It's Too Late" is a song from Carole King's 1971 album Tapestry. Toni Stern wrote the lyrics and King wrote the music. It was released as a single in April 1971 and reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts. Sales were later gold-certified by the RIAA. Billboard ranked "It's Too Late" and its fellow A-side, "I Feel the Earth Move", as the No. 3 record for 1971.

The goal here was to come in high enough in the mix to overtake the main piano rhythm (so we don’t have the piano competing with the guitar. Playing over the piano in as close to exact time and tempo and playing “in the pocket” being paramount over exact note accuracy so to speak (the D6/9 chord, the second part of the main riff which is preceded by Amin7 is also the only chord in the song that is not a 7th chord of some variation).
Attempting to play at the proper level in the mix, to help ensure the vocals and lead instruments namely the lead guitar and alto saxophone solos, were heard high enough in the mix to be properly heard as ... ehh leads for lack of a better term🤣.

Vocals:
.... And what great vocals... love Carole’s tone, inflection and perfect pitch. So sweet to the ear.
Especially love the words fool in the 2nd verse (you look so unhappy and I feel like a fool), and especially the word “had” in the final verse.. I’m glad for what we “haddddddd” and how I once loved you”. That word “had” cuts like a knife. Perfect!

For me, I’m satisfied that’s about 95% of the track was played “in the pocket”, (was a little bumpy at the onset of the song).

The pre-chorus has a simple but great sounding descending progression: Am7 to Gm7 to Fmaj7. The song is in 4/4 time but another subtle thing is the pushed beat going to the Gm7 from Am7. Playing the Gm7 on the and of 4 instead of the next bars on beat (playing on 1), makes a huge difference to my ear anyway.
I played it both ways before deciding I liked it better pushed. I’m actually not sure how it’s played on the original or I should say if it is consistently played on or off the beat. It’s lower in the mix and not clear to my ear after listening to it several times

Another subtle thing to listen for is King’s singing of the melody line. She manages to get in the E flat note in on the 2nd and 3rd run through the chorus
This very subtle “flavor note” gives the song a harmonic minor by sound (the Eb is leading tone leading into the E note which is prevalent on the Fmaj7, Cmaj7, Amin7, a note King sings repeatedly throughout the song
It’s also chromatic between the D and the E notes. The D note is also heard repeatedly throughout the song
The D6/9 chord is the 2nd chord of the main riff and is the only chord in the entire song that’s not some sort of 7th chord. The D is the major 3rd of the Bbmaj7 which is the main chord along with Fmaj7 in the chorus and King hits the D note as often as she hits the E note throughout the song
(The Eb can be heard during the last two lines at the end of the chorus). Connecting the D and E chromatically just fleshed out the song and is another indicator of the genius songwriting that once existed (whether it was done on purpose or not by King, who wrote the music, is unknown but I lean towards yes it was done with purpose as opposed to “she just got lucky ...”. I don’t buy that .

A beautiful song comprised entirely of 7th chords (except for the aforementioned D6add9, predominantly major 7ths and minor 7ths. Even the pre-chorus and bridge have sightly less common E7sus and G7sus chords
A great arrangement by Carole King and Toni Stern with a subtle key change that takes the listener away from the original tonic but is done so smoothly the casual listener most often wouldn’t even notice. The effect is felt in the end of the song which leaves a feeling of inconclusiveness or unknowing (mirroring their lyrics - it’s too late baby though we really did try and make it. The listener is left to wonder how the relationship ended. And the minor key of the song maintains a steady melancholy but not depressing feel to the song

A musical masterpiece in my opinion that once again shows a song doesn’t have to be super complicated or played at 50% the speed of light to sound great

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