James Taylor appreciation thread

[Joe Fields]

Surprised?

Well, you can't rock out all the time. Anyway, here are a few from the past I think you'll appreciate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AaGZEzUz0M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64_303eHaTM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vY1peG8gHQ

[taterguy]

1. This man begs to differ

For obvious reasons.

Well, obvious if you've ever read Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung, and I can't imagine anyone who hasn't read that masterpiece.

[SteppingRazor]

4. Yeah, but he was wrong as often as he was right...

have you read his reviews of Led Zeppelin? Scathing, more often than not. But now, that band's seen as one of the greatest evah.

Although, in this particular case, I side with Lester Bangs.

On edit: Well, maybe I don't totally side with Bangs. I mean, I don't want to disembowel James Taylor with a broken bottle. So there is that.

[taterguy]

6. We're good liberals so we don't believe in violence

So I agree that the disemboweling thing was over the line but the rest of his point was valid: JT screwed up people's heads and the world would be a better place if he never recorded a note.

But trying arguing that with his fans and you'll get nowhere. That's how pervasive his warped, brainwashing world view was, which is why he was a menace to all that is good and righteous.

[SteppingRazor]

7. His horrific sensitive-white-guy interpretation of the blues on "Steamroller Blues"...

in and of itself is enough to justify his eternal damnation, in my anything-but-humble opinion.

[taterguy]

8. Over fifty percent of the posts in this thread are anti-JT

I'm not gonna say anything else because that would just be rude. I don't remember hearing Steamroller Blues but sensitive, white-guy, and blues. The mind boggles. You just can't have all those things at once, unless you're incredibly self-indulgent and clueless.

[Joe Fields]

10. Hey guys, this is an appreciation thread. If you want to disembowel

James Taylor, start your own thread. Don't hijack mine.

[taterguy]

20. It's not our fault we were entrapped

You knew, or should have known, that fans of Lester Bangs view this message board.

You knew, or should have known, that fans of Lester Bangs have an inevitable reaction to seeing the words James Taylor and appreciation in the same sentence.

It's like putting a steak in front of a dog and then yelling at him if he takes a bite.

Who's really the guilty party here?

Do some soul-searching and tell the truth.

Peace

[Joe Fields]

25. How could anyone be a fan of that crackhead? Especially one

who disses Zep? That alone should disqualify him as a critic. (to be honest, I don't even know who the gent is)

[taterguy]

32. No drug user ever had a valid opinion

Oh wait, James Taylor did a lot of drugs, and so did almost every other decent musician. :)

I admire Lester Bangs because he did for rock criticism the same thing the Beatles did for rock music: He transformed it from mere entertainment into an art form. Everyone who followed him in the field was directly or indirectly influenced by him.

Do yourself a favor and read his books. They'll enrich your life.

Really.

[Joe Fields]

36. I like to form my own opinions, thank you.

[Joe Fields]

9. I seriously doubt that anyone who looks like that would be remotely

receptive to J.T's music.

[Katina]

2. sweet James

always loved his stuff and he's still handsome, baldheaded or not. thanks. :hi:

[Joe Fields]

12. Thank you for kind words.

[Spacemom]

3. I grew up on his music

His Greatest Hits is what I took with me to the hospital to have my second child.

Rock a bye sweet baby James

[saltpoint]

30. That's my definition of "excellent parenting from the word 'go'," Spacemom.

You did it just right.

[Guava Jelly]

5. Sweet Baby James Is my favorite by mr T

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pXEqHLvCbo

[lizziegrace]

11. One of my favorites - "The Water is Wide"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9wbFgufQlU

[saltpoint]

26. He pulls that song out of the old memory of the country. And it's

well worth saving, too.

He and Pete Seeger do the backup for Karla Bonoff on HER recording of it some years earlier.

Both recordings shine. It's just a great example of modern musicians showing respect and awe for a wonderful song.

[bmbmd]

13. Here's one you may not know-be patient.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7045952726082838645&q=dj+star

He is my all-time favorite.

[wildhorses]

14. ----

:thumbsup:

[Lavender Brown]

15. I love James Taylor

Don't care what anyone says... :hi:

[leftofthedial]

16. Sunny Skies sleeps in the morning

He doesn't know when to rise

[saltpoint]

27. What a terrific song.

I guess for that matter the whole damn album is great. Wore it out when it first was released with repeated playings. Those songs -- and the ones from the Apple album, too -- are so deep in my brain they'll never come out.

Endin' with a friend named Sunny Skies...

Great choice.

[gratuitous]

17. Saw him in concert on 9/14/01

Yeah, three days after that awful day. A terrific show with a tight, solid band. And everyone got to think about something else for a couple of hours. It was a gift from above.

[jpgray]

18. Not to continue our debate beyond reasonable limits, but...

I think James Taylor is one of the most drab, uninspired hacks in the history of music. :D He's like the Dave Clark Five of the folk movement in my opinion. If you're a big fan (which is fine! I like some music most snobs consider ridiculous and crappy), I feel less obliged to "prove" to you that there is much worth in new music. The gap in tastes just might be too wide.

[Joe Fields]

21. The "proof" is not in what you or I say. The proof is in the music.

It would be like asking who is funnier. Mike Wallace or George Carlin?

[carly denise pt deux]

19. He sings wonderfully, but preferred him in "2 Lane Blacktop"

Actually I watched the movie to gawk at Dennis Wilson, but James was not too hard to look at.

[Joe Fields]

22. I liked that movie. I think only a handful of us did.

[saltpoint]

29. It's a really good film. Low-budget but higher-order tension.

Some quotable lines, too.

[Beer Snob-50]

23. JT is great to kick back and just relax to

saw him on Sesame Street do "Up on the roof" (don't flame me, I think tht was the name of the song)my favorite sesame street moment.

[LostinVA]

24. JT is great -- and puts on a great concert, too

[saltpoint]

28. Hi, Joe. I'm late to the party here, but in the 11 times I've heard

James Taylor in concert, he gave his listeners layers of intricate music. Some was dead-ahead right-here stuff, but just as often or more, we'd get new verses to "Lighthouse" from the GORILLA album, or surprise renderings of old folk tunes.

All of it beautifully sung.

At one of the Tanglewood concerts, Emmylou Harris opened in place of Phoebe Snow (who was rushed to the hospital to have a baby). Emmylou Harris and the Hot Band, then James Taylor with Kootch and the bunch, and let me tell you, it was a hell of a fine night.

[Joe Fields]

33. He has the ability to make you feel like an intimate friend in his

living room.

[saltpoint]

35. He does. And he's enjoyed very considerable air time in my living room

over many years.

I like the easy humor and the fat checks he writes to Democratic candidates. He did several good turns for the Kerry-Edwards ticket in 04 against the Bush-Cheney effort.

And the man can sing, too.

[njdemocrat106]

31. I like JT as well

I love "Carolina in My Mind", but "Country Road" is my runner-up.

[Joe Fields]

34. They're both great. Ever see him sing "Okie From Muskogee?"

He does it "tongue firmly planted in cheek," and it's a hoot.

[saltpoint]

37. In the early 1970s a woman of my acquaintance in the Berkshires

argued off several colleagues. They believed James Taylor would fade, that the music would not survive.

Over fishamajigs and Fribbles at Friendly's, she argued valiantly that it would.

It has.