Girls Like Us (the Music) - Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon

Read excerpts from the book and enjoy listening to the songs referenced in those pages from Sheila Weller's best-selling book Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon and the Journey of a Generation.

"This site is a live museum of what we all heard growing up in the baby boomer generation. It's a perfect companion to the book - I love it!"  Sheila Weller

 

Girls Like Us is an epic treatment of midcentury women who dared to break tradition and become what none had been before them - confessors in song, rock superstars, and adventurers of heart and soul.  Their stories trace the arc of the now mythic sixties generation - female version - but in a bracingly specific and deeply recalled way, far from cliche'.  The history of the women of that generation has never been written - until now, through their resonant lives and emblematic songs.

This site hopes to provide further education into that transforming era by providing a musical accompaniment through the pages of Sheila Weller's (New York Times bestseller)  biography of Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon and the Journey of a Generation of women. (Get the book for full story - the portions used here are to provide an introduction to the music referenced in the pages of the book)  ENJOY!

Be sure to join us on Facebook too.  The author of Girls Like Us, Sheila Weller is a regular visitor to our Facebook site and many of the people interviewed for the book are also there.   

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CHAPTER INDEX

Part One

"We Can Only Look Behind From Where We Came"

Chapter Overture: Three Women, Three Moments, One Journey

Part Two

"I'm Home Again, In My Old Narrow Bed"

Chapter 1: Carole King: beginnings to 1960

Chapter 2: Joni Mitchell: beginnings to 1960

Chapter 3: Carly Simon: beginnings to 1960

Part Three

"And The Sun Poured In Like Butterscotch"

Chapter 4: Carole King: 1961-1964

Chapter 5: Joni Mitchell: 1961 - Early 1965

Chapter 6: Carly Simon: 1961 - Late 1965

Chapter 7: Carole King: 1964 - Early 1969

Chapter 8: Joni Mitchell: March 1965 - December 1967

Chapter 9: Carly Simon: 1965 - 1969

Part Four

"I Feel The Earth Move Under My Feet"

Chapter 10: Joni Mitchell: Late 1967 - Mid - 1970

Chapter 11: Carole 1969-1970 / Joni: 1970 / Carole and Joni: Early 1971 - 1972

Chapter 12: Carly Simon: Mid - 1970 - Early 1973

Part Five

"We Just Come From Such Different Sets Of Circumstance"

Chapter 13: Carole King: 1972 - 1984

Chapter 14: Joni Mitchell: 1972 -1982

Chapter 15: Carly Simon: Late 1973 - Late 1987

Part Six

"In The River I Know I Will Find The Key"

Chapter Coda: The Middle '80s to the Present: Three Women, Three Endings, One Journey

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Sheila Weller's new book "Girls Like Us" is a page-turner of the first order. Weller stretches ambitiously to create three overlapping biographies of these pop stars. She succeeds by sheer force of will and by inner-circle access that helps her to interview seemingly the friends, colleagues, and family members who knew them.  Boston Globe

“Girls Like Us” is best read with its stars’ celestial hits as an accompanying soundtrack and with a new open-mindedness about these stories.  New York Times

Comments

[Sophia Young]

What a fantastic site! Never seen anything like this before. Just bought the book, so I'll be back.

[Nina Burleigh]

Beautiful site, beautiful music ... thanks!

[Lisa]

Carly,

OMG I am on the last Cd and I admit i am milking it a bit ...I don't want to stop.
I have loved your journeys and have formed opions and real feelings about all 3 of you .. and admire all of you , I have always loved James Taylor and now am not sure to give him a high five or a punch in the face. You all grew up in such a marked transitional time.. I noticed you all looked toward religion a little i too am looking there for the final answer at the end of the day.

That may be wher you find the final rymes and rythms..

any way you Rock!

Love L

[jordan 13]

So cool life,the posts you told us something interesting,we want to know how you did it?I want to get more detail information from you,thanks.

[Karen Burd]

Just started the book and am savoring every page. Sheila is truly a gifted storyteller, and she's chosen the perfect story for me to get lost in. I plan to read this book verrrrrrry slowly.

[jordan]

A great man is always willing to be little.

[mcreese]

I'm just confused why Joan Baez was not considered. If any one woman would be considered a pioneer in the 60's for Women's Liberation, it would be J. Baez.

I would really like to have the author's feedback on this.

[mcreese]

Andrew Sister first female group to have #1 song in 1937

[David Pfaffenbach]

Carly i'm posting this in hope you will contact me I have writen lylic and can play melody to it but fear my time is growing short in this world could use some help! please ThankYou;David Email dpfaffenbach1@roadrunner.com

[Melody French]

Thanks so much for this unique site. I recently read the book and was wondering about so many of the music references. this is quite an education.