CAROLE KING & JAMES TAYLOR
''LIVE AT THE TROUBADOUR''
MAY 4 2010
63:48
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01 - Blossom (James Taylor) 03:07
02 - So Far Away (Carole King) 04:42
03 - Machine Gun Kelly (Danny Kortchmar) 03:00
04 - Carolina In My Mind (James Taylor) 04:15
05 - It's Too Late (Carole King, Toni Stern) 04:57
06 - Smackwater Jack (Gerry Goffin, Carole King) 05:28
07 - Something In The Way She Moves (James Taylor) 04:03
08 - Will You Love Me Tomorrow (Gerry Goffin, Carole King) 04:12
09 - Country Road (James Taylor) 03:49
10 - Fire And Rain (James Taylor) 05:45
11 - Sweet Baby James (James Taylor) 03:34
12 - I Feel The Earth Move (Carole King) 04:05
13 - You've Got A Friend (Carole King) 05:51
14 - Up On The Roof (Gerry Goffin, Carole King) 04:09
15 - You Can Close Your Eyes (James Taylor) 02:44
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Carole King – vocals, piano
James Taylor – vocals, guitar, harmonica
Danny Kortchmar – guitar
Leland Sklar – bass guitar
Russ Kunkel – drums
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REVIEW/AMG
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Carole King and James Taylor reuniting isn’t quite a monumental reunion -- they never were an official performing entity, so they never had a falling out, appearing on-stage and on record from time to time since their ‘70s heyday -- but it is a notable one, particularly when they choose to perform at the Troubadour, the L.A. venue so crucial at the start of their stardom, backed by such fellow veterans of the SoCal singer/songwriter scene as guitarist Danny Kortchmar, bassist Leland Sklar, and drummer Russell Kunkel, musicians who supported them the last time they co-headlined the club back in 1971. All this made their series of shared shows in November 2007 an event, albeit a low-key one. King and Taylor embrace their classics -- it seems that there’s not a hit missed between the two of them -- and there’s genuine warmth to the whole show that’s quite appealing. Perhaps there are no surprises here, but any shock would have run counter to the whole spirit of the evening: this is about basking in both nostalgia and friendship, and if you’re on the same wave as the musicians, Live at the Troubadour is enjoyable.
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BIOGRAPHY/AMG (CAROLE KING)
Jason Ankeny
Tapestry
While the landmark Tapestry album earned her superstar status, singer/songwriter Carole King had already firmly established herself as one of pop music's most gifted and successful composers, with work recorded by everyone from the Beatles to Aretha Franklin. Born Carole Klein on February 9, 1942, in Brooklyn, New York, she began playing piano at the age of four, and formed her first band, the vocal quartet the Co-Sines, while in high school. A devotee of the composing team of Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller (the duo behind numerous hits for Elvis Presley, the Coasters, and Ben E. King), she became a fixture at influential DJ Alan Freed's local rock & roll shows; while attending Queens College, she fell in with budding songwriters Paul Simon and Neil Sedaka as well as Gerry Goffin, with whom she forged a writing partnership.
In 1959, Sedaka scored a hit with "Oh! Carol," written in her honor; King cut an answer record, "Oh! Neil," but it stiffed. She and Goffin, who eventually married, began writing under publishers Don Kirshner and Al Nevins in the famed pop songwriting house the Brill Building, where they worked alongside the likes of Doc Pomus, Mort Shuman, Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, and countless others. In 1961, Goffin and King scored their first hit with the Shirelles' chart-topping "Will You Love Me Tomorrow"; their next effort, Bobby Vee's "Take Good Care of My Baby," also hit number one, as did "The Locomotion," recorded by their babysitter, Little Eva. Together, the couple wrote over 100 chart hits in a vast range of styles, including the Chiffons' "One Fine Day," the Monkees' "Pleasant Valley Sunday," the Drifters' "Up on the Roof," the Cookies' "Chains" (later covered by the Beatles), Aretha Franklin's "(You Make Me Feel) Like a Natural Woman," and the Crystals' controversial "He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss)."
Now That Everything's Been Said
King also continued her attempts to mount a solo career, but scored only one hit, 1962's "It Might as Well Rain Until September." In the mid-'60s she, Goffin, and columnist Al Aronowitz founded their own short-lived label, Tomorrow Records; Charles Larkey, the bassist for the Tomorrow group the Myddle Class, eventually became King's second husband after her marriage to Goffin dissolved. She and Larkey later moved to the West Coast, where in 1968 they founded the City, a trio rounded out by New York musician Danny Kortchmar. The City recorded one LP, Now That Everything's Been Said, but did not tour due to King's stage fright; as a result, the album was a commercial failure, although it did feature songs later popularized by the Byrds ("Wasn't Born to Follow"), Blood, Sweat & Tears ("Hi-De-Ho"), and James Taylor ("You've Got a Friend").
