Thank you for buying this record. What follows is its documentation: the
pressing identified, the matrix / runout transcribed by hand from the dead
wax, and the condition as assessed before it was listed. It is yours to keep
with the record.
— Paul, Vinyl Curator
Carole King
Tapestry
1971 · Ode Records (Ode 70) SP-77009 · Stereo · US · LP, gatefold · 33 1/3 RPM
Pressing details
| Label | Ode Records (Ode 70) |
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| Catalogue number | SP-77009 |
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| Year | 1971 |
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| Mono / Stereo | Stereo |
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| Country | US |
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| Format | LP, gatefold |
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| Speed | 33 1/3 RPM |
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| Genre | Rock - Singer-Songwriter/Soft Rock |
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| Producer | Lou Adler |
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| Composer | Carole King (with Toni Stern, Gerry Goffin and Jerry Wexler as co-writers on select tracks) |
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| Musicians | Carole King (piano, keyboards, vocals), Danny Kortchmar (guitar, conga), Charles Larkey (bass), Joel O'Brien (drums), Russ Kunkel (drums), James Taylor (acoustic guitar, backing vocals), Curtis Amy (flute, saxophone), Ralph Schuckett (electric piano), Merry Clayton (backing vocals), Julia Tillman (backing vocals), David Campbell (viola), Barry Socher (violin), Terry King (cello), Perry Steinberg (bass violin) |
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Availability
This record has been sold. Its documentation stays here.
Matrix / Runout
Side A: ODE 177017 PM
Condition
- Cover
- EX
- Vinyl
- NM
Variant chronology
1971 - US Ode 70 tan/white label, '1416 N. La Brea, Hollywood, California 90028' rim text, gatefold with lyrics on back cover <- this copy
c. 1972-73 - US Ode label, 'P.O. Box 782, Beverly Hills, Calif. 90213' rim text
mid-1970s - US brown Ode label / later A&M-distributed reissue
1980s - Ode/Epic reissue after Adler moved distribution to CBS
1999 - Classic Records 180g, Bernie Grundman recut
2008 - Epic/Legacy 180g reissue
2013 - Mobile Fidelity remaster (Krieg Wunderlich); UD1S One-Step 45rpm box
This Pressing
1st issue (stereo, 1971) - Ode 70 tan/white label with '1416 N. La Brea' rim text; etched ODE-77017 side-1 matrix with 'PM' plant suffix per collector transcription.
The Album
Carole King spent the 1960s as half of the legendary Brill Building-era Goffin-King songwriting team, penning hits like 'Will You Love Me Tomorrow' and 'A Natural Woman' for others before stepping out as a performer. Recorded in January 1971 at A&M's Studio B in Hollywood - concurrently with James Taylor's 'Mud Slide Slim,' using essentially the same band and even the same piano - 'Tapestry' was produced by her manager Lou Adler and captured with a deliberate live-in-the-room intimacy. Released February 10, 1971, it topped the Billboard chart for 15 consecutive weeks, remained on the charts for over six years, and became one of the best-selling albums in history (14x platinum in the US). It swept the 1972 Grammys, winning Album of the Year, Record of the Year ('It's Too Late'), Song of the Year ('You've Got a Friend'), and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance - King was the first woman to take all the top categories. Blending new material with reclaimed versions of her 60s classics ('Will You Love Me Tomorrow,' 'A Natural Woman'), the album defined the 1970s singer-songwriter movement and established the template for the confessional female singer-pianist. Its influence runs through generations of artists from Carly Simon to Adele, and it remains a permanent fixture on all-time greatest-album lists, preserved in the Library of Congress National Recording Registry.
Tracklist
Side 1
1. I Feel The Earth Move
2. So Far Away
3. It's Too Late
4. Home Again
5. Beautiful
6. Way Over Yonder
Side 2
1. You've Got A Friend
2. Where You Lead
3. Will You Love Me Tomorrow?
4. Smackwater Jack
5. Tapestry
6. (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman
The Label
This copy carries the original Ode 70 label: off-white/tan stock with the silver-grey stylized '70' logo, 'SP-77009' catalog with matrix numbers (SP-77017)/(SP-77018) printed beneath, and the rim text 'DISTRIBUTED BY A&M RECORDS - 1416 N. LA BREA, HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA 90028.' Lou Adler founded Ode in 1967 after selling Dunhill; A&M took over distribution in 1970, the label was briefly renamed 'Ode 70' in late 1970, and reverted to plain 'Ode' around November 1972. A&M's 1416 N. La Brea headquarters address appears in the rim text only until roughly 1972-73, when it was replaced by the P.O. Box 782, Beverly Hills address. The combination of the Ode 70 logo plus the La Brea rim text therefore brackets this copy in the 1971-72 first-issue window, at the top of the pressing hierarchy for this title.
Fidelity
The original lacquers for Tapestry are generally credited to Bernie Grundman, then chief mastering engineer at A&M, cut from Hank Cicalo's warm, dry, live-in-the-room analog tapes. Original US Ode pressings show notable copy-to-copy stamper variation - collectors on the forums report that most copies are dull, murky, or edgy, while a better stamper yields a genuinely open, full-bodied pressing that draws positive feedback, sounding somewhat mid-forward and rolled-off at the extremes even at its best. In the wider hierarchy, the 2013 Mobile Fidelity remaster (Krieg Wunderlich/Rob LoVerde) is widely considered a clear sonic improvement over the average original, with Grundman's 1999 Classic Records recut and the 2012 ORG 45rpm (Grundman/Bellman) as the other key audiophile alternatives; a clean, top-tier original Ode with a better stamper still competes with all of them and beats the mediocre majority.
Notes
1971 US first-issue Ode SP-77009 stereo gatefold, released February 10, 1971. The Ode 70 logo plus the 'A&M Records - 1416 N. La Brea, Hollywood, California 90028' rim text mark the original issue, before A&M's switch to the Beverly Hills P.O. Box address c. 1972-73; the gatefold with lyrics printed on the back cover and inner tapestry photo matches the original packaging. The runout etches 'ODE 177017 PM,' corresponding to the SP-77017 side-1 matrix; the 'PM' suffix indicates pressing at Columbia's Pitman, NJ plant, which pressed Ode/A&M product. This is not a rare record - it sold tens of millions - but it is the correct first-issue configuration.
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