Neil Crossley
In early 1969, copies of a demo recording by Brooklyn-raised songwriter Carole King began circulating among LA record producers and A&R executives.The recordings had been submitted by Lou Adler, producer, talent manager and head of the West Coast office of King’s publishing company, Aldon Music. Adler was convinced there was a future for King as a performer, as well as a songwriter, and his suspicions were reinforced when he started to make follow-up calls. “I couldn’t get the demos back,” he told Variety in 2012. “They were collecting them as part of their record collection. there’s something about the piano feel and the fact she was doing a lot of the parts and the vocals and the background vocals that just captivated all of these people.”