Writer
Taylor and King ultimately became close friends, and he encouraged her to pursue a solo career. Released in 1970, Writer proved a false start, but in 1971 she released Tapestry, which stayed on the charts for over six years and was the best-selling album of the era. A quiet, reflective work that proved seminal in the development of the singer/songwriter genre, Tapestry also scored a pair of hit singles, "So Far Away" and the chart-topping "It's Too Late," whose flip side, "I Feel the Earth Move," garnered major airplay as well. Issued in 1971, Music also hit number one, and generated the hit "Sweet Seasons"; 1972's Rhymes & Reasons reached number two on the charts and 1974's Wrap Around Joy, which featured the hit "Jazzman," hit the number one spot.
Thoroughbred
In 1975, King and Goffin reunited to write Thoroughbred, which also featured contributions from James Taylor, David Crosby, and Graham Nash. After 1977's Simple Things, she mounted a tour with the backing group Navarro and married her frequent songwriting partner Rick Evers, who died a year later after a heroin overdose. Pearls, a collection of performances of songs written during her partnership with Goffin, was released in 1980 and was her last significant hit, and King soon moved to a tiny mountain village in Idaho, where she became active in the environmental movement. After 1983's Speeding Time, she took a six-year hiatus from recording before releasing City Streets, which featured guest Eric Clapton. In 2001, she returned with Love Makes the World, a self-released disc on her own Rockingale label. Four years passed before her next record, The Living Room Tour, a double-disc set documenting her intimate 2004-2005 tour that found her revisiting songs from throughout her career with only her piano and acoustic guitars as accompaniment.
Live at the Troubadour
King joined longtime friend James Taylor for a co-starring show at L.A.'s famed Troubadour venue in 2007, and the pair followed it with several more shows, resulting in the Live at the Troubadour release in 2010. King released her first ever Christmas album, A Holiday Carole, through the Hear Music/Concord Music Group on November 1, 2011. In 2013, King received a remarkable show business accolade -- her life became the basis for a Broadway musical, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, which followed her professional and personal life in the '60s and '70s. The show opened on Broadway in January 2014, with a score dominated by King's hit songs, and an original cast album appeared the following May.
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BIOGRAPHY/AMG (JAMES TAYLOR)
William Ruhlmann
Sweet Baby James
When people use the term "singer/songwriter" (often modified by the word "sensitive") in praise or in criticism, they're thinking of James Taylor. 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. Just as Bing Crosby's reassuring voice brought the country out of the Depression and through World War II, Taylor's eased the transition from '60s activism and its attendant frustrations into the less political, more inward-looking '70s. He was rewarded with a series of hit albums and singles (surprisingly, many of the latter were covers of old songs rather than his own compositions), and he managed to survive his initial fame to achieve lasting popularity. He continued to tour successfully for decades, and, starting with his 1970 breakthrough Sweet Baby James, all but one of his regular album releases for the rest of the century went gold or platinum, while his 1976 Greatest Hits album achieved a diamond certification reflecting sales of more than ten million copies.
Taylor was the son of Dr. Isaac and Gertrude Taylor. His three brothers Alex (1947-1993), Livingston, and Hugh -- and his sister Kate -- all became musicians and recorded albums of their own. In 1951, Dr. Taylor was appointed dean of the medical school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the family moved from New England to the South. Taylor studied cello as a child, but first took up the guitar in 1960. In 1963, he began attending Milton Academy, a prep school in Massachusetts. That summer, he met fellow guitarist Danny "Kootch" Kortchmar while staying on Martha's Vineyard, and the two formed a folk duo. Taylor dropped out of school at 16 and formed a band with his brother Alex. Having moved to New York, he suffered from depression and checked himself into McLean Psychiatric Hospital in Massachusetts, a stay that would inspire some of his early songs. While there, he earned a high-school diploma. Upon release, he returned to New York in 1966 and formed a new group, the Flying Machine, with Kortchmar and Joel O'Brien. The band played in Greenwich Village and was signed to a fledgling record label, Rainy Day Records (the name taken from Taylor's song "Rainy Day Man"). It released one single, "Brighten Your Night with My Day"/"Night Owl," both songs written by Taylor. The record was unsuccessful, and the band broke up in the spring of 1967.
