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May 2, 2003|Volume 31, Number 28



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Singer and songwriter Carole King treated the audience members at the Davenport College master's tea on April 24 to an impromptu concert of old favorites and new works on the common room's piano.



Songwriter Carole King describes
how she makes beautiful music

Grammy-winning songwriter and singer Carole King told a Yale audience that she realized early on keeping a balance between your personal and professional lives is essential if you want to live a life of quality and kindness.

King spoke at master's tea in Davenport College held on April 24. Her appearance was part of the "Industry Vanguards" program sponsored by The Yale Undergraduates' Distinguished Speakers Series.

The Davenport common room was packed for King's appearance, and Richard Shottenfeld, master of Davenport College, said, "There's some magic in the air." The excitement -- and King's audience -- grew even greater when she strode to the piano for a four-song set following the tea. Students walking past a nearby window stopped and stared in astonishment as she belted out "Love Makes the World," "I Feel the Earth Move," "Like a Natural Woman" and "You've Got a Friend" to thunderous applause.

King, was who born as Carole Klein in Brooklyn, New York, began playing piano at 4 years of age and formed her first band, a vocal quartet called "The Co-Sines," while still in high school. Over the years, she has written or co-written over 400 songs, including 40 Top-40 hits.

King and her first husband, Gerry Goffin, wrote tunes that have been recorded by the Beatles, Herman's Hermits, the Chiffons, Jack Jones, Aretha Franklin and James Taylor. These include chart-toppers like "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" (their first number-one hit), "Go Away Little Girl," "Up On The Roof," "You've Got A Friend" and "(You Make Me Feel) Like a Natural Woman." Most of these songs were written during their tenure in Manhattan's storied Brill Building (King called it "like going to school"), where songwriters such as Doc Pomus, Neil Sedaka (who wrote "Oh, Carol" for her), Jerry Lieber, Mike Stoller, Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich and Paul Simon penned hundreds of hits over three decades.

In 1962, King scored her first solo hit, "It Might as Well Rain Until September." Her landmark album, "Tapestry," swept the 1971 Grammys, winning Album of the Year, Record of the Year for "It's Too Late," Song of the Year for "You've Got a Friend," and Best Pop Female Vocalist. In addition to hitting number one, "Tapestry" stayed on the album charts for 302 consecutive weeks and sold more than 14 million copies since its release.

King, a 1990 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, recently released her 24th album, "Love Makes the World," on her own label, Rockingale Records, the name of which is an anagram for "Carole King." She did a stint on Broadway in "Blood Brothers" in 1994 and has made numerous appearances with the "Saturday Night Live" band.

"The one question I am asked more than any other is: 'Which comes first, the music or the lyrics?'" King told the Davenport College audience, noting that her songwriting methods varied -- sometimes, she wrote lyrics first and other times, she wrote the music first or worked with a beat and wrote both later.

She attributed her initial successes with Goffin as finding "a really great window of opportunity" to get their songs recorded and distributed. "It's really hard now," she added. "Then, there were these little fledgling record companies, and decisions were being made by individuals as opposed to committees [today]. And they were looking less at the bottom line and more at 'What can we get out there that would be really exciting?'"

Noting the importance of balancing her personal and professional lives, King recalled that after working a full day in a studio, writing and recording songs, she would come home at night "and do my other job -- be a wife, mother, cook and housekeeper." She recalled some sessions in a recording studio where she'd be playing the piano for a band track while rocking her children's cradle with her foot.

King is also an environmental activist and lived for a time in Idaho, where she founded the White Cloud Council, which unites diverse groups of people promoting a range of environmental issues. She continues to lobby in Congress for passage of the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act.

"You here in Connecticut, or no matter where you come from, the Northern Rockies are important to you, even if you never go there, because they belong to all of us," King said, adding that U.S. Representative Christopher Shays, R-Connecticut, is the lead sponsor of the act. "They're like our 'Sistine Chapel.' They're a cultural resource and a natural resource."

The Yale Undergraduates' Distinguished Speakers Series (YUDSS) is a new undergraduate organization that focuses on recognizing pockets of interest on campus and bringing leading professionals in that field to campus in order to promote dialogue on the topic. According to Katherine Capelluto '04 of Berkeley College, co-president of YUDSS, the group organized the year-long "Industry Vanguards" series to address innovation, experimentation and leadership in the entertainment industry. The group's future projects will include a series on journalism, musical entertainment and architecture, among others.

-- By Thomas R. Violante


T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

School of Medicine to open new biomedical building on May 2

Initiative to focus on research ethics

Former Yale World Fellow played influential role . . .

Two creative Kings discuss their crafts

Emerging global leaders chosen as Yale World Fellows

Magazine celebrates its first year with award and acclaim

Library acquires archive of 'storyteller with a camera'

IN FOCUS: Yale Astronomy Public Nights

UNIVERSITY TEACH-INS

Event will showcase research by medical school students

Art gallery appoints former MoMA administrator . . .

Yale sophomore is lauded for her global leadership

Memorial Services

Participants needed for CENTURY smoking cessation study

Peruvian archaeologists speak at Yale symposium on the Inca

Political science academy honors Yale professor and student


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