Carol： If I may say， many…many people have sung“Natural Woman”， most better than I. Aretha’s is the 7）definitive version， and， you know，…
Interviewer： But…but yours ain’t bad.
Carol： Mine is another thing. Mine is not that great soaring vocal. It’s—here’s how I can sing this song， and it’s honest and it’s real and it’s 8）authentic， and so that’s the appeal of that， but when it comes to just a presentation—Aretha.
Interviewer： When Aretha Franklin sang “Natural Woman”in 1967， it was a 9）tumultuous time in the United States. Aside from the social and political 10）upheaval， the music business was forced to adapt as a new wave of reformers， led by The Beatles， launched an 11）assault on the United States.
Carol： They changed the music business in a big way because， before that， we songwriters could write for artists who needed songs. They didn’t need songs， and neither did anyone else in the “British invasion”， as we called it. The Rolling Stones， Gerry & The Pacemakers， all the…all the artists that came over that wrote their own songs. And then there was Bob Dylan coming up on the “folk” side， again a lot of singers writing their own songs， so that was a big change for us. It’s like， “Oh， what do we do now？”
Interviewer： You wrote melodies in a sense and cooperated on songs， often， mostly， initially， for other people. Was that a great amount of generosity on your part， or was it…？ If I could sing like you， I’m saying， and I had those lyrics， I’d be so jealous I’d be doing them myself.
Carol： But I never thought of myself as a singer， and I think I grew into becoming one， and， to this day， they may review a performance and say， “Well， her voice 12）cracked on the high notes”. Du-u-uh！ I’m not a singer！ （laughs）
Interviewer： Had it not been for her long-time friend and 13）collaborator， James Taylor， Carole King might have remained in the shadows， an almost 14）anonymous songwriter. James Taylor， it was， who really convinced you to get out there in the spotlight and be a performer.
Carol： It was more than convinced. He said， “You’re gonna sing up on the roof” and “No， no， no， please， please don’t make me”.
Interviewer： You were on tour.
Carol： We， yeah we were on a sort of a mini college weekend tour thing.
Interviewer： Yeah. He dragged you out to sing your song， introduced you as the writer.
Carol： Introduced me， and said，…
Interviewer： And people said， “Ah， did she write that song？”
Carol： And they did do that. They were quite， “a-a-ah”.
Interviewer： Yeah of course they did， and how did you feel about this？ You were 15）white-knuckled.
Carol： I was terrified， and I began to sing， and it was very timid， and then as I， you know， got into it more， I could feel that little shift that， you know， where people were open to the idea， but I had to win them over， but I didn’t know how to win them over， so I just sang the song， and there was a shift， and they were with me. And once that happened， I have rarely had moments of lack of confidence.