Legends Slot

[henry bear]

10 hours ago, DownboundTrain52 said:

Would Carole King work? I sense that could be a case of people knowing less than they did for ELO. 

---

I think so:

Carole King (born Carol Joan Klein, February 9, 1942) is an American composer and singer-songwriter.^[2]She is the most successful female songwriter of the latter half of the 20th century, having written or co-written 118 pop hits on the Billboard Hot 100between 1955 and 1999.^[3]King also wrote 61 hits that charted in the UK,^[4]making her the most successful female songwriter on the UK singles charts between 1952 and 2005.^[5]

 

[bamber]

Carole King would be good.....

 

[bamber]

Carole had some friends.....  Mann And Weil....... If you ever saw the Musical you would know this ......

 

[bamber]

Speaking of Carole King....

 

[bamber]

I still cannot comprehend our collective loss. A true legend. 

 

[bamber]

This for the Legend slot, I implore this.

 

[CaledonianGonzo]

4 hours ago, henry bear said:

---

I think so:

Carole King (born Carol Joan Klein, February 9, 1942) is an American composer and singer-songwriter.^[2]She is the most successful female songwriter of the latter half of the 20th century, having written or co-written 118 pop hits on the Billboard Hot 100between 1955 and 1999.^[3]King also wrote 61 hits that charted in the UK,^[4]making her the most successful female songwriter on the UK singles charts between 1952 and 2005.^[5]

 

For better or worse, the teatime slot isn't just about how many hits you've written - it's also about charisma, the cult of personality and about someone's skills as an entertainer.  It's why the relatively straightforward *gig* sets - Paul Simon, ELO - are regarded less fondly than the ones by folk who *put on a show*.

[DownboundTrain52]

6 hours ago, henry bear said:

---

I think so:

Carole King (born Carol Joan Klein, February 9, 1942) is an American composer and singer-songwriter.^[2]She is the most successful female songwriter of the latter half of the 20th century, having written or co-written 118 pop hits on the Billboard Hot 100between 1955 and 1999.^[3]King also wrote 61 hits that charted in the UK,^[4]making her the most successful female songwriter on the UK singles charts between 1952 and 2005.^[5]

 

Huh. Shows what I know then 

[Jasonbee]

Not sure anyone has said who I'd want; Stevie Wonder! I think he'd be awesome!

[Jasonbee]

I seen Elton John last year on tour he was great!

[stuartbert two hats]

12 hours ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

Not sure if serious.  You're aware of The Brill Building, surely.....?

Just had to Google it.  I'm vaguely aware of the people who worked there and that they wrote songs, but I've always thought of them as being a bit middle of the road, so not paid much attention.  Now, I only found out the other day that Carole wrote (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman, which is decidedly not middle of the road.  And I just found she did Up On The Roof too, which is also good, but to be fair is a bit MOR.

So she was a professional songwriter first, is that right?  Has she ever done the definitive version of one of her famous songs?  I'm scanning her discography and can't find anything I know that wasn't done better by someone else.

Part of my disinterest is that I kept getting her mixed up with Carol Kaye, so was always disappointed by the lack of groove when I put a King song on and remembered the difference.

Nothing fills me with more dread than "close collaborator with James Taylor".  Generally means "a bit wet" to me. but I'm very open to being educated, since there are a couple of cracking song I've mentioned above, so there's bound to be more.

[DownboundTrain52]

16 minutes ago, stuartbert two hats said:

Just had to Google it.  I'm vaguely aware of the people who worked there and that they wrote songs, but I've always thought of them as being a bit middle of the road, so not paid much attention.  Now, I only found out the other day that Carole wrote (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman, which is decidedly not middle of the road.  And I just found she did Up On The Roof too, which is also good, but to be fair is a bit MOR.

So she was a professional songwriter first, is that right?  Has she ever done the definitive version of one of her famous songs?  I'm scanning her discography and can't find anything I know that wasn't done better by someone else.

Part of my disinterest is that I kept getting her mixed up with Carol Kaye, so was always disappointed by the lack of groove when I put a King song on and remembered the difference.

Nothing fills me with more dread than "close collaborator with James Taylor".  Generally means "a bit wet" to me. but I'm very open to being educated, since there are a couple of cracking song I've mentioned above, so there's bound to be more.

I read Carol Kaye as Gordon Kaye, the late legend of bad French accents, for some reason.

Looking down the hits she's penned, there's a decent selection. But her actual own collection of self-sung hits don't seem to have been too extensive in the UK according to Wikipedia?

