1. dispatches
  2. James Taylor Honored

James Taylor Honored

By stcynic on February 7, 2006.

Oh, how I wish I could have been in LA last night to see James Taylor honored by MusiCares. Bruce Springsteen, Sheryl Crow, Sting, Paul Simon and many others told stories about him and sang his songs in a show that I hope will be televised at some point, or perhaps released on DVD. I am a huge James Taylor fan, to the point where I've often called myself a Jameshead. I have seen him many times in concert, all but once or twice with my best friend Rick and his wife, who are also big fans. It's a ritual for us, when he comes around on tour we simply have to go.

I took my brother to see JT a few years ago and I could tell that he was kind of ambivalent about it. He kinda liked some of his music, but didn't think he'd really be very good in concert. He walked away a real fan. If you ever get a chance to see him perform live, I strongly recommend it. No matter how big the arena, he somehow manages to make it feel like an intimate club. You've probably heard the term comfort food before - I think James Taylor does comfort music. It just feels comfortable and familiar, like an old college sweatshirt.

I love all kinds of music. Depending on my mood, you may find me listening to anything from Miles Davis to Rage Against the Machine. But I always seem to return to James Taylor, particularly when I'm quiet. Even after all this time, it still speaks to me and evokes a feeling of calm and contentment.

Tags
Pop Culture

More like this

My Musical Journey
The World's Fair has a post up asking the ScienceBloggers the following question: If you make a music mix that is a reflection of your informative years, what would those dozen or so songs be, and maybe more interesting, why? You don't have to be proud of the song choices - they're not necessarily…
40 Greatest Metal Songs
This post is sure to bore the hell out of 95% of my readers. Feel free to go on to the next post, please. As my readers know, I am a huge fan of music. I'm also a fan of virtually every type of music, or at least a portion of it. I'm even learning to like country a little bit more. I drive people…
Magical Night
As I mentioned yesterday, I got to see Vinx perform last night at an outdoor jazz festival. As always, it was a show that leaves you exhilirated. Vinx is one of those rarest of musicians whose work is completely unique. No one else sounds like him and his music is really impossible to describe or…
If I were to make a "This is My Life" music mix, and an invite for others to do the same.
Currently in the ScienceBlog forums (as well as in posts such as this), and under a variety of such non-descript titles as "The Search-Spammer has been Banned..." there is much discussion about music, good and bad, and how life is part of it. I'm a big music buff, less so now perhaps with the…

The first date my wife and I had after deciding we were "exclusive" (which was like our third date overall -- we knew fast) was to a James Taylor concert here in Austin. His daughter was traveling with him at the time and also sang a couple of songs with him and she was magnificent.

He has a magical voice and his songs are simply amazing. He's the epitome of the songer-songwriter for me and I'm glad he's now a part of my married-life lore. I hope they do put the tribute out on DVD, that would be a great thing to see.

I was never really much a fan until I sat down and watched his Live by Request concert on A&E. Then I got it - listening to the music and the stories behind the songs, and listening to guys like Garth Brooks calling in say how inspired they were.