Gilbert O’Sullivan on …
Carole King: Writer (Ode, 1970)
This was Carole King’s album before Tapestry, which I don’t think anybody bought apart from me and a couple of other people. She made an album before it, in 1968, with a group called the City because she didn’t really like being a frontperson. But Writer was significant because it was the prelude to Tapestry. There are some wonderful songs here such as Up on the Roof and Goin’ Back – covers of her own songs. But the album only sold about 10 or 20,000 whereas Tapestry sold 10 or 20m! James Taylor is on it, and [guitarist] Danny Kortchmar; a lot of the same people who were on Tapestry. It’s a really lovely album. It definitely influenced my writing, particularly the chord sequences on Child of Mine. If I’d grown my hair and worn jeans and a denim shirt I would have easily fitted into that category of singer-songwriter. But I dared to be different and chose an unusual image.
See the full article here:
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/oct/27/the-lost-albums-loved-by-the-stars-from-ecstatic-gospel-to-italian-prog