James Taylor
By 1968, Taylor had become addicted to heroin. In an attempt to overcome his addiction, he moved to London, where he submitted a demo tape to Peter Asher, former member of Peter & Gordon, then working for the Beatles' Apple Records label. As a result, Taylor was signed to Apple and recorded his debut solo album, James Taylor, released in the U.K. in December 1968 and in the U.S. in February 1969. Initially, it received little attention. A more pressing concern, however, was that Taylor had not been able to kick heroin. As a result, he returned to the U.S. and checked into the Austin Riggs Hospital in Massachusetts. By July 1969, he had recovered sufficiently to make his solo debut at the Troubadour nightclub in Los Angeles, but soon after he was in a motorcycle accident and broke both of his hands, which put him out of commission for several months.
Freed of his Apple Records contract, Taylor signed to Warner Bros., moved to California, and, retaining Asher as his manager and producer, recorded his second album, Sweet Baby James. It was released in February 1970 and became a major success during the course of the year, spurred by the single "Fire and Rain," a song that reflected on his experiences in mental institutions, which peaked in the Top Five in October, the same month that Sweet Baby James achieved the same status on the LP charts. With that, interest in Taylor's first album was re-stimulated, and it belatedly reached the charts along with the single "Carolina on My Mind," as did James Taylor & the Original Flying Machine: 1967, a short collection of unfinished recordings made by his '60s band. Sweet Baby James then spawned a second hit single, "Country Road," which peaked in the Top 40 in March 1971. The same month, Taylor appeared on the cover of Time magazine, touted as the founder and leading proponent of the "singer/songwriter" trend in popular music.
Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon
Meanwhile, Taylor acted in a feature film, Two-Lane Blacktop, co-starring with the Beach Boys' Dennis Wilson. It was not successful, and Taylor didn't pursue an acting career, though the movie has been well-reviewed since then. Taylor also worked on a new album, returning to record stores in April 1971 with Mud Slide Slim & the Blue Horizon. As he toured the U.S., the LP spent the summer in the Top Ten, eventually peaking just below the top of the charts, paced by its first single, "You've Got a Friend," written by Carole King, which hit number one in July and went gold. A second single, "Long Ago and Far Away," reached the Top 40, and the album eventually sold more than two million copies. On March 14, 1972, Taylor won the 1971 Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male, for "You've Got a Friend."
One Man Dog
Taylor took what was then considered a long time -- more than a year and a half -- to come up with his next album, One Man Dog, released in November 1972. On November 3, 1972, during an appearance at Radio City Music Hall in New York, he announced to the crowd that he had married singer/songwriter Carly Simon earlier in the day. Simon was already well-known for the hits "That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be" and "Anticipation," and would soon top the charts with "You're So Vain." One Man Dog marked a fall-off in Taylor's record sales, though it went gold, reached the Top Five, and spawned a Top 20 single in "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight."
Hotcakes
Taylor was next heard from in January 1974, when he sang a duet with his wife, "Mockingbird," a cover of the 1963 hit by Inez & Charlie Foxx, on her Hotcakes album. Released as a single, the recording reached the Top Five and went gold. That spring, Taylor launched a major tour in anticipation of his next album, Walking Man, released in June. Though it reached the Top 20, the album was a commercial disappointment, failing to go gold or produce a chart single. But Taylor bounced back the following year with the May release of Gorilla. Again, he succeeded by reviving an old hit, this time Marvin Gaye's 1964 song "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)," which reached the Top Five, helping the album become a Top Ten, gold-selling hit.
In the Pocket
In the Pocket, Taylor's seventh album, was his third annual warm-weather release, appearing in June 1976. Its single was the singer's own "Shower the People," which reached the Top 40, while the album made the Top 20 and went gold. Nearing the end of his Warner Bros. contract, Taylor re-recorded a couple of his Apple songs for his Greatest Hits LP, released in November. It became a perennial seller. With that, in a major coup, he was signed by Columbia. His debut for the label, JT, was released in June 1977. Once again, a revival spurred its sales, as Taylor covered Jimmy James' 1959 song "Handy Man" and took it into the Top Five, followed by a Top 20 showing for his own "Your Smiling Face." With such stimulation, JT reached the Top Five and sold over two million copies. On February 23, 1978, Taylor picked up a second Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male, for "Handy Man."
Along with Paul Simon, Taylor was a featured singer on Art Garfunkel's cover of "(What A) Wonderful World," previously a hit for Sam Cooke and Herman's Hermits, which peaked in the Top 20 in March 1978. Taylor next became involved with the Broadway musical Working, based on Studs Terkel's bestseller, writing three songs for it. The show ran a scant 25 performances after opening on May 14, 1978, but Taylor reclaimed "Millworker" and "Brother Trucker" for his next album. Meanwhile, his duet with Carly Simon on a revival of the Everly Brothers' "Devoted to You" peaked in the Top 40 in September.
