"I was a bad influence on the Beatles"
February 17, 2020 5:47 AM Subscribe
Musical icon James Taylor (previously) has released an audio memoir, Break Shot, and has a new album, American Standard, dropping this month (excerpts available from NPR). In a wide-ranging interview with The Guardians's Jenny Stevens, Taylor talks about overcoming childhood trauma and heroin addiction, his musical and personal relationships, and his life as a songwriter.
That really is a great interview. This in particular: He was 26 when he married Simon, who was four years his senior. . . . “I was very young,” he says. “And I would be an addict for another 10 years. I mean, you marry an addict, you just have no idea who this person is, and he doesn’t have any idea who he is either. It’s terrible.” Oof yeah.
posted by sallybrown at 6:35 AM on February 17, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by sallybrown at 6:35 AM on February 17, 2020 [3 favorites]
I love James Taylor. His voice is like a balm to me. And listening/watching him make music with Carole King is ... I really don’t have the words. There’s a lot of history there.
posted by bookmammal at 6:58 AM on February 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by bookmammal at 6:58 AM on February 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
“It’s a cynical thing,” he says. “But, you know, a mother really has to be there. But a father? Well, you can construct a father out of a few good episodes.”
oof (as a child and a parent)
posted by kokaku at 7:00 AM on February 17, 2020 [6 favorites]
oof (as a child and a parent)
posted by kokaku at 7:00 AM on February 17, 2020 [6 favorites]
He must pay well - he has crazy good musicians, like Allan Holdsworth's bass player (who replaced Lee Sklar) , in his touring bands.
posted by thelonius at 7:21 AM on February 17, 2020
posted by thelonius at 7:21 AM on February 17, 2020
I grew up on JT because my folks loved him. I still sometimes through on the Best Of on Spotify. Lovely music.
posted by lazaruslong at 8:52 AM on February 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by lazaruslong at 8:52 AM on February 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
Huh, I thought someone had made an FPP of this lovely reminiscence around the story of Taylor and Joni Mitchell going Christams caroling in his folks' neighborhood in Chapel Hill, but I don't see it.
posted by thelonius at 9:02 AM on February 17, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by thelonius at 9:02 AM on February 17, 2020 [3 favorites]
My cousin brought his albums when he came to visit, and Taylor's music was embedded in my life from high school on. I've thanked Cousin Jim for this. I sang Sweet Baby James to my grandson, rocking him to sleep. That's a really good interview, thanks, Johnny.
posted by theora55 at 9:04 AM on February 17, 2020
posted by theora55 at 9:04 AM on February 17, 2020
It's a well done, interesting (and short) audiobook. What an interesting life he's had, and to think of the things he did at such a young age is amazing.
I saw him live almost 20 years ago, well into his career. He played and acted as if at last he was getting his big break, even though it must have been his zillionth show. He was wonderful.
posted by cccorlew at 9:39 AM on February 17, 2020
I saw him live almost 20 years ago, well into his career. He played and acted as if at last he was getting his big break, even though it must have been his zillionth show. He was wonderful.
posted by cccorlew at 9:39 AM on February 17, 2020
My SO HATES him and his songs, but then again we hear him on the radio a lot here in Dukes County. We bump into him from time to time as well, I'll try to hip him to this thread if I can.
posted by vrakatar at 9:45 AM on February 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by vrakatar at 9:45 AM on February 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
Tell him I didn't mean people only play with him for money! But it must cost a lot to get an A-list studio guy like Sklar to tour.
posted by thelonius at 10:33 AM on February 17, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by thelonius at 10:33 AM on February 17, 2020 [3 favorites]
The older I get, the more James Taylor's music resonates with me. I don't mean nostalgia--though I would wait until my parents had gone out so I could drop the needle and listen to "Fire & Rain" on the stereo system--but an ever-deeper respect for the ability to put words and music to vulnerability. That grace means more to me now than it did when I was a kid.
posted by MonkeyToes at 10:38 AM on February 17, 2020 [7 favorites]
posted by MonkeyToes at 10:38 AM on February 17, 2020 [7 favorites]
I've got a soft spot for James Taylor that's practically visible from space.
