Without a doubt, the seven songwriters who touched and influenced by early life were: John Lennon/Paul McCartney, Paul Simon, Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil, and Gerry Goffin/Carole King. All brilliant, all offering different compositions dealing with love and life. Today, we lost the second in that incredible group.
I'd say the majority of people who love music know the name of Gerry Goffin, most notably for his marriage and musical partnership with Carole King. That's how I knew him. It seemed the names Goffin-King were listed under the title of nearly every 45 rpm record I bought when I was a kid.
Starting with The Shirelles and "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow," a song whose subject matter is not as relevant today, but is still as breathtakingly beautiful to hear, no matter which of the twenty or more artists has covered it. The Drifters had great success with "Up On The Roof" and "Some Kind Of Wonderful." Aretha with "Natural Woman," and The Byrds with "Wasn't Born To Follow." And The Monkees, "Take A Giant Step," and "Pleasant Valley Sunday." So many more. It was a ride that never seemed to end.
Back then, I didn't know who wrote the words, I just knew they were beautiful. And even as a young girl in the days before feminism even had a name, I felt pride that a young woman, and Carole King was very young, could hold her own in the songwriting business, alongside her husband Gerry Goffin.
After his partnership with Carole was over, Gerry had other successful musical collaborations including Michael Masser, with whom he wrote "Do You Know Where You're Going To," sung by Diana Ross in the movie Mahogany, and "Tonight I Celebrate My Love" for Roberta Flack and Peabo Bryson.
Tonight, we celebrate him.
Easy Journey Mr. Goffin.
Last week I was able to squeeze in Jen's MixTape Tuesday blog hop and this week, I'm gonna do it again. This week the theme is Duos or Duets, and for once, I had a flood of possibilities right off the bat. I've decided not to mix and match, but to just go with Duets.
One of the greatest duets ever, and don't argue with me on this, was Marvin Gaye and Tammi Tyrell. Not only did they have great songs to work with, their voices paired perfectly. They had several hits together, and because I can't choose between my two favorites, I'm posting two of the best duets.... ever.
"Ain't No Mountain High Enough"
"You're All I Need To Get By"
One of the most enduring duets, and one which both singer-songwriters still sing, both solo and when they do shows together, was written by Carole King and included in her album Tapestry. James Taylor also recorded it for his album Mud Slide Slim. But the song really comes alive when they sing it together.
"You've Got A Friend"
The album Raising Sand was a brilliant collaboration between Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. It was actually the first time Plant had shared the vocals with anyone. My favorite off the album...
"Killing The Blues"
Whether it's the title, the lyrics or the vocal give and take, when Don Henley and Stevie Nicks got together, it was perfect. This is an early demo version.
"Leather And Lace"
Tina Turner has done several duets over the years. She always knocks them out of the park. For this exercise, I'll go with her duet with Bryan Adams, from his off-the-charts successful album Reckless.
"It's Only Love"
One of the first, if not the first duet I ever remember was from a husband and wife team, Who could have imagined where this song would lead. Is there anyone who doesn't like it, know the words, and sing along every time you hear it? Sonny & Cher.
"I Got You Babe"
This was fun and for me, a real easy list. Thanks Jen, for always putting out the welcome mat.
Last night I was supposed to be at a Yankees-Mets Subway Series game. I was not. The combination of getting three hours sleep the night before and a miserable rainy day made me re-consider... even though they did end up playing the game.
I felt like crap the whole day. No sleep, a headache and my hair started to frizz. Who needs this shit? Then on top of it, I was supposed to drive over two bridges and deal with both rush hour and game traffic. The final straw was hearing the George Washington Bridge, the first of the two I needed to cross, was closed with an accident.
First pitch, originally scheduled for 7pm, was now set at 8:40pm. Figuring a three hour game if there are no other delays, and I'm getting home close to 1am. After sleeping for three hours the night before. Um...I opted for Plan B. Stay home, watch it on TV and also catch the reason for this post today.
Last night PBS aired the White House Concert honoring Carole King as the first female recipient of the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. Now I love Carole King, love her. While Grace Slick was my idol because of her being one of the first women to front a rock & roll band and who had an attitude and mouth to go with it... Carole King wrote the songs. Before I took a long, long break from writing, I was extremely touched by song lyrics. The songs she and Gerry Goffin wrote were some of the most memorable around, back when I was a kid. Then Tapestry came out. Who doesn't remember that album cover of a blue-jeaned girl with frizzy hair, relaxing in the window seat as the light streamed in? I had it on vinyl, had it on cassette and I have it on CD. It is as brilliant today as it was in 1971.
The Gershwin Award "honors the lifetime achievement of artists whose work exemplifies the standard of excellence associated with towering songwriters George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin." Carole King received that award, and deservedly so.
The show featured a variety of singers covering some of her best known tunes. "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow," Billy Joel singing "Locomotion," and of course James Taylor sang "Up On The Roof," as well as a duet with Carole on "You've Got A Friend."
The taste for today is a song which was not featured on the show, but may be my favorite of hers.
"Green fields and rolling hills
Room enough to do what we will
Sweet dreams of yestertime
Are running though my mind
Of a place I left behind"
"Been to Canaan" is one of those songs which just lightens my mood. Had a bad day or struggling with a decision? It just makes you remember that you did have a place of peace, and you will find it again.
Another week, another premature loss in the music world. Forever young Monkee Davy Jones passed away yesterday and left legions of middle aged women remembering when we were young, and he was the cutest thing to ever cross the Atlantic.
When the TV Show first appeared on TV, it was dumb fun...it was the Marx Brothers with music. And it was always about the music. Every episode showcased Davy, Mickey, Peter and Mike singing a song in the most improbable ways. Known as the band that Hollywood manufactured, their songs were written by some of the greatest songwriters of the time..Neil Diamond, Carole King, Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart, just to name a few. Except for the fans, it was hard to find anyone in the music industry who took them seriously.
Davy Jones started out as an actor. My mother actually saw him pre-Monkees, on Broadway as The Artful Dodger in Dicken's Oliver Twist. For me, that was insanely cool.
The death of the first Monkee will never shatter the world as did the death of the first Beatle, John Lennon. But his untimely death reminds us that even though the pictures we will surely see in the next few days, are of a very young man, he along with the rest of us, had long since passed the torch of youth to a couple of new generations.
Today's sample is the song I remember from the TV show where Davy is walking along the beach singing this song about whoever the girl was in that particular week...and Davy always had a girl.
