Carole King
City Streets

AFTER TAPESTRY HER BEST ALBUM

After falling in love with her Tapestry almost twenty years earlier, I've been waiting a long time for another great album from Carole King, and finally here it is! Varied in inspiration and sound, yet cohesive in the joy of a performance worthy of her fame. A sound strengthened by some injections of synthesizers, drum machines, and electric guitars, with some luxury guest appearances like the refined soprano of Brandon Marsalis (in «Midnight Flyer») and the good Eric Clapton on a couple of tracks (especially «Ain’t That The Way» which is a true concentrate of Slowhand).

Ten songs that sing of love and its torments, with one exception: «Legacy», in my opinion the least successful piece of the album, carrying the remnants of pseudo-social writing foreign to her sensitivity. Some complicated and poorly poetic phrases (such as “It's all getting burnt-out, used-up / Bought and sold to the bottom line / That ain't the way it's gotta be / You can leave a better world than you find”) remind me of the 1970s period when Carole decided to do it all on her own “liberating” herself from Gerry Goffin, the lyricist-husband with whom—along with the music—she had signed the great hits of the previous decade.

Here Goffin has returned to gift her the lyrics of two songs - «Midnight Flyer» and the concluding «Someone Who Believes In You» - which, to be honest, are nothing special. Actually, when it comes to finding the right words in the game of feelings, Carole manages well even on her own. For example, in the title track where the city streets become magical for lovers entwined in silhouette (“Lovers with their arms entwined / Silhouettes against the light”) or a torment of solitude (“I wish I could find the magic / But I’m scared and I’m feeling so alone”) for those who don’t have love. «City Streets» has the right cadence to become a little classic and it’s my favorite song (also adorned by a beautiful intervention by Michael Brecker on tenor sax). As the second, I would place «Homeless Heart» (here the words are by a sly old fox of songwriting like Nashville's John Bettis) but the heart's melodies - even sometimes with one too many clichés («I Can’t Stop Thinking About You») - flow pleasantly throughout the album.

In short, there are some flaws, but overall certainly an album to be saved and listened to. Let’s be clear: what’s done is done. In 1989 Carole was heading toward 50 and after this - and until today - there will only be a couple of minor episodes. City Streets does not mark a new artistic beginning, but precisely for this reason—and not just for the nostalgic of years that will not return—it deserves attention and affection.

To conclude, the graphics: complete in texts and editorial information and the photographs by Caroline Greyshock (not the least of the arrivals) are not bad, fading the years of our Carole—who was never beautiful even when young—into an almost sex-and-the-city image ante litteram.

PS: for those who want to delve deeper, I note here on Debaser the beautiful review by Jack Donney on Carole King's debut album and much more of her early period https://www.debaser.it/carole-king/writer/recensione