Flag
Flag, marking a nearly two-year break between albums, appeared in April 1979, its Top 40 hit single being a revival of the 1963 Drifters hit "Up on the Roof." Despite the lack of a really big hit single, the LP reached the Top Ten and went platinum. That September, Taylor performed at Madison Square Garden in the No Nukes concerts, later being featured in the No Nukes triple LP and in the No Nukes concert film.
Dad Loves His Work
Taylor embarked on a national tour in the summer of 1980, despite not having a current album to promote. From here on, recurrent touring became a regular part of his career and contributed to his longevity as an artist. That fall, he appeared on the children's album In Harmony 2, singing "Jelly Man Kelly." The album won the 1981 Grammy for Best Recording for Children. He toured extensively during 1981, releasing Dad Loves His Work in February. The album reached the Top Ten and went gold, spurred by the Top Ten success of the single "Her Town Too," written by Taylor, J.D. Souther, and Waddy Wachtel, Taylor's most successful original composition since "Fire and Rain."
Live in Rio
Taylor continued to tour frequently in the early '80s, a period when his marriage to Carly Simon came to an end (they were divorced in 1983). Often, his performances took place overseas. In January 1985, he performed at the Rock in Rio concert in Brazil, a show that resulted in the Brazil-only release Live in Rio. His next studio album, following a gap of more than four years, was That's Why I'm Here, released in October 1985. As usual, his record label issued a cover song as the single; in this case it was Buddy Holly's "Everyday," which didn't get very far up the charts. Nevertheless, Taylor's long career and constant touring had brought him a permanent audience ready to buy his records, and the album eventually went platinum. On December 14, 1985, he married for the second time, to Kathryn Walker; a month later, he was on tour in Australia.
Never Die Young
Road work continued to be Taylor's primary occupation in the mid-'80s, but he came off tour long enough to finish another album, Never Die Young, only a little more than two years after That's Why I'm Here, released in January 1988. The title song, issued as a single, barely reached the charts, but Never Die Young was another million-seller. The late '80s and early '90s saw more extensive worldwide touring. New Moon Shine, Taylor's 13th regular album release, came in October 1991, the same month that he sold out six consecutive shows at the Paramount Theater in New York; the disc stayed in the charts nearly a year and sold a million copies.
Live
Despite his consistent draw as a concert attraction, Taylor had never released a live album in the U.S. until the August 1993 appearance of Live, a two-CD set that went platinum within months. Columbia, which had never had a Taylor compilation to promote, trimmed the album down to a single disc of hits for the 1994 release (Best Live). Taylor was divorced from his second wife in 1996. His next album, Hourglass, released in May 1997, demonstrated his continuing appeal by entering the charts in the Top Ten. On February 25, 1998, it won the 1997 Grammy for Best Pop Album. In October the same year, Columbia issued the DVD Live at the Beacon Theatre while Billboard magazine was honoring Taylor with their highest accolade, the Century Award.
Greatest Hits, Vol. 2
By 2000, Taylor's first Greatest Hits collection had sold over ten million copies, earning him the RIAA's Diamond Award. Taylor was also inducted into both the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriter's Hall of Fame in 2000, and at the end of the year, Columbia issued Greatest Hits, Vol. 2, covering the years 1977-1997. Fans who had waited five years for new material were awarded with October Road in 2002, an album that earned two Grammy nominations and eventually went platinum. A year later, The Best of James Taylor became the first compilation to cover material from his years with Apple, Warner Bros., and Columbia. In 2004, he appeared on the television show The West Wing, released Christmas Album, and sang the national anthem before game two of the World Series. Two years later, Taylor released James Taylor at Christmas and made an appearance on the soundtrack for the Pixar film Cars. In 2007, the CD/DVD One Man Band was released on the Hear Music label. An album featuring a dozen cover versions of various songs, simply and appropriately called Covers, followed a year later in 2008, also from Hear Music. A sequel, Other Covers, appeared in 2009.
Live at the Troubadour
Following a highly successful dual tour with Carole King, Taylor and King released a concert CD/DVD set called Live at the Troubadour in 2010. Never one to shy away from his political views, Taylor was active during Barack Obama's 2012 re-election campaign, performing at both the Democratic National Convention and then in January 2013 at the president's second inauguration. In April of 2015, Taylor debuted the single "Today, Today, Today" in advance of a new album called Before This World. Featuring guest spots from Sting and Yo-Yo Ma, Before This World was Taylor's first album of new material since 2002's October Road and there was a pent-up demand for the record: upon its June 16 release, it entered the Billboard 200 at number one, becoming his first-ever chart-topping LP.
