Fantasy (Carole King album) explained

Fantasy
Type:	Album
Artist:	Carole King
Cover:	Carole_King_Fantasy_Cover.jpg
Released:	June 1973
Studio:	A&M (Hollywood)^[1]
Genre:	Blue-eyed soul, soft rock
Length:	40:33
Label:	Ode / A&M (Original Issue) Ode / Epic (Re-issue)
Producer:	Lou Adler
Prev Title:	Rhymes and Reasons
Prev Year:	1972
Next Title:	Wrap Around Joy
Next Year:	1974

Fantasy is the fifth album by American singer-songwriter Carole King, released in 1973. At the time of its release, it only reached number six on the US Billboard 200 album chart, but has remained highly regarded by her fans over the ensuing decades. Presented as a sort of song cycle, the album opens and closes with two versions of the title song and the songs on each side segue directly into one another.

The Spanish language track "Corazón" (the Spanish word for "heart", also used as a term of endearment, as in this song's lyrics) was a moderate hit single from the album, as was "Believe in Humanity". The flip side of the latter single, "You Light Up My Life" (not the Debby Boone hit), charted separately from its A-side.

Record World described "Corazón" as being "mostly instrumental and highly Latinflavored" and with an "outstanding rhythm track."^[2] Allmusic critic Jason Elias said that "'Corazón' has Latin intonations and King certainly doesn't embarrass herself."

Record World said of the single "Believe in Humanity"/"You Light Up My Life" that "'Believe' is a fine rocking tune with great orchestrations, while 'Light Up My Life' is a gently wistful ballad."^[3] Elias regarded "Believe" as being the best song on the album, saying that "all of the elements coalesce and might make listeners wish they took the harder sound and well-meaning messages even further, even for the hell of it."

Personnel

• Carole King - vocals, piano, backing vocals, string and horn arrangements
• David T. Walker - guitar
• Charles Larkey - bass guitar, double bass
• Susan Ranney - double bass
• Harvey Mason - drums, vibraphone
• Ms. Bobbye Hall - congas, bongas
• Eddie Kendricks - backing vocals
• Tom Scott, Curtis Amy, Ernie Watts, Mike Altschul - saxophone
• Chuck Findley, Ollie Mitchell, Al Aarons - trumpet, flugelhorn
• George Bohanon - trombone, euphonium, trombone arrangements
• Charles Loper, Dick "Slyde" Hyde - trombone
• Ken Yerke, Barry Socher, Sheldon Sanov, Haim Shtrum, Kathleen Lenski, Miwako Watanabe, Glenn Dicterow, Polly Sweeney, Robert Lipsett, Gordon Marron - violin
• Denyse Buffum, David Campbell, Alan DeVeritch, Paul Polivnick - viola
• Jeffrey Solow, Judy Perett, Denis Brott, Dennis Karmazyn - cello

Technical

• Hank Cicalo - engineer

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1973)	Position
Australia (Kent Music Report)^[4]	24
Canadian RPM Albums Chart^[5]	7
Japanese Oricon Albums Chart^[6]	--	accessdate=2012-02-07-->	2
US Billboard Pop Albums^[7]	6

Year-end charts

Notes and References

1. Web site: A Natural Woman. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20170422070228/http://aln3.albumlinernotes.com/A_Natural_Woman.html . 2017-04-22 .
2. Record World. October 13, 1973. 2023-03-21. Hits of the Week. 1.
3. Record World. July 7, 1973. 2023-03-23. Hits of the Week. 1.
4. Book: Kent, David. David Kent (historian). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. illustrated. Australian Chart Book. St Ives, N.S.W.. 1993. 0-646-11917-6. 166/167.
5. http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?brws_s=1&file_num=nlc008388.4896&type=1&interval=24&PHPSESSID=3t4vispr9hp1nunhtq0il85mo1 Library and Archives Canada.
6. Book: Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970-2005. Oricon Entertainment. Roppongi, Tokyo. 2006. 4-87131-077-9. Japanese. <
7. Allmusic - Carole King > Fantasy > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums
8. Web site: Top Pop Albums of 1973. billboard.biz. 2012-02-10.