“Religious services at Milton (Academy) introduced me to the Protestant hymnal: “Once to Every Man and Nation,” “Jerusalem,” “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” I would experiment with where in the song to put my voice. I learned them on the guitar and they taught me all I know.”
from Break Shot by James Taylor
Click now to see longtime fan Eric Erickson perform “Moon River”, written by Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer for the film, Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
If you’d like to be part of the #JTAmericanStandardChallenge, please send a link to your video here!
Another treat from James’s video vault — a vintage 1997 interview from the long-running BBC Two late night show, Later… with Jools Holland. The appearance was part of the promotional tour for James’s 1997 album, Hourglass.
You never know what James will find in his vault next, so subscribe to James’s YouTube channel now and you’ll be the first to find out!
This week’s #JTAmericanStandardChallenge video is from Illinois-fan, Kevin Crowell, performing his arrangement of “The Nearness Of You”, written by Hoagy Carmichael and Ned Washington.
Don’t forget: If you’d like to be part of the #JTAmericanStandardChallenge, please send a link to your video here!
Brace yourself: Carole King’s album groundbreaking 1971 album, Tapestry, will turn 50 years old next month! To mark the occasion and to honor his 50+ year friendship with Carole, James is launching a new cover challenge: #JTYouveGotAFriendChallenge!
Just videotape yourself singing or playing Carole’s classic, “You’ve Got A Friend”. Invite a friend or friends to join you! Send your covers here. James and his team will pick some favorites and share future newsletters and on social media platforms.
Click to watch Part 2 of the never-before-seen video tour of James’s favorite guitars. Filmed in 2011 at TheBarn, James calls this series like a “photo album of my life”.
Click below to hear James discuss what makes a song a standard. This clip, from his on-stage conversation with Bill Flanagan at the Sheen Center in February 2020, was part of an evening celebrating his then newly-released album, American Standard and his Audible Original memoir, Break Shot.
Click below to watch Bunny Barnes’ instrumental take on “Never Never Land”, composed by Jule Styne, Betty Comden and Adolph Green for the 1954 musical Peter Pan. If you would like to enter the #JTAmericanStandardChallenge, please send us a link here!
