"Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon and the Journey"

by Sheila Weller

"Girls Like Us: Carole Ki...

by
Sheila Weller

book data

285 ratings, 3.63 average rating, 145 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		18%
4		40%
3		27%
2		11%
1		2%

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published

2008 by Atria Books

binding

584 pages

characters

above, plus those whose lives intertwined with theirs (James Taylor, David Crosby, Odetta, Graham Nash, etc. plus others not in the music field--Jaqueline Kennedy Onassis, etc.

setting

The United States

isbn

description

"Carole King, Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon remain among the most enduring and important women in popular music... Their stories trace the arc of...more

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Robert rated it:

(review of isbn 0743491475)

06/02/08

recommended to Robert by: New York Times. Boy were they wrong..

This book is so painful to read that I can't stand it. But I can never give up on a book after I have read more than 50 pages. The writing is dreadful. The '70s feminism is so tiresome. I bought it because I am interested in the music business of the '60s and 70s, but boy does this stink. Even if you are interested in Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon and Carole King, the bad writing will drive you to your knees. And the book is huge, 592 pages. Stay away from this book. Save your money.

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Deborah rated it:

(review of isbn 0743491475)

06/30/08

Read in June, 2008

This was a very good biography, well-researched and well written, and a "three-fer" to boot. But I think I may have to stop reading biographies, or at least bios of contemporary artists whose art I admire. I like Carole King's work, not so much a fan of Carly, but she did do some good pop songs; but I really like Mitchell's music. And while I still admire her as an artist, as a person, I kind of just want to smack her. Or tell her to just get over herself! All three women seem to ...more

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Betsy rated it:

(review of isbn 1400106494)

06/23/08

Read in June, 2008

recommends it for: one and all

Joni got her start in Detroit - and dated James Taylor before he married Carly? Who knew? Carole King had her first child at 17? Mick Jagger sang back up on "You're so vain" (but the song is probably about Warren Beatty, who, by the by, begged a very pregnant Carole King to have sex with him...because he wanted to have a sex with a very pregnant woman. ick.) This three-for-the-price-of-one (unless you get it free at the library like I did) biography (tri-ography?) is full of "who ...more

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Yolin rated it:

(review of isbn 0743491475)

06/18/08

Read in June, 2008

recommends it for: folkies, fans of the 60's & 70's music

Girls Like Us parallels the lives and careers of three iconic women composer/performers: Carole King, Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon, while documenting the history of an era and a generation. The common threads among the three (James Taylor pops up in all three stories) were what I found most fascinating. The book is long and the writing is poor, with long, run-on sentences, including one that goes on for half a page. The author never mastered the use of footnotes, preferring to sprinkle the ...more

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Tressa rated it:

(review of isbn 0743491475)

05/29/08

Read in April, 2008

Even though I’ve been listening to Carole King, Joni Mitchell, and Carly Simon for decades, I had no idea I would enjoy Girls Like Us so much. Sheila Weller is a pop trivia queen and had to have spent hours hunched over microfilm machines, researching the minutiae of these ladies’ lives.

The interviewees go all the way back to neighborhood playmates and school chums, and the book is filled with information about the music scene starting in the early sixties, when Carole King started plink...more

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Sheila rated it:

(review of isbn 0743491475)

06/16/08

Read in June, 2008

recommends it for: you

Try humming a Beatles song. Now try humming a Joni Mitchell song. With perhaps the exception of "Big Yellow Taxi" and "Both Sides Now," it's pretty hard, isn't it?

Having complex arrangments and open tunings doesn't make Joni Mitchell "better" than other musicians, but I think the fact that her songs are hard to hum is a strong testament to her mind-boggling talent with words and arrangements.

