Carole King
It was a splendid idea to blend King's voice and songs with Jerry Jeff Walker's backup band. (That Jerry Jeff himself is not in evidence prevents formation of what might have been a happily gutsy duet.) The result, on such vigorous tunes as Good Mountain People and Passing of the Days, is invigorating. There is also a surfeit of message songs such as Time Gone By, a lament for '60s activism; Crazy, a plea for "freedom of choice," and Seeing Red, a pro-Indian anthem. In this one, even King's sense of language deserts her: "It took so little time to destroy a way of life/They served his people well/Gifts that they gave in all good faith/Have been misused and shot to hell." Even those lugubrious ruts are tolerable, though, given the overall quality of the LP.
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