The 5.8 magnitude earthquake that was felt from North Carolina to the Obama compound in Martha's Vineyard appeared to have no significant impact whatsoever on anyone - in fact, in New York City, there was a palpable sense of disappointment. The earthquake, did, thankfully, stir up a new post on Rock Turtleneck.
Carole King's "I Feel the Earth Move" is a song about earthquakes of the romantic variety; the seismic shifts and tremors that new love can stir in a person.
"I Feel the Earth Move" was the first song on Tapestry, the LP that was King's coming-out party as a singer-songwriter after many years of success as one of the great songwriters-for-hire of the 1960s.
As part of the Brill Building staff, she and her partner Gerry Goffin were behind such hits as "The Loco-Motion," "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow," "Some Kind of Wonderful" and personal favorite "Up on the Roof." But Tapestry showed that her singing and fierce piano playing were on par with her songwriting gifts. It remains one of the best selling LPs of all time.
As long as we're on the subject of professional songwriters par excellence, the world lost two of the greats yesterday: Jerry Leiber and Nick Ashford.
Jerry Leiber (right) of the legendary Leiber & Stoller team wrote the words for "Stand by Me," "On Broadway," "Kansas City," "Yakety Yak" and many Elvis Presley (center) classics including "Jailhouse Rock" and "Hound Dog."
Talk show host and amateur songwriter Steve Allen, who despised rock & roll, tried to humiliate Elvis by making him sing "Hound Dog" to an actual hound, but Elvis was totally game and showed Allen and the world why he's the King.
Nick Ashford of the husband and wife songwriting/performing team of Ashford & Simpson, wrote a slew of classics as part of the Motown songwriting stable. The best of these were performed by the duo of Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell, including "You're All I Need to Get By" and the immortal "Ain't No Mountain High Enough."
Buy on iTunes:
Carole King's Tapestry
Elvis: 30 #1 Hits
The Best of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell
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