This book is centered around three women who came of age in the 60...more

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Michele rated it:

(review of isbn 0743491475)

07/18/08

Read in June, 2008

Stayed In Bed All Morning . . .
. . . just to finish reading this book. It's a long one, especially when you devour each little word contained in the many footnotes, but worth every hour spent. Reading this thorough, well-researched, and respectful biography of three notorious singer-songwriters, Carole King, Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon, from their days as young, aspiring artists to current days as grandmothers, was like listening to their music for the first time again. I couldn't hel...more Stayed In Bed All Morning . . .
. . . just to finish reading this book. It's a long one, especially when you devour each little word contained in the many footnotes, but worth every hour spent. Reading this thorough, well-researched, and respectful biography of three notorious singer-songwriters, Carole King, Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon, from their days as young, aspiring artists to current days as grandmothers, was like listening to their music for the first time again. I couldn't help but break out my vinyl, stored in a moving box in the attic.

Sheila Weller clearly spent years gathering facts, information and quotes from those closest to these icons, (and in some cases from the women themselves), and braids the three stories together to paint a historical account of modern folk/rock/pop music. She doesn't merely regurgitate already published material from music reviews and Rolling Stone articles, but instead offers similarities and differences that made this reader appreciate the subjects as individuals as well as their contributions and reflections on the women's movement in general.

A surprising ribbon running through this braid is James Taylor, who had profound yet differing relationships with all three. What also ultimately struck me about the book was how deeply interested I was at the beginning and how it merely passed the time toward the end. I think it's a direct reflection on the careers of these women: exciting, fresh, ultra-talented in the beginning. . .but in the end, it becomes a biography of ordinary--albeit ambitious--women who've led extraordinary lives while looking for love and fulfillment, and endured tremendous public scrutiny. One thing the critics in our society can't take from them is their recorded music--their true biographies--and I, for one, will listen to them sing for the rest of my life.

Very well written, very well done and I certainly recommend this book to fans of these musicians (as well as James Taylor, and others like Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young), and to those interested in the music scene as it developed and evolved through the 1960s-1980s. ...less

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Katie rated it:

(review of isbn 0743491475)

06/25/08

Read in June, 2008

The biggest problem I had with this book was with the way Weller organized the book. Instead of giving us the entire Joni story or the entire Carly story, she gave us what Carly, Joni and Carole were each doing during a span of years. I understand why she did this; as readers, we were supposed to see the parallels between these women. But instead of seeing the parallels, I was just confused and annoyed. It was nearly impossible to keep track of who all these people were and what significance...more

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Marcia rated it:

(review of isbn 1400106494)

05/13/08

A fun read for the last 250 pages or so, unfortunately, this book is over 500 pages. My advice, skip the first 200 pages or so. The pop psychology of their childhoods is less interesting to me than what is behind their music, the connections between the three of them, and, without a doubt, the gossip of who slept with whom and who the songs are REALLY about. The author is not a great writer, but the book is thoroughly researched and documented. I’ve never seen so many footnotes in a music...more

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Kerfe rated it:

(review of isbn 0743491475)

12/01/08

Read in November, 2008

Sometimes I think that artists--both musical and visual--should just keep their private lives private and let the work speak for itself. If the art is wonderful, the actual person creating it--all too human--can be kind of a let-down.

No one in the incestuous musical world of Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon, and as a unifying factor, James Taylor, comes off particularly well in this book. Though I think the author means to give you a sense of how hard it was for these pioneering wom...more

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Pat rated it:

(review of isbn 0743491475)

11/28/08

Read in November, 2008

I was reading this book on an airplane sitting next to a young man - probably a freshman or sophomore in college - who asked me what I was reading. I told them it was about Carole King, Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon and he asked me who they were since he had never heard of them. I wonder how Shiela Weller, the author, would have answered. Certainly their music was very popular for a time and place, but I would have to admit that I liked other musicians as much or more. However, Weller has ch...more

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Craig rated it:

(review of isbn 0743491475)

06/22/08

They were hotties back in the day--especially Carly. The only reason I checked this book out from the library was to relive '70s fantasies. But it so poorly written as to be nearly unintelligible. And there aren't enough pictures. From now on I'll stick to google images.

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Susan rated it:

(review of isbn 0743491475)

06/05/08

Read in June, 2008

This book has been getting mixed reviews, but I like it. It's kind of a cross between People magazine and a very accessible account of the second wave of the women's movement. If you like any of these artists, you'll love this book.

