I keep forgetting that this was Carole King's first album, mainly because I am rather enamored with the idea that "Tapestry" was the musical equivalent of Athena come out fully formed from the head of Zeus. Of course, King had been one of the most successful songwriters in the business for over a decade, in partnership with her eventual husband Gerry Goffin. Their songs were recorded by everybody from the Beatles, the Shirelles and the Monkees to Aretha Franklin and Little Eva (the couple's babysitter). In 1970, after her marriage ended, she was encouraged by close friend James Taylor to make another attempt at a solo career with this album, "Writer." The result ends up being a false start, with King still searching for the style that would make "Tapestry" one of the most successful albums in the history of the known universe. "Writer" offers up pop songs ("No Easy Way Down"), rock songs ("I Can't Hear You No More"), country songs ("To Love"), political songs ("Eventually"), and songs that defy categorization ("Raspberry Jam"). The two stand out tracks on the album are her remake of "Up on the Roof" and "Goin' Back," which, not surprisingly, could have been right at home on "Tapestry." My hypothesis is that the difference between the two albums was that virtually all of the songs on "Writer" and Goffin-King compositions while "Tapestry" are solo compositions, albeit with a couple of superb covers of Goffin-King songs with "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?" and "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman." Ultimately, "Writer" ends up being more of historical interest, representing King's evolving effort to find herself as a performer. Think of this album as the cocoon that held the "Tapestry" butterfly.