When Jewish American recording star Carole King released her hit album “Tapestry” in 1971, one of the many fans it inspired was a high school student named Jane Eisner.

“It was cataclysmic in the lives of thousands of girls like me,” said Eisner, who was 15 years old at the time and is now a journalist and author. “The music was something we’d never heard before. I really related to many of the lyrics and certainly the emotion she put into performing these songs.”

“Then there was the fact that she was a Jewish woman from Queens. I was a Jewish girl from the Bronx. She had this curly hair… [and] wasn’t deterred by conventional expectations of beauty. There was something so natural and authentic about her. I’ve been a lifelong fan.”

Eisner has channeled that interest into a new biography, “Carole King: She Made the Earth Move,” the latest installment in the Jewish Lives series from Yale University Press. Taking its subtitle from one of King’s many hits, the book was released on September 16.

Eisner not only learned to play some of King’s songs on the piano — she also explains their music within the pages of the book, complete with their chords.

“Early on, I said to myself, ‘How can I write about Carole King if I can’t play her music?’” the author asked. “I knew a lot about American Jews, a lot about women. Frankly, I did not know as much about music.”

Among the songs analyzed in the book, in terms of both music and lyrics, are “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” and “So Far Away.”

As Eisner points out, “Lyrics are only part of a song. I wanted to do something different and original. I wanted to really explore her music, not just her lyrics.”

Years ago, Eisner’s husband gave her a book of King’s songs as a gift. Early attempts to play them did not go as planned. More recently, when the COVID-19 pandemic made people shelter in place, Eisner signed up for piano lessons — remotely, of course — and it made a difference.

It’s no accident that the book cover photo of a curly-haired King includes a piano. The instrument is a central element in her life — and, according to Eisner, is its own character in the book.

“This was her native instrument,” Eisner said. “[It’s been] with her since she was four years old.”

Asked about her favorite King song, the author demurs. She couldn’t stop singing “Will You Love Me........

© The Times of Israel