A Natural Woman

A Memoir

By: Carole King

Narrated by: Carole King

Length: 14 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

Listen to the New York Times best-selling memoir that is "revealing, humble, and cool-aunt chatty" about the incredible life that inspired the hit Broadway musical Beautiful (Rolling Stone). Carole King takes us from her early beginnings in Brooklyn, to her remarkable success as one of the world's most acclaimed songwriting and performing talents of all time. A Natural Woman chronicles King's extraordinary life, drawing listeners into her musical world, including her phenomenally successful number one album Tapestry, and into her journey as a performer, mother, wife and present-day activist. Deeply personal, King's long-awaited memoir offers listeners a front-row seat to the woman behind the legend. The audiobook will include dozens of photos from King's childhood, her own family, and behind-the-scenes images from her performances.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

©2012 Carole King (P)2012 Hachette Audio

Honest Storytelling!

Honest storytelling, very detailed, enjoyed getting to know Carol King!
Also enjoyed the times that she would sing, so grateful she narrated it herself.

A music prodigy

This is not the type of memoir or biography I normally read. I have heard people talk about Carol King so thought I would learn about her. I am afraid I stopped listening to music when Elvis Presley came on the scene. I stayed in the Big Band era.

Carole King is a Jewish girl from Brooklyn. Her name was Carol Klein she was of Polish Russian Jewish descent. King states she wanted to be a teacher. She states the gift of her music presented itself early in her life. Apparently she was a piano prodigy. She tells of her of her first contract with a recording company when she was 15 years old. Kings says she learned to play and write all types of music from classical to rock and roll. King tells of her life married to Gerry Goffin having her first child at 17 years of age. She had two children by Goffin. She also tells about her other husbands Charley Lankey with whom she had two children, James Taylor and Rick Evers. Apparently some of the husbands were addicted to drugs but King states she never used drugs. She also is careful only to provide positive information about these men. She tells of her life on a ranch in Idaho.

King tells of being crammed into a cubicle at the music publisher’s office writing hit after hit. She writes in detail about the making of “Tapestry”. She tells about the writings of various songs and sings parts of song which was easy to do as she also narrated the audio book. She talks about the fact she preferred to write music rather than be a performer but her music produces said she was talented enough to perform and pushed her into. She says she only started to travel and perform routinely after her children were grown. She provides a travelogue type of information of the tours she did in foreign countries. I found this part quite interesting. King says she is not very good at lyrics and prefers to work with someone to do the lyrics. She writes all the music. She said her career has been going for 54 years so far and it took her 12 years to gather the memories and write the book.

I enjoyed the book it was like sitting down with a cup of tea and listening to a new friend tell stories about their life.

A Natural Woman

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I have and will continue to do so. I have been a fan of Carole King's music since the 60's...this book has made me a fan of Carole King the person.

Which scene was your favorite?

This book is filled with great scenes...if I was forced to pick one it would probably be the fight to retain the rights to the road across the ranch in Idaho.

Any additional comments?

Although Carole and I do not agree on everytingpolitically, I respect her views and admire the way she stands up for them. This book is a fantastic read and portal into the music lifestyle of the 60's and 70's.

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About King

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would reccomend this book to anyone interested in the life of Carole King and the pop music of the 20th Century.

What did you like best about this story?

Not only did it give details about King's life, but a snapshot of the music industry in a very turbulent time in our country's history.

What about Carole King’s performance did you like?

I liked the way she would break out in song when discussing various musical pieces.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I was particularly moved by an explanation of domestic abuse that King described during a dark period of her life.

Any additional comments?

Although very long, this book kept my attention from beginning to end, anyone who love's King's music is sure to find it entertaining and informing. I will warn the reader though, if one is looking for a lot of detail regarding King's friendship with James Taylor, there seems to be pieces missing.

I love it - I hate it - I love it - I hate it ...

What did you like best about this story?

Insights into the creative process and detailed information about her music.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Carole King?

