Yes,yes. Plus he was married to Carly Simon. But in my usualy consistent thought of Yin-Yang his music makes me ill.
― brg30 (brg30), Monday, 28 October 2002 23:36 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Tuesday, 29 October 2002 02:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
ME TOO!
― Tad (llamasfur), Tuesday, 29 October 2002 06:10 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Tad (llamasfur), Tuesday, 29 October 2002 06:12 (twenty-one years ago) link
― dave q, Tuesday, 29 October 2002 08:01 (twenty-one years ago) link
Lord Custos, WXPN is far from perfect. Now back in the old days, before some point in the little 1980's thast was a fine station. I remember how they used to play an eclectic. . .
― Rockist Scientist, Tuesday, 29 October 2002 12:22 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Lord Custos Omega (Lord Custos Omega), Tuesday, 29 October 2002 18:10 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Lord Custos Omega (Lord Custos Omega), Tuesday, 29 October 2002 18:11 (twenty-one years ago) link
I'm going to say this here since it's a stupid thread anyway but this little habit of Lord C's annoys me a ridiculous, beyond-reason amount: more than James Taylor, Phil Collins, anything else on the board or indeed almost anything else I am likely to encounter in my daily life. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARG.
― Tom (Groke), Tuesday, 29 October 2002 18:23 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Tuesday, 29 October 2002 18:27 (twenty-one years ago) link
Don't get me wrong, I officially despise Phil Collins too. But we're talking about James Taylor right now.
― dave225 (Dave225), Tuesday, 29 October 2002 18:40 (twenty-one years ago) link
― nathalie (nathalie), Tuesday, 29 October 2002 18:54 (twenty-one years ago) link
― RJG (RJG), Tuesday, 29 October 2002 18:55 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Lord Custos Omega (Lord Custos Omega), Wednesday, 30 October 2002 13:11 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Wednesday, 30 October 2002 13:59 (twenty-one years ago) link
By the way Fritz, after recess, it's your turn to clean the erasers. I've GOT DIBS ON THE TETHERBALL!
― Lord Custos Omega (Lord Custos Omega), Wednesday, 30 October 2002 15:04 (twenty-one years ago) link
Yeah, well I have it on pretty good authority that he *HATES YOUR SKINNY WHITE ASS TOO*, so be prepared for a big SWEET BABY JAMES-STYLEEE BEATDOWN when you least expect it, punk, `cos Dad Loves His Work...and hates hatas like yourself!
"HONOR THE FIRE & RAIN!"
― Motel Hell (vassifer), Wednesday, 30 October 2002 15:34 (twenty-one years ago) link
(Mod Up Dan Perry: +1 Contrary Asshole)
― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 30 October 2002 15:50 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Lord Custos Omega (Lord Custos Omega), Wednesday, 30 October 2002 15:58 (twenty-one years ago) link
When I was a little kid my parents had the album 'Sweet Baby James'. And whenever they got it out people would smile in my direction and go "hey, this is for you, sweet baby James. Aaaahh."
And even at the age of 4 that really irritated me.
― James Ball (James Ball), Thursday, 31 October 2002 12:19 (twenty-one years ago) link
Man, I love "Fire and Rain" after hearing it in 'Running on Empty', but it would sound even better with a full blown hippy choir joining in on the chorus.
― baaderonixx, Friday, 29 February 2008 09:01 (sixteen years ago) link
if you despise james taylor you might as well despise bob dylan. that's all I'm saying.
― CaptainLorax, Friday, 29 February 2008 09:14 (sixteen years ago) link
i love james taylor
----- go.to/stevek
― max, Friday, 29 February 2008 09:40 (sixteen years ago) link
+2 insightfulness
― baaderonixx, Friday, 29 February 2008 09:52 (sixteen years ago) link
I know it was all a bit Acid Jazz but James Taylor is a decent organist.
― Dingbod Kesterson, Friday, 29 February 2008 09:52 (sixteen years ago) link
kool and gang backed him up, criteria miami sessions still soulful still unreleased.
such knee-jerk isms above--james taylor is good, a bit self-involved but so what. "mexico" and "don't let me be lonely" are really good.
