solo albums have been produced by Lou Adler, but they have only adapted to each other perfectly on
Tapestry—when her best contemporary songs were fitted to a perfectly appropriate, subdued and soothing background.
*"Kingfish" by Randy Newman. ©1974, Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp.
When blatant attempts to redo Tapestry (right down to similar album covers) failed, King and Adler made a stylistic leap to the jazz styles that dominate Fantasy. But while King's plain and unaffected voice was crying for a shot in the arm, the half-hearted efforts of the band were offering only a pat on the back.
Wrap Around Joy is better than Fantasy. But even on something as fine as "Jazzman," the arrangement misses the point. When she's singing her heart out, soaring along on the bold sax lines of Tom Scott, the big group is lending inadequate support. I sort of wish either that Jim Gordon were running the band or that Thom Bell had arranged the cut. Scott would have driven the song with greater (and much needed) force, while Bell would have executed the music with Adler's same measure of control, but with more style and definition to the sound. Either way, the results would have been better.
The album's other two high-points could also have benefited from more appropriate settings. "Wrap Around Joy" begins with Fifties vocal harmony but then wanders into a white R&B sound that doesn't do justice to the material. "You're Something New" is perhaps the album's most successful self-contained cut—although there is something intangible still missing. It has a hell of a chorus though, and would make a fine single.
Everyone on Wrap Around Joy sounds like they are hedging their bets. Having once sold 12 million copies of a single album (Tapestry) King and Adler are forced to live in its oppressive shadow. They sound like they are fighting to regain the big audience by being all things to all people.
And yet in considering King's general dilemma, it would be unfair to shortchange the merits of Wrap Around Joy. Although I've fastened onto its missed opportunities, I also find it an engaging work. Although repetitive, the melodies are good; although di
