My thoughts on Carole King's Tapestry album from 1971

Today is the 50th anniversary of Carole King's much-loved Tapestry album. When I first heard the album in the late '80s, I was in my teens. I liked what I heard but had trouble relating to some of the messages and sentiments in the songs. It's one of my mom's favourite albums, and I bet she could relate to the songs better than I could at the time. Now that I'm older I'm better able to understand and appreciate the songs and their lyrics. I have lived some of what Carole King expresses ("So Far Away" in particular). Tapestry is a very mature and adult album, in the purest sense. She even makes what could've been a risque number like "I Feel the Earth Move" sound innocuous. That's a real gift for a songwriter. Carole King is a true artist and her music sounds like a series of audio tapestries. The album itself is ageless, and I hope every generation will discover it and love it as many of us who've heard it do.

Christopher Plummer

 

Mom and I with Christopher Plummer in 2010.

Tonight I want to share my memories of the great Canadian actor Christopher Plummer.

My earliest memory was watching him in The Sound of Music. I was about nine when I first saw it. I enjoyed the movie and his performance, even though it allegedly wasn't one of his favourites.

Over time I learned more about him and got to see more of his work. The weirdest/strangest role I saw him in was Star Trek VI, where he played a klingon! In the Star Trek universe, he wasn't your average klingon. He was a Shakespearean one! He exchanged lines from the Bard with William Shatner, who were friends in real life.

In 2002 my parents and I saw him on stage as King Lear at the Canadian Stratford Festival. In 2010 my parents and I saw him as Prospero in The Tempest, another Shakespeare play, again at Stratford. It was then that my mom and I met him after the show. He was kind to us and signed a copy of his memoir to mom. He later adapted portions of it into a one-man show called A Word or Two, which mom and I saw at Stratford in 2012.

To date, I have seen Plummer in 13 films, including the one that got him the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor (Beginners, 2010). I most recently saw him in The Man Who Invented Christmas, which aired on CBC this past Christmas.

I bet most people who remember Plummer will remember him best for his role as Col. Von Trapp in The Sound of Music. I read that he wryly referred to the movie in an interview as 'the sound of mucus.' When mom texted me that he had died, we reminisced about the time we met him. She told me she has seen The Sound of Music at least 12 times.

My reply to her: 'that's a whole lotta mucus!'

Tony Bennett - Smile (Live At Home)

You'll Never Walk Alone - Captain Tom Moore, Michael Ball & The NHS Voices of Care Choir