Now That Everything's Been Said

Carole King's launching pad for her solo career

     

The City consisted of pianist Carole King, her bassist/husband Charles Larkey, and up-and-coming guitarist Danny Kortchmar. Kortchmar, of course, would go on to have thriving career as session guitarist for James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, and others. Kortchmar also went on to co-write songs with Jackson Browne and Don Henley and play with other notable session artists in the group The Section. Kortchmar's two songs on the album, on which he also sings, "A Man Without a Dream" and "Sweet Home" are okay but don't compare well with King's compositions. And The City definitely represented King's launching pad that would lead to her successful solo career, beginning with the equally wrongly neglected Writer and, of course, the incredibly successful, almost perfect Tapestry. It's easy to see why King (like Linda Ronstadt, then playing with The Stone Poneys) would move into a solo career. Her voice and presence (like Ronstadt's) just doesn't fit well in a back-up vocal role, even if it's only sometimes.

Most of the songs on the album are King compositions, composed with lyricist Gerry Goffin. Goffin and King were already established songwriters by 1968, when this album appeared. The masterpiece of the album is clearly "Snow Queen," which should have been a huge hit for the group but wasn't. "Snow Queen" was covered nicely by Roger Nichols and Small Circle of Friends and then by the Association on their otherwise not very interesting Waterbeds in Trinidad album. Other standouts on The City's album include "I Wasn't Born to Follow" (covered as a psychedelic country composition by the Byrds), "Now That Everything's Been Said," "Paradise Alley," "Victim of Circumstance," and the earliest recording of "Hi-De-Ho" (originally titled "That Old Sweet Roll," made famous by Blood, Sweat, & Tears). It's amazing how little Carole King's songwriting and voice have changed over 40+ years.

Certainly, this is a must for any Carole King collector, but for those newcomers to King's work, it really should be a 3rd or 4th pick. Tapestry should be the first. Writer, the second, maybe her greatest hits next. But certainly The City after that.