Carole King’s remarkable metamorphosis from teen mom songsmith to Earth Mother poetess.
She composed the soundtrack of our times on her piano, and wrought the template of our times with her life.
234: Carole King, ‘Up On the Roof’ (Live, 1971)
Rock and Roll
221: The Drifters (Doc Pomus), ‘Save the Last Dance for Me’
The maelstrom of emotion – Doc Pomus watches from his wheelchair as his new bride dances with another guy. All in 2’34”.
Continue reading...218: Bo Diddley, ‘Who Do You Love’
The pogroms in Częstochowa, the African-American folk magic tradition of hoodoo, and how my bootlegging booze across state lines prevented my girlfriend from being picked up by a blues legend.
Continue reading...213: Tommy Tucker, ‘Hi-Heel Sneakers’
Quarantined? Put on your red dress, baby.
Paralysed by existential angst? Take a lesson from Robert Higginbotham.
196: Ray Charles, ‘You Don’t Know Me’
Ray pretty much invented soul and then cornered the market. Instead of leaving well enough alone, he went and invaded Nashville, dressing a string of Country and Western classics in his jazz/pop/soul style, but with fiercely personal interpretations. Something new under the sun. Something indelibly beautiful.
Continue reading...186: The Everly Brothers, ‘All I Have to Do Is Dream’
Boudreaux and Felice Bryant wrote 23 hit songs for The Everly Brothers. The couple met when Felice was 19. She saw Boudreaux in a hotel lobby, told him she’d seen him in a dream when she was 8, and had been looking for him ever since. ‘All I Have to Do Is Dream’ was true autobiography.
Continue reading...182: The Shirelles, ‘Will You Love Me Tomorrow’
When seventeen-year old Carole King found herself pregnant, she wrote ‘Will You Love Me Tomorrow’ for The Shirelles. Girls (and now also guys) have been singing it ever since.
Continue reading...162: The Everly Brothers, ‘Crying in the Rain’
It’s been pouring here, so we’re visiting the whole soggy genre of Crying In The Rain songs. Guess which one we like best?
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