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WEBSITE/CAROLE KING
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WEBSITE/JAMES TAYLOR
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TO THE TOP
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''LIVE AT THE TROUBADOUR''
MAY 4 2010
63:48
**********
01 - Blossom (James Taylor) 03:07
02 - So Far Away (Carole King) 04:42
03 - Machine Gun Kelly (Danny Kortchmar) 03:00
04 - Carolina In My Mind (James Taylor) 04:15
05 - It's Too Late (Carole King, Toni Stern) 04:57
06 - Smackwater Jack (Gerry Goffin, Carole King) 05:28
07 - Something In The Way She Moves (James Taylor) 04:03
08 - Will You Love Me Tomorrow (Gerry Goffin, Carole King) 04:12
09 - Country Road (James Taylor) 03:49
10 - Fire And Rain (James Taylor) 05:45
11 - Sweet Baby James (James Taylor) 03:34
12 - I Feel The Earth Move (Carole King) 04:05
13 - You've Got A Friend (Carole King) 05:51
14 - Up On The Roof (Gerry Goffin, Carole King) 04:09
15 - You Can Close Your Eyes (James Taylor) 02:44
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Carole King – vocals, piano
James Taylor – vocals, guitar, harmonica
Danny Kortchmar – guitar
Leland Sklar – bass guitar
Russ Kunkel – drums
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REVIEW/AMG
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Carole King and James Taylor reuniting isn’t quite a monumental reunion -- they never were an official performing entity, so they never had a falling out, appearing on-stage and on record from time to time since their ‘70s heyday -- but it is a notable one, particularly when they choose to perform at the Troubadour, the L.A. venue so crucial at the start of their stardom, backed by such fellow veterans of the SoCal singer/songwriter scene as guitarist Danny Kortchmar, bassist Leland Sklar, and drummer Russell Kunkel, musicians who supported them the last time they co-headlined the club back in 1971. All this made their series of shared shows in November 2007 an event, albeit a low-key one. King and Taylor embrace their classics -- it seems that there’s not a hit missed between the two of them -- and there’s genuine warmth to the whole show that’s quite appealing. Perhaps there are no surprises here, but any shock would have run counter to the whole spirit of the evening: this is about basking in both nostalgia and friendship, and if you’re on the same wave as the musicians, Live at the Troubadour is enjoyable.
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BIOGRAPHY/AMG (CAROLE KING)
Jason Ankeny
Tapestry
While the landmark Tapestry album earned her superstar status, singer/songwriter Carole King had already firmly established herself as one of pop music's most gifted and successful composers, with work recorded by everyone from the Beatles to Aretha Franklin. Born Carole Klein on February 9, 1942, in Brooklyn, New York, she began playing piano at the age of four, and formed her first band, the vocal quartet the Co-Sines, while in high school. A devotee of the composing team of Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller (the duo behind numerous hits for Elvis Presley, the Coasters, and Ben E. King), she became a fixture at influential DJ Alan Freed's local rock & roll shows; while attending Queens College, she fell in with budding songwriters Paul Simon and Neil Sedaka as well as Gerry Goffin, with whom she forged a writing partnership.
In 1959, Sedaka scored a hit with "Oh! Carol," written in her honor; King cut an answer record, "Oh! Neil," but it stiffed. She and Goffin, who eventually married, began writing under publishers Don Kirshner and Al Nevins in the famed pop songwriting house the Brill Building, where they worked alongside the likes of Doc Pomus, Mort Shuman, Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, and countless others. In 1961, Goffin and King scored their first hit with the Shirelles' chart-topping "Will You Love Me Tomorrow"; their next effort, Bobby Vee's "Take Good Care of My Baby," also hit number one, as did "The Locomotion," recorded by their babysitter, Little Eva. Together, the couple wrote over 100 chart hits in a vast range of styles, including the Chiffons' "One Fine Day," the Monkees' "Pleasant Valley Sunday," the Drifters' "Up on the Roof," the Cookies' "Chains" (later covered by the Beatles), Aretha Franklin's "(You Make Me Feel) Like a Natural Woman," and the Crystals' controversial "He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss)."
Now That Everything's Been Said
King also continued her attempts to mount a solo career, but scored only one hit, 1962's "It Might as Well Rain Until September." In the mid-'60s she, Goffin, and columnist Al Aronowitz founded their own short-lived label, Tomorrow Records; Charles Larkey, the bassist for the Tomorrow group the Myddle Class, eventually became King's second husband after her marriage to Goffin dissolved. She and Larkey later moved to the West Coast, where in 1968 they founded the City, a trio rounded out by New York musician Danny Kortchmar. The City recorded one LP, Now That Everything's Been Said, but did not tour due to King's stage fright; as a result, the album was a commercial failure, although it did feature songs later popularized by the Byrds ("Wasn't Born to Follow"), Blood, Sweat & Tears ("Hi-De-Ho"), and James Taylor ("You've Got a Friend").
