Carole King

Carole King's new memoir, "A Natural Woman," was released today, and she's making the rounds wuith television and radio interviews. The book chronicles her rise from a New York childhood influenced by music, to her discovery of rhythm and blues on the radio shows of legendary DJ Alan Freed , to acclaim with the hit album "Tapestry," (a hallmark of my generation) and through her troubled marriages. (In two weeks, King is scheduled to release "The Legendary Demos," an album of her early recordings, including " Yours Until Tomorrow.

Carole King's new memoir, "A Natural Woman," was released today, and she's making the rounds wuith television and radio interviews. The book chronicles her rise from a New York childhood influenced by music, to her discovery of rhythm and blues on the radio shows of legendary DJ Alan Freed , to acclaim with the hit album "Tapestry," (a hallmark of my generation) and through her troubled marriages. (In two weeks, King is scheduled to release "The Legendary Demos," an album of her early recordings, including " Yours Until Tomorrow.

Songwriter Carole King made a rare singing appearance last weekend at the Bucks County (Pa.) Playhouse to boost the candidacy of Rep. Peter H. Kostmayer, D-Pa. Among the ditties the composer rendered before 325 listeners were her "I Feel the Earth Move," "Natural Woman" and "So Far Away." Ms. King said she supported the incumbent for his environmental record and because "his views and values coincide with what I believe to be the right thing."

Stay in the loop with a look at everything going on this week MOVIES OPENING (Friday; subject to change) Martha Marcy May Marlene The Skin I Live In The Son of No One Tower Heist A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas NOTABLE TV   MONDAY Ghost Hunters Live! (special; 7 p.m.; Syfy) Basketball Wives L.A. (season finale; 8 p.m.; VH1) La La's Full Court Life (season finale; 9 p.m.; VH1) The T.O. Show (season finale; 9:30 p.m.; VH1)

8:30 p.m. [ESPN] Terrell Owens, Donovan McNabb, Tony Romo, Jessica Simpson - how could you not watch? Unless, that is, you feel compelled to see the Carole King special (8 p.m., PBS) because of a wave of nostalgia you feel remembering the time in high school you made out with a girl on a couch as Tapestry played in the background. But that's you we're talking about. Certainly not about me. Because I don't even remember her name (Kim) or what color her hair was (brown).

Mike Tyson's broken thumb is a gain for "X"-aholics, as two repeats of "The X-Files" take up the spot in which he was supposed to be fighting Buster Mathis. It is also a night for musical women on cable, with separate profiles of k. d. lang and Carole King.* "The X-Files" (8 p.m.-10 p.m., WBFF, Channel 45) -- In back-to-back episodes, Mulder and Scully (David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson) confront a serial killer whose habits are reminiscent of "Silence of the Lambs." Fox.* "JAG" (8 p.m.-9 p.m., WBAL, Channel 11)

PEOPLE KEEP asking me if someone dies in the Sex and the City movie? The answer is No. No one's even sick, for that matter. This is an urban myth. All the characters remain alive and breathing ready for a sequel, or a sequin. Is there a happy ending? You better believe it. Warner Bros. is counting on at least two." So writes Fox maestro Roger Friedman, just in case you missed him on the Internet. He has seen the movie and doesn't want to tell us too much else about it. But since we recently printed a story from England speculating that someone does die, we want you to have it right from the horse's mouth.

HARD WORKIN' MANBrooks & Dunn (Arista 18716)Nobody likes a group that repeats itself -- unless, of course, there are hits involved. So as tempting as it might be to take Brooks & Dunn to task for filling "Hard Workin' Man" with songs that sound suspiciously like "Boot Scootin' Boogie," it's worth considering whether that's really such a bad thing. True, the new album could have been a little less obvious in its reiterations (really, fellas, there must have been another intro that would have fit with "We'll Burn That Bridge")

Question: What do Carole King, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and prospective old-house owners have in common?Answer: They all have to go up on the roof.Well, maybe not all. Carole King can sing her way up to the roof, and everybody knows how Rudolph gets up there.But the home buyer may have a little more trouble. We know people in the home improvement business who don't like getting up on roofs, so it may be impractical to expect every buyer to do so. But you can get someone to go up there for you to inspect the condition and make suggestions for treating any problems.

WASHINGTON - Swathed in red, white and blue, tucking miniature American flags into their baseball caps and flaunting "I Love America" stickers on their cut-off T-shirts, thousands filled RFK Stadium yesterday for a marathon concert that united rock stars and fans in a show of solidarity and healing. Billed as the "United We Stand" benefit concert for Sept. 11 relief and victim funds, the nine-plus-hour long salute featured artists as diverse as Michael Jackson and 'N Sync, Mariah Carey and Carole King.

