Sweet Baby James

James Taylor has always been so identified with the "singer-songwriter" genre (in which the singing is sometimes not as good as the writing) that not everyone notices that he is an extraordinary vocalist. But if you listen to any one of his many recordings, you will hear an exquisite combination of intelligence, wit, simplicity of style, honesty of expression, great intonation, impeccable time, and heart. Taylor has been singing in tune and serving the lyric for a long time now, and he gets better with every passing year. In my mind, he is one of the very best singers of my generation.

In this clip he talks about singing. Enjoy!

 

P.S. He and his then-wife Carly Simon attended a Transfer show in the early 70s, and dropped by our dressing rooms. It was like a visitation from the gods, not in a You're So Vain kind of way (they were both very sweet), but rather because they were both so much taller than us. Built on a more glorious scale, really. Makes me stand up very straight whenever I remember it.

Comments

[Carlos Cardona]

Taylor has many surprising talents! I heard an interesting story about James Taylor from a guitar teacher at the National Guitar Summer Workshop in 1996. My "Rock 2" teacher Thom was (is?) a session guy who had played on a several Taylor songs, and he expected that he, and the other session players, would of course know SO much more music theory than the "star" they usually backed. He was quite surprised to find out that no one in that room of hot-shot session players understood music theory better than James Taylor.

[Marianne]

I love what he says about how a singer's traits comes through in their singing. It's so true...personality is the overlay on every song, coloring each lyric. I have listened to James Taylor since I was 14. When I hear his voice, it's like an old friend accompanying me through life!

[Hank]

oh, the hours I've spent listening to him sing ...

[Philip Wissbeck]

JT's song "Never Die Young" got me through my father's death 20 some years ago. I've seen him 5 times including once in Madison. His quiet manner gives no clue that he could sing to 15,000 people (Summerfest-Milwaukee) and make them feel something. People say we are twins. I'll have to forget about the Columbia Records mailroom that looked away and never would let me pick up the package. When I take that song to heart maybe some day we'll meet.