OMAHA WORLD-HERALD – Enthralled fans shower James Taylor with love

By: Kevin Coffey

As a rule, singer-songwriters with acoustic guitars and heartfelt ballads don’t play arenas.

But then there’s James Taylor, whose earnest and happy-faced voice crushed a nearly three-hour show Saturday at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

More than 10,000 people packed the arena to see the legendary singer-songwriter show off songs from his decadeslong career, including “Fire & Rain” and “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You).”

With his 11-member All-Star Band, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer kept the audience rapt through a 24-song set.

Throughout his entertaining show, Taylor told lots of stories about writing songs, two of which involved run-ins with the Beatles, whom he considered idols.

In the first, he spoke of auditioning for Apple Records with “Something in the Way She Moves.”

“It was me in a room with my guitar, George Harrison and Paul McCartney,” Taylor said. “It’s not the first song I wrote, but it’s the oldest one I’m willing to play in public.”

Fans cheered that story, but they were surprised at the origins of “Carolina on My Mind.” It was on his mind because, when he was “just a kid,” he was a fly on the wall while the Fab Four recorded the “White Album.” He was next door recording his own album, and he was homesick.

“In spite of being surrounded by this holy host, I was still really homesick,” he said before beginning to finger-pick the opening melody to “Carolina.” “And this song was the result.”

In a denim shirt and jeans, the understated singer-songwriter generally kept things mellow. Only occasionally did he arise from his stool and only once did he pick up an electric guitar.

His quiet and deliberate songs didn’t keep fans from hooting at Taylor, 66, or professing their undying love.

During a short intermission, they didn’t let him take a break and instead hounded him for autographs and photos near the stage, and he was too nice of a guy to turn anyone down.

It took until the second set for fans to get out of their seats and sing along. Up until then, the fans generally preferred to sit in reverent silence. They seemed in awe.

When Taylor moved on to his blues parody “Steamroller Blues,” things began to heat up. By “Up on the Roof” and “Mexico,” most fans were on their feet singing the words, swaying to the beat and cheering on Taylor and his band.

Much of their enthusiasm was due to the playing of Taylor’s backing musicians, who were able to play with the rolling rock of a freight train or the sweet subtlety of a quiet mouse.

Taylor’s All-Star Band is truly made up of all-star players. Heavy hitters such as saxophonist “Blue” Lou Marini of the Blues Brothers Band, session drummer Steve Gadd and prolific songwriter (and Taylor’s backup singer) David Lasley. You may not know them by name, but you’ve certainly heard them if you’ve listened to music over the past several decades.

When Taylor made it to his encore, fans didn’t want him to leave. They got to their feet for “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)” and sang with Taylor and his quartet of backing singers. A sax solo from Marini sealed it as one of the best songs of the night.

The fans stayed on their feet and kept their voices ready for “Shower the People,” and even stuck around for Taylor’s finale, the slow summer song “Wild Mountain Thyme.”

After his songs finished, he stood and let the applause shower down on him.

Finally, he spoke. “Some of you Cornhuskers are extremely attractive,” he said. “Thank you, Lincoln.”

STAR-TELEGRAM – James Taylor at Verizon Theatre

By: Preston Jones

There was something appropriate about seeing James Taylor on Father’s Day.

An acclaimed artist with a catalog of comforting, reassuring — faintly paternal, even — songs, Taylor’s sold out stop at the Verizon Theatre felt akin to coming home.

Even Taylor’s expressive voice — like a piece of fine-grained wood, polished and well-loved — was welcoming, spinning out anecdotes between songs (at one point, he held up the set list to assure fans the hits were on deck) and sounding sweet throughout.

The audience’s affection for the man and his music was evident well before setting foot inside the venue — traffic on westbound Interstate 30 stretched back a half mile from the Belt Line Road exit, leading many to endure an almost hour-long wait to park — and throughout the night, there were ceaseless proclamations of love, mingled with sing-alongs and standing ovations.

