The most loving person Carole King had ever known: “He had more love to give than anyone”
When you think about it, Carole King deserves every last bit of music royalty recognition she gets. She’s weathered one hell of a storm along the way to get there.
Whether it was still working a full-time job when she first started out, writing songs with her former husband and sonic partner Gerry Goffin in every spare moment they could get, being a working mother in the industry, or a whole host of other challenges, it’s fair to say that King really hasn’t had it easy along the way.
And yet, even when she thought she had it all figured out, life had to deliver another bitter blow. In 1977, she married her third husband, the songwriter Rick Evers, presumably in the hope that this would be happily ever after. The marriage did deliver that – the pair were completely in harmony together, both romantically and sonically.
But then, devastatingly, only a year later, Evers died of a cocaine overdose in 1978. In an instant, everything King thought she had lined up all came crashing down: the family, the security, the love, and most importantly, the home. It was this latter point which managed to sting the most.
This was the case because the pair had somewhat tempted fate by writing the song ‘Welcome Home’, which would later appear on King’s album of the same name, released in tribute to Evers. It was an homage to their idyllic ranch in Boise, Idaho, where they moved when they’d just got married, and which the singer clearly held in her heart forevermore.
After moving in there and subsequently leaving again to go on tour, King eventually returned to find that her daughter, Sherry, had painted a sign that said “Welcome Home”. The family started then calling it ‘The Welcome Home Ranch’, with the sweet name summing up every inch of the cosy memories they kept there.
When tragedy subsequently ensued, and Evers died two months before the album was due for release, the only thing King felt was right to do was salute the song and record it in his honour. “He didn’t always do ‘sensible’ things,” King said in tribute.
“He often got angry and frustrated about things that many of us couldn’t see. He had more love to give than anyone I’ve ever known.”
Carole King
Ultimately, you could see why this was the most crushing part of the whole stark ordeal. King thought she had eventually found someone she could share a stable and happy life with, only for that to be cruelly snatched away in the blink of an eye. It was sadness and a melancholy nostalgia writ large on the wall.
In the end, King was able to take her fond and loving memories of Evers forward and keep going with her life, even if that meant there was always bound to be some amount of sadness in her heart. Yet every time she has heard ‘Welcome Home’ since, you can guarantee she is straight back to that painted sign outside the ranch in Boise, Ohio.