[CaledonianGonzo]

I'm not sure I follow the lime of thinking that Natural Woman isn't MOR but Up On The Roof is.

Definitive versions?  You could argue any of the ones that appeared on Tapestry, but Im very partial to this take on Wasn't Born To Follow.

 

[stuartbert two hats]

1 minute ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

I'm not sure I follow the lime of thinking that Natural Woman isn't MOR but Up On The Roof is.

Definitive versions?  You could argue any of the ones that appeared on Tapestry, but Im very partial to this take on Wasn't Born To Follow.

 

Thinking about it, that's probably more coloured by my feelings about the performances by Aretha and The Drifters than anything about the actual songs. I'm now feeling guilty about Up On The Roof, I'm very fond of that song.

Any other steers on King songs? I'll take a listen to that video when I get back home, later on.

[CaledonianGonzo]

I love this too:

But realistically any set would be largely built around Tapestry stuff and the Brill Building hits.

[SwedgeAntilles]

Put me down as another Two Hats (but with no hats), I didn't realise this about Carole King either. Never listened to Tapestry before but, like you say, just had a look through the track list and immediately recognise more than a few of them.

Will give the album a listen now.

[CaledonianGonzo]

Plus she wrote The Porpoise Song!

 

[Mardy]

Tapestry was pretty ubiquitous in people's record collections of the early 70s, I reckon. Well, certainly in the collections of people who like a bit of miserable introspectiveness. I remember growing up and hearing it. You can still find it on vinyl in virtually every charity shop going. Phenomenal record though, absolutely superb.

And the stuff with James Taylor is nowhere near as bad as you might expect. The tour they did together a few years back looked sensational.

 

 

[stuartbert two hats]

8 minutes ago, Mardy said:

Tapestry was pretty ubiquitous in people's record collections of the early 70s, I reckon. Well, certainly in the collections of people who like a bit of miserable introspectiveness. I remember growing up and hearing it. You can still find it on vinyl in virtually every charity shop going. Phenomenal record though, absolutely superb.

And the stuff with James Taylor is nowhere near as bad as you might expect. The tour they did together a few years back looked sensational.

 

 

I still think it sounds like a demo are there any other instruments other than the piano on it?

[henry bear]

7 hours ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

For better or worse, the teatime slot isn't just about how many hits you've written - it's also about charisma, the cult of personality and about someone's skills as an entertainer.  It's why the relatively straightforward *gig* sets - Paul Simon, ELO - are regarded less fondly than the ones by folk who *put on a show*.

So are you saying she hasn't got this? Her Hyde Park performance got great reviews.

[SwedgeAntilles]

Just finished, counted 7 of the 12 tracks I knew, which is pretty mental for the first listen of an album.

Great record though, A Natural Woman is a fucking gorgeous song. 

[DownboundTrain52]

44 minutes ago, henry bear said:

So are you saying she hasn't got this? Her Hyde Park performance got great reviews.

As did ELO's own Hyde Park show for Radio 2. Charisma is a big player, and I'd see her perhaps lacking it in the way of a Dolly or a Lionel.

[CaledonianGonzo]

1 hour ago, henry bear said:

So are you saying she hasn't got this? Her Hyde Park performance got great reviews.

In terms of being a personality who exists in the public consciousness aside from her body of work, not really.  The songs are the star, which isn't entirely the case for an Elton or a Diana Ross.  She's more like a Burt Bacharach.

That said, I'm a fan and do want her to play in any capacity.

[musky]

On 03/03/2017 at 2:33 PM, chatty said:

I think they should get the Butthole Surfers in for this. Could bash out a great set:

...

Absolute classic setlist that would go down as an all time clinic in music. 

Well I liked this idea anyway. Should go down well with the Pyramid Daily Mail reading chair set.

Why is everyone so enthusiastic for a Manilow legend slot? I know he's a big enough name, and he has a set of songs that very many people know, but... EVERY F*KIN' SINGLE ONE OF THEM ARE SCHMALTZY SHITE.

Has this entire forum turned in to a bunch of vanilla menopausal women all of a sudden? Has everyone turned their back on a love for music in favour of an ironic penchant for execrable pap? GET A GRIP PEOPLE - it's Barry f*kin' Manilow!

[henry bear]

1 hour ago, DownboundTrain52 said:

As did ELO's own Hyde Park show for Radio 2. Charisma is a big player, and I'd see her perhaps lacking it in the way of a Dolly or a Lionel.

I thought they were a good booking for GF but not in that slot - they've got some great songs but it doesn't really make for a community singalong.