Carole King has had two of the most successful careers in rock history: first as a member of early rock 'n' roll's best known songwriting team, and then as the best-selling singer/songwriter of the 1970s. Along the way, she proved there was a place in rock 'n' roll for someone who wrote and sang pleasant, unpretentious songs, without stage theatrics, sexual abandon, or any other gimmicks.

Born on February 9, 1942, Carol Klein started writing songs at an early age. By the time she reached her teens she was riding the subway from her Brooklyn home into Manhattan, where she shopped her tunes on Tin Pan Alley (where most of the day's pop hits were cranked out in assembly line fashion). Her first recording (using her stage name Carole King) was "Oh Neil," an answer to "Oh Carol" recorded by Neil Sedaka, and she hit...