One of music’s most prolific songwriters invites fans for an intimate, career-spanning concert. Filmed during Carole King’s sold-out, critically acclaimed 2005-2006 Living Room World Tour, the performance special follows the trajectory of her 40-plus year career: from her inauspicious beginnings as the self-described “lyrically challenged” member of Brooklyn high school girl group the Co-Sines to a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer whose songs have topped the charts for artists from an impressively wide range of genres. CAROLE KING: WELCOME TO MY LIVING ROOM premieres nationwide August 2008 on public television (check local listings).
The concert opens with King alone on a stage styled as a comfortable living room. Wearing a blue, beaded top – perhaps arriving “home” from a performance and now relaxing with friends – she sings, “I’m 63 and there’re so many songs by me…but I’ll try to do all I can in the time they give me,” and fans know they are in for a treat.
In a performance King proclaims will be “a night about songwriting,” public television viewers experience the full spectrum of her talent. Beginning in the 1960s as one-half of a famous Brill Building songwriting team, King co-wrote hits with Gerry Goffin for the Shirelles (“Will You Love Me Tomorrow”), the Chiffons (“One Fine Day”), the Drifters (“Up on the Roof”), Aretha Franklin (“(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman”) and many others. Then as a solo artist in the 1970s, King became a singer/songwriter icon with the genre-defining Tapestry, which yielded her four Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, Record of the Year (“It’s Too Late”) and Song of the Year (“You’ve Got a Friend”), along with seminal hits “I Feel the Earth Move” and “So Far Away.”
WELCOME TO MY LIVING ROOM makes it clear that no one performs Carole King’s classic songs better than she does. Playing decades-old compositions with the exuberance of that Brooklyn teenage girl writing simple songs about boys, the joy she finds in making and playing music is evident, whether solo on piano or guitar, or with accompaniment. The personable singer/songwriter charms the audience with chatty banter, her mile-wide smile and earnest delivery of every lyric. And her audience is equally invested — even the men sing along on the chorus of “(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman.”
Song List
“Welcome to My Living Room”
“Beautiful”
“Smackwater Jack”
Medley: “The Right Girl,” “Keep Your Hands Off My Baby,” “Every Breath I Take,” “I’m Into Something Good,” “Go Away Little Girl,” “Hey Girl,” “One Fine Day,” “Will You Love Me Tomorrow”
“Up on the Roof”
“It’s Too Late”
“(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman”
“I Feel the Earth Move”
“So Far Away”
“You’ve Got a Friend”
“The Loco-Motion”
Band Members: Gary Burr (vocal, guitar, bass) and Rudy Guess (vocal, guitar, bass)
Directors: Carole King and Rudy Guess. Producers: Carole King, Rudy Guess and Lorna Guess. Associate Producers: Leah Reid and Brandon Miller. Filmed by Tim Pendergrass for Video Lounge Productions. Presented nationally by WLIW New York. ST and CC.