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Rtriptow rated it:

(review of isbn 0743491475)

11/29/08

Read in October, 2008

I started reading Girls Like Us because I was interested in the three women it writes about and because I wanted to see what it had to say about my friend Trina Robbins, who is one of the Ladies of the Canyon. The book turns out to be one of the best "showbiz biography" books I've ever read -- because it's much more than that. It's a sociological study of the women's movement, a chronicle of the evolution of alert, active, creative women as our culture changed from the '50s thro...more

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Generic rated it:

(review of isbn 0743491475)

11/13/08

bookshelves: biography-memoir, celebrities, nonfiction

Read in October, 2008

recommends it for: Groovy girls, psychedelic sisters, foxy femmes

This book should have a warning panel: "A New Earworm Every Day!" I had a different song stuck in my head daily while I was reading this.

Interest level for this book with depend on your age and personal recollections of events and music discussed. Joni, Carole, and Carly are almost a full generation ahead of me, but their music was the soundtrack for my childhood beginning around age nine or ten. Much of the info in the book went right past me, as I had no associations on which...more

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Ginacjones rated it:

(review of isbn 1400136490)

08/27/08

Read in August, 2008

This was one of the most interesting biographies I have read about anyone in the entertainment field. First, I am a big admirer of their music - my late teens and college years were filled with Carly, Carole & Joni music. I don't know what the author had to do to get the cooperation that she got for this book, but she definitely got the inside look at these 3 women. I'd be interested in hearing what C, C & J think of the book. It really put their lives out front and in center - the g...more

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Regina rated it:

(review of isbn 0743491475)

11/11/08

Read in August, 2008

I wish I could have given this book one and a half stars. It was definitely somewhere in between "I didn't like it " and "it was ok".

When I first saw the title of this work, I couldn't wait to read it. The subject matter (these three talented women, their generation and their influence on that generation) is a fascinating premise for a book of this size. I had hoped it would be another Bob Dylan's Chronicles (which is a great book). Unfortunately, it was not. It wa...more I wish I could have given this book one and a half stars. It was definitely somewhere in between "I didn't like it " and "it was ok".

When I first saw the title of this work, I couldn't wait to read it. The subject matter (these three talented women, their generation and their influence on that generation) is a fascinating premise for a book of this size. I had hoped it would be another Bob Dylan's Chronicles (which is a great book). Unfortunately, it was not. It wasn't even close.

I was disappointed for several reasons. The author had a very irritating tendency to fly off into tangents about other characters, rock stars, etc. that had rather minor relationships with her primary subjects. She would discuss these minor characters, then go into their relationships, etc. until the reader realizes that they have gone through several pages of material better suited to a footnote. (It's one of the reasons that this book was so incredibly long.) Much of this material was unnecessary to the book's premise and made the entire work seem more gossipy.

More disappointing was the total emphasis on each singer's relationships to men. The lives of Carole King, Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon were presented within the framework/timeline of the series of men they either slept with or married. At times I felt I was reading a long tabloid account of who slept with who in the early 1970s. The title of this book alone suggests that these three women are not a reflection of the men they were involved with and their lives should not be presented sequentially in terms of these men. (Example: Carole King's life in the seventies/eighties is actually described as the "rick one" and "rick two" phase.) Every now and then, it seemed that the author remembered the title of the book and tried to introduce some objectivity into the analysis. However, since it was done so seldomly (and certainly not in-depth), this analysis seemed forced and shallow. Then she would get back to the gossip.

