"New York has given me such an awful lot - stimulus, ideas, feelings to write - the concert is just a small way of giving something back" - Carole King
On Saturday May 26th, 1973 before 100,000 plus fans on the Great Lawn of Central Park in New York City, a generational talent singer-songwriter at the undeniable top of her game enjoyed a humbling homecoming a mere 14 miles from the house in Brooklyn where she grew up. The historic event highlighted the earth-moving power she’d unleashed with her watershed Tapestry (already being touted as one of the highest selling albums in history a mere two years after its release), all the way through her soon-to-be released song-cycle album Fantasy, (her fourth consecutive Lou Adler-produced album to land in Billboard’s Top Ten), Carole King’s performance that day was, according to Jack Nicholson, one of only two current events “proper” to be seen at in public.
Kicking off the show solo by expressing gratitude that a threatening storm had held off, the first portion of the performance highlights recent songs that were nigh-canonical at this point...from “Beautiful” to “Smackwater Jack” to “It’s Too Late” Carole’s deft piano and voice accompaniment is both enrapturing and riveting.
Later joined by her 11 piece band, all bedecked in customized St. Louis Blues hockey jerseys (“the musical note logo looked cool and they were cheaper than suits” said Adler of the sartorial decision) the second half of the gig was resplendent and lush, highlighting the bulk of the songs from Fantasy, and overall, the epitome of a crack band gelling on the material and connecting with the audience. Closing out the evening with “You’ve Got a Friend” dedicated to dear friend James Taylor, the overall feeling conveyed here is simple: joy.
Produced by Lou Adler and released in conjunction with Ode Records and Sony Music, Carole King Home Again is a previously unreleased concert recording and a stunning document of one of the greatest contributors to the American songbook. Presented on two LPs of brick-colored vinyl with one side dedicated to a graphic etching of the Fantasy tour logo. The gatefold jacket and printed inner sleeves feature stellar photos from the performance while the audio here is crisp and beautiful.
Additionally, the professionally filmed performance is presented here in its entirety in pristine quality on DVD. Helmed by the award-winning creatives behind the Coda Collection, the visual tableaux of the concert absolutely shines.
Exclusive to this set is a 7-inch single highlighting the inestimable talents of Lucy Dacus. A long-time fan of Carole King, Dacus recorded transformative covers of “Home Again” and “It’s Too Late” specifically to be included as part of this complete package. Both versions are pure, shining examples of why Lucy Dacus is one of the best singer-songwriters of this generation.
Carole King
Home Again
Produced by Lou Adler
2xLP/DVD tracklist:
1. Beautiful
2. Been To Canaan
3. Way Over Yonder
4. Smackwater Jack
5. Home Again
6. Sweet Seasons
7. It’s Too Late
8. Fantasy Beginning
9. You’ve Been Around Too Long
10. Being At War With Each Other
11. That’s How Things Go Down
12. Haywood
13. A Quiet Place To Live
14. You Light Up My Life
15. Corazón
16. Believe In Humanity
17. Fantasy End
18. You’ve Got A Friend
Lucy Dacus 7-inch tracklist:
1. Home Again
2. It’s Too Late
Lucy Dacus 7-inch tracklist:
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Home Again
-
It’s Too Late
It’s easy to bitch and complain when things aren’t quite how you want them to be. Carol King was a surprise to me as much as anyone else, but I trust these guys. TMR is a great company that brings so much colour to the world. Give them a break, and if you don’t like this vault just cancel and re-subscribe. It’s all pretty simple stuff.
I like CK okay and she’s from my generation. I have two of her albums. Still, the announcement of a price tag increase (although I don’t think that affects this one) combined with the actual package here (three sides of music, a DVD, and a 7” single, really got me thinking. I mean, if I LOVE all of it, the limited edition LP is worth maybe $35? The limited edition DVD maybe $15? The 7” single $7?
If I really loved ALL of it maybe worth about $60. But the 7” isn’t even CK. The performance might be great but we just don’t know enough about the source and it’s not even Blu-Ray.
I canceled.
Moving forward these Vaults will really need to step up what’s being offered to merit $75.
@Tam D (whose comment will be pushed off the page once I’ve made mine) – Sleep are thoroughly connected to Third Man. Their album The Sciences was released through Third Man Records, and the Vault package was their live show from Third Man! That 4LP package was actually one of the best Vault releases there has ever been. Gorgeous packaging, fantastic mixing on the recording, and great pressings (which some recent Jack White live show vault packages offerings only had 1 out of those 3 criterias fulfilled)
Sorry, just cancelled my subscription. I don’t need this shit!!! Very disappointed in TMR. I only want Jack White, The White Stripes or TMR related. This is not TMR related This is getting money from your loyal members, but enough is enough. And then the the increase later this year 😡😡😡
This looks like a great package for people like me who don’t really know. I’m really looking forward to it.
What’s with the DVD? It says professionally “filmed” but I don’t know that the millennial writing this doesn’t just call every thing you shoot “filming, filmed” or calling the finished product “video”. I’d really like to know more about the backstory as to why these things weren’t released at the time and in this case where they might have been found, when they were edited, etc. To not have blurays in this day and age of easily scanned film footage and reasonably quickly cleaned footage is actually sickening. Up the price and no bluray…….cooooool!
Excited for this Carol King! Over all I do hope TMR stops including the DVD’s in the vault packages. A flash drive featuring the same content would be nice. I have not owned a DVD player in years. Worth it for the LPS alone however
Nice
I was feeling nostalgic a few months back and decided to put a few Carole King songs on my commuter playlist. It’s like 3rd man heard my car karaoke all the way in TN! I’m surprised and impressed that they are releasing this. The DVDs are great too (even though I had to dig out my player for the last one)!
Appreciative Listeners Only!!!