Customer Reviews

Now That Everything's Been Said

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

...this is certainly worth hearing. This is a CD reissue of the only album released by the Carole-fronted group, The City--the group also included the now legendary session player Danny Kortchmar on guitar & vocals. This album was originally released in 1968 & available for quite a short time, & here it is given a proper reissue treatment. Fans of albums such as "Tapestry" & "Music" etc., will find this to be no less than a good listen. 2 of these tracks, which were later on hits in versions by other artists, were featured on the 2 CD "Ode Collection" set, "Hi De Ho" being one of the highlights. The TOTAL gem from this album is "Snow Queen", a somewhat jazzy, gloriously melodic, lush pop-rock tune with a fantastic lead vocal from Carole as well as great harmonies, & it sparkles on this CD with the remastered sound--it's one of the very best songs of her entire career--why it wasn't included on the "Ode Collection" is beyond me. Carole fans ought to give this album a spin.

I bought this in vinyl when it was new, and before King became a solo star. I was stunned. I was equally surprised that it had been reissued, as it is never mentioned in articles about Carole King. The sound is wonderful and clean: no fancy mixing, just some great folk/rock tunes sung for fun. As others noted, Danny Kortchmar, who continued to back King & James Taylor in live concerts in the early 70s plays guitar & sings one song. Pretty good stuff. But the world realized that King was the star, and this band disappeared. It has all of King's voice, without the overmixing that became part of her later commercial successes. Definitely should be added to the Carole King collection, but judging from how far down the list of King albums is it on Amazon, not many people know of it even now.

This is beautiful, near-perfect record. It should have been a huge hit. All the ingredients which made "Tapestry" so popular a few years later are here: catchy songs driven by Carole King's piano riffs, great harmonies, and a brilliant backing band. In fact I prefer this to her solo records - this album is a little less self-consciously sensitive than her seventies singer-songwriter period. The album has a relaxed, fun, pop-ish feeling, like a folksy "Pet Sounds", and the arrangements are a lot more punchy - imagine if The Band or maybe Big Brother and Holding Co. had backed Carole up on Tapestry instead of James Taylor etc....With Carole King pounding away on piano, organ, and harpsichord, it's beautiful.
A neglected classic, if you have any interest in Carole King this is required listening.

I'm always checking Amazon for new and used albums by my favorite artists, and this one came up under Carole King's name. I decided to purchase it. I'm really impressed. The tunes 'Snow Queen', 'Hi-De-Ho', and, 'I Wasn't Born To Follow' are the best. In fact, I've decided to obtain all of her albums because she really is the best of the 70's female singer songwriters whose music holds up so well today. I can also highly recommend Carole's 'Living Room Tour', and 'Natural Woman' CDs.

It's difficult to believe this album was out of print for 30 years prior to its 1998 reissue, especially given Carole King's popularity in the 70's. This is for all intents and purposes her first solo album - she co-wrote and sings lead on all but one of the songs. Stylistically, it's closer to _Tapestry_ than many of the albums she released after it. The arrangements are pretty organic (guitar, bass, keyboards, drums), and there's a sort of late 60's optimism and enthusiasm here that is refreshing. Of course, top to bottom, it doesn't quite match up to the aforementioned 1971 masterpiece, but "Wasn't Born to Follow", "Victim of Circumstance", "Hi-de-Ho", and the title cut are all excellent, and "Snow Queen" is a standout. Danny Kortchmar's vocal turn on "Man Without a Dream" is also quite enjoyable.

Although there are some other nice tracks on the album, the opening track,
"Snow Queen", is an absolute knockout, overshadowing (in my opinion) the rest of the songs.

It is a King/Goffin classic with a killer melody,
an airy chord progression, and soaring harmonies.

Carole has a good later version by herself (done live),
but it lacks the full arrangement and wonderful harmonies of this
first and original version of the song, by Carole and The City from 1969.

Here it is in LO-FI on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPDH_6wkToU

The sole album by Carole King's only band, THE CITY, proves many things:
1) Record/CD collecting lives on in the digital age. You can download all 12 of this album's MP3s for 9 bucks -- but new, pressed copies command $100. Especially when the music in question is as powerful as these tracks. Including the original version of Blood Sweat & Tears hit "Hi-De-Ho."
2) Lou Adler saw this gem and its lead singer's first solo album "Writer" both sink into obscurity. But he marketed her 3rd album on his Ode label "Tapestry" into a worldwide phenomenon. Proving talent will out, eventually.
3)Carole King smoothly transitioned herself from a Brill Building songwriter into a recording powerhouse with "Now That Everything's Been Said." It just took the rest of the world several years to catch up to that reality.
4) A singer who only made demo singles for years could grow from a mediocre teen vocalist into one of the biggest album-selling acts of all time -- redefining the folksy singer-songwriter image into category-shattering stardom in the process.
If you like Carole King the performer, it all started here.

If you like Carole King, or her Music, you will want this album. It really is the foundation of her growth from an great songwriter to writer/singer. Check out her "Snow Queen" on this CD to future performances on later CD's. A bit uneven, it still is a real personal look into the future of Carole.

I was introduced to Carole King by my father. I really love her music. This is her first credited album. She did it with her second husband and friend. I like " Snow Queen." "Wasn't Born To Follow" is very wonderful. "Hi De Ho" isn't bad. A little jazzy, but a very good album.

Carole King is playing Piano in this band. Her to-be second husband (or so I've read) is playing Bass Guitar...he is the same Bass player that is on the newly remastered "Tapestry" Cd.