I finished it. That usually means I give a book two stars. At times it was mildly entertaining. But the entertainment factor was more for voyeuristic reasons. I certainly did not think this book was a serious treatment of rock history and the social culture of the generation of women represented by these three talented artists....less

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Lori rated it:

(review of isbn 0743491475)

08/13/08

Read in August, 2008

recommends it for: Music fans; groovy people; women's history readers

I should begin this review by confessing some shocking ignorance. I am not in the right age group to be the prime demographic for this book. I was a young woman in the Big 80s and those times were vastly different from the heyday of Carole, Joni and Carly's music. The earth mothers had donned power suits and the free love had given way to a darker and more paranoid era sexually. The First Wave had already happened and women my age were told we could "have it all". Although we firm...more I should begin this review by confessing some shocking ignorance. I am not in the right age group to be the prime demographic for this book. I was a young woman in the Big 80s and those times were vastly different from the heyday of Carole, Joni and Carly's music. The earth mothers had donned power suits and the free love had given way to a darker and more paranoid era sexually. The First Wave had already happened and women my age were told we could "have it all". Although we firmly believed this, not a few of us were daunted and even conflicted by the high expectations that we would "bring home the bacon and fry it up in the pan." This was the era of Superwoman.

My musical memories of Carly Simon, Joni Mitchell and Carol King mainly take place in the car where their songs were featured in heavy FM rotation during my childhood. As the scalding pleather of the bench seat in the big floating mid 70s car scalded my terry cloth or polyester shorted bottom, I might hear Anticipation, Up on the Roof or You've Got a Friend...Frankly, it sounded like music for grownups who liked to talk about relationships a lot and I was not ready for that yet.

And, by the time I was ready, I tended to gravitate toward male singers (preferably depressive and gay) when I wanted to wallow in relationship drama (It was the eighties, remember?) The consciousness raising righteous mamas of my early childhood would have probably shuddered to see me take refuge in Sinatra (the 80s were a big era for the Rat Pack retro that these women fought against so tenaciously) and gin when some guy kicked me to the curb rather than a sister who could relate to my pain.

So how does an ignoramus who mainly remembers Carly for the song in the ketchup commercial and who, for years, confused Carole King with Carole Kane (Andy Kaufmann's ditzy wife Simka in Taxi) get to this book?

It may be because my daughter has recently discovered Carly from her soundtrack work in some Winnie the Pooh movies. My preschooler really likes her songs! Or it might be my general interest in music history. It may be the pull of distant childhood memories as my own daughter is now the age I was in 1969/70. Or, it may be that these 3 women seem so cool...so real...and so interesting to me now that I am middle aged. This triumverate of female singers present a genuine face. It was still about the music and their very personal relationship to crafting songs. Compare this to someone like Madonna who must reinvent herself constantly on the external side.

I have learned a gold-mine of information about the era and the impact Carole, Joni and Carly had. This is a highly detailed book and you practically need to take notes to keep all the inter-relationships between the cast of rock luminaries featured within. Between them, these three women knew everyone who was anyone in the music scene as it was exploding in the 1960s and 1970s. If your interest extends to a desire to "know all" you will not be disappointed.

I won't suddenly relegate all my Morrissey and Bauhaus CDs to the scrap heap...I am what I am and the soundtrack to my life is on a different trajectory than someone who was 20 the year I was born. But, this book has prompted me to take a new listen to some vaguely remembered songs and, perhaps, appreciate them more this time around.

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Lori rated it:

(review of isbn 0743491475)

07/22/08

Read in July, 2008

Quite an engaging 529 pages. Not just the story of these amazing women's lives, but the story of the times they lived through. Also the story of women and what we experience in trying to define who we are within our society and relationships; intimate and otherwise.

It was especially interesting to me as a fan of the three artists, as a woman, and as a mother to a little girl.

Certainly lots of interesting tidbits, but overall, it is the lessons of their lives, the sacrifices both volunt...more

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Ruthie rated it:

(review of isbn 0743491475)

06/05/08

Read in June, 2008

recommended to Ruthie by: NY TImes
recommends it for: anyone who loves this music, anyone who does not know this music

Alrhough I was not old enough to live thru the Hippie era, the music of the times was the soundtrack of my childhood. These were the songs of summers at the cottage, bonfires at camp, and afternoons after-school. This book tells the stories of Carole King, Carly Simon, and Joni Mitchell. The first 2 ladies are singer songwriters I adore, Joni, well, not so much. I could never stand her voice, preferred it when others recorded her songs. I never gave her credit for being such a brilliant songwrit...more

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