Nightingale (Carole King song)
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| "Nightingale" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Carole King | ||||
| from the album Wrap Around Joy | ||||
| B-side | "You're Something New" | |||
| Released | December 17, 1974 | |||
| Genre | Pop / Rock | |||
| Length | 3:36 | |||
| Label | Ode Records | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Carole King and David Palmer | |||
| Producer(s) | Lou Adler | |||
| Carole King singles chronology | ||||
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"Nightingale" is a song written by Carole King and David Palmer. "Nightingale" first appeared on her top-selling album Wrap Around Joy, which was released in mid-July 1974, but was released as a single in December. The song has since been put on many of her compilation albums, including her certified platinum album Her Greatest Hits: Songs of Long Ago.
The song, like the album Wrap Around Joy, got off to a slow start, but eventually charted high. "Nightingale" peaked at No. 9 in the Billboard Hot 100, on March 1, 1975, and spent the week before at No. 1 on the Easy Listening chart.[1]
Recording
[edit]While Carole King is the lead singer of this song in the 1974 version, her daughters Louise Goffin and Sherry Goffin sang backup. At the time, they were children.
Reception
[edit]Billboard stated that "Nightingale" is a return to her earlier style compared to her previous single "Jazzman" and has "fine soft melodies set off by her distinctive vocalizing."[2] Cash Box said that the "solid hook cements the powerful combination of sharp lyrics and catchy musical feel."[3] Record World said that it "combines melodic beauty with momentum extraordinaire to come up with a performance in super league with [King's] recent chart-topper 'Jazzman.'"[4]
The song is a critical part of the plot in "The Night Bird", a psychological suspense novel by Brian Freeman. In the novel, the song is used as a trigger to awaken hypnotically suppressed phobias in psychiatric patients, causing them to commit suicide.
Charts
[edit]| Chart (1974–75) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Billboard Hot 100 | 9 |
| Billboard Easy Listening[1] | 1 |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 136.
- ^ "Top Single Picks" (PDF). Billboard. December 21, 1974. p. 69. Retrieved 2020-07-20.
- ^ "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. December 21, 1974. p. 24. Retrieved 2021-12-11.
- ^ "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. December 28, 1974. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
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| Singles |
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| Other songs | |
| Related articles | |