― whisperineddhurt, Friday, 29 February 2008 15:28 (sixteen years ago) link
his voice creates a weird bio-chemical response in me...creating physical sensations of depression and nausea, general off-ness. kind of like car sickness. theres also something about his nostalgic sentimentality that gets me. (cat steven's voice does the same). so i hate the bastard, but can't claim it has anything to do, realy with his merrits or lack thereof.
in general i find the cleanliness of that era of singer-songwriter musics a bit shlocky, but far from hateable. and my love of melanie is documented around here
taylor though can stay as far away as possible from my ears
― bb, Friday, 29 February 2008 15:46 (sixteen years ago) link
Haven't heard this new Covers album, but he did a really good version of John Anderson's "Seminole Wind" on Letterman the other night.
― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Sunday, 2 November 2008 02:31 (fifteen years ago) link
taylor is perplexing. he seems like a deeply thoughtful and intelligent man. his music is almost unerringly tasteful, his phrasing can be quite good, his voice is appealing, some of his melodies are really pretty. i watch interviews with him and think, here's a guy that should be making really great, subtle music.
and yet all his thought and intelligence seems to be focused on making music that is often deeply, deeply banal. his lyrics tend towards the unforgivably trite (although he can pull off good turns of phrase when he wants to, it seems), his "conceptual" moves are embarrassingly obvious. what is the deal?
― by another name (amateurist), Monday, 2 May 2011 21:27 (thirteen years ago) link
i unofficially despise james taylor
― congratulations (n/a), Monday, 2 May 2011 21:33 (thirteen years ago) link
^ that was off the record
he's also an excellent guitiarist
think this guy has been getting a bad rap for years, Mud Slide Slim is a good record and so's Sweet Baby James, it's just that he does his own thing and it's low-key and unaggressive and what little darkness there is in it is tempered by this deep conviction that life is sweet
near #1 on my list of music that's underrated by music-thinkin cats -- feel like most people's opinions on this dude are way phoned-in
― five gone cats from Boston (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Monday, 2 May 2011 21:36 (thirteen years ago) link
funny thing is, when you look a little bit into James Taylor's background, there's a bunch of darkness there...Fritz otm re: him being a drugged out mental patient...
― if hongroes could fly this place would be a geirport (Drugs A. Money), Monday, 2 May 2011 21:39 (thirteen years ago) link
oh yeah - some of those mellowest 70s records are written during full-on heroin addiction iirc. and like "fire and rain," if you actually give that one a hard listen it's a profoundly sad song. frankly puzzled by people still being dismissive of James Taylor - a lot of the biases that went into the general animus toward him among Thinking Types have rightly been outgrown but it's like JT has to carry the banner for those biases
― five gone cats from Boston (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Monday, 2 May 2011 21:54 (thirteen years ago) link
so basically you officially despite amateurist
― congratulations (n/a), Monday, 2 May 2011 21:55 (thirteen years ago) link
don't know much about his music other than what makes me change radio stations but can't hate a dude who was in two lane blacktop
― puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Monday, 2 May 2011 22:00 (thirteen years ago) link
i don't know why taylor should have to have a "dark" side or why we should care whether his personal biography validates that or not. lots of music is really cheerful and not quite as trite as much of his music.
i should say that i make this criticisms in the context of "rediscovering" some of his albums and getting a reasonable amount of enjoyment out of them.
i guess it's just the disjunct between listening to this guy give really thoughtful, inspired answers to interview questions (and the guy has mega-charisma, in a totally strong-and-silent way) and then listening to, i dunno, pick your least-favorite banal JT song here.
― by another name (amateurist), Monday, 2 May 2011 22:09 (thirteen years ago) link
but can't hate a dude who was in two lane blacktop
― puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Monday, May 2, 2011 5:00 PM (8 minutes ago) Bookmark
well, yeah. actually rewatching that movie inspired this whole "maybe i should try JT again" thing.
also say what you will about the man but damn he was/is good looking.
― by another name (amateurist), Monday, 2 May 2011 22:10 (thirteen years ago) link
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ErG3tAEqx98/Taik7LBvP5I/AAAAAAAAqn8/EHYptsk_wdY/s1600/James+Taylor+1.jpg
― scott seward, Tuesday, 3 May 2011 12:45 (thirteen years ago) link
"don't even try it or i'll cut you..."
