Throughout the history of Rock and Roll, women have played an integral part. They have been writers, producers, singers, backup singers and supporters. Without women, the music of today would be very different. Several women made lasting contributions in various genres of music: Billy Holiday with jazz on 45’s in the jukebox, Aretha Franklin in blues, Dusty Springfield in Pop of the 60’s and Donna Summers on disco singles in the 70’s. One particular lasting contributor has been songwriter, performer and author, Carole King. Many of the songs written by Carole were controversial for the time she had written them. She wrote of love and heartbreak and socially prominent issues that affected her as well as other women.
Carole began her…show more content… Music publishers Don Kirshner and Al Nevins kept watchful eyes on fourteen songwriters who had many different backgrounds: from basic piano players to classically trained musicians. They formed seven songwriting pairs: Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield, Burt Bacharach and Hal David, Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, husband-and-wife teams: Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich, Gerry Goffin and Carole King, and Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. These writers became producers and music arrangers once they became conscious that they were not just writing songs but writing full records. They generated a writing style that included strings and mirrored classical music.
Carole and Gerry married young and shared a love for music construction. With the help of High School friend, Neil Sedaka, Carole and Gerry auditioned for and were hired by Don Kirshner at the Brill Building. According to Wildorf, “Their songs were always impeccably structured. Their music was for teens and dealt with themes of love, rejection, and jealously and teenagers dealing with them on their own terms”. Carole provided the heart tugging melodies and Gerry provided the lyrics that captured the tone and the vernacular of their teenage audience's experiences with an uncanny