Customer Reviews

Thoroughbred

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

 

 

"Thoroughbred" is one of the finest romantic albums of the mid-1970s, joyful and sometimes painful in its directness and honesty. King wears her heart on her sleeve and puts everything on the table emotionally with "Thoroughbred." The album is the listener's first hint that change was in the air for King. (Following "Thoroughbred" she signed with Capitol Records and the themes of her songs and the emphasis of her writing changed from strictly romantic to increasingly pastoral.) With "Thoroughbred" there is a raw and urgent directness in King's voice, which was missing from a few earlier Carole King albums. She utilizes a new group of musicans here, including Waddy Wachtel on electric guitar and Lee Sklar on bass (in addition to old friend James Taylor on acoustic guitar and vocals). "Thoroughbred" has a rolling acoustical sound, almost western at times on cuts like "We All Have To Be Alone" and "Ambrosia." Guitars play a heavier role on this album, beautifully accentuating King's two-fisted piano style. "Thoroughbred" is a beautiful gem, hopefully not soon to be forgotten now that many can hear it on CD.

I've been a fan of Carole King's since 1971 and the single release of "It's Too Late." That led me to "Tapestry" and it's great follow-up, "Music." Then, 1972 happened, and all we got from Carole was "Rhymes and Reasons," her most sparse and least exciting album. In 1973, she tried an interesting experiment with "Fantasy," which basically chronicled inner-city life, via words and music. It was both a critical failure and hurt Carole's sales (though the album still went gold, continuing her streak). She came back with a vengeance in 1974 with "Wrap Around Joy," my absolute favorite King work--and two singles from the album hit Billboard's top ten: "Jazzman" and "Nightingale." "Wrap Around Joy" was a return to the more melodic King, albeit more pop-oriented. She kicked up the volume in 1975 with the unleashing of "Thoroughbred," my third favorite King masterpiece (my second favorite is her newest, "Love Makes the World." My fourth is "Speeding Time")! "Thoroughbred" saw Carole reuniting with Gerry Goffin, her ex-husband and prolific writing partner, and they showed us what good music is all about. Each song is a gem: "So Many Ways," "Daughter of Light," the heartbreaking "There's a Space Between Us" (with backups by James Taylor), and "High out of Time," among so many others. Once again, Carole does her own back-up vocals on most of the tracks, plays piano, and sings her plaintive heart out. It's a startling performance and one of Carole's best. I still have my original album from early 1976, and it's in perfect condition. Carole, you're one in a million--keep on making music, babe! You were born for it!

"Thoroughbred" is one of the finest romantic albums of the mid-1970s, simultaneously joyful and painful in its sincerity and directness. Carole King wears her heart on her sleeve and places everything on the table emotionally with this collection of songs.

With "Thoroughbred" there is a raw urgency in King's voice, which was missing from a few earlier Carole King albums. She utilizes a new group of musicians here, including Waddy Wachtel on electric guitar and Lee Sklar on bass (in addition to old friend James Taylor on accoustic guitar and vocals.) "Thoroughbred" has a rolling accoustical sound, almost western at times on cuts like "We All Have To Be Alone" and "Ambrosia". Guitars play a heaver role on this album, beautifully accentuating King's two-fisted piano style. The melodies too on "Thoroughbred" are more complex than on earlier albums, even prompting long-time King producer Lou Adler to comment: "To tell you the truth, as a producer, I didn't have a real fix on all of the songs..."

"Thoroughbred" is also the listener's first hint that change was in the air for King. (Following "Thoroughbred" she signed with Capitol Records and the themes of her songs and the emphasis of her writing for many years changed from strictly romantic to increasingly pastoral and even environmental.) The album has a certain quality of wanderlust about it. "Thoroughbred" is a beautiful gem, hopefully not soon to be forgotten now that many can hear it on CD.

I own ALL of Carole Kings' CD's & of course, LOVE them all!!! But THIS one has a special hold on me - it is 'Carole King Perfection'!!! This CD presents a romantic, jazzy, raw, open side of Carole that stays with you long after listening. Every single song is a favorite!!! EVERY one of them!!! Most are familiar with the huge hit 'Only Love is Real' - which is a personal favorite of mine. But equally beautiful are standouts such as 'Ambrosia', 'High Out of Time', & 'Still Here Thinking of You'. And if you're brave enough to let the tears stream down because of the sheer beauty & honesty of 'High Out of Time' - then let it play!!! If you must own only 1 Carole King CD (but of course NOBODY should just own one!) then let 'Thoroughbred' be THE ONE!!!!! Simply breathtaking!!!!!!!!!

Its hard to imagine an album rivaling King's "Tapestry" in creativity and satisfaction, but "Thoroughbred" nearly matches. Carole sings some of her finest and most intimate songs here. The production is slick and unencumbered. Thoroughly a pleasure, again and again.

Carole King / Thoroughbred: While this is not a masterpiece, it IS a great album. There are several hits on this album and the best way to hear those hits is in the context of the whole album (and every song here is excellent). The fact that this CD is out of print (as of January of 2012) is simply inexcusable, but then, there is no excuse to have ANY of Carole King's albums out of print. This one easily rates Five Stars.

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I'm a big Carole King fan. I bought this album when it was released. Wrap Around Joy, the album before this, was the weakest in her catalog at that point, but it did have Nightingale and Jazzman, to excellent cuts, and was mostly OK. With Thoroughbred, she really let me down. Only Love Is Real is a pretty good song, but there's nothing else on here that I can really recommend. Writer, Music, Rhymes and Reasons, and Fantasy are all excellent, underappreciated albums that you should check out before this one. And don't miss Now That Everything's Been Said by The City, the group she was in briefly before Writer. It's very good, too. If you get Her Greatest Hits, which contains Only Love Is Real, you can skip this one entirely.