"Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities.
Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning."
- Gloria Steinem, feminist icon
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... there I was, researching Steve Prefontaine quotes for the post I had planned to write on the 1970s running boom when "It's Too Late" by Carole King came on Pandora. As I cheerfully bobbed along, an exceptionally distressing thought crossed my mind- "Oh my God. I haven't written about any women."This I am sorry to say, is true. Over the span of five months of blogging and seven posts on seventies culture, I never once talked at length about any influential women from the decade. Suffice it to say I was mortified by this discovery. Today I am going to right my wrongs.
Being one of the millions of women who have reaped innumerable benefits from the second-wave feminist movement that flourished in the seventies, I feel it's my privilege (and the least I can do) to tell you a bit about my favorite women of the decade. And because it was the superb voice of Carole King that informed me of my worrisome forgetfulness (and because it seems that I have a penchant for writing about musicians anyway) I figure it's only fitting that this week I'm writing about the women who ruled the radio in the seventies- specifically two of the most widely celebrated songwriters of the decade: Carole King and Joni Mitchell.
Prefontaine will have to wait. This post is all about the girls.
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Carole King
Carole King is perhaps best known for her album Tapestry, which held the number one spot on the Billboard 200 for 15 consecutive weeks in 1971 and has since sold over 25 million copies worldwide. Her earnest harmonies made her a leading figure in the singer-songwriter explosion of the early 70s (along with longtime friend and collaborator James Taylor).The seventies were a time when people were searching for a message they could hold onto. King drew inspiration from the ubiquitous uneasiness caused by the Vietnam War and mixed that with her own personal turmoil (volatile relationships, mainly) to craft songs so authentic that they spoke to nearly everyone, making her music as much a product of the decade as of her own pen and piano.
What I find most endearing about King is that she didn't start out looking for stardom- she was originally a writer. She and her then-husband Gerry Goffin penned hit after hit for famous bands and singers throughout the sixties (most notably "Natural Woman," Aretha Franklin's soaring power ballad). King has been the brains behind over 100 Billboard entries and has gone on to record many of those hits herself. And in the seventies, her natural look and bold, untouched curls redefined what a beautiful woman could look like at a time when supermodels were on the rise.
Perhaps best summed up by George Scott, the director of a biographical documentary on the singer, the secret to King's mass appeal lies in the idea that "her music is literally the soundtrack to so many people's lives. People always wanted to be singers, but there are a handful of people who can be an Aretha or a Barbra Streisand. But you believe you could be Carole King."
What you should listen to: "I Feel the Earth Move", "It's Too Late", "So Far Away"
Best Lyrics:
So far away
Doesn't anybody stay in one place anymore
It would be so fine to see your face at my door
Doesn't help to know you're just time away
- "So Far Away"
--------------------------------------------------------------Joni Mitchell
My first introduction to Joni Mitchell was in Love Actually- specifically, the scene in which Emma Thompson's character Karen tells her husband "Joni Mitchell is the woman who taught your cold English wife how to feel." A rendition of Mitchell's hit "Both Sides Now" is subsequently featured in the film's iconic and most heartbreaking scene.
Unsurprisingly, Mitchell's music nearly becomes its own character in the movie, a telling detail that I think highlights her ability to create music that is truly about capturing the essence of people. Mitchell hit her stride in the 70s, but her music adapts to new stories wherever it goes.
Where King ricocheted off of the tensions of the world with her comforting lyrics, Mitchell found inspiration closer to home in the communities she lived, particularly New York. Mitchell has said that she used to just walk down the streets of New York, taking it all in because "there are a thousand stories in a single block... you hear the songs immediately."
Her songs are of the singer-songwriter variety, but with a significant bohemian twist that makes her songs uniquely hers and infuses them with a literary quality- almost more akin to poetry than pop. Like King, Mitchell's work inspired and challenged many of the male singers of the decade (she dated both David Crosby and Graham Nash, of CSN, as well as James Taylor).
What you should listen to: "Chelsea Morning", "Big Yellow Taxi", "Free Man in Paris"
Best Lyrics:
Tears and fears and feeling proud,
To say "I love you" right out loud
Dreams and schemes and circus crowds,
I've looked at life that way
But now old friends they're acting strange
They shake their heads, they say I've changed
Well something's lost, but something's gained
In living every day
- "Both Sides Now"
Of course, Carole King and Joni Mitchell were by no means alone. There were scores of other female singers who paved the way in one of many male-dominated industries: Linda Ronstadt-- the country-pop star who can basically take credit for creating the Eagles. Carly Simon-- singer of the instant classic "You're So Vain", onetime wife of James Taylor, icon of the sexual liberation movement. Stevie Nicks-- a singer and performer so talented that her solo career somehow matched her time in the mega-popular band Fleetwood Mac. (just to name a few)
These independent performers proved that women could be gifted storytellers capable of holding their own in the world. They sang wildly different songs and possessed one-of-a-kind voices, but they all were connected to each other in some way. They played at the Troubadour, they lived in the legendary Laurel Canyon, they overlapped boyfriends and husbands. But on a deeper level, they all sang with a striking authenticity that comes from listening. They listened to their own experiences, to their peers, to the energy of the world, and then they crafted stories that unified people.In many ways, the rise of the independent female singer mirrored the feminist movement that was gaining ground throughout the country. In the seventies, women from all races, sexualities, and backgrounds came together to fight for the ERA and to break free from the restraints of the "51% minority." The seventies were the decade that feminism became mainstream, an idea cemented in 1975, when Time awarded their "Man of the Year" award to "American Women."
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I think Emma Thompson got it right in Love Actually: songs like "So Far Away" and "Both Sides Now" pull the emotion out of you. They prompt you to sing along. They elicit standing ovations. In small yet persistent ways, music makes us feel, makes us empathize, makes us question standards, inspires us towards change. And in order to make music, we need to listen.
People will tell you where they've gone
They'll tell you where to go
But until you get there yourself you never really know
- "Amelia", Joni Mitchell
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