Carole King
Born February 9, 1942 in Brooklyn, New York as Carole Klein, she was playing the piano by the age of four. While still in high school she was in her first band, the Co-Sines. Carole was a huge fan of Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller (the duo who penned hits for Elvis Presley, the Coasters and Ben E. King), she became a regular at DJ Alan Freed's local Rock 'N' Roll shows. She met songwriters Paul Simon and Neil Sedaka as well as Gerry Goffin, whom she later forged a writing partnership with, while attending Queens College.
She and Goffin eventually married and began writing under publishers Don Kirshner and Al Nevins, where they worked with Doc Pomus, Mort Shuman, Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich and many others. In 1961, the team scored their first hit with "Will You Love Me Tomorrow; " sung by the girl group the Shirelles. They wrote Bobby Vee's "Take Good Care of My Baby," and also hit Number One. As we learned in class,” The Locomotion," recorded by their baby-sitter, Little Eva also landed a number one hit for the duo.
The couple wrote over 100 chart hits together, including the Chiffons' "One Fine Day," the Monkees' "Pleasant Valley Sunday," the Drifters' "Up on the Roof," the Cookies' "Chains" (later covered by the Beatles), Aretha Franklin's "(You Make Me Feel) Like a Natural Woman" and the Crystals' controversial "He Hit Me (and It Felt like a Kiss)."
By the mid-1960s King, Goffin and columnist Al Aronowitz founded their own record label, Tomorrow Records; King tried to have a solo career, but scored only one hit, 1962's "It Might as Well Rain Until September.
After her marriage to Goffin ended, she married bassist Charles Larkey and moved to the West Coast. In 1968 they formed the City, a trio with musician Danny Kortchmar. The group only recorded one LP, Now That Everything's Been Said, but due to King's stage fright they could not tour. The album was a failure, but featured songs later covered by the Byrds' ("Wasn't Born to Follow"), Blood, Sweat and Tears ("Hi-De-Ho") and James Taylor ("You've Got a Friend").
James Taylor and Carole King were close friends, and he continued to encourage her to pursue her solo career. King’s 1970's release, Writer, was a flop. But Carole struck gold in 1971, with the release of Tapestry. That album stayed on the charts for over six years and became the best-selling album of the era.
Ros married her first husband, Robert Ellis Siberstein, a union that produced two children, Tracee (from girlfriends) and Chudney Ellis. In 1972 Diana Ross made her first debut portraying the late jazz singer Billie holiday in “ lady sings the blues”. The film was successful, and Ross was received an Oscar nomination for her performance.
You know she's a Jackson. And you know she's a singer. Of course, you know the girl can dance. You know she's a leading lady in Hollywood. And maybe you still think of her as a cute little girl with a famous last name and big , bright eyes. Do you think she's what she was yesterday? Better think again. As many of her other fans and followers already know, the only label that fits her is… Janet.
helped support the struggling couple. They divorced in 1942. She lived in Carmel Valley, CA after and died February 8, 1983.
As a co-writer and producer, Brown has worked to develop many of the artists we have come to know today. Performers such as, Rick Barry, Status Green, Corey Wagar, Jerzy Jung, Natalie Stovall, Alex Brumel, and Andrew Holtz have all come to know his commitment to songwriting quite well, with some gaining major momentum because of it. His long career has seen him go thru several major label recording deals and at least three distinct publishing deals. He has achieved song placements in TV and film, and working with great producers and mentors like Danny Kortchmar (Don Henley, James Taylor, Rod Stewart), Peter Collins (Jewel, Rush, Indigo Girls), Monty Powell (Keith Urban, Lady A, Diamond Rio) and others that he’s no doubt picked up a few tricks from over the years.
After a turbulent adolescence, Holiday started singing in dance club in Harlem, where she was heard by the maker John Hammond, who praised her voice. She marked a recording contract with Brunswick Records in 1935. Coordinated efforts with Teddy Wilson yielded the hit "What a Little Moonlight Can Do", which turned into a jazz standard. All through the 1940s, Holiday had standard accomplishment on names, for example, Columbia Records and Decca Records. By the late 1940s, in any case, she was plagued with legitimate inconveniences and medication manhandle. After a short jail sentence, she played out a sold-out show at
They were making music at the same time as other extremely successful musicians like the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, and Pink Floyd.
Billy Joel was born on May 9, 1949 in Bronx, New York. He moved at the age of four to a small town on Long Island. This is where at the ripe age of four he discovered the art of music. Originally a classical music fan, Billy Joel honed his skills with classical piano training. This undoubtedly has had a major influence on his life and certainly his music. Growing up Joel was a big fan of such greats as Ray Charles, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Otis Reading. He was greatly persuaded into a career of music when he saw the Beatles perform on the Ed Sullivan Show. Amusingly Joel's first band was inspired by the uncanny opportunity to meet girls. The band was called The Echoes, but this was not the best of times for Joel because his parents were involved in a messy divorce, which included serious financial shortcomings. Joel even began working professional music gigs at night to help support his mother. Joel's schoolwork suffered a little and he began missing school way too often. He was subsequently not allowed to graduate with his high school class due to the number of absences. After high school Joel immediately joined a very popular band called The Hassels for which he recorded two albums with. Within two years Joel was on to a new band which he named Attila, and featured heavy metal drummer Jon Small who he played with during his time with The Hassels. Despite the previous release of two albums Joel still needed to bring in more money so he worked many music related jobs and gigs. He even wrote a rock and roll criticism piece in a weekly column for a magazine.
Paste Magazine revealed that The Shins' cover of Paul McCartney's 'Wonderful Christmas Time' knocked Mariah's song and bumped it down to the number two spot.
In his teens King moved back to the Delta and one of his employers loaned him money so he can purchase his first guitar. He continued to teach himself by using mail-order instruction books. King was eventually able to land a skilled job at the time as a tractor driver. When he wasn't working he was a street performer "he sang for small change on street corners in the nearby towns, sometimes visiting as many as four towns in a single evening". (Academy of Achievement)
Janet Jackson was born in Gary Indiana on May 16, 1966. She is a member of the
The Bee Gees were not only impactful as singers, but as songwriters as well. Together and individually they’ve written and produced hits for Barbra Streisand, Diana Ross, Dionne Warwick, Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers. Barry Gibb wrote the title song for Grease (1978) which was performed by Frankie
Sissle and Blake became songwriting partners in 1915 after they met as members of Joe Porter's Serenaders. Their first song was It's All Your Fault. They got some help in writing it from their friend Eddie Nelson and decided to try it out on Sophie Tucker, who was known to be interested in promoting black songwriters. Tucker liked the song so much that she had arrangements made and used it in her act the night after she heard it. It's All Your Fault was published in Baltimore, and the partners made $200.
...espect," "Freeway of Love" and "I Say a Little Prayer” (“Biography”). She’s also still alive and her most recent album, “Aretha: A Woman Falling Out of Love” was released in 2011.
performed a couple of surprise shows at the Carter Family Fold outside Bristol, Virginia. At the May 21, 2003 concert, before singing