Scene Notes

Fun Facts About Carole King

Posted on 10/30/2019

Beautiful—The Carole King Musical is making a stop at State Theatre New Jersey during their tour! They will be at the New Brunswick venue November 8-November 10. Here are some fun facts about who the musical is all about, Carole King. Without her, there’d be no show, so here is a little bit about her and her career!

• Born Carole Klein, King was born and raised in New York and attended James Madison High School in Brooklyn.  
• King changed her last name from Klein to King in high school as a stage name. 
• In high school, King met Paul Simon, aka Simon of Simon and Garfunkel! The two recorded demos together during high school. 
• After graduating high school, King attended Queens College. This is where she met Gerry Goffin, who became her partner in writing songs. King wrote the music, Goffin wrote the lyrics.  
• Some songs that King and Goffin wrote together were “Will You Love Me Tomorrow?” for Shirelles, “The Loco-Motion" for Little Eva, and “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” for Aretha Franklin. 
• While the two wrote everlasting songs, King and Goffin were once husband and wife. They were married 1959-1969, and had two daughters together, Louise and Sherry Goffin.
• King was a “one-hit-wonder" vocalist in the 1960s as her song, “It Might As Well Rain Until September,” was her only hit during the decade.  
• King is responsible for James Taylor’s hit, “You’ve Got a Friend,” which King said, “I wasn’t writing for him [Taylor]… but his voice was in my brain, and he had such a profound influence on my writing,” when asked if the song is about Taylor.
• King has also collaborated with Joni Mitchell, B.B. King, Eric Clapton, and Branford Marsalis.
• According to King, she was often seen as “cute” and “music became a way of identifying [a] particular niche.”
• King’s second album, Tapestry, was the project that made King’s solo career soar. Released in 1971, the album earned King a #1 spot on the Billboard Charts for 15 weeks, and remained on the list for six years.

Photo: Singer-songwriter Carole King sings into a microphone wearing headphones during the recording of her album ‘Tapestry’ at A&M Records Recording Studio in January 1971 in Los Angeles, California, United States. (Photo by Jim McCrary/Redferns)