Tapestry (Carole King album)

Tapestry is a famous music album.

It was made by Carole King. She wrote every song on it. She also played the piano.

Many people bought this music. It was a very big success. It stayed on the music charts for a long time.

She won four big awards for it. These awards were for her songs and her singing. She was the first woman to win some of them.

The album cover shows her at home. She is sitting by a window. She holds a cloth she made by hand. Her cat is near her feet.

Tapestry is a famous music album. It was made by Carole King. She wrote every song on the album. She also played the piano and sang.

Before this album, King wrote hits for other people. This album made her a star as a singer. It was a huge success. It stayed on the U.S. charts for 313 weeks. Many people bought it. It has sold around 25 million copies around the world.

King won four Grammy Awards for this work. She won Album of the Year. She also won Record of the Year and Song of the Year. She was the first woman to win those awards.

The album cover shows King at her home. She sits on a bench by a window. She is barefoot on a cushion. She holds a tapestry that she made by hand. Her cat, Telemachus, sits near her feet.

Many artists still love this music today. Some have even made tribute albums to honor her. The Library of Congress even chose it to be kept for the future. They say it is very important to our culture.

Tapestry is a famous music album by the American singer-songwriter Carole King. It is loved by people for its personal and musical skill. The album made King an international star as a singer. Before this, she mostly wrote hit songs for other artists. She wrote or co-wrote every single song on this record.

Making the album was a big job involving many talented people. King recorded the music at A&M Recording Studios in January 1971. She played the piano and sang the lead and backing vocals. Many famous musicians helped her during the sessions. James Taylor played the acoustic guitar and sang backing vocals. Joni Mitchell also provided some backing vocals for the songs.

The history of the album began with King's career in the early 1960s. She often worked with her first husband, Gerry Goffin, to write hits. Some songs they wrote together became famous for other singers. For example, they wrote "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" in 1960. In 1971, King decided to sing her own material. This led to the release of Tapestry on February 10, 1971.

Tapestry was a huge success in many different places. It spent 15 weeks at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200. This was a record for a female solo artist. The album has sold around 25 million copies worldwide. It also won four Grammy Awards in 1972. King won Album of the Year and Record of the Year.

This album is still very important to music culture today. In 2003, it was added to the National Recording Registry. This means the Library of Congress keeps it for the future. Many other artists have made tribute albums to honor King. Some singers say her songs feel like stories or movies. Even the TV show Glee used her music in an episode.

*Tapestry* is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Carole King. Released on February 10, 1971, by Ode Records, it is considered a landmark in popular music. Produced by Lou Adler, the album transformed King from a successful songwriter into an international superstar. It is celebrated for its musical accomplishment and its sense of personal intimacy. Many critics regard it as one of the greatest albums ever made.

The creation of the album involved a collaborative process at A&M Recording Studios in January 1971. King performed the lead and backing vocals, while also playing the piano and keyboards on every track. She was supported by a group of highly experienced session musicians. Notable contributors included James Taylor, who played acoustic guitar and provided backing vocals. Joni Mitchell also contributed backing vocals to the sessions. The recording sessions were deeply connected to other music of the era, as some musicians worked simultaneously on Taylor's album, *Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon*.

Every song on *Tapestry* was written or co-written by Carole King. She collaborated with Toni Stern on the tracks "It's Too Late" and "Where You Lead," with King composing the music and Stern providing the lyrics. King also worked with her ex-husband, Gerry Goffin, on three songs. Two of these, "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" and "Will You Love Me Tomorrow," had previously been famous hits for other artists like Aretha Franklin and The Shirelles. This transition from writing for others to performing her own work marked a major shift in her career.

Before *Tapestry*, King had spent a decade as a songwriter, often working with Goffin in the early 1960s. While she had one solo hit in 1962, titled "It Might as Well Rain Until September," her primary fame came from songs performed by other people. The release of this album changed her professional trajectory. The cover photograph, taken by Jim McCrary, captured this new era. It shows King sitting barefoot on a cushion in her Laurel Canyon home, holding a hand-stitched tapestry with her cat, Telemachus, nearby.

The commercial success of the album was immense and long-lasting. In the United States, *Tapestry* spent 15 consecutive weeks at number one on the Billboard 200. This achievement set a record for the most consecutive weeks at number one by a female solo artist. The album remained on the Billboard 200 charts for 318 weeks, including 302 consecutive weeks. It held the record for the longest-charting album by a female solo artist in the U.S. until 2017. Globally, the album has sold approximately 25 million copies and has been certified 14× Platinum by the RIAA.

*Tapestry* earned significant recognition at the 14th Annual Grammy Awards in 1972. It won four awards, including Album of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. The single "It's Too Late" won Record of the Year, while "You've Got a Friend" won Song of the Year. Through these wins, King became the first solo female artist to win Record of the Year and the first woman to win Song of the Year. The album's impact is further evidenced by its high rankings on critical lists, such as *Rolling Stone*'s "500 Greatest Albums of All Time."

The cultural legacy of the album continues through tributes and preservation. In 2003, the Library of Congress added *Tapestry* to the National Recording Registry because it is culturally, historically, or aesthetically important. Other musicians have honored the work through tribute albums, such as *Tapestry Revisited* in 1995 and *Marcia Sings Tapestry* in 2010. Singer Tori Amos has even described King's songs as being like "sonic movies." Even modern media, such as the television series *Glee*, has used the album's music to pay tribute to King's songwriting.