Ever seen a President of the United States cry? Not just a polite, misty-eyed blink, but a genuine, cheek-streaking moment of emotion. It happened in 2015. Barack Obama sat in the Kennedy Center, wiped a tear from his eye, and watched a 73-year-old woman in a floor-length fur coat sit at a piano. That woman was Aretha Franklin. The person she was singing to, perched in the balcony with her jaw literally hanging open, was Carole King.
It was a full-circle moment fifty years in the making.
Honestly, it’s one of those rare instances where the "legend" tag isn't just marketing hype. These two women, one from a Jewish family in Manhattan and the other a daughter of a Detroit preacher, basically built the soundtrack of the 20th century. People often think they were best friends who hung out in the studio every weekend, but the truth is a bit more professional—and way more interesting.
The Limousine Meeting That Started It All
The story of Aretha Franklin Carole King doesn't start in a recording booth. It starts in the back of a black limousine stuck in New York City traffic in 1967.
Jerry Wexler, the legendary producer at Atlantic Records, was driving down Broadway when he spotted Carole King and her then-husband/songwriting partner, Gerry Goffin. He literally rolled down the window and shouted to them on the sidewalk. He didn't say hello. He didn't ask how they were. He said, "I’m looking for a really big hit for Aretha. How about writing a song called 'Natural Woman'?"
Think about that. The title didn't even exist yet. Wexler just had the concept of the "natural man" in his head and wanted a female version.
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Carole and Gerry went home that night. By the next morning, they had it. It wasn't a long, drawn-out process of artistic suffering. It was a professional hit-making machine at work. Carole found the chords almost instantly, and Gerry penned those opening lines about the morning rain. They took the demo to Wexler the very next day.
Why Aretha's Version Is the "Real" One
When Aretha recorded "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman," she was already the Queen of Soul. She’d just come off the massive success of "Respect." But this song was different. It wasn't just a soul track; it was an anthem.
The backing vocals from her sisters, Erma and Carolyn, gave it that gospel weight. But let’s be real: it’s Aretha’s voice that carries the lightning. She takes the song to a place that a white girl from Brooklyn—even one as talented as Carole King—simply couldn't reach on her own.
The Tapestry Shift
Funny thing is, Carole King eventually recorded her own version. If you listen to her 1971 masterpiece Tapestry, "Natural Woman" is the closing track. It’s a completely different vibe.
- Aretha's version: A soaring, orchestral, gospel-infused explosion.
- Carole's version: Stripped-down, lonely, and introspective.
Carole has always been open about the fact that Aretha's version is the definitive one. She once called Aretha’s voice "one of the most expressive vocal instruments of the 20th century." There was no ego there. Just one master recognizing another.
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That Viral 2015 Kennedy Center Performance
If you haven't seen the video of the 2015 Kennedy Center Honors, go watch it. Now.
Aretha walks out carrying a small clutch purse. She puts it on the piano—because, as she later told Vogue, the dressing room didn't have a lock and she wasn't leaving her handbag with strangers. Typical Queen behavior.
She starts playing. Carole King, up in the balcony, looks like she’s about to jump out of her seat. She’s screaming, "Oh my god!" like a teenager at a Beatles concert.
Halfway through the song, Aretha stands up. She’s wearing this massive mink coat. She hits a high note, and then, in one of the most boss moves in music history, she just shrugs. The coat hits the floor with a literal "thud." The audience—including the Obamas—goes absolutely wild.
What People Get Wrong About Their Relationship
Social media likes to paint a picture of these two being constant collaborators. They weren't.
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They didn't see each other much over the decades. Their bond was through the music. Carole wrote the blueprint; Aretha built the cathedral. They had dinner the night before that 2015 performance, but for the most part, they were two titans operating in different spheres who shared a single, unbreakable thread.
- Did they write songs together? No. Carole wrote; Aretha sang.
- Were they rivals? Never. Carole was Aretha's biggest fan.
- Is "Natural Woman" the only connection? Mostly, though Carole co-wrote "Here I Am (Singing My Way Home)" for the Aretha biopic Respect decades later.
Why It Still Matters Today
In an era of over-produced, AI-tuned pop, the connection between Aretha Franklin Carole King reminds us of what "real" sounds like. It’s about the craft of songwriting meeting the raw power of the human voice.
If you want to truly appreciate the depth of their impact, don't just stream the hits. Look for the live versions. Look for the mistakes that stay in the recording because the emotion was too good to cut.
Actionable Ways to Explore This History:
- Listen to the "A/B" comparison: Play the Lady Soul version of "Natural Woman" and then immediately play the Tapestry version. It’s a masterclass in how arrangement changes the meaning of a lyric.
- Watch the documentary Amazing Grace: You’ll see Aretha in her element—the church—where she learned the phrasing she used to turn Carole’s pop song into a spiritual experience.
- Read Natural Woman (the book): Carole King’s autobiography gives a great glimpse into the Brill Building era where these songs were born.
The legacy of these two isn't just a bunch of Gold records. It’s the fact that fifty years later, when that piano intro starts, everyone in the room—from presidents to regular folks—still feels something. That’s not just talent. That’s magic.
To dig deeper into the 1960s soul scene, you should look into the work of Jerry Wexler and how he bridged the gap between New York songwriters and Detroit or Memphis singers. It’s the secret sauce of the entire era.