Obamas hosting Carole King: What's the special occasion?
| WASHINGTON
President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama are hosting singer/songwriter Carole King . Is it a special occasion? Why yes, it is 鈥� they鈥檙e honoring Ms. King for winning the 2013 Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.
Mr. Obama will present the award himself, and then the First Couple and favored guests will watch a concert featuring King, Billy Joel, Gloria Estefan, James Taylor, Jesse McCartney, Emeli Sande, and Trisha Yearwood. That鈥檚 a mix of generations there, but it鈥檚 still heavy on the singer/songwriter era, isn鈥檛 it?
The concert will be live-streamed from the White House website starting at 7 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday. It鈥檒l also be broadcast on many PBS stations next Tuesday as part of the 鈥淚n Performance at the White House鈥� series.
King plans to debut a new song during the concert, 鈥淚 Believe in Loving You." She co-wrote it with lyricist Hal David, who was a co-winner of the Gershwin Prize in 2011 with his longtime collaborator Bert Bacharach. Mr. David passed away in September of last year.
鈥淚鈥檓 hoping that this will become a song that people will want to play at their weddings. It鈥檚 so romantic. Hal is such a great writer, and his words live on forever,鈥� King told the Associated Press this week.
The Manhattan-born King herself is a songwriter . Her first No. 1 was . Her 1971 album 鈥淭apestry," which included the hits and among others, remains one of the best-selling records of all time.
Everyone from the Beatles to Aretha Franklin has recorded her work. That鈥檚 why King is so remarkable, said Librarian of Congress James Billington.
鈥淲hen the Beatles got off the plane, the first person they wanted to meet was Carole King when they first came to America,鈥� said Mr. Billington. 鈥淪he was kind of a phenomenon among the performers themselves.鈥�
The Gershwin Prize hasn鈥檛 been around that long. Billington created it in 2007 as part of the Library鈥檚 mission to foster creativity. The first winner was Paul Simon. Stevie Wonder was the second, Paul McCartney the third, and the Bacharach and David team the fourth.
Yes, but who picks the winner? Good question. It鈥檚 not exactly a scientific or rigorous electoral process. (No, we鈥檙e not calling the results into question, we鈥檙e just pointing that out.)
Here鈥檚 the way the Library of Congress describes it: 鈥淭he selection is made by the Library of Congress in consultation with a board that is both credible and broad enough in scope to represent the full spectrum of popular song. Board members may include but need not be limited to scholars, producers, performers, music critics, songwriters, and subject specialists within and outside the Library of Congress."
Hmm. We wonder if the president has veto power over the choice. After a long day dealing with IRS scandal and so forth, the last thing you need is an evening listening to someone whose records you hated in high school or who recorded the favorite song of the girlfriend/boyfriend who dumped you first.
