City Streets (album)

City Streets
Studio album by
ReleasedApril 1989
Studio
  • Skyline Studios (New York City, New York)
GenreRock
Length42:50
LabelCapitol
Producer
  • Carole King
  • Rudy Guess
Carole King chronology
Speeding Time
(1983)
City Streets
(1989)
Colour of Your Dreams
(1993)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic
Chicago Tribune
Deseret News(Mixed)
Rolling Stone

City Streets is the 14th album by American singer-songwriter Carole King, released in 1989. It was her first album after six-year hiatus from her recording career, co-produced by Rudy Guess who supported her as a backing guitarist in later years.

The title track features a guitar solo by Eric Clapton. It was released as a single and became a Top 20 hit in the US Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. Clapton also played the guitar on "Ain't That the Way". Another notable guest musician is Branford Marsalis, who played the saxophone on "Midnight Flyer".

Before making a comeback record, King fostered an acting career. "I Can't Stop Thinking About You" is a collaboration work with actor Paul Hipp, who co-starred with her in the off-Broadway show A Minor Incident in 1988. "Midnight Flyer" and "Someone Who Believes in You" were co-written by her former songwriting partner and husband Gerry Goffin. The latter was originally written for Air Supply vocalist Russell Hitchcock. His interpretation was initially featured on his eponymous solo debut released in 1987, and he remade the song on Air Supply's album The Earth Is..., four years later. It was also covered by Martha Wash in 1993 on her solo album.

Like her other efforts released in the 1980s, City Streets received mixed critical reviews and underperformed commercially, reaching only No. 111 on the Billboard 200. The album had been out of print worldwide since 1993, although a reissue was once planned by American Beat Records in 2007. In 2024, however, King re-released the album to digital platforms under her own imprint Rockingale Records.