Writer
Taylor and King ultimately became close friends, and he encouraged her to pursue a solo career. Released in 1970, Writer proved a false start, but in 1971 she released Tapestry, which stayed on the charts for over six years and was the best-selling album of the era. A quiet, reflective work that proved seminal in the development of the singer/songwriter genre, Tapestry also scored a pair of hit singles, "So Far Away" and the chart-topping "It's Too Late," whose flip side, "I Feel the Earth Move," garnered major airplay as well. Issued in 1971, Music also hit number one, and generated the hit "Sweet Seasons"; 1972's Rhymes & Reasons reached number two on the charts and 1974's Wrap Around Joy, which featured the hit "Jazzman," hit the number one spot.
Thoroughbred
In 1975, King and Goffin reunited to write Thoroughbred, which also featured contributions from James Taylor, David Crosby, and Graham Nash. After 1977's Simple Things, she mounted a tour with the backing group Navarro and married her frequent songwriting partner Rick Evers, who died a year later after a heroin overdose. Pearls, a collection of performances of songs written during her partnership with Goffin, was released in 1980 and was her last significant hit, and King soon moved to a tiny mountain village in Idaho, where she became active in the environmental movement. After 1983's Speeding Time, she took a six-year hiatus from recording before releasing City Streets, which featured guest Eric Clapton. In 2001, she returned with Love Makes the World, a self-released disc on her own Rockingale label. Four years passed before her next record, The Living Room Tour, a double-disc set documenting her intimate 2004-2005 tour that found her revisiting songs from throughout her career with only her piano and acoustic guitars as accompaniment.
Live at the Troubadour
King joined longtime friend James Taylor for a co-starring show at L.A.'s famed Troubadour venue in 2007, and the pair followed it with several more shows, resulting in the Live at the Troubadour release in 2010. King released her first ever Christmas album, A Holiday Carole, through the Hear Music/Concord Music Group on November 1, 2011. In 2013, King received a remarkable show business accolade -- her life became the basis for a Broadway musical, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, which followed her professional and personal life in the '60s and '70s. The show opened on Broadway in January 2014, with a score dominated by King's hit songs, and an original cast album appeared the following May.
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BIOGRAPHY/AMG (JAMES TAYLOR)
William Ruhlmann
Sweet Baby James
When people use the term "singer/songwriter" (often modified by the word "sensitive") in praise or in criticism, they're thinking of James Taylor. 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. Just as Bing Crosby's reassuring voice brought the country out of the Depression and through World War II, Taylor's eased the transition from '60s activism and its attendant frustrations into the less political, more inward-looking '70s. He was rewarded with a series of hit albums and singles (surprisingly, many of the latter were covers of old songs rather than his own compositions), and he managed to survive his initial fame to achieve lasting popularity. He continued to tour successfully for decades, and, starting with his 1970 breakthrough Sweet Baby James, all but one of his regular album releases for the rest of the century went gold or platinum, while his 1976 Greatest Hits album achieved a diamond certification reflecting sales of more than ten million copies.
Taylor was the son of Dr. Isaac and Gertrude Taylor. His three brothers Alex (1947-1993), Livingston, and Hugh -- and his sister Kate -- all became musicians and recorded albums of their own. In 1951, Dr. Taylor was appointed dean of the medical school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the family moved from New England to the South. Taylor studied cello as a child, but first took up the guitar in 1960. In 1963, he began attending Milton Academy, a prep school in Massachusetts. That summer, he met fellow guitarist Danny "Kootch" Kortchmar while staying on Martha's Vineyard, and the two formed a folk duo. Taylor dropped out of school at 16 and formed a band with his brother Alex. Having moved to New York, he suffered from depression and checked himself into McLean Psychiatric Hospital in Massachusetts, a stay that would inspire some of his early songs. While there, he earned a high-school diploma. Upon release, he returned to New York in 1966 and formed a new group, the Flying Machine, with Kortchmar and Joel O'Brien. The band played in Greenwich Village and was signed to a fledgling record label, Rainy Day Records (the name taken from Taylor's song "Rainy Day Man"). It released one single, "Brighten Your Night with My Day"/"Night Owl," both songs written by Taylor. The record was unsuccessful, and the band broke up in the spring of 1967.
