Nobody expected Carole King and a former Steely Dan singer to create one of the biggest radio hits of 1974. However, the unlikely pairing resulted in a No. 2 smash that was blocked from the top spot by one of the decade’s biggest rock anthems.
King teamed up with lyricist David Palmer (“Dirty Work”) to write a soaring track called “Jazzman.” The single took over radio airwaves in the fall of 1974, putting King right on the doorstep of another historic chart-topper by November, but she never ranked higher than No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.
“Jazzman” ran straight into Bachman-Turner Overdrive’s hard-rocking powerhouse “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet.” The Canadian rockers held tight to the top spot, denying King what would have been her second solo No. 1 hit.
Tom Scott’s blazing saxophone solos, paired with Palmer’s vivid lyrics and King’s melodies, gave the track its unmistakable spark. It helped King step outside her signature piano ballad style and move into a whole new corner of 1970s pop radio.
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View this post on InstagramIn an Instagram post dated December 2024, Scott performed the song’s iconic sax solo in a reel. He said of his participation in the song, “Talk about a career highlight. Thank you, Carole!”
continued, “Carole King’s ‘Jazzman.’ The song is best known for its lengthy saxophone solos, performed by Tom Scott, while King sings an ode to ‘the Jazzman’ and the effect he has on her.”
In a 2015 interview with Performing Songwriter, King shared how collaborating with other songwriters keeps her creative juices flowing. Although she has written many of her hits alone and penned other huge hits with her ex-husband Gerry Goffin, she revealed that there is a spark that comes from working with another person to create music.
King said, “I’ve written a lot of my songs alone. I’ve never weighed or measured which is more or less, but I think they’re an equal measure of collaboration and solo writing, and I love both.”
She continued, “What joy there is to be in a room with somebody and say, “What if we did this? What if we did that?” There’s a sense of creating something and rolling toward an inevitable destination that you both know what it is, but you don’t know it until you get to it. To create something where nothing existed before. No song existed before. Suddenly it exists. It’s an amazing process.”
“Jazzman” was nominated for a 1975 Grammy Award in the category Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. King lost to Olivia Newton-John‘s “I Honestly Love You.”
Carole King was first inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 as a songwriter with Gerry Goffin. She was later nominated and inducted as a solo performer in 2021.
Related: 1975 ABBA Smash Saved Their Career—And Prevented Them From Becoming a One-Hit Wonder
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