Editing Carly Simon (section)

===1972–1974: ''No Secrets'', "You're So Vain", and ''Hotcakes''===
[[File:Carly Simon (1972) press photo.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Simon smiling b&w|1972 press photo]]
Simon scored the biggest success of her career in 1972–73 with "[[You're So Vain]]". The single hit No. 1 on the U.S. Pop and [[Adult Contemporary (chart)|Adult Contemporary]] charts, sold over a million copies in the United States alone, and became one of the decade's biggest hits. The song's success propelled Simon's breakthrough album, ''[[No Secrets (Carly Simon album)|No Secrets]]'', to No. 1 on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]] chart for five consecutive weeks. The album achieved [[Music recording certification|Gold]] status that year, and by its 25th anniversary in 1997, it had been certified [[Music recording certification|Platinum]].<ref name="riaa.com">{{cite web |url=https://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS&artist=%22Simon,%20Carly%22&format=Album&go=Search&perPage=25 |title=Gold & Platinum Searchable Database – July 15, 2015 |publisher=[[Recording Industry Association of America]] |access-date=July 15, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140906075140/http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS |archive-date=September 6, 2014}}</ref> "You're So Vain" received nominations for [[Grammy Award for Record of the Year|Record of the Year]], [[Grammy Award for Song of the Year|Song of the Year]] and Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female at the [[16th Annual Grammy Awards]],<ref name="Gram"/> where ''No Secrets'' also earned a nomination for [[Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical|Best Engineered Recording]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Bill Schnee |url=https://www.grammy.com/artists/bill-schnee/16013 |publisher=[[The Recording Academy]] |access-date=October 30, 2021 |archive-date=March 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220320163459/https://www.grammy.com/artists/bill-schnee/16013 |url-status=live}}</ref> Additionally, it was inducted into the [[Grammy Hall of Fame]] in 2004 and was listed at No. 72 in 2008 on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]]'s list of the top 100 songs from the chart's first 50 years, August 1958 through July 2008.<ref name=billboardalltime>{{cite web |title=Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Songs |url=http://www.rockonthenet.com/archive/2008/billboard100.htm |publisher=Rock on the Net |access-date=June 16, 2014 |archive-date=February 10, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140210024650/http://www.rockonthenet.com/archive/2008/billboard100.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> On August 23, 2014, the [[Official Charts Company|UK Official Charts Company]] gave it the accolade of 'ultimate song of the 1970s'.<ref name=officialcharts>{{cite web |last=Mayers |first=Justin |title=Official Charts Pop Gem #70: Carly Simon – You're So Vain |url=http://www.officialcharts.com/features/official-charts-pop-gem-70-carly-simon-youre-so-vain-3071/ |publisher=[[Official Charts Company]] |date=August 23, 2014 |access-date=August 31, 2014 |archive-date=April 5, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150405005354/http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/official-charts-pop-gem-70-carly-simon-youre-so-vain__7719/ |url-status=live}}</ref> In 2021, ''Rolling Stone'' ranked it No. 495 on their list of the [[Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time|500 Greatest Songs of All Time]].<ref name=rollingstone500>{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-songs-of-all-time-1224767/carly-simon-youre-so-vain-1224842/ |title=The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time > You're So Vain |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=September 15, 2021 |access-date=July 24, 2022 |archive-date=June 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220624000703/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-songs-of-all-time-1224767/carly-simon-youre-so-vain-1224842 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The subject of "You're So Vain" became one of the biggest mysteries in popular music, with the famous lyric "You're so vain/I bet you think this song is about you". For more than 40 years, Simon never publicly revealed the name of the subject.<ref name="You'resoVain">{{cite web |website=Carlysimon.com |url=http://www.carlysimon.com/You're_So_Vain.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090209193126/http://carlysimon.com/vain/vain.html |archive-date=February 9, 2009 |title=You're So Vain |access-date=August 21, 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref> She hinted that it could be a composite of several people, with most press speculation considering [[Mick Jagger]], who sings backup vocals on the recording,<ref>{{cite web |last=Wilkening |first=Matthew |title=Secret Guests in Rock Songs |url=http://ultimateclassicrock.com/mick-jagger-songs-with-secret-guests/ |publisher=Ultimate Classic Rock |date=April 21, 2013 |access-date=August 29, 2014 |archive-date=April 20, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140420165914/http://ultimateclassicrock.com/mick-jagger-songs-with-secret-guests/ |url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Warren Beatty]]. Simon hinted the identity to a variety of talk shows and publications over the years, and, on August 5, 2003, auctioned off the information to the winner of a charity function for US$50,000, with the condition that the winner, television executive [[Dick Ebersol]], not reveal it.<ref name="You'resoVain"/> Finally, in November 2015, Simon, promoting her about-to-be-published memoir, said, "I have confirmed that the second verse is Warren" and added that while "Warren thinks the whole thing is about him", he is the subject only of that verse, with the remainder of the song referring to two other, still unnamed men.<ref name=people-11-2015>{{cite news |url=https://people.com/books/carly-simon-says-youre-so-vain-second-verse-is-about-warren-beatty/ |title=Carly Simon Says 'You're So Vain' Is About Warren Beatty – Well, Only the Second Verse: 'He Thinks the Whole Thing Is About Him!' |work=[[People (magazine)|People]] |first1=Kathy Erich |last1=Dowd |first2=Kim |last2=Hubbard |date=November 18, 2015 |access-date=November 18, 2015 |archive-date=April 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220426144127/https://people.com/books/carly-simon-says-youre-so-vain-second-verse-is-about-warren-beatty/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