Here's a link to his "free guitar lessons" series, hosted on his website.
posted by Iris Gambol at 11:54 AM on February 17, 2020 [4 favorites]
Here's a link to his "free guitar lessons" series, hosted on his website.
posted by Iris Gambol at 11:54 AM on February 17, 2020 [4 favorites]
On top of everything, the man loves a dad joke. I was dragged as an Ungrateful Teen to see him at Earl's Court, and slowly if begrudgingly warmed to him due to both the quality of performance and material, and his cheerily thanking "Earl, for the use of his court."
posted by ominous_paws at 12:07 PM on February 17, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by ominous_paws at 12:07 PM on February 17, 2020 [3 favorites]
The older I get, the more James Taylor's music resonates with me. I don't mean nostalgia
This, on both counts. It is not nostalgia for me, either — when I was younger, I enjoyed what I heard of him but never particularly sought his work out. A tempestuous love affair around the turn of the century imbued “Carolina in My Mind” with all sorts of emotional weight I can only think about now.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 2:04 PM on February 17, 2020 [3 favorites]
This, on both counts. It is not nostalgia for me, either — when I was younger, I enjoyed what I heard of him but never particularly sought his work out. A tempestuous love affair around the turn of the century imbued “Carolina in My Mind” with all sorts of emotional weight I can only think about now.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 2:04 PM on February 17, 2020 [3 favorites]
On his eerie experience tangential to John Lennon's assassination
"I had an apartment in the building just to the north of the Dakota, where John and Yoko had their flat, and I heard the shots fired. When I saw who the assassin was, I realized that I had met him the day previous. I'd been coming out of the subway at 72nd Street, which is right by the Dakota, and this guy attached himself to me and was running his mouth a mile a minute talking about himself and John Lennon, talking about his music, talking about his plans and his dreams. But he clearly seemed to be in some altered state; he was sort of glistening with perspiration. I was alarmed by this guy, and I sort of scraped him off and sprinted up the steps to my building. I realized after I saw it on the news that that was Mark Chapman [the man who killed Lennon]."
holy. shit.
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 4:17 PM on February 17, 2020 [10 favorites]
"I had an apartment in the building just to the north of the Dakota, where John and Yoko had their flat, and I heard the shots fired. When I saw who the assassin was, I realized that I had met him the day previous. I'd been coming out of the subway at 72nd Street, which is right by the Dakota, and this guy attached himself to me and was running his mouth a mile a minute talking about himself and John Lennon, talking about his music, talking about his plans and his dreams. But he clearly seemed to be in some altered state; he was sort of glistening with perspiration. I was alarmed by this guy, and I sort of scraped him off and sprinted up the steps to my building. I realized after I saw it on the news that that was Mark Chapman [the man who killed Lennon]."
holy. shit.
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 4:17 PM on February 17, 2020 [10 favorites]
Here's a link to his "free guitar lessons" series, hosted on his website.
Every now and then I form a desire/ambition to learn to play some finger style guitar like that, but man, the nail thing just stops me in my tracks. I don't want to mess around with glueing on synthetic nails like, it seems, he does now, and natural ones would both interfere with my bass playing and also, who am I kidding, there's no way I'd stick with it.
posted by thelonius at 10:33 AM on February 18, 2020 [1 favorite]
Every now and then I form a desire/ambition to learn to play some finger style guitar like that, but man, the nail thing just stops me in my tracks. I don't want to mess around with glueing on synthetic nails like, it seems, he does now, and natural ones would both interfere with my bass playing and also, who am I kidding, there's no way I'd stick with it.
posted by thelonius at 10:33 AM on February 18, 2020 [1 favorite]
thelonius, maybe fingertip protectors or picks could work?
posted by Iris Gambol at 12:08 PM on February 18, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by Iris Gambol at 12:08 PM on February 18, 2020 [1 favorite]
yeah I guess those are the options.......the calluses on my right hand fingers aren't what they were when I played out in bands, but maybe I'd do OK with a thumbpick and just my fingers......right now, all the guitars I have are electric, and I spend most of my practice time with a normal pick.....
posted by thelonius at 12:13 PM on February 18, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by thelonius at 12:13 PM on February 18, 2020 [1 favorite]
« Older Signed, Sealed, & Undelivered | crude gospel Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by NoMich at 6:22 AM on February 17, 2020