There aren’t too many divorce songs floating around in the pop single universe, so that’s one thing that makes James Taylor’s “Her Town Too” (a duet with singer/songwriter/Eagles associate J.D. Souther) special. The song is sung from the perspective of a friend who is watching the female half of a couple get ostracized from her… Read More “Her Town Too” by James Taylor & J.D. Souther (1981)
John Mayer performed on the Grammy Awards back in 2003. After his simple performance of “Your Body Is A Wonderland” on the acoustic guitar, he asked the audience to give a warm welcome to an artist he described as “the blueprint”. There was applause, and then the camera panned over to James Taylor, sitting on… Read More “Fire And Rain” by James Taylor (1970)
James Taylor wrote “Enough To Be On Your Way” following the 1993 death of his brother Alex. He’s said in interviews that he wanted to make sense of the event without making it very obviously about Alex’s passing, so created some narrative distance by changing some details and singing about “Alice” instead of “Alex”. However… Read More “Enough To Be On Your Way” by James Taylor (1997)
I used to need music to fall asleep. From the time I was 15 or so through my early thirties, I wasn’t hitting the sack without the radio (thanks, Delilah), a tape in the cassette deck, a disc in the CD player, or a specially made playlist in the background. At least for the first… Read More “Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight” by James Taylor (1971)
I believe I’ve established in my two previous Joni Mitchell entries how much I am here for the Queen of Canadian singer-songwriters. Come to think of it, why should I limit her to Canada? Joni is the greatest female singer-songwriter in existence. Her lyrics are poetic without being self-consciously obtuse, and her early singing set… Read More “A Case Of You” by Joni Mitchell (1971)
I’ve never been to Carolina in my mind. I’ve barely been to Carolina in person. My body has been to North Carolina once, but I was on a business trip and I don’t even think I was there for 36 hours. It was the first time I’d ever rented a hotel room as an adult, though.… Read More “Carolina In My Mind” by James Taylor (1968)
And now we go from hopeful to hopeless with the same artist. As much as James Taylor’s voice has communicated reassurance and comfort to me on a number of occasions, the man has released some of the most profoundly sad songs I know. “Another Grey Morning”, from 1977’s album JT (his Columbia Records debut and the… Read More “Another Grey Morning” by James Taylor (1977)
I’m pushing myself to make this short and sweet, because “Another Day” is only two minutes and twenty-one seconds long. Too long to be an interlude, too short to be an actual song. Or is it? Shit, “Another Day” might be longer than “And Your Bird Can Sing”. So, long enough to be an actual… Read More “Another Day” by James Taylor (1997)
Five Star Jamz 