On This Day in 1971, Carole King Achieves Chart-Topping Success with a Landmark Album That Defined an Era and Produced Multiple Timeless Hits
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A New Voice at Number One
On June 19, 1971, Carole King’s second solo album, Tapestry, reached the top of the Billboard 200 for the first of an extraordinary fifteen straight weeks, the longest unbroken run by any LP that year. The record arrived during a season dominated by hard rock and Motown, yet King’s gentle piano ballads and conversational lyrics cut through radio noise and captured listeners who wanted personal stories set to warm melodies.
That Saturday marked a turning point in popular music: for the first time, a female singer‑songwriter’s intimate bedroom reflections outsold arena acts on both sides of the Atlantic. By midsummer, even AM stations that once avoided softer sounds were spinning King’s voice hourly, proving that emotional honesty could move as many units as fuzz‑toned guitars.
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Singles That Ruled the Airwaves
Tapestry generated a remarkable string of hits. The double‑A‑sided single “It’s Too Late” / “I Feel the Earth Move” began its own five‑week stay at No. 1 on the Hot 100, making King the first woman to top both the album and singles charts simultaneously in the rock era. Later releases kept momentum high: “So Far Away,” “Smackwater Jack,” and her remake of the Shirelles’ “Will You Love Me Tomorrow?” all cracked the Top 15, while “You’ve Got a Friend” hit No. 1 for James Taylor and pushed King’s composer profile even higher.
Critics praised the way these tracks blended King’s Brill Building craft with plain‑spoken self‑revelation. At a time when many albums relied on studio polish, producer Lou Adler kept arrangements spare—acoustic piano, light percussion, subtle strings—allowing lyrics about breakups and friendship to feel like private conversations. Forty years later, contemporary artists still cover “So Far Away” and sample “I Feel the Earth Move,” proof that King’s melodies remain fresh.
Awards, Records, and Lasting Legacy
The impact of Tapestry extended far beyond its commercial stats. At the 14th Annual Grammy Awards in 1972, King became the first woman to win both Record of the Year (“It’s Too Late”) and Song of the Year (“You’ve Got a Friend”) while Tapestry itself claimed Album of the Year. Her sweep signaled a broader industry shift toward acknowledging female writers and solo producers, influencing future icons from Joni Mitchell to Adele.
Recognition kept growing. In 2020, Rolling Stone placed Tapestry at No. 25 on its revamped list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, ahead of many psychedelic and punk landmarks. The disk also logged 302 total weeks on the Billboard 200, a longevity record for a female solo artist until the 1990s. Even today, tracks from Tapestry appear in films, television dramas, and Broadway’s hit bio‑musical Beautiful, underscoring King’s ability to translate everyday feelings into universal anthems.