James Taylor
By 1968, Taylor had become addicted to heroin. In an attempt to overcome his addiction, he moved to London, where he submitted a demo tape to Peter Asher, former member of Peter & Gordon, then working for the Beatles' Apple Records label. As a result, Taylor was signed to Apple and recorded his debut solo album, James Taylor, released in the U.K. in December 1968 and in the U.S. in February 1969. Initially, it received little attention. A more pressing concern, however, was that Taylor had not been able to kick heroin. As a result, he returned to the U.S. and checked into the Austin Riggs Hospital in Massachusetts. By July 1969, he had recovered sufficiently to make his solo debut at the Troubadour nightclub in Los Angeles, but soon after he was in a motorcycle accident and broke both of his hands, which put him out of commission for several months.
Freed of his Apple Records contract, Taylor signed to Warner Bros., moved to California, and, retaining Asher as his manager and producer, recorded his second album, Sweet Baby James. It was released in February 1970 and became a major success during the course of the year, spurred by the single "Fire and Rain," a song that reflected on his experiences in mental institutions, which peaked in the Top Five in October, the same month that Sweet Baby James achieved the same status on the LP charts. With that, interest in Taylor's first album was re-stimulated, and it belatedly reached the charts along with the single "Carolina on My Mind," as did James Taylor & the Original Flying Machine: 1967, a short collection of unfinished recordings made by his '60s band. Sweet Baby James then spawned a second hit single, "Country Road," which peaked in the Top 40 in March 1971. The same month, Taylor appeared on the cover of Time magazine, touted as the founder and leading proponent of the "singer/songwriter" trend in popular music.
Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon
Meanwhile, Taylor acted in a feature film, Two-Lane Blacktop, co-starring with the Beach Boys' Dennis Wilson. It was not successful, and Taylor didn't pursue an acting career, though the movie has been well-reviewed since then. Taylor also worked on a new album, returning to record stores in April 1971 with Mud Slide Slim & the Blue Horizon. As he toured the U.S., the LP spent the summer in the Top Ten, eventually peaking just below the top of the charts, paced by its first single, "You've Got a Friend," written by Carole King, which hit number one in July and went gold. A second single, "Long Ago and Far Away," reached the Top 40, and the album eventually sold more than two million copies. On March 14, 1972, Taylor won the 1971 Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male, for "You've Got a Friend."
One Man Dog
Taylor took what was then considered a long time -- more than a year and a half -- to come up with his next album, One Man Dog, released in November 1972. On November 3, 1972, during an appearance at Radio City Music Hall in New York, he announced to the crowd that he had married singer/songwriter Carly Simon earlier in the day. Simon was already well-known for the hits "That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be" and "Anticipation," and would soon top the charts with "You're So Vain." One Man Dog marked a fall-off in Taylor's record sales, though it went gold, reached the Top Five, and spawned a Top 20 single in "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight."
Hotcakes
Taylor was next heard from in January 1974, when he sang a duet with his wife, "Mockingbird," a cover of the 1963 hit by Inez & Charlie Foxx, on her Hotcakes album. Released as a single, the recording reached the Top Five and went gold. That spring, Taylor launched a major tour in anticipation of his next album, Walking Man, released in June. Though it reached the Top 20, the album was a commercial disappointment, failing to go gold or produce a chart single. But Taylor bounced back the following year with the May release of Gorilla. Again, he succeeded by reviving an old hit, this time Marvin Gaye's 1964 song "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)," which reached the Top Five, helping the album become a Top Ten, gold-selling hit.
In the Pocket
In the Pocket, Taylor's seventh album, was his third annual warm-weather release, appearing in June 1976. Its single was the singer's own "Shower the People," which reached the Top 40, while the album made the Top 20 and went gold. Nearing the end of his Warner Bros. contract, Taylor re-recorded a couple of his Apple songs for his Greatest Hits LP, released in November. It became a perennial seller. With that, in a major coup, he was signed by Columbia. His debut for the label, JT, was released in June 1977. Once again, a revival spurred its sales, as Taylor covered Jimmy James' 1959 song "Handy Man" and took it into the Top Five, followed by a Top 20 showing for his own "Your Smiling Face." With such stimulation, JT reached the Top Five and sold over two million copies. On February 23, 1978, Taylor picked up a second Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male, for "Handy Man."
Along with Paul Simon, Taylor was a featured singer on Art Garfunkel's cover of "(What A) Wonderful World," previously a hit for Sam Cooke and Herman's Hermits, which peaked in the Top 20 in March 1978. Taylor next became involved with the Broadway musical Working, based on Studs Terkel's bestseller, writing three songs for it. The show ran a scant 25 performances after opening on May 14, 1978, but Taylor reclaimed "Millworker" and "Brother Trucker" for his next album. Meanwhile, his duet with Carly Simon on a revival of the Everly Brothers' "Devoted to You" peaked in the Top 40 in September.
