I OFFICIALLY DESPISE JAMES TAYLOR

xp obv Joni is the the most important thing about the song, lyrics, vocal, etc. When I say he "makes the song," I don't mean to say "he's the reason the song is good," but just he helps the song stand out among the dulcimer-only songs like "a case of you" or "all I want." He adds a little California sunshine, with the little counter melodies between the verses

No need for sass, matt k

hadn't really paid attention before but I'm listening now and it's cool how they have the dulcimer panned right and hard left and they kind of duel with each other

dulcimer panned right and guitar panned left

apologies for sass, I just have an intense love for that song and specifically the vocal melody

me too! i love everything about the song and i think Taylor's playing adds a lot.

The whole sweet baby James is solid

sweet baby James album, I mean

2 things
1) if he was such an amazing instrumentalist (I believe those of you who say he is), I guess what I don't like about him are a) his songs and b) his voice. I applaud his instrumental prowess and can only wish he had quietly gone about his musical business wordlessly

2) last night i was watching some of those "what's in your bag" amoeba videos and one of the guys from red kross had a james taylor album. the clip they played didn't sound as repulsive as i expected, kind of like heavily produced sunshine pop. so much more palatable than his usual sack of singles. i will admit that i did not hate it. i didn't like it, but i didn't recoil in disgust.

this was the song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oAInzTXu_Y

Ha - I watched TWO-LANE BLACKTOP for the first time last night and nearly fell over when I saw the lead actor. He's pretty affectless and not much of a presence, but the disc includes his screen test with what I'm fairly sure is Joaquin Phoenix pretending to be James, performing the newly-written Riding on a Railroad which is bittersweet brilliant, fuiud
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jgg0ym7O6Rc#t=4m32s

Oh - time link failed to work, jump to 4:32 for the song.

just watched Two-Lane Blacktop for the first time. it was OK, but I liked James Taylor a lot in it. my man's pupils were pinned throughout

James Taylor will win over the grouches eventually. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uQa4dvrg1E

Also a fan of "Carolina in My Mind."

is james taylor the guitar player sitting on the stage in this video?
if so, i revise my assessment of james taylor. i don't like his singing or his songs, but now i have enjoyed his guitar playing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBI669Ac3cg

yes

James Taylor rules and this thread is absolute insanity.

pshaw

That's a beautiful performance

(also, james taylor wrote some great songs)

Terra Nova , come now

Never saw the gatefold art for Flag before--James and his gang look like a bar band that was forced to go 'New Wave'.

https://recordsalbums.com/11430-thickbox_default/james-taylor-flag-vinyl-lp-record-for-sale.jpg

What a douche

He's like 80% on the way to David Byrne in that pic.

he has a full substitute teacher sneer

god i hate him

I've never even really liked this song, but goddamn what a brilliant guitarist
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ws5kp1_iksw

Yup

https://images.45worlds.com/f/ab/james-taylor-flag-3-ab.jpg

https://images.45worlds.com/f/ab/james-taylor-flag-2-ab.jpg

Flag inners of New Wave of JT & band from upthread

hearing this to the tune of "I Think I Can Beat Mike Tyson"

https://i.imgur.com/H5pLovP.png

still hate him

Not really a fan, although I did recently enjoy reading how he was jealous of Mick Jagger, at least partially because of “You’re So Vain,” which humanized him a bit for me, and he did write this, which I never tire of posting:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vAuXP4hIoo

seen fuckin fire and seen fuckin rain

Have you read that book?

someone did Steamroller Blues at a karaoke night once, it was so jarring to realize it was a JT song, even if it's a satire of the blues

Yeah. It kind of works either way, as put-on or not.

https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/24/books/fire-and-rain-by-david-browne-book-review.html

seen fuckin fire and seen fuckin rain

― Duke Detain (Neanderthal), Sunday, August 29, 2021

not the lyric iirc

Surely Neanderthal is referring to the old joke about the wise guy who makes a request to hear “Strangers in the Night” in 5/4.

seen fuckin fire and seen fuckin rain

Oh, General Motors and IBM
AFL-CIO and all the king's men
When I began the game
See me singing about fire and rain
Let me just say it again
I've seen fives and I've seen tens

(from Taylor's own "Money Machine" - xgau was right, guy had a sense of humor that was nowhere to be seen on his worst yet best-selling hits)

He admits he gave John Lennon opiates in 1968, maybe for the first time. BAD MAN.

Taylor had a harrowing addiction. He actually wrote a few good songs drawing on that experience, but again, it's a side of him that isn't really seen in his best-known hits which tends to be bland or syrupy..

James Taylor, hung or not hung?

http://www.kennethinthe212.com/2022/04/secret-o-life-epic-endowment-of-sweet.html#more

Joni Mitchell said he was her best lover, no contest.

JT BDE

https://c.tenor.com/nGJdVgAyHaQAAAAM/eddie-murphy.gif

So long, walking man, so long...

pic.twitter.com/vujQLCLjUi

— SNL Hosts Introducing the Musical Guest (@snlhostsintro) September 1, 2022

Also a fan of "Carolina in My Mind."

That's a great tune.

I despised JT, along with Dan Fogelberg, John Denver, et al. back in the day. Like much of the music I hated then, it now has a huge appeal to me. Nostalgia is a hell of a drug.

Oh, and I especially hated Jackson Browne, mostly because he would get much more AOR airplay than those other dudes.

JT blowing Stephen Colbert's mind about how he actually played on Blue (starts around 1:23)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJcZGK1yCYA

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 Zoo
2. Something in the Way She Moves
3. Carolina in My Mind
4. Night Owl
5. Rainy Day Man
6. Sweet Baby James
7. Steamroller
8. Country Road
9. Fire and Rain
10. You Can Close Your Eyes
11. Long Ago and Far Away
12. Chili Dog
13. Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight
14. Walking Man
15. Mexico
16. Gorilla
17. You Make It Easy
18. Shower the People
19. A Junkie's Lament
20. Money Machine
21. Your Smiling Face
22. Another Grey Morning
23. Secret O' Life
24. Handy Man

No copperline huh