Once every blue moon, an artist will release an album for which “home run” seems too inadequate a descriptor. “Grand slam” might be more appropriate if we’re to assume the metaphorical baseball players are still carouseling the bases 30, 40, and even 50 years later. But even that analogy doesn’t seem to measure up to the monumental, record-breaking, award-winning success that was Carole King’s second album from 1971, Tapestry.
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With no dreaded sophomore slump in sight, King released Tapestry on February 10 to tremendous critical acclaim. The pianist and songwriter set the record for the longest consecutive No. 1 placement by a female solo artist. And Tapestry has a staggering 14x platinum certification from the RIAA. At the 1972 Grammy Awards, King won Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Record of the Year. Even today, Tapestry remains a beloved staple in King’s catalogue and early 1970s soft-rock as a whole.
The success of Tapestry isn’t all that surprising, given its hit-filled tracklist. Songs like “I Feel the Earth Move”, “It’s Too Late”, “Where You Lead”, and “You’ve Got A Friend” turned King’s second album into an instant classic. If you were to ask James Taylor, who was a long-time friend and collaborator of King’s (and a backing musician for Tapestry), one of those songs stood out among the rest as being the “best song ever written by a human being.”
James Taylor Has a Soft Spot for This Carole King Classic From ‘Tapestry’
James Taylor dubbed Carole King’s B-side opener to Tapestry, “You’ve Got A Friend”, as the “best song ever written by a human being” during a February 2026 appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. One could contextualize Taylor’s comment within the modern-day, increasingly AI-filled music industry. But we’d wager a bet that Taylor was offering even greater praise than that. He was more likely comparing his long-time friend to every groundbreaking composer who has contributed great musical works since time immemorial. (And not just because a line from one of his biggest hits inspired King to write hers.)
Taylor was first introduced to “You’ve Got A Friend” during an impromptu jam session with his backing band. King played piano in that ensemble, and she presented the song to the band while they were brainstorming new material to include in a multi-day engagement at The Troubadour in Los Angeles. “I was sure I knew the song already because it was so, you know, it was such a classic immediately. I literally ran to find my guitar so I could play it.”
Shortly thereafter, Taylor was in the studio with a different band. They had several more hours to fill and no material to record, so Taylor suggested they cut a version of King’s “You’ve Got A Friend”. This was while King was actively recording Tapestry, which means Taylor had potentially crossed a line by cutting an unreleased song before the original songwriter had a chance to do so. Some musicians might have taken personal offense. King didn’t.
How “Fire and Rain” Helped Inform “You’ve Got A Friend”
When James Taylor first told Carole King he recorded a version of “You’ve Got A Friend” before she got the chance to release it on Tapestry, he was anticipating the possibility of a negative reaction. But Carole King was a songwriter at heart and, moreover, a good friend of Taylor’s. And anyway, Taylor directly inspired King’s song, so it was just as well for both artists.
“It was typically generous,” Taylor said of King’s approval of his version of her Tapestry track. “I’ll tell you, she told me, she said, ‘You know that line in ‘Fire and Rain’’? ‘I’ve seen lonely times when I could not find a friend.’ She said, ‘That’s what inspired that song, ‘You’ve Got A Friend’.’ She said, ‘I heard those lines, [and] I was thinking to myself, ‘I’m going to tell him he does have a friend.’”
So, really, who else better to cover “You’ve Got A Friend” but James Taylor?
Photo by Jim McCrary/Redferns
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