Australian musicians are taking their tribute to Carole King’s “Tapestry” on the road to celebrate the iconic album
How does the old saying go?
History is written by the victors. Oh, and by men and for men, let’s not forget that. There can be few more gendered histories than the story of rock and pop music.
For all its progressive pretence – peace, love and harmony in the 60s, anarchy and free expression in the punk rock 70s, the arrival of hip-hop street culture in the 80s or the grunge rock “f..k you” of the 90s – rock history is and has been a boys club.
Case in point – the storied career of Carole King.
When you think about the great songwriters of the 60s and 70s, who immediately comes to mind?
Lennon/McCartney? Jagger/Richards? Neil Young? Pete Townshend? Ray Davies? True, they’re all legit contenders. They have the runs on the board.
Carole King has written or co-written 118 songs that have landed in Billboard Hot 100 chart. Her iconic album, 1970’s “Tapestry”, sat atop the US album chart for 15 weeks and remained a fixture in the top 100 for over six years.
Yet rather than be revered and treated with reverence like, let’s say, Neil Young’s “Harvest”, “Tapestry” is seen as a cultural curio of its time, like macrame and scratch-and-sniff t-shirts.
King deserves her place at rock and pop history’s top table, but like many women, their story has been written out of the script.
That’s something a group of Australian musicians and fans are keen to redress as they take their tribute to Carole King’s “Tapestry” on the road this month.
“Carole King’s Tapestry – 50th Anniversary In Concert” will celebrate the iconic album. Featuring the voice of Esther Hannaford (who starred in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical) and backed by an all-star band featuring Mark Wilson (Jet), Pete Marin (Dan Sultan band), Louis Macklin, Clio Renner and Olivia Bartley (Olympia).
Bartley said that “Tapestry” has been part of her life for as long as she can remember. Growing up with parents who filled the house with music, Carole King was ever present in her childhood.
“I have such vivid memories of that LP. Holding that record cover, I’d go through all the lyrics and pour over the album artwork. It just feels very much part of my DNA,” she told Footyology.
Olivia Bartley agrees that Carole King has been written out of her rightful place in music history, but she’s quick to point out that she’s not the only woman who has suffered this fate at the hands of male gatekeepers who curate the cannon of popular music.
“It’s funny that you say that because there is an alternative history of popular music being taught at the Collarts (arts education college) in Melbourne by rock journalist Michael Dwyer that tries to reframe it with the stories of female artists and their achievements being given their due.
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“I mean imagine if Sister Rosetta Tharpe was famous in her own time! It blows my mind that I can talk about a band like ESG and people say they don’t know what that is.”
To help you discover a few more neglected female classics, I’ve put together a quick shopping list for your next trip to your record store.
Nina Simone – “Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, 1964”
Nina Simone walked it like she talked it. Whilst Dylan and friends sang about protest, Ms Simone lived it, with a ferocity that burnt brighter than a thousand suns.
This performance in New York in 1964, at the height of the civil rights movement, is unflinching and righteous. The version of her civil rights call to arms, “Mississippi Goddam” is devastating.
Betty Davis – “Nasty” (1975)
Betty Davis was too hot to handle, even in the free-and-easy 70s. As funky as Sly, as x-rated as peak Prince, as assertive and sassy as Beyonce, this album is a total knee-trembler.
The Slits – “Cut” (1979)
Whilst the Clash and the Sex Pistols played gun-slinging rebels, The Slits said: “f..k that, we’ll invent our own music.”
Their raw, lean, jagged dub sound stripped punk of its cock-rock tendencies and hits you like a sharp jab on the chin. “No other band looked or sounded like The Slits,” Joe Strummer said.
He’s still right today.
Sinead O’Connor – “The Lion and the Cobra” (1987)
The debut album from an artist who lives her life fearlessly and damn the consequences, “The Lion and the Cobra” pre-dates the global stardom that arrived with her jaw-dropping version of Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U.”
The storm in Sinead O’Connor was to break publicly and cause all hell to be unleashed a few years later when she tore up a picture of Pope John Paul II on American TV (if she were a man, it would have been considered a daring political statement, as a woman, she was just dismissed as crazy).
On “The Lion and the Cobra” you can hear the anger and pain here as Sinead O’Connor finds her voice to tell her story, her way.
Cable Ties – “Far Enough” (2020)
Melbourne’s power house trio take a fistful of ferocious riffs, a rhythm kick that blows your doors off, the agility of a prize fighter and mix it with a clutch of melodies that seduce your ears whilst they kick your chair out from underneath you, leaving you wondering what the hell just happened, and can we do that again please?
Carole King’s Tapestry – 50th Anniversary In Concert Tour starts this Saturday in Melbourne, Friday May 14th, Saturday May 15th at Palais Theatre, St Kilda – Click here to purchase tickets.