Flag
Flag, marking a nearly two-year break between albums, appeared in April 1979, its Top 40 hit single being a revival of the 1963 Drifters hit "Up on the Roof." Despite the lack of a really big hit single, the LP reached the Top Ten and went platinum. That September, Taylor performed at Madison Square Garden in the No Nukes concerts, later being featured in the No Nukes triple LP and in the No Nukes concert film.
Dad Loves His Work
Taylor embarked on a national tour in the summer of 1980, despite not having a current album to promote. From here on, recurrent touring became a regular part of his career and contributed to his longevity as an artist. That fall, he appeared on the children's album In Harmony 2, singing "Jelly Man Kelly." The album won the 1981 Grammy for Best Recording for Children. He toured extensively during 1981, releasing Dad Loves His Work in February. The album reached the Top Ten and went gold, spurred by the Top Ten success of the single "Her Town Too," written by Taylor, J.D. Souther, and Waddy Wachtel, Taylor's most successful original composition since "Fire and Rain."
Live in Rio
Taylor continued to tour frequently in the early '80s, a period when his marriage to Carly Simon came to an end (they were divorced in 1983). Often, his performances took place overseas. In January 1985, he performed at the Rock in Rio concert in Brazil, a show that resulted in the Brazil-only release Live in Rio. His next studio album, following a gap of more than four years, was That's Why I'm Here, released in October 1985. As usual, his record label issued a cover song as the single; in this case it was Buddy Holly's "Everyday," which didn't get very far up the charts. Nevertheless, Taylor's long career and constant touring had brought him a permanent audience ready to buy his records, and the album eventually went platinum. On December 14, 1985, he married for the second time, to Kathryn Walker; a month later, he was on tour in Australia.
Never Die Young
Road work continued to be Taylor's primary occupation in the mid-'80s, but he came off tour long enough to finish another album, Never Die Young, only a little more than two years after That's Why I'm Here, released in January 1988. The title song, issued as a single, barely reached the charts, but Never Die Young was another million-seller. The late '80s and early '90s saw more extensive worldwide touring. New Moon Shine, Taylor's 13th regular album release, came in October 1991, the same month that he sold out six consecutive shows at the Paramount Theater in New York; the disc stayed in the charts nearly a year and sold a million copies.
Live
Despite his consistent draw as a concert attraction, Taylor had never released a live album in the U.S. until the August 1993 appearance of Live, a two-CD set that went platinum within months. Columbia, which had never had a Taylor compilation to promote, trimmed the album down to a single disc of hits for the 1994 release (Best Live). Taylor was divorced from his second wife in 1996. His next album, Hourglass, released in May 1997, demonstrated his continuing appeal by entering the charts in the Top Ten. On February 25, 1998, it won the 1997 Grammy for Best Pop Album. In October the same year, Columbia issued the DVD Live at the Beacon Theatre while Billboard magazine was honoring Taylor with their highest accolade, the Century Award.
Greatest Hits, Vol. 2
By 2000, Taylor's first Greatest Hits collection had sold over ten million copies, earning him the RIAA's Diamond Award. Taylor was also inducted into both the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriter's Hall of Fame in 2000, and at the end of the year, Columbia issued Greatest Hits, Vol. 2, covering the years 1977-1997. Fans who had waited five years for new material were awarded with October Road in 2002, an album that earned two Grammy nominations and eventually went platinum. A year later, The Best of James Taylor became the first compilation to cover material from his years with Apple, Warner Bros., and Columbia. In 2004, he appeared on the television show The West Wing, released Christmas Album, and sang the national anthem before game two of the World Series. Two years later, Taylor released James Taylor at Christmas and made an appearance on the soundtrack for the Pixar film Cars. In 2007, the CD/DVD One Man Band was released on the Hear Music label. An album featuring a dozen cover versions of various songs, simply and appropriately called Covers, followed a year later in 2008, also from Hear Music. A sequel, Other Covers, appeared in 2009.
Live at the Troubadour
Following a highly successful dual tour with Carole King, Taylor and King released a concert CD/DVD set called Live at the Troubadour in 2010. Never one to shy away from his political views, Taylor was active during Barack Obama's 2012 re-election campaign, performing at both the Democratic National Convention and then in January 2013 at the president's second inauguration. In April of 2015, Taylor debuted the single "Today, Today, Today" in advance of a new album called Before This World. Featuring guest spots from Sting and Yo-Yo Ma, Before This World was Taylor's first album of new material since 2002's October Road and there was a pent-up demand for the record: upon its June 16 release, it entered the Billboard 200 at number one, becoming his first-ever chart-topping LP.
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