The sun was shining for the first time in a long time this dreary summer and it picked the right day to make an appearance – Carole King was in Hyde Park performing in London for the first time in 25 years.
Headlining the British Summertime Festival, King drew crowds of young and old – everyone singing along, word perfect, to her seminal album, Tapestry.
The concert opened with a video montage of testimonials, with entertainment greats such as Elton John, Tom Hanks, Lou Adler, James Taylor, David Crosby and fellow songwriters Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil paying homage.
Sir Elton described her as “the quintessential singer-songwriter. I can't thank her enough because without her I would have never wanted to write songs.” While Hanks argued that "there wasn't a woman on the planet earth who didn't take Tapestry and hold the album to their heart and say this is real."
Looking around Hyde Park while King belted out the Tapestry album in full – 12 tracks that moved the audience to song, tears, dance and more than the odd romantic embrace – it was clear that album wasn’t just taken to heart by women. Butch men with tattoos walking back from the bar with pitchers of beer were unapologetically singing along to Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? and Beautiful.
The set list faithfully followed the track list of the famous 1971 album, starting with I Feel the Earth Move and finishing up with You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman. In between, King dueted with her daughter Louise Goffin on Where you Lead, using the newer lyrics celebrating the mother-daughter bond, updated for the early-2000s TV show Gilmore Girls. She also took to the electric guitar to jam with her daughter for Smackwater Jack, demonstrating her down-to-earth likability and a sense of humour that was evident throughout the show.
Her voice has aged – “this is what 74 looks like” she joked – but is still strong and sweet, and although she was wary of hitting some of the higher notes, Tapestry was and still is unmistakably King’s legacy to the musical world.
After a back-to-back rendition of Tapestry songs, King moved on to some of her other hits and a medley of songs from the Goffin/King songbook.
Mentioning Goffin, her voice turned melancholy. “Gerry is here with us tonight,” she told the audience, obviously still moved by reference to him and their time together. It was a moment of rest in the middle of two hours of activity and pure delight, but Goffin’s talent was marked last night along with King’s, as she sang Chains, Up on the Roof and Locomotion.
King closed out her landmark show with You’ve Got a Friend, a feeling that every member of the audience reflected. This was a truly spectacular concert celebrating the life and works of a truly spectacular artist.
