Carly Simon is finally telling her own story.  On November 24, the singer-songwriter will release Boys in the Trees: A Memoir via Macmillan imprint Flatiron Books.  The eagerly-anticipated book promises to chronicle her life onstage and off.  Just days earlier, on November 20, Rhino Records will release a companion 2-CD set, Songs from the Trees: A Musical Memoir Collection.  Like Elvis Costello’s Unfaithful Music and Disappearing Ink and its own companion audio release, the CDs’ selections will reflect the narrative in the autobiography.

Grammy and Academy Award winner Simon explains in the press release, “This is a special album that serves as an additional way to look at my stories. Most of these songs are precursors to what eventually became the book. As the narrative only goes up to 1983, there are many songs to follow. If you feel like playing this puzzle, there are clues of how to cross-reference the songs with the chapters, pages and words.”  Due to the memoir ending in 1983, the 31 selections are drawn almost exclusively from Simon’s recordings at Elektra Records and Warner Bros. Records, with exceptions being The Simon Sisters’ 1964 “Winkin’ Blinkin’ and Nod” from Kapp Records, “Two Hot Girls (On a Hot Summer Night)” from Carly’s 1987 Arista “comeback” Coming Around Again and “I’m All It Takes to Make You Happy” from the 1995 Arista box set Clouds in My Coffee.  Every one of Simon’s first eleven studio albums is represented here, with special emphasis on Anticipation and No Secrets.

Though this is no conventional greatest hits, a number of Simon’s Top 40 Pop hits are here: “That’s the Way I Heard It Should Be” (No.  10, 1971), “Anticipation” (No. 13, 1971), “You’re So Vain” (No. 1, 1972), “The Right Thing to Do” (No. 17, 1973), James Taylor duet “Mockingbird” (No. 5, 1974), and “You Belong to Me” (No. 6, 1978).    Sweetening the pot, two previously unreleased tracks are included: Boys in the Trees outtake “Showdown,” and a new song co-written by Carly and her son Ben Taylor, “I Can’t Thank You Enough.”

Songs from the Trees: A Musical Memoir Collection arrives from Rhino on November 20.  You can check out the track listing and pre-order links below!

Carly Simon, Songs from the Trees: A Musical Memoir Collection (Rhino, 2015) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Boys in the Trees: A Memoir book: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

CD 1:

1. “Boys In The Trees”
2. “Winken’, Blinkin’ And Nod” – The Simon Sisters
3. “Orpheus”
4. “Older Sister”
5. “It Was So Easy”
6. “Embrace Me, You Child”
7. “Hello Big Man”
8. “Two Hot Girls (On A Hot Summer Night)”
9. “It Happens Everyday”
10. “His Friends Are More Than Fond Of Robin”
11. “I’m All It Takes To Make You Happy”
12. “That’s The Way I’ve Always Heard It Should Be”
13. “I’ve Got To Have You”
14. “Anticipation”
15. “Legend In Your Own Time”
16. “Three Days”

CD 2:

1. “Julie Through The Glass”
2. “We Have No Secrets”
3. “You’re So Vain”
4. “Mind On My Man”
5. “Mockingbird” (with James Taylor)
6. “After The Storm”
7. “Haunting”
8. “In Times When My Head”
9. “You Belong To Me”
10. “We’re So Close”
11. “From The Heart”
12. “Come Upstairs”
13. “The Right Thing To Do”
14. “Showdown”
15. “I Can’t Thank You Enough”

CD 1, Track 1 and CD 2, Tracks 7 & 9 from Boys in the Trees, Elektra, 1978
CD 1, Track 2 from Meet the Simon Sisters, Kapp, 1964
CD 1, Tracks 3, 7 & 9 from Hello Big Man, Warner Bros., 1983
CD 1, Track 4 and CD 2, Tracks 4-5 from Hotcakes, Elektra, 1974
CD 1, Tracks 5-6 & 10 and CD 2, Tracks 2-3 & 13 from No Secrets, Elektra, 1972
CD 1, Track 8 from Coming Around Again, Arista, 1987
CD 1, Track 11 from Clouds in My Coffee, Arista, 1995
CD 1, Track 12 from Carly Simon, Elektra, 1971
CD 1, Tracks 13-16 & CD 2, Track 1 from Anticipation, Elektra, 1971
CD 2, Track 6 from Playing Possum, Elektra, 1975
CD 2, Track 8 from Another Passenger, Elektra, 1976
CD 2, Track 10 from Spy, Elektra, 1979
CD 2, Track 11 from Torch, Warner Bros., 1981
CD 2, Track 12 from Come Upstairs, Warner Bros., 1980
CD 2, Tracks 14-15 previously unreleased