Concert: James Taylor

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James Vernon Taylor was born on March 12, 1948, in Boston, Massachusetts. He is a singer-songwriter and guitarist. Taylor grew up in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where his father was the dean of the University of North Carolina Medical School.
Taylor took to music from a young age. He first learned the cello, then switched to the guitar in 1960. His style on that instrument evolved from listening to hymns and carols. Taylor's career began in the mid-1960s, but he found his audience in the early 1970s, singing sensitive and gentle acoustic songs. He was part of a wave of soft singer-songwriters of that time like Carole King, Joni Mitchell, John Denver.

In 1968, Taylor moved to London. He was signed to Apple Records after sending a demo tape to Peter Asher (of Peter & Gordon) and released his debut album, James Taylor. The album did not sell very well and Taylor's addiction worsened.
Moving back to the United States, Taylor checked into Austin Riggs Hospital in Stock bridge, Massachusetts to try to break his drug problem. By 1969, he was well enough to perform live and had a six-night stand at the Troubadour Club in Los Angeles. Once recovered, Taylor signed to Warner Bros. Records and moved to California, keeping Asher as his manager and record producer. His second album, "Sweet Baby James," was a massive success, buoyed by the single "Fire and Rain", a song about his experience in an asylum and the suicide of a friend. The success of this single and the album piqued interest in Taylor's first album, James Taylor, bringing it and the single "Carolina in My Mind" back onto the charts.

In the early '70s, when he appeared with his introspective songs, acoustic guitar, and calm, understated singing style, he mirrored a generation's emotional exhaustion after tumultuous times. In 1972, Taylor returned with "One Man Dog" and married Carly Simon, another singer-songwriter. His next album, 1974's "Walking Man," was a disappointment but the following one, "Gorilla," was a success, partially because of a successful single, a cover version of Marvin Gaye's "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)." This was followed by "In the Pocket" in 1976 and then a Greatest Hits album that included some re-recordings of Apple Records-era material. It became a huge hit and remains Taylor's best selling album.

Taylor signed to Columbia Records and released JT in 1977, winning another Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, for "Handy Man." He briefly working on Broadway and later took a two-year break, reappearing in 1979 with "Flag." The album was a success, though there were no hit singles from it. In 1985, once he had recovered from his drug problems, Taylor's career revived. "That's Why I'm Here" started a series of studio recordings that, while spaced further apart than his previous records, showed a more consistent level of quality.

Taylor's two albums of original material from the 1990s were notably successful: his thirteenth album, New Moon Shine, went platinum in 1991, and he won the coveted Grammy for Best Pop Album in 1998 for Hourglass. Flanked by two greatest hit releases, the new October Road appeared in 2002 to a receptive audience. It featured a number of quiet but sophisticated instrumental accompaniments and passages, one of which won the corresponding Grammy.

James Taylor is best when he is in concert. Get your tickets before they run out, contact your on line ticket vendor.

Discography:

James Taylor: A Christmas Album (2004)
The Best of James Taylor (2003)
October Road (2002)
Hourglass (1997)
New Moon Shine (1991)
Never Die Young (1988)
That's Why I'm Here (1985)
In the Pocket (1976)
Sweet Baby James (1970)
James Taylor (1968)