BOSTONGLOBE.COM — James Taylor premieres new Red Sox song at Fenway Park
By Sarah Rodman
James Taylor is releasing his first album of all-new material in 13 years, “Before This World,” on June 16. But Red Sox fans got a preview of one of the tracks Sunday night at Fenway Park before the team faced off against the New York Yankees. It was an apt setting for the premiere of the video for “Angels of Fenway,” which is filled with iconic Sox moments, from Curt Schilling’s bloody sock to Carlton Fisk waving his famed home run fair. The tune tells the tale of several generations of Red Sox fans, and muses on the Curse of the Bambino, the Yankees rivalry, and the historic 2004 World Series win, which inspired the song. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, who is a longtime Sox fan, held a press conference prior to the game, playing the video and discussing the song’s origins. The lilting acoustic tune also features Taylor’s wife, Kim, and 14-year-old son Henry on vocals. “That miracle season, that incredible thing that happened, and what it meant to Red Sox fans, the city of Boston, and all of New England, the release that it represented, the long, hard years waiting to get back on top, it moved me deeply,” said Taylor. “I knew I wanted to write about it.” Taylor was set to sing “America the Beautiful” during the seventh-inning stretch, and planned to throw out the ceremonial first pitch. “He’s been practicing,” Kim Taylor admitted with a smile. Taylor will return to Fenway Aug. 6 for a sold-out concert with opener and longtime pal Bonnie Raitt and said the pair hopes to cook up something special for the show, calling it “a career-long dream” to play the park. “Angels of Fenway” is expected to be available for streaming on RedSox.com starting Monday.