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/A1W0JUZFT1L._SL600_.jpg
― scott seward, Tuesday, 3 May 2011 12:47 (thirteen years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_D0i7UC9UY&feature=related
― scott seward, Tuesday, 3 May 2011 12:51 (thirteen years ago) link
if the singer's voice itself tells half the story, JT's delivery is so well-articulated and non-specific that we miss out on the personality required to get hooked into it. it's like a report of a song instead of the song itself. there's just no purchase there, the brain slides helplessly off its smooth surfaces. which is a shame because he wrote some good songs (as dave q mentions way up there in re: elvis live in hawaii)
― 40% chill and 100% negative (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 3 May 2011 13:26 (thirteen years ago) link
he doesn't have to, he just does and like I said it's not a "dark side" it's that there are these tempered bits of darkness - in a way, I think he's a realist, and that's why he's popular - he writes songs that are a lot like the average life: largely pleasant, not without significant trials and the occasional real glimpse of grief but overall a good thing to be enjoyed - he kinda hits all those bases in "that's why I'm here" actually!
― five gone cats from Boston (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Tuesday, 3 May 2011 13:34 (thirteen years ago) link
dude is also one of the nicest ppl on Earth
― Dreaded Burrito Gang (DJP), Tuesday, 3 May 2011 13:38 (thirteen years ago) link
anyone like alex? or liv? or kate? i don't much...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9FaUdKL6VE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I83fzex4TmE&feature=related
― scott seward, Tuesday, 3 May 2011 13:41 (thirteen years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Brh-_4zmOmc&feature=related
― scott seward, Tuesday, 3 May 2011 13:43 (thirteen years ago) link
Gage O.: Lester Bangs's ghost? Taylor shouldn't be in the Rock and Roll HOF (he's not alone there), but "Fire and Rain," "Something in the Way She Moves," and "Carolina on My Mind" are close to as good as early-'70s singer-songwriter gets. "Fire and Rain"'s harrowing.
― clemenza, Tuesday, 3 May 2011 13:58 (thirteen years ago) link
- clemenza
I feel the same way about him. Not brilliant and many of his compositions are downright offensive in their corniness but those 3 songs are pretty good. I've had 'something in the way she moves' stuck in my head all morning.
― Moka, Tuesday, 27 September 2011 21:16 (twelve years ago) link
love the hammond people
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_5csvww0fY
― Dr X O'Skeleton, Wednesday, 28 September 2011 19:29 (twelve years ago) link
Surely there are worse culprits than the otherwise inoffensive James Taylor!― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, October 28, 2002 5:41 PM (8 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
Was really surprised to scroll down and see this tame Alex in NYC post! Expected furious vitriol, tbh.
― jon /via/ chi 2.0, Wednesday, 28 September 2011 19:35 (twelve years ago) link
JT blowing Stephen Colbert's mind about how he actually played on Blue (starts around 1:23)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJcZGK1yCYA
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, 1 September 2022 22:59 (one year ago) link
FWIW, this was the reference CD-R I compiled for Taylor. Sequenced in more or less chronological order. (no re-recordings or live versions)
1. Knockin' Round the Zoo2. Something in the Way She Moves3. Carolina in My Mind4. Night Owl5. Rainy Day Man6. Sweet Baby James7. Steamroller8. Country Road9. Fire and Rain10. You Can Close Your Eyes11. Long Ago and Far Away12. Chili Dog13. Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight14. Walking Man15. Mexico16. Gorilla17. You Make It Easy18. Shower the People19. A Junkie's Lament20. Money Machine21. Your Smiling Face22. Another Grey Morning23. Secret O' Life24. Handy Man
― birdistheword, Thursday, 1 September 2022 23:26 (one year ago) link
No copperline huh
― calstars, Thursday, 1 September 2022 23:47 (one year ago) link
Eh, come on! It's not nostalgia! This suggests passivity. Trust your intelligence. You hear these bros' good qualities.
― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 1 September 2022 23:54 (one year ago) link
"Copperline"'s all right (so is "Her Town Too" FWIW) but I'm still fine leaving them off. I'm not a big James Taylor fan - I dislike most of his stuff, but there was enough I was drawn to that warranted a reference.
― birdistheword, Friday, 2 September 2022 16:10 (one year ago) link
One reason I kept it a sharp cut off after JT was just to have a disc that could trace his development over that length of time, or at least what I thought was the better part of it, especially while the singer-songwriter movement was at its peak with Taylor being representative of it. Sometimes I like hearing a chronological comp for that reason, so I kept it concentrated on those first eight albums.
