Rock's Backpages: Writers Blogs

UNKNOWN PLEASURES #1: Carole King’s “Surely”

July 2, 2009 @ 10:55 am

So this is the first in what I hope will be a series of daily postings in which RBP writers (and their audience) let the world know about tracks – any tracks, by anyone, in any genre – that THE WORLD JUST JOLLY WELL SHOULD KNOW ABOUT.

For no particular reason other than it popping up on the old iPod in the old gym yesterday, I’m starting with a beautifully bittersweet ballad from Carole King’s post-TAPESTRY album MUSIC. “Surely”. Quite simply it’s one of the loveliest thing this great writer and singer ever did, with the Section musicians (esp. Lee Sklar) excelling themselves. A heartrending song of doubt, reassurance, longing – exquisite.

Share|

Category: Uncategorized

Comments (3)

3 Comments »

Great idea, Barney! Be glad to chime in on this topic. I’m constantly rewarded by songs on my iPod that I have either never heard before or haven’t heard in a long time — I’m a serial external-hard-drive-loader and downloader at home, pretty much every night and weekend; and it’s all LEGAL, I might add — and since I have my 120GB ‘Pod perpetually set on random, I usually have at least one gem to discover or rediscover daily during my both-ways commute.

This morning’s special…

* “One for the Road,” Richard Lloyd, from The Radiant Monkey (2007, Parasol Records). Had this CD sitting in a “to-get-to” stack for a long time, finally loaded it in a few months ago. Richard’s work in Television is legendary, of course, and his solo projects are riddled with unknown pleasures. This is the first time I’ve heard this 7:36 track. It’s a good barroom kinda workout, with the main riff panned hard in the right channel and Keef-like fills in the left, plus some nice harp, too. The groove takes over midway and Richard trades yelps with his harp work, and you just end up getting lost in the Stones-backing-Mayall vibe. Check it out.

Comment by Mike Mettler — July 2, 2009 @ 3:19 pm
Glad you like the concept, Mike. Perhaps we should provide links to the tracks on iTunes. I hope other people get involved – maybe you could spread the word. I’ll try and add a track most every weekday. If we get some traction on this, it might be worth setting up proper iTunes affiliation so the writer/recommender benefits.

Comment by Barney Hoskyns — July 2, 2009 @ 4:52 pm
Haven’t heard the Carole King track you mention, Barney, but was listening to her Tapestry yesterday. What a voice – and how much feeling she conveys.

Comment by Leyla Sanai — July 4, 2009 @ 4:12 pm