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Carole King
The Living Room Tour
(Rockingale)
First Appeared in The Music Box, July 2005, Volume 12, #7
Written by John Metzger
After performing at a variety of low-key environmental and political events,
Carole King returned to the larger stage in 2004, and by surrounding herself
with an array of quaint, household furnishings (such as a sofa, side tables,
potted plants, and framed photographs), she managed to keep the ambience
unusually intimate. Dubbed the "Living Room Tour," the shows provided King with
an opportunity to highlight the many successes of her remarkable career. Backed
sparsely by guitarists Gary Burr and Rudy Guess, she satisfyingly rummaged
through large portions of her extraordinary catalogue and spanned the decades
from her days penning pop gems in New York’s Brill Building (Pleasant Valley
Sunday, Go Away Little Girl, and One Fine Day) to her
definitive singer-songwriter fare of the ’70s (I Feel the Earth Move and
You’ve Got a Friend).
King’s latest effort, the aptly titled, two-disc set The Living Room Tour,
compiles the more memorable moments from a trio of shows held in 2004, and in a
sense, the outing also doubles as a concise, retrospective collection. As
impressive as its track listing is, however, the execution of the material —
outside of a driving, gospel-blues-infused interpretation of Chains and
tenderly touching renditions of It’s Too Late and So Far Away — is
startlingly faulty. Like many veteran artists, the effects of aging have taken
their toll upon King’s voice, and, at times, she strains considerably to reach
the higher notes, emitting a raspy growl that too often isn’t well-suited to her
songs. While these flaws might be forgivable in the less than stellar acoustics
of a concert hall, the crisp, clarity of a digital recording makes them all the
more apparent. 
The Living Room Tour is available from Amazon.com.
To order, Click Here!
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Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2005
The Music Box
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