1971 Carole King – So Far Away

1971 Carole King – So Far Away

Carole King and her first husband (Gerry Goffin) wrote hit records for many artists in the sixties. By 1968, they had divorced and Carole moved to Laurel Canyon and began writing music for herself. She became friends with James Taylor and Joni Mitchell.

James played guitar and sang background vocals on Carole’s first solo album in 1969.

Carole’s second album and James’ first album were recorded during the same time frame in 1971, and the pair influenced each other’s albums.

Tapestry included Carole’s monster hit It’s Too Late.

The second single from the album was Smackwater Jack.

The b-side of the single was So Far Away, and it appears disk jockeys preferred that side of the record: the first two weeks Billboard listed the single on its Hot 100 chart it only listed So Far Away.

After that, the magazinelisted the two sides together, but I don’t recall hearing Smackwater Jack on the radio very often. Instead, radio stations continued playing So Far Away, and the single eventually reached #14 on the Hot 100 in September 1971.

One of the songs on James’ first album was Fire and Rain, which contained the line, “I’ve seen lonely times when I could not find a friend.” Carole wrote a song partly as a reaction to that line: You’ve Got A Friend. She and James each recorded a version of the song and placed it on their 1971 albums. Carole released her version of the song as a single, but it didn’t chart.