The Legendary Demos

Description

Carole Kings legendary 1971 album Tapestry cemented her into the pantheon of the all-time songwriting greats. But Kings tracks were also hugely successful for numerous artists dating back to the 1960s.

Now comes The Legendary Demos, a previously unreleased collection of 13 original demo recordings of some of her most iconic songs, from the Hear Music/Concord Music Group. The Legendary Demos traces Kings journey from her days as an Aldon staff writer in the 1960s, where she crafted hit after hit for other artists, to the dawn of her own triumphant solo career in the 1970s, and contains the original recordings of future standards like (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman, Its Too Late, and Youve Got A Friend. Featuring liner notes by acclaimed author and Rolling Stone contributing editor David Browne, the collection forms the lost missing link in the chain of Kings career.

Aldon Music used these demos short for demonstration records to pitch Kings material to other artists, from Gene Pitney and Bobby Vee to Aretha Franklin and the Monkees. While the recordings have long been coveted and collected within the industry (famed producer Lou Adler once gave a stack of demos to Randy Newman and called them the best education that anybody who wanted to be a songwriter could have), they have never before been released to the public.

On April 10 King will also publish her first book, A Natural Woman through Grand Central Publishing.

Kings 1971 album Tapestry received a Diamond Award for sales exceeding 10 million in the United States. As a songwriter in the 1960s for Aldon Music, Kings tracks were hugely successful for numerous artists. Bobby Vee hit No. 1 for Take Good Care of My Baby in 1961. Crying in the Rain reached No. 10 for the Everly Brothers and major success followed both Just Once in My Life, and Youve Lost That Lovin Feelin.