Over more than two hours and a pair of sets bisected by a 20-minute intermission, Taylor and his 11-member “All-Star Band” (which counts among its ranks some heavy hitters, including sax man “Blue” Lou Marini, drummer Steve Gadd and vocalist Arnold McCuller) deftly rendered the 66-year-old Grammy winner’s catalog with nuance and practiced ease.

There were even a few, as-yet-unreleased tracks — the elegiac You and I and Today, Today, Today — from a forthcoming album, which Taylor said he tried to finish before his current tour, but “It’s going to be later, I’m afraid.”

Given the permanence of hits like Fire and Rain, Carolina in My Mind or Carole King’s You’ve Got a Friend, it’s easy to forget how eclectic Taylor’s catalog can be.

His bucolic pop songs, rooted in folk, are nevertheless touched by a full range of musical influences: jazz, blues, R&B, rock and country all leave a mark.

But none of the tunes would possess the power they do without the stories behind them.

More than once Sunday, Taylor spun poignant, direct yarns about the genesis of, say, Carolina in My Mind (conceived out of abject homesickness, while watching the Beatles make what would become the White Album) or Sweet Baby James (of which Taylor said simply, “This song came in the window”).

All of which served to intensify the familiar embrace of beloved classics, making Sunday feel like a particularly satisfying hug from one of pop music’s most unassuming greats.

ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER – James Taylor comfortably familiar at the Bowl

By: Ben Wener

Any Kings fans at the Hollywood Bowl June 7 for James Taylor’s first of two packed shows there, rather than across town at Staples Center where the L.A. team was facing the New York Rangers in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final, didn’t have to wait to watch the results via DVR.

As so often happens at his (or really anyone’s) performances, hollered comments from the crowd filled the gaps between songs throughout both halves of his easygoing but exactingly detailed set. Some shouted requests that went unnoticed. Many women (and men) proclaimed their love. A few vocal admirers down front let him know it was their birthday.

Ever-affable Taylor – who after nearly a half-century of performing has long since perfected not only his unmistakable finger-picking fretwork but also Bob Newhart-esque comedic timing – knew exactly how to respond, even if it meant losing his way a little. At one point he began to explain how his smoothed-over yet pumped-up rendition of Buddy Holly’s “Everyday” might make a fine birthday tune, only to realize it actually wasn’t next on his list, a deep track from 1981’s Dad Loves His Work was. (“But … but … w-w-we will play it soon.”)

A couple songs later, however, the murmurings reached a boiling point. Initially, JT couldn’t make out what was being hurled his direction. “I think perhaps we make fun of James,” he remarked in a mock-pouty voice, briefly hiding his face. Then the truth came out.

“The Kings won?” he asked. The place erupted.

“That’s fantastic news. Thank you for telling me that. I’ve got just the song for that!”

That got a huge laugh, because of course he doesn’t; his next piece was “Millworker,” a hard-times portrait from 1979’s “Flag,” about a woman toiling in a shoe manufacturing plant in Lowell, Mass. Before he played it, though, he double-checked the news from across town: “That happened just now at Staples Center?” he reiterated. “And we had to be at a James Taylor concert …”

Again the audience roared, louder and longer than they had for the Kings’ victory. And they kept right on cheering the rest of the night – from the inspirational “Lo and Behold” (one of five cuts revived from 1970’s Sweet Baby James, including the title lullaby) to the churning blues of “Steamroller” (another SBJ track) to his soulful redo of “Handy Man” and his two Carole King remakes, his indelible version of “You’ve Got a Friend” and her cityscape classic for the Drifters, “Up on the Roof.”

It took a more robust finale to get people on their feet, first via “Mexico” and “Your Smiling Face” to end the main set, and continuing with the Holland/Dozier/Holland pearl “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)” and his own hopeful anthem “Shower the People” in the encore.

For the latter two, his wife, Kim, and son, Henry, joined Taylor’s impressive quartet of backing singers, still led by the mighty pipes of Arnold McCuller. Everything, meanwhile, was conjured by a remarkable band of aces, including Michael Landau on guitar, Blues Brothers saxophonist Lou Marini and an unbeatable rhythm team of drummer Steve Gadd and percussionist Luis Conte, whose timbale playing on “Mexico” helped relocate that escapist ditty to Havana.