I would still have her narrate it, but I would have someone listen to it with her and point out the problems. Painful as it was, it was well worth it to hear it in her voice because it gives you insights into her inner mind that you wouldn't otherwise get. She could fix it by simply relaxing and speaking more conversationally and with less fairy tale to a 4-year inflections.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Her description of the lyric of Natural Woman.

Any additional comments?

Starting with the good - the best result of hearing this book was that I realized how many great Carole King songs there are that I either didn't know or didn't know were by her. Before buying the book, I considered her a genius and one of the top 4 influences on The Beatles, but she's even better than I realized. I also had the pre-bias of loving her politics and activism.Now, to the other extreme (and I went back and forth between loving and hating this - and between listening with rapt attention and being bored - about 200 times over the course of the book). The worst part is the narration. Another reviewer said she sounds like a little girl - to me, it's more like she sounds like she's READING to a little girl - like she's reading a fairy tale to a 4-year old, with super-exaggerated rises in her voice and so on. But it's more than the narration that's annoying - there's also the style of the writing - so much of it is platitudes and bending over backwards to say nice things about people in a sort of cloying way, and to sort of try to convince you that she's a good and real person unspoiled by fame and privilege - when it's unecessary - it's obvious that she is - and it would be much more moving if she were less neurotic about the presentation. It's almost like she's defending her life when she doesn't need to. Back to the positive side, there are lots of really interesting stories about her music and all the famous musicians she's spent so much time with - for example, I didn't realize she was in James Taylor's working band. And she actually occasionally delves into her internal creative process, which alone is worth sitting through the annoying presentation. I mean - Dylan's autobiography is better written and better narrated, but he gives you no glimpse at his inner genius and of course 90% of what he says is fiction. CK is almost painfully honest. Bad narration or no, when you finish it, you feel like you've known her for years. But the main revelation is the sheer quantity of great songs. I knew about the pre-Beatles Chains era, the Aretha type stuff and Tapestry, but the albums before and quite a ways after Tapestry are also really good.So all in all - I'm very glad to have listened to this - CK is even more of a genius than I thought, a very interesting, nutty and quirky person, and, sadly, one of the worst narrators in the history of audible.com - but all you have to do is listen to the verse of the song after which the book is named and you'll forgive her for anything.

Great. Just great.

This is how an autobiography should be done. A frank and thorough account of someone's life/career, warts and all. I've known bits and pieces about her career, e.g. she and her husband wrote The Loco Motion for Little Eva, and a few tunes for the Monkees. She worked and performed with James Taylor, but I didn't know about her interaction with Joni Mitchell or her having met with members of the Beatles.

A great listen -- enjoyable from beginning to end.

Loved this book!

Carole King narrates this amazing book. If you are a fan, you will love listening.

Fine story of a life.

Every life is different and the life of Carole King was definitely that. I never knew about her years away from the lime light but I admire her decision to get away from the rat race and really live in a different and unique way, even if it was only for a while. It made me realize the freedom one has when money is not an issue. I enjoyed her singing in the book. It was realistically portrayed, and she always admitted that she didn’t have the greatest voice. Her success in writing and performing is a testament to what hard work and perseverance can accomplish. You go girl!!!

A funny and entertaining history lesson

What did you love best about A Natural Woman?

Rather than simply write a memoir, King placed the events of her life in a greater historical context. I felt like I learned a lot about songwriting, the record business, and popular culture in general. And she's funny!

What does Carole King bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Her voice brings emotion to the story; sometimes her amusement or excitement really shines through. Plus, listeners get to hear her sing and play the piano.

Not Bad; Not Fabulous

Any additional comments?

I suppose it isn't surprising that the first half of this book is markedly better than the second. Hearing about Carole's relationship with Gerry Goffin, making records, and writing songs back in the day is definitely the highlight of this book. Unfortunately, things start to fall apart in the second half of the book, and by the time it ends, none of Carole's stories are holding together (e.g., we really didn't need to hear about how much time you spend in the NYC subway, Carole. Sorry.) Carole could have benefitted from the help of an editor. But she's undeniably still got it, and this is worth a listen.