Writer

Released

By the time of Writer, King was already co-author of some of pop’s greatest moments: “Up On The Roof,” “Goin’ Back,” “(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman.” She’d also divorced her husband and collaborator, Gerry Goffin, and made an underrated folk-rock album, Now That Everything’s Been Said, with The City. But Writer is where it all really begins for King as a performer. Drawing on that bank of extraordinary Goffin/King songs, cannily choosing ones that work for her unadorned, plainly sung voice – that delivery’s a credit to King, by the way; her voice is able to make the ordinary extraordinary – Writer is a lesson both in gorgeous soul-pop song writing and understated arrangement. Plenty of highlights here, including moving takes on “Goin’ Back” and “I Can’t Hear You No More,” and hearing King sing “No Easy Way Down” and thoroughly own the song that Dusty Springfield made so sublime is a treat. Tapestry was next, a fourteen-times platinum seller that overshadowed King’s debut. It’s great, but Writer still lives in its shadow, unfairly so.

Jon Dale

Suggestions
Abbey Road cover

Abbey Road

The Beatles
Amor Y Control cover

Amor Y Control

Rubén Blades, Son del Solar
Happy Town cover

Happy Town

Jill Sobule
Mark Hollis cover

Mark Hollis

Mark Hollis
The Velvet Underground cover

The Velvet Underground

The Velvet Underground
Together Alone cover

Together Alone

Crowded House
Rumor and Sigh cover

Rumor and Sigh

Richard Thompson
Green Tambourine cover

Green Tambourine

The Lemon Pipers