Carole King - Tapestry

Tapestry is singer-songwriter Carole King 1971 pop album featuring minimal production by Lou Adler. Tapestry was ranked US number 1 for 15 consecutive weeks, which is the longest time for an album by a female to occupy that position, and remained in the charts for six years. In terms of time on the charts, it ranks fifth overall and in terms of length on the charts for solo musical acts it ranks second. It remains the longest charting album by a female solo artist. Tapestry has sold over 25 million copies worldwide and on July 17, 1995 was certified diamond in the United States by the RIAA for 10 million copies sold in the US. In 1972 the album also garnered four Grammy Awards including Album of the Year, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, Record of the Year ("It's Too Late"), and Song of the Year ("You've Got a Friend"). Critic Robert Christgau wrote in Christgau's Record Guide (1981):

King has done for the female voice what countless singer-composers achieved years ago for the male: liberated it from technical decorum. She insists on being heard as she is—not raunchy and hot-to-trot or sweeet and be-yoo-ti-ful, just human, with all the cracks and imperfections that implies.

King wrote or co-wrote all of the songs on the album, several of which had already been hits for other artists such as Aretha Franklin's "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" and The Shirelles' "Will You Love Me Tomorrow". Three songs were co-written with King's ex-husband Gerry Goffin. James Taylor, who encouraged King to sing her own songs, and who also played on Tapestry, would have a #1 hit with "You've Got a Friend." Two songs were co-written with Toni Stern: "It's Too Late" and "Where You Lead". In 2003, the album was ranked number 36 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In 2001, the VH1 TV network named Tapestry the 39th greatest album ever. In 2003, it was one of 50 recordings chosen by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry.