RAMBLIN ROUND: Carole King and Tina Turner: Two deserving Rock Hall noiminees

May 2—This year's 2021 inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are set to be announced later this month — but it seems at least two of the nominees would be sure bets for inductions.

However, nothing is for sure when it comes to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, with many of rock's deserving artists never even nominated for the honor. Still, it's hard to see how two of this year's nominees could be passed up for the Rock Hall honors.

Indeed, Carole King and Tina Turner have already been inducted before, but neither as solo artists.

Carole King was inducted in 1990 when she and her songwriting partner and then-husband Gerry Goffin were honored for their songwriting with the Ahmet Ertegun Award, named for the outstanding executive with Atlantic and Atco Records, whose companies recorded everyone from Aretha Franklin to Cream.

Goffin and King, who worked as young songwriters in the legendary Brill Building in the late 1950s and early 1960s, were responsible for a number of top hits of the era, including the number 1 hit, "Will You Love Me Tomorrow," recorded in 1960 by the Shirelles.

They also wrote a slew of other early 1960s hits, including "Up On the Roof," first a hit by the Drifters and later a hit by King's pal James Taylor.

Tina Turner was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 as part of the duo with her former husband, Ike Turner, as Ike and Tina Turner. A well-known live performing group, they scored when they remade John Fogerty's huge hit with Creedence Clearwater Revival, "Proud Mary." They also scored with Phil Spector's super production of "River Deep, Mountain High."

While Turner and King both already hold the shared honors with their former spouses, they achieved even greater heights when they embarked on solo careers.

Turner scored big in 1984 with her album "Private Dancer," which sold 10 million copies, and its number one single, "What's Love Got to Do With It," winning three Grammy Awards along the way, including one for Record of the Year.

King wrote and recorded one of the most beloved albums of all time with her 1971 release "Tapestry."

It spent 15 weeks at number one and remained on the charts for years afterward. Not only did "Tapestry" the album become a huge hit, but so did several singles from the album, including "It's Too Late" and "I Feel the Earth Move."

In addition to its popularity with music fans, the album and two songs from it also racked up four Grammy Awards for King at the 1972 Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year for "Tapestry," Record of the Year for "It's Too Late" and Song of the Year for "You've Got A Friend" — another song King wrote which was recorded by her good friend, James Taylor.

That's not even counting other great songs from the album, including one of my favorites, "So Far Away."

"Tapestry" proved to be such an enduring work it's easy to forget a couple of King's followup albums also were hits, including 1971's "Music," which went to number one and "Rhymes and Reasons" in 1972, a number 2 hit.

With "Tapestry," King proved no one can sing Carole King like Carole King. Though it's sometimes been credited with helping launch the singer-songwriter movement of the early 1970s, there were plenty of singer-songwriters around prior to "Tapestry." It's not the only major work launched by a female singer-songwriter in 1971. It's the same year that Joni Mitchell issued her remarkable album "Blue" and Carly Simon scored with "Anticipation."

Although King grew up in New York and found her early success there — co-writing "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" at the age of 18 — she relocated to Southern California by the time she recorded "Tapestry" and its mood sounded ready-made for the times. Even the album cover, with King kicked back comfortably with a cat in the foreground, captured the mood of the era.

"Tapestry" proved so popular that a 1995 tribute album was issued, with other artists recording its songs. "Tapestry Revisited: A Tribute to Carole King" included songs and artists such as "So Far Away" recorded by Rod Stewart; "It's Too Late" by Amy Grant and "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" by the Bee Gees.

Aretha Franklin even showed how much she appreciated Carole King writing Franklin's hit "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" back in the 1960s. Celine Dion recorded the song for the "Tapestry" tribute album, but Franklin still got involved and showed what friends are for by joining Bebe and Cece Winans for "You've Got a Friend."

King continues to remain on the scene.

In 2010, she and James Taylor recorded "Live at the Troubadour" which climbed to number 4 on the charts.

She was selected as the 2013 winner of the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, an award announced by the Library of Congress to honor songwriters and composers — with King the first woman to win the honor.

In 2014, she became the MusiCares Person of the Year and the year after that, she became a Kennedy Center honoree.

"Beautiful: The Carole King Musical" opened in San Francisco and then moved to Broadway, with Jessie Mueller winning a Tony Award for her portrayal of King and Brian Ronan picking up a Tony for Best Sound Design of a Musical.

One of the most touching moments of musical television I've seen came when Carole King showed up in 2019 for a surprise appearance at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre on Broadway, where "Beautiful: The Carole King Musical" was celebrating a five-year run and still going strong, with actress Chilina Kennedy now portraying the songwriter.

Audience members seemed truly surprised when King herself walked onstage, sat at a grand piano and sang "Beautiful," the last song in the show. She also joined the cast for an encore performance of "I Feel the Earth Move," obviously dazzling the audience and thanking them for helping making the show such a big hit.

"You never know when I might show up again," she said.

Here's hoping King and Turner both show up at the 2021 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Awards later this year for a couple of well-deserved honors by two of rock's leading ladies.

Contact James Beaty at jbeaty@mcalesternews.com.