Along the way, this sprawling gathering – as big a draw as Taylor received when he toured with King for a stunning 2010 tour – was treated not only to lesser-heard catalog nuggets such as “Hour That the Morning Comes” (another gem from “somewhere in the middle distance back there,” about an epic party) but also several freshly penned bits, like the loping “Today Today Today” and the tender “You and I,” suggesting that his first batch of songs in a dozen
years may be imminent. “It’s a new tune,” he mentioned before playing the former piece, “though it sounds like the old ones.”

That hardly matters: One doesn’t turn to James Taylor for innovation and unpredictability but rather consistency and comfort. Saturday at the Bowl he scored on both points, delivering his most well-worn material – like “Fire and Rain,” one of the greatest compositions ever written – with both familiarity and slight but detectable changes in phrasing that renewed meaning and underscored the timelessness of his lyrics.

Sometimes, it was a story that reshaped our understanding, as with “Carolina in My Mind,” a signature song from his Apple Records debut in 1968. That one, he explained, came to him in London while feeling “clinically homesick” at 19, despite watching astounded as the Beatles recorded much of the White Album.

Only during “Steamroller,” which lapsed into parody, did his looseness with structure betray his playful intentions. Otherwise, this was yet another superb display from the beloved songwriter – and still more proof that at 66 he’s as ageless as ever.

THE BOSTON GLOBE – Biggest names in Boston music to join The One Fund benefit

By Mark Shanahan and Meredith Goldstein

As we reported first, a blockbuster concert benefiting the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings will be held May 30 at TD Garden. Live Nation’s Don Law, one of the event’s organizers, will announce the lineup Friday at a press conference at the House of Blues. We’d heard the benefit for The One Fund would include some of the biggest names in Boston music, and, apparently, we heard right. According to people privy to the planning, among the acts expected to perform are Boston, the J. Geils Band, James Taylor and Carole King, New Kids on the Block, and Jimmy Buffett. (Although Buffett isn’t from Boston, the “Margaritaville” singer has a rabid fan base here and is close friends with Law.) No word on what tickets to the rock ’n’ roll fund-raiser might cost or what, if anything, will be done to prevent ticket resellers from selling tickets at sky-high prices. In the days leading up to the 12.12.12 Concert for Sandy Relief at Madison Square Garden, tickets originally priced from $150 to $2,500 were selling on the secondary market for several thousand dollars each. The lineup for The One Fund benefit is stellar — each of the acts has sold out the Garden in the past — and we’re told more bands could be added. Reached at home in the Berkshires Thursday, Taylor said he was thrilled to be asked to participate and even happier to say yes. “The One Fund event at the Garden is destined to be a true Boston landmark,” he said in an e-mail. “From the promoters to the sound & lights, to the performers, and the Garden staff; everyone involved has responded from the heart in a spontaneous and simultaneous desire to be there, and to do what we can for the city we love. I am honored to be part of it, and . . . I can’t wait.”

[Source: BostonGlobe.com]

THE MAUI NEWS – James Taylor, Baby-Boomers, and Under the Stars

OPENMEDIA.COM – James Taylor Teaches You to Play “Carolina in My Mind,” “Fire and Rain” & Other Classics on the Guitar

By: Dan Colman

Some days you’d think that Salman Khan was the only person who had the bright idea of putting tutorials on YouTube. But, if you’re an amateur guitarist, you know better. You know that guitarists have been posting free lessons on YouTube since Day 1, teaching newbies how to buy an acoustic guitar, tune it by ear, strum it, and play chord progressions. And, what’s more, you can find clips that will readily teach you how to play your favorite tunes, whether it’s Bob Dylan’s Love Minus Zero/No Limit or Led Zeppelin’s Kashmir.

Think you just hit pay dirt? Well, it gets even better.