8:30 p.m. [ESPN] Terrell Owens, Donovan McNabb, Tony Romo, Jessica Simpson - how could you not watch? Unless, that is, you feel compelled to see the Carole King special (8 p.m., PBS) because of a wave of nostalgia you feel remembering the time in high school you made out with a girl on a couch as Tapestry played in the background. But that's you we're talking about. Certainly not about me. Because I don't even remember her name (Kim) or what color her hair was (brown).

PEOPLE KEEP asking me if someone dies in the Sex and the City movie? The answer is No. No one's even sick, for that matter. This is an urban myth. All the characters remain alive and breathing ready for a sequel, or a sequin. Is there a happy ending? You better believe it. Warner Bros. is counting on at least two." So writes Fox maestro Roger Friedman, just in case you missed him on the Internet. He has seen the movie and doesn't want to tell us too much else about it. But since we recently printed a story from England speculating that someone does die, we want you to have it right from the horse's mouth.

There was a time, decades ago, when jazz was pop music, when the vocalists and instrumentalists graced the covers of major magazines. But in this bombastic, hip-hopped era, few players are known outside tight circles. To some, the genre, particularly jazz singing, has become a stuffy closet -- elitist and exclusive. The standards are revisited over and over and over again. You rarely hear about the adventurous ones, the artists who take real risks with the music. Which is what jazz is all about: pushing forward, dismantling a song and putting it back together with a fresh perspective, an individual and communal touch.

WASHINGTON - Swathed in red, white and blue, tucking miniature American flags into their baseball caps and flaunting "I Love America" stickers on their cut-off T-shirts, thousands filled RFK Stadium yesterday for a marathon concert that united rock stars and fans in a show of solidarity and healing. Billed as the "United We Stand" benefit concert for Sept. 11 relief and victim funds, the nine-plus-hour long salute featured artists as diverse as Michael Jackson and 'N Sync, Mariah Carey and Carole King.

Mike Tyson's broken thumb is a gain for "X"-aholics, as two repeats of "The X-Files" take up the spot in which he was supposed to be fighting Buster Mathis. It is also a night for musical women on cable, with separate profiles of k. d. lang and Carole King.* "The X-Files" (8 p.m.-10 p.m., WBFF, Channel 45) -- In back-to-back episodes, Mulder and Scully (David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson) confront a serial killer whose habits are reminiscent of "Silence of the Lambs." Fox.* "JAG" (8 p.m.-9 p.m., WBAL, Channel 11)

HARD WORKIN' MANBrooks & Dunn (Arista 18716)Nobody likes a group that repeats itself -- unless, of course, there are hits involved. So as tempting as it might be to take Brooks & Dunn to task for filling "Hard Workin' Man" with songs that sound suspiciously like "Boot Scootin' Boogie," it's worth considering whether that's really such a bad thing. True, the new album could have been a little less obvious in its reiterations (really, fellas, there must have been another intro that would have fit with "We'll Burn That Bridge")

There was a time, decades ago, when jazz was pop music, when the vocalists and instrumentalists graced the covers of major magazines. But in this bombastic, hip-hopped era, few players are known outside tight circles. To some, the genre, particularly jazz singing, has become a stuffy closet -- elitist and exclusive. The standards are revisited over and over and over again. You rarely hear about the adventurous ones, the artists who take real risks with the music. Which is what jazz is all about: pushing forward, dismantling a song and putting it back together with a fresh perspective, an individual and communal touch.

Stay in the loop with a look at everything going on this week MOVIES OPENING (Friday; subject to change) Martha Marcy May Marlene The Skin I Live In The Son of No One Tower Heist A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas NOTABLE TV   MONDAY Ghost Hunters Live! (special; 7 p.m.; Syfy) Basketball Wives L.A. (season finale; 8 p.m.; VH1) La La's Full Court Life (season finale; 9 p.m.; VH1) The T.O. Show (season finale; 9:30 p.m.; VH1)

Question: What do Carole King, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and prospective old-house owners have in common?Answer: They all have to go up on the roof.Well, maybe not all. Carole King can sing her way up to the roof, and everybody knows how Rudolph gets up there.But the home buyer may have a little more trouble. We know people in the home improvement business who don't like getting up on roofs, so it may be impractical to expect every buyer to do so. But you can get someone to go up there for you to inspect the condition and make suggestions for treating any problems.

Songwriter Carole King made a rare singing appearance last weekend at the Bucks County (Pa.) Playhouse to boost the candidacy of Rep. Peter H. Kostmayer, D-Pa. Among the ditties the composer rendered before 325 listeners were her "I Feel the Earth Move," "Natural Woman" and "So Far Away." Ms. King said she supported the incumbent for his environmental record and because "his views and values coincide with what I believe to be the right thing."