again
0:59:01 > 0:59:05# Winter, spring, summer or fall
0:59:06 > 0:59:11# All you've got to do is call
0:59:11 > 0:59:16# And I'll be there, yes, I will
0:59:16 > 0:59:20# You've got a friend. #