You can take lessons straight from James Taylor, the singer-songwriter himself. On his YouTube channel/web site, Taylor demonstrates how to file your nails, tune your guitar, and then start playing his classic songs. Fire and Rain? JT has that covered. Carolina in My Mind? That too. And also Enough To Be On Your Way, Second Wheel, Little Wheel, and Country Road. Stick around for a while and you might get “Something in the Way She Moves” next.

[Source: OpenCulture.com]

BERKSHIREEAGLE.COM – Inauguration Day: When President Obama called, James Taylor and family answered

When James Taylor performs “America the Beautiful” during President Obama’s public inauguration ceremony on Monday, it will reflect the close ties the singer-songwriter and his family developed with the first family during the 2008 and 2012 election campaigns.

Taylor and his wife, Kim, and their 11-year-old twin sons, Rufus and Henry, will travel from their home in the Berkshires hilltown of Washington to Washington, D.C., on Saturday morning for a three-day whirlwind weekend of inauguration activities.

The singer and his wife plan to attend a black-tie reception for family and friends of the Obamas at the White House on Monday evening. Earlier in the weekend, they’ll attend a reception hosted by Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, a co-chairman of the president’s re-election campaign, and his wife, Diane.

Taylor and his sons also have been invited to a special tour of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, their first visit to the popular attraction.

During Obama’s 2012 campaign, Taylor, accompanied by his wife as backup vocalist, spent more than a month performing at rallies and fundraisers in North Carolina, where the Boston native spent most of his childhood, as well as Detroit; Atlanta; Chicago; Miami; Dallas; San Francisco; Santa Barbara, Calif.; and Norwich, Vt. The Taylors wound up their campaign tour on Nov. 3, the final weekend before the election, at a rally in Nashua, N.H.

In an interview with The Eagle, Taylor said the invitation to sing at the inauguration came directly from the president.

“He mentioned it several times to us when we saw him earlier this fall at events in Washington,” said Taylor. “It’s quite a thrill.”

Taylor will perform after Vice President Joe Biden is sworn in and right before U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. administers the oath of office to Obama.

Two pop-music superstars also will perform during the nationally televised ceremony at the U.S. Capitol: Beyoncé Knowles, singing the national anthem, and Kelly Clarkson, singing “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee.”

“I know both Beyoncé and Kelly — not well — but I admire their music and them personally,” Taylor said.

As for the Taylor twins, said Kim Taylor, they are most excited about the Kids Inaugural Concert, organized and hosted by Michelle Obama and Jill Biden. The event, held in honor of military families, includes singers Katy Perry, Alicia Keys, and Marc Anthony, along with the cast of “Glee” and Mindless Behavior, a boy band.

“It’s their first concert that’s not one of Dad’s, and they’re really keen to go,” Kim Taylor said. “They’re also hoping to meet Beyoncé and Kelly Clarkson.”

James Taylor said he is looking forward to the rehearsal Sunday at the Capitol.

“It will be great to be able to run through the song and know where exactly we’ll be,” he said.

Taylor was asked if he foresees progress on Obama’s second-term policy proposals despite ongoing partisan wrangling on Capitol Hill.

“I’ve gotten used to thinking we all want our government to cooperate, find consensus and move forward, but perhaps I’m wrong,” Taylor said. “It seems that half the Congress feels it is their job to paralyze government. And evidently, their constituents back home agree, or they wouldn’t keep electing them.”

He added, “One thing we should agree on: We should raise enough taxes to pay our commitments. One of the great divides of Red/Blue partisan politics is over the issue of government spending. Republicans might prefer to limit it to defense, police and highways, while Democrats are perhaps more interested in health, education and welfare.”

Interviewed at home during a break in October, Taylor said: “Kim and I love this president and feel it’s really important that he continue for another four years with the vision he has for the country.”

Obama awarded Taylor the National Medal of Arts at the White House in 2011.

Clarence Fanto, Special to The Eagle
Source: BerkshireEagle.com

USATODAY.COM – Beyonce, James Taylor, Kelly Clarkson to sing for President Obama

Those three will be the big names at the inauguration (besides President Obama).

