"Very personal, very accessible statements, built from the ground up with a simple, elegant architecture," says James Taylor of the songs Carole King wrote for this multimillion selling album which charted for more than half a decade in the '70s. Taylor (who played guitar on "Way Over Yonder," "I Feel the Earth Move," and several other cuts) knows what he's talking about. Though you might think that tunes such as "A Natural Woman," "You've Got a Friend," and "Where You Lead" have been worn thin by time and uninspired covers by every lounge singer in the world, heard in the voice of the original songwriter, they still sound astonishingly fresh. The album was remastered from the original recordings by the original producer, Lou Adler, and there are two bonus tracks: "Out in the Cold," a previously unreleased cut from the original sessions, and a live version of "Smackwater Jack."