The follow-up single, "[[The Right Thing to Do]]" (a love song directed to Simon's then husband [[James Taylor]]),<ref>{{cite book |last=Weller |first=Sheila |title=Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon—and the Journey of a Generation |publisher=[[Washington Square Press]] |date=April 2008 |isbn= 9780743491471 |pages=364–365, 373, 472}}</ref> was another sizable hit later in 1973, reaching No. 4 on the Adult Contemporary chart and No. 17 on the Pop chart. The single's B-side, "[[The Right Thing to Do#"We Have No Secrets"|We Have No Secrets]]", also became noteworthy; ''Rolling Stone'' critic [[Stephen Holden]] regarded the track as exemplifying the theme of ''No Secrets'', which he saw as the "difficulty of being happy," by "painfully" expressing "the realization that emotion and rationalization are often irreconcilable."<ref>{{cite web |last=Holden |first=Stephen |title=No Secrets review |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/no-secrets-19730104 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=January 4, 1973 |access-date=November 7, 2011 |archive-date=May 16, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220516151915/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/no-secrets-122169/ |url-status=live}}</ref> That same year, Simon performed on [[Lee Clayton (musician)|Lee Clayton]]'s self-titled album and co-sang on the song "New York Suite 409".<ref>{{cite web |title=Lee Clayton |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/lee-clayton-mw0000083133 |publisher=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=April 3, 2022 |archive-date=August 14, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190814032845/https://www.allmusic.com/album/lee-clayton-mw0000083133 |url-status=live}}</ref> She also performed on brother-in-law [[Livingston Taylor]]'s album ''[[Over the Rainbow (Livingston Taylor album)|Over the Rainbow]]'', and sang with both Livingston and his famous brother James on the songs "Loving Be My New Horizon" and "[[Oh, Pretty Woman|Pretty Woman]]".<ref>{{cite web |last=Sullivan |first=Denise |title=Livingston Taylor – Over the Rainbow |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/over-the-rainbow-mw0000601654 |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=April 3, 2022 |archive-date=November 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130113352/https://www.allmusic.com/album/over-the-rainbow-mw0000601654 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Carly Simon – Hotcakes.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Simon smiling color|Trade ad for ''[[Hotcakes (album)|Hotcakes]]'']]

In 1974, Simon followed the hugely successful ''No Secrets'' album with ''[[Hotcakes (album)|Hotcakes]]'', which became an instant hit. It reached No. 3 on the ''Billboard'' 200, remained on the chart for nearly eight months, and went Gold. ''Hotcakes'' included two top ten singles: "[[Mockingbird (Inez & Charlie Foxx song)#Carly Simon and James Taylor version|Mockingbird]]", a duet with James Taylor that peaked at No. 5 on ''Billboard's'' Pop Singles chart, and "[[Haven't Got Time for the Pain]]", which hit No. 2 on ''Billboard's'' Adult Contemporary chart. The album was also well received critically; [[Jon Landau]], writing in ''Rolling Stone'', stated "''Hotcakes'' is playful-sounding with some serious overtones — a balance that best suits [Simon] for the time being." He also singled out the tracks "Think I'm Gonna Have a Baby", "Forever My Love", and "Haven't Got Time for the Pain" as "substantial songs and performances, superior to almost everything else she has so far recorded."<ref>{{cite web |last=Landau |first=Jon |title=Hotcakes review |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/hotcakes-19740606 |publisher=Rolling Stone |date=June 6, 1974 |access-date=July 4, 2014 |archive-date=May 16, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220516160620/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/hotcakes-246313/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The same year, Simon provided vocals on [[Tom Rush]]'s album ''[[Ladies Love Outlaws (Tom Rush album)|Ladies Love Outlaws]]'' and co-sang with [[Tom Rush|Rush]] on "No Regrets" and as backup on "Claim on Me".<ref>{{cite web |last=Chrispell |first=James |title=Tom Rush – Ladies Love Outlaws |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/ladies-love-outlaws-mw0000883814 |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=April 3, 2022 |archive-date=December 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211211225427/https://www.allmusic.com/album/ladies-love-outlaws-mw0000883814 |url-status=live}}</ref>