Carole King's 'Tapestry' turns 50: Why it's a favorite for my mother and me

Carole King's "Tapestry" turns 50 today, bringing its legacy of love, friendship and female empowerment into a new decade.

Filled with hits "So Far Away," "Beautiful" and "I Feel the Earth Move", "Tapestry" was the most Grammy-winning album released in 1971. It earned King four awards: record of the year for “It’s Too Late”, album of the year, song of the year for “You’ve Got A Friend” and best pop vocal performance, female. King didn't accept the awards in person, having recently given birth.

It was "just about the most successful album of the decade, and proof that women could rule rock's formerly male-dominated world," Sheila Weller, author of "Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon – and the Journey of a Generation" wrote for AARP.

"Do very young women know it now? Probably not, but their mothers do," Weller told USA TODAY in an interview.

I know my mother, Elise Oliver, does. She introduced the album to me nearly two decades ago when I was 10 years old. I was watching Season 2 of "American Idol" and Kimberly Caldwell sang the rollicking "I Feel the Earth Move". The judges weren't impressed, but I certainly was. When Caldwell belted "I feel the sky tumbling down," my heart tumbled over and over, too. My mom said the song was a favorite of hers, and the lead off King's "Tapestry."

I clearly needed an education in King's music, and I'm lucky my mom became my teacher. We used to listen to music in the car, but for some reason I remember the song playing in our house. Either way, we must have blasted it from a CD since no one in our house had an iPod until 2004. What I do know for sure is that the music made my mom happy.

When she heard it, it transported her to high school, when she and her best friend listened to "Tapestry" nonstop, spinning the record on her living room turntable.

"We loved her sound," my mother told me recently on a FaceTime call. "We could sing along. And to this day, I think I know just about every word on that album."

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From the thunderous thumps of piano keys to her crisp, clean vocals, King's tour de force love album – for others, yourself and for your home – is worth listening to over and over to ground yourself in who you are and what's most important to you.

The album 'helped unite the country'

Weller says the album came out a time not unlike today. It followed years of violence and protests after the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy. The country was debating use-of-force after the Kent State shootings.

As a singer-songwriter, King internalized the times and transformed her feelings into songs. As one of the famed Laurel Canyon musicians – along with the likes of Crosby Stills and Nash, The Mamas and the Papas and Joni Mitchell – her music encapsulated the era.

While "Tapestry" is remembered for its accessibility, underneath is a deeper sense of truth and social redress.

"(The album) helped unite the country in a way that we really sort of need again, in a very deep way," she said.

In 2021, King's songs are 'especially comforting'

Several themes run through the album, including the nods to love and relationships but also the wistful idea for what home means.

"'Tapestry'" has a sense of wonder to it," Weller said. "(King) is in a new emotional and geographic place, feeling awe and a bit of hesitation that she has moved from the life of a teenage-married maternal professional to life in Laurel Canyon with younger, footloose musicians who are learning from her as much as she is learning from them."

For the teenage version of my mother, the album sparked a longing for love and all the complicated feelings that come with it. She felt validated to hear King express those same emotions through music. "I Feel the Earth Move," "Smackwater Jack" and "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" were standouts for her – though "So Far Away" is the one she brought up when I mentioned this tribute piece to her.

For me, too, "So Far Away" is the song that sticks out now amid the coronavirus pandemic. I haven't seen my mother in person in months. I'm in Washington, D.C.; she's in New Jersey, and she's never felt farther away. Listening to this album reminds me of my own mother's curly hair, cuddling in her bed, singing and celebrating music. I can't recall all the details of our time listening to "Tapestry," but I recall the love and warmth the album brought us.

King's daughter Louise Goffin told me, "Anything authentic and real is grounding during the pandemic and the nature of the song topics and the authentic delivery on 'Tapestry' would make it especially comforting during this time."

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King 'changed the idea of what was beautiful'

King's impact on culture can't be understated. People of different social classes and genders enjoyed it and it gave women a new way to see themselves.

"It changed the idea of what was beautiful in women," Weller said. "The cover image of 'Tapestry' was arresting in the presentation of a truly natural woman: no straightened hair, no nose job, earth mother clothes. Girls and young women whose looks didn't fit the mold of traditional beauty looked at Carole's self assurance and dignity and said, 'That's me!'"

It's a testament to King's style that her music resonates with so many. King is the writer or co-writer behind each "Tapestry" track, including "Natural Woman", the song made famous by Aretha Franklin.

"The crossover of the gospel-soul-hitmaker to soft rock singer-songwriter was picked up on by young soul performers trying to go mainstream themselves," Weller said. "Of 'Tapestry's' impact on him as he was starting out with his Commodores, Lionel Richie recently said: 'Oh, my God, please! That record was just crazy to me! It was a greatest hits package in itself.'"

From 'Gilmore Girls' to Taylor Swift's songs, King's legacy lives on

The album was a hit with fans and critics. Sales began slowly before soaring to No. 1 on the charts and staying there for 15 weeks. At the time, Rolling Stone writer Jon Landau wrote, "Carole King’s second album, 'Tapestry,' has fulfilled the promise of her first and confirmed the fact that she is one of the most creative figures in all of pop music."

"Gilmore Girls" fans recognize song "Where You Lead" as the series theme song. King recorded the version with Goffin.

"We recorded it in the bedroom of a little house I had been living in, in Laurel Canyon, not far away from where we lived when I was growing up and 'Tapestry' came out," Goffin says.

Track "You've Got a Friend" is rumored to have inspired the series revival "A Year in the Life" episode titles. Since my mom isn't a fan of "Gilmore Girls" – yes, the irony – I sing a silly rendition of "Where You Lead" for my sister, which I make her swear that no one else on Earth will ever hear. It's another sign of how much King has permeated pop culture and strengthened bonds between my family and me.

King also paved the way for some of today's most popular artists, including Taylor Swift. At the 2019 American Music Awards, Swift said King's "Tapestry" showed her "that artists could transcend so many different phases and changes in people's lives."

The Broadway musical "Beautiful," about King's life and featuring her music, further cemented her legacy and gave people yet another reason to revisit the icon's work.

"When something is great, it’s relevant no matter what year it is," Goffin says. "Perhaps today it’s a reminder of how important great songwriting and heartfelt delivery is to record making."

King's been honored by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Songwriters Hall of Fame, Kennedy Center and Recording Academy, to name a few. And "Tapestry" is the crown jewel of her catalog.

"Going back and re-listening to the album that was the apex of that legacy will allow listeners who were not her contemporaries to hear, firsthand, what was magical about her," Weller said.

For me, right now, the magic is feeling connected to my mom during a time when we are very much apart.

For my mom, she's stuck on how long it's been since the album came out.

"I can't believe it's been 50 years since that album came out. That can only mean one thing for me," she says with a laugh.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Carole King rock album 'Tapestry' turns 50: Why it matters