Beyoncé, James Taylor and Kelly Clarkson will perform the patriotic songs at the second inauguration of President Obama on Jan. 21, the inauguration committee will announce today.

Beyoncé, who’s also starring at the Super Bowl halftime show next month, will sing the national anthem, always a tough tune to pull off well.

Taylor, the Sweet Baby James icon of ’70s folk-rock, will sing “America the Beautiful”.

And Clarkson, the first winner of American Idol (2002), will sing “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee”, the song with different lyrics but the same tune as the British national anthem. At the first Obama inaugural ceremony in 2009, soul diva Aretha Franklin sang it while wearing a memorable hat.

More announcements about entertainment at the inauguration are expected in coming days.

All this will take place during the public swearing-in ceremonies on the Capitol steps, when President Obama delivers his second inaugural address before a crowd likely to top more than 1 million.

Obama will officially take the oath of office at the White House on Jan. 20, as per the Constitution, but the repeat swearing-in ceremony, the inaugural parade, the lunch with Congress and the inaugural balls will take place on Monday.

In 2009, an estimated 1.8 million people turned up on the National Mall to watch the historic inauguration of the nation’s first black president; this time, in light of the economic situation, the inauguration will be more low-key, with fewer people expected and only two official balls.

Maria Puente, USA TODAY
Source: USAToday.com

CONTACTMUSIC.COM – James Taylor: ‘Composer Wanted Me For Lincoln’

Beloved singer/songwriter James Taylor was briefly considered for the lead role in Steven Spielberg’s Abraham Lincoln biopic after composer John Williams insisted he was a dead ringer for the late U.S. president.

Taylor reveals he was pitched as the perfect Lincoln before Liam Neeson landed the role, and years before Daniel Day-Lewis replaced the Irish actor.

The Sweet Baby James singer admits his casting became a mission for Williams, who composed the score for the film.

He says, “John wanted me to play that part. He actually stood up for me there and suggested me at one point… but it was never going to happen.”

Taylor can’t quite see the resemblance apart from the fact both he and Lincoln are “tall and somewhat skinny”.

[Source: ContactMusic.com]

CHICAGOTRIBUNE.COM – Singer James Taylor suggested for lead role in “Lincoln”

Reporting by: Andrea Shalal-Esa; Editing by: Jill Serjeant and Lisa Shumaker

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Singer-songwriter James Taylor says he doesn’t see the resemblance, but he was pitched — without success — to play the role of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln in the new film.

Taylor told a packed audience at the National Press Club on Friday that Oscar-winning musician John Williams — who composed the soundtrack for “Lincoln” — had pushed for Taylor to play the lead role in Steven Spielberg’s new film.

The role of Lincoln in the historical drama ultimately went to Oscar winner Daniel Day-Lewis.

“John wanted me to play that part. He actually stood up for me there and suggested me at one point,” said Taylor, 64, adding, “It was never going to happen.”

The “Fire and Rain” singer, who has no professional acting experience, said he was flattered that some people thought Day-Lewis’ portrayal of Lincoln reminded them of him. But he did not see much resemblance aside from the fact that they were “tall and somewhat skinny.”

“He doesn’t look like me to me, but I live in here, so I’m apt to notice the difference,” Taylor said.

British-born actor Day-Lewis, who already has two Oscars, is seen as a front runner to take home another golden statuette at the Academy Awards in February.

Taylor said he had no ambitions to go into acting after what he called “an interesting ride” of a performance career in which he essentially played himself.

“This is fine. I’ve spent my life being myself for a living,” said Taylor, a five-time Grammy Award winner.

“There are performers who develop and assume a character that they then play for the public. But I don’t know anyone who is as much themselves publicly for a living as I am,” he said.

Taylor and his third wife, Kim Taylor, campaigned actively for then-candidate Barack Obama in 2008 and again in 2012. The singer performed in Washington on Thursday evening at the 90th annual lighting of the National Christmas Tree, presided over this year by President Obama and his family.

[Source: ChicagoTribune.com]