Carole King’s 1975 Children’s Album ‘Really Rosie’ Returns on Vinyl for Its 50th Anniversary

Carole King’s Really Rosie, her 1975 collaboration with legendary children’s author and illustrator Maurice Sendak, marks its 50th anniversary with a vinyl reissue on Feb. 28. It will be the first time the album has been released on vinyl since its original release on Ode through A&M Records in 1975. (The album was released on CD in May 1999 on Ode through Epic Records.)

King was riding high in 1974 when she worked on Really Rosie, which featured 11 songs which she composed and performed, with story and lyrics by Sendak. The project encompassed an animated TV special that aired on CBS on Feb. 19, 1975 and also a soundtrack album. The album did very well, reaching No. 20 on the Billboard 200 and later receiving a Grammy nod for best recording for children.

How did a children’s album climb so high on Billboard’s flagship chart? King was riding high at the time. Her previous pop album, Wrap Around Joy, had reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in November 1974 and spawned two top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, “Jazzman” (which received a Grammy nod for best pop vocal performance, female) and “Nightingale.”

There’s a second reason the album did so well. It’s really good. King didn’t “dumb down” her songwriting just because the songs were aimed at kids. AllMusic called it “that rare children’s album with the wit and intelligence to capture the imaginations of adult listeners as well.”

The album was co-produced by industry legend Lou Adler, who produced all of King’s albums from Tapestry (1971) through Thoroughbred (1976), and Sheldon Riss.

Really Rosie is based on Sendak’s books Chicken Soup with Rice, Pierre, One Was Johnny and Alligators All Around – which comprise 1962’s “The Nutshell Library” – and an earlier book, The Sign on Rosie’s Door (1960). The first four book titles mentioned here are song titles on the album.

The TV special was directed by Sendak and animated by Ronald Fritz and Dan Hunn of D&R Productions Inc. King voiced the title character. The special was released uncut on VHS by Children’s Circle in 1993. It has never been released in its entirety on DVD.

Sendak expanded the piece for stage productions in London and Washington, D.C. in 1978, and an off-Broadway production, directed and choreographed by Patricia Birch with designs by Sendak, which opened on Oct. 14, 1980 at the Westside Theatre.

Over the past five decades, Really Rosie has remained a staple for children’s theater groups.

King was 33 when Really Rosie was released, and keen to try new things. In March 1975, she appeared in a small role as Aunt Helen on an episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. You can watch her scene here.

Sendak died in 2012 at age 83. King, now 82, has lived to get her roses, as they say. In 2002, she received the Johnny Mercer Prize from the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2013, she became the first woman to receive the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. The 2014 jukebox musical Beautiful: The Carole King Musical ran on Broadway for more than five years. In 2015, she received the Kennedy Center honors. She has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice – in 1990 in tandem with first husband and collaborator Gerry Goffin and in 2021 as a solo artist

The anniversary edition of Really Rosie will be reissued worldwide on 1-LP standard-weight black vinyl in a gatefold sleeve. It is available for pre-order now in King’s digital store for $26.99.

Complete Track List

“Really Rosie”

“One Was Johnny”

“Alligators All Around”

“Pierre”

“Screaming and Yelling”

“The Ballad of Chicken Soup”

“Chicken Soup with Rice”

“Avenue P”

“My Simple Humble Neighborhood”

“The Awful Truth”

“Such Sufferin”

“Really Rosie (Reprise)”