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Pif Magazine
ISSN: 1094-2726
Published by:
Pif, LLC
PMB 248
4820 Yelm Hwy SE
Suite B
Lacey, WA 98503-4903
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| PAST MUSIC REVIEWS | MORE REVIEWS |
Los Angeles, Spring, 1971
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You've got to get up every morning with a smile
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- "Beautiful" by Carole King |
I'm told they placed my crib right next to the stereo, the stereo my dad played non-stop. He had a $2,000 Marantz amplifier. It was half wood and half chrome and it looked like something handcrafted by the offspring of a Norwegian violin maker and a Japanese rocket scientist. It looked like it had an important job to do, and it did. In the summer of 1971, I was two. I know what music my dad was listening to then because whenever I hear it now, my soul inexplicably and undeniably swells. The Carpenters. James Taylor. Crosby, Stills, and Nash. Paul Simon. Carole King. Later I discovered the ones he'd left out – Neil Young and Joni Mitchell. My dad now explains, "Neil Young was always too whiny, and I gave up on Joni Mitchell when she went jazz." But his loss has been my gain. I've enjoyed discovering Neil and Joni myself, sensing all the while that I was actually re-discovering them in some vague primordial sense.
Is the music I grew up with great, or do I just think it's great because I grew up with it? Had my dad listened to Tom Jones and Nancy Sinatra, would I be nostalgically pining over their work now? I think not because Tom and Nancy suck, whereas the music I grew up with rocks! OK, now that I've objectively settled that issue, let's head on back home...
The City Of Angels
While I was soiling my diapers in Lafayette, Louisiana, a singer/songwriter scene was raging in Los Angeles, the likes of which has not been seen since. Here's a list of just a few albums recorded in L.A. between 1970 and 1972:
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The list goes on. The above artists all knew each other, and they were constantly collaborating. Three albums from this scene particularly stand out as a loosely related trilogy of sorts: Carole King's Tapestry, Joni Mitchell's Blue, and James Taylor's Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon. All three share similar musicians, similar confessional tones, and a similar release date – spring, 1971.
Los Angeles (more accurately Laurel Canyon) was the happening scene, but Joni Mitchell came there from Canada, Carole King came from Brooklyn, and James Taylor came from Boston. All three artists are excellent tune writers and intimate performers. Carole's lyrics are the weakest of the three, and they're still pretty good. All three artists sing about love, but that's no surprise. Carole King's love is mature and hopeful; Joni Mitchell's love is young and sad; and James Taylor's love is timeless and romantic. The rare thing is, you can hear their souls in their music. Few singer/songwriters write and perform this transparently anymore. Maybe David Wilcox. Who else? That Beck, he's a real hoot. Who else?
For Tapestry, James loans Carole his drummer and his electric guitarist. Joni is her own band, with a little help from James and his drummer. Follow me closely as I make some more connections – James plays guitar on Carole's "You've Got a Friend." Joni sings on James' version of Carole's "You've Got a Friend." Carole wrote "You've Got a Friend" for Tapestry, but it was James' version that became popular. Joni's song "Carey" is supposedly about James. Carole plays piano on James' "Love Has Brought Me Around," and Joni sings on it. Although Joni and Carole don't sing on each other's albums, they do record in the same studio. And that's all I have to say about all that.
