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 Born March 1948, Boston,
Massachusetts, USA. The embodiment of the American singer-songwriter in
the late 60s and early 70s was the frail and troubled James Taylor. He
was born into a wealthy family. His mother was a classically trained
soprano and encouraged James and his siblings, including future
recording artists Livingston Taylor (b. 21 November 1950, Boston,
Massachusetts), Alex Taylor (b. 28 February 1947, Boston, Massachusetts,
USA), Hugh Taylor (b. 24 July 1952, Durham, North Carolina, USA) and
Kate Taylor (b. 21 November 1950, Boston, Massachusetts, USA) to become
musical.
The young James Taylor wanted for nothing and divided his time between
two substantial homes. He befriended Danny "Kootch" Kortchmar at the age
of 15 and won a local talent contest. As is often the case, boarding
school education often suits the parents more than the child, and James
rebelled from Milton Academy at the age of 16 to join his brother Alex
in a rock band, the Fabulous Corsairs. At only 17 he committed himself
to the McLean Mental Institution in Massachusetts to undergo treatment
for his severe depression. Following a nine-month stay he reunited with
"Kootch" and together they formed the commercially disastrous Flying
Machine. At 18, now being supported by his parents in his own apartment,
the seemingly affluent James drew the predictable crowd of hangers-on
and emotional parasites. He experimented and soon was addicted to
heroin.
James Taylor Links
Eventually he had the drive to move out from his family home, and after
several months of travelling he arrived in London and found a flat in
Notting Hill (which in 1968 was hardly the place for someone trying to
kick a drug habit!). Once again "Kootch" came to the rescue, and
suggested Taylor take a demo tape to Peter Asher. "Kootch" had supported
Peter And Gordon on an American tour, and Asher was now looking for
talent as head of the new Apple Records. Both Asher and Paul McCartney
liked the work and the thin, drug-weary, weak and by now experienced
teenager was given the opportunity to record. James Taylor was not a
success when released, even though classic songs like "Carolina On My
Mind" and "Something In The Way She Moves" appeared on it.
Depressed and still hooked on heroin, Taylor returned to America, this
time to the Austin Riggs Mental Institution. Meanwhile Asher, frustrated
at the disorganized Apple, moved to America, and persevering with
Taylor, he secured a contact with Warner Brothers Records and rounded up
a team of supportive musician friends; "Kootch", Leland Sklar, Russ
Kunkel and Carole King. Many of the songs written in the institution
appeared on the superlative Sweet Baby James. The album eventually spent
two years in the US charts and contained a jewel of a song: "Fire And
Rain". In this, he encapsulated his entire life, problems and fears; it
stands as one of the finest songs of the era. Taylor received rave
notices from critics and he was quickly elevated to superstardom. The
follow-up, Mud Slide Slim And The Blue Horizon, consolidated the
previous success and contained the definitive reading of Carole King's
"You've Got a Friend". Now free of drugs, Taylor worked with the Beach
Boys' Dennis Wilson on the cult drag-race movie Two Lane Blacktop and
released One Man Dog which contained another hit, "Don't Let Me Be
Lonely Tonight". Fortunately Taylor was not lonely for long; he married
Carly Simon in the biggest showbusiness wedding since Burton and Taylor.
They duetted on a version of the Charlie And Inez Foxx hit,
"Mockingbird", which made the US Top 5 in 1974.
Taylor's albums began to form a pattern of mostly original compositions,
mixed with an immaculately chosen blend of R&B, soul and rock 'n' roll
classics. Ironically most of his subsequent hits were non-originals,
such as Holland/Dozier/Holland's "How Sweet It Is", Otis Blackwell's
"Handy Man" and Goffin/King's "Up On The Roof". Taylor was also
beginning to display a new confidence and sparkling onstage wit, having
a superb rapport with his audiences, where once his shyness was
excruciating. Simon filed for divorce a decade after their marriage, the
punishing touring and once again the recurring drug dependency were
blamed, but Taylor accepted the breakdown and carried on with his
profession. He continued to prosper as a hugely popular live act. A
tribute to the assured Taylor is captured on Pat Metheny's joyous
composition "James", recorded on his Offramp album in 1982.
After a spell of indifferent albums in 1985 Taylor released the
immaculate That's Why I'm Here. The reason he is here, as the lyric
explains, is "fortune and fame is such a curious game, perfect strangers
can call you by name, pay good money to hear 'Fire And Rain', again and
again and again". This one song says as much about James Taylor today as
"Fire And Rain" did many years ago. He has survived excess, his brain
cells are in order, he is happy, he is still creative and above all, his
concerts exude a cosy warmth that demonstrates he is genuinely grateful
to be able to perform.
In recent years Taylor continues to add his harmony vocals to all and
sundry as a session singer, in addition to regularly touring. He has
devoted much time to performing at benefits, especially in Brazil, a
country he fell in love with in the mid-80s. After a recording break of
nearly five years he returned with Hourglass in 1997. It was well
received by the critics and became one of his highest-charting records
for many years and received a Grammy award. Quite why is a mystery,
because it was no better or worse than his other most recent studio
recordings. Maybe the critical wind of change has once again blown in
his favour. The double live album that was issued in 1993 is a necessary
re-starting point for those who stopped buying his records when they
moved out of their bedsitters in 1971. October Road was a truly
magnificent album, very much in the style of Sweet Baby James but with a
polish of maturity that observes the twilight years that have arrived.
He has often reminded would be musicians that one of the keys to
starting out in the music business is to "avoid a major drug habit".
Taylor is now an elder statesman of the classic singer-songwriter genre
he remains one of the real surviving stars of the post-hippie
generation. |
