The Saint John Free Public Library's Music Discussion Group listened to & discussed Carole King’s TAPESTRY on Thursday, February 21/13 as part of its second season, preceded by the following playlist: - James Taylor – “You’ve Got A Friend” - The Beatles – “Chains” - Aretha Franklin – “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” - Gary & Dave – “It Might As Well Rain Until September” - The Shirelles – “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” Questions for further discussion: - TAPESTRY has achieved the type of popularity that transcends generations; at the time of its release in the early ‘70s, it was an album that both mothers and their teenage daughters were enjoying. Although its presence has diminished somewhat with age, what do you reckon it is about the album that gives (or gave) it such broad appeal? - TAPESTRY has King’s own versions of three songs that she wrote, but which were popularized – or even done definitively - by other artists: “You’ve Got A Friend” (James Taylor), “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” (Aretha Franklin), and “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” (The Shirelles). How do King’s interpretations stack up against these well-known versions? Which ones do you prefer? - How much praise, or blame, do you feel TAPESTRY deserves for the flood of confessional singer/songwriter albums & mellow soft-rock/pop which followed in its wake? Before one judges too harshly, bear in mind that neither of these genres had become established yet; it would take recordings by King, Taylor, Joni Mitchell, the Eagles, Jackson Browne & their scores of imitators to do that.