― birdistheword, Friday, 2 September 2022 16:19 (one year ago) link
I've been listening to his 1968 debut album and experiencing a big disconnect between his writing/singing/playing style (which I'd say is fully developed at 20, even if he'd write better songs later) and the psychedelic production trappings. Weird interludes between tracks, "crazy" overdubbed screaming, varispeeded backing vocals, even the bass and drum sounds don't fit with the "tasteful" latter-day James.
birdistheword, you have a greater love for his uptempo songs than I do. Stuff like "Knockin' Round the Zoo" and "Steamroller" sound too cute and showcase his weaknesses more than the ballads do.
Apparently him and Linda Ronstadt contributed harmonies to something on Harvest
He sang and played on Neil Young's two biggest hits, and I just realized that, as far as I know, they never collaborated again before or since.
Every second and every detail of "Fire and Rain" is brilliant.
My favourite detail is the arco bass holding on a pedal C for the entire third verse.
Just wait. In twenty years, the members of ILXOR 2022 will be posting to a thread called I OFFICIALLY DESPISE PHIL COLLINS...and saying the same damn things we're saying about JT now.
It actually seems that despising old music is seen as tedious here, these days.
― Halfway there but for you, Saturday, 3 September 2022 14:38 (one year ago) link
This came about--like the rest of the initial Harvest session in Nashville--because the three of them were in town to film an appearance on the Johnny Cash Show. A snowstorm came in, preventing their return to LA, so studio time was quickly booked at Elliott Mazer's studio with an equally hastily-assembled backing band (who only turned out to be the Stray Gators) and we all know what happened next...
BTW, "Old Man" is/was the only instance of JT playing banjo on a record.
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Saturday, 3 September 2022 17:34 (one year ago) link
I can't say it's a great album, but I think his Apple debut is more interesting than most, maybe all, of his records. I think it's underrated in the sense that Taylor has openly expressed his reservations about it and it isn't consistently available - after a pretty good 2010 CD reissue, the physical release has again fallen out-of-print. (At least you can still stream it.) IIRC Taylor even mentions in recent interviews that he still cringes when he hears some of the production elements of that album. The interludes weren't his idea - I think Paul McCartney may have suggested them - and the album feels too ornate, but I don't think it was necessarily a bad idea, just overdone in spots. I also think he wrote a surprising number of strong songs for that album, and it kind of makes sense he would want to revisit them later. Not just for practical reasons like avoiding any licensing for his Greatest Hits - I think he really wanted new versions that suited his own tastes.
Halfway, with regard to those two songs, I kind of gravitated towards them because lyrically the former seems like one of his more harrowing songs diving into his own struggles and I actually appreciate the humor behind "Steamroller." I can see how they can seem a bit cute, especially the former, but they've always been more interesting or engaging to me than a lot of his other work. I do think both songs benefit from their original context, specifically the time they were released. I mentioned earlier that I kept my reference chronological for a reason, and this is partly why. I always keep in mind the counterculture when I hear those early songs, and though the production may be too much, it does keep the times in mind, including the drug experimentation that became harmful to that scene. When we shift into the Sweet Baby James songs, they sound better coming after those initial cuts for a lot of reasons: it's clearer why the stripped down production is so groundbreaking for a hit, mainstream album, the idea of the singer-songwriter movement being tied to the fallout from the '60s becomes clearer, and something like "Steamroller" suggests that Taylor came out of his struggles with his sense of humor intact. (It also reminds me that the overdone second-hand blues he was ribbing was fairly popular at that time.)
― birdistheword, Saturday, 3 September 2022 20:10 (one year ago) link
Imagine having that many thoughts about that album
― calstars, Saturday, 3 September 2022 23:50 (one year ago) link
imagine being a rich, drunk, stupid bitch all the time
― (grim) pump track (wales) (map), Saturday, 3 September 2022 23:51 (one year ago) link
he doesn't have to imagine
― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 3 September 2022 23:55 (one year ago) link
Shower the people, y'all.
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Saturday, 3 September 2022 23:56 (one year ago) link
LMAO
― birdistheword, Sunday, 4 September 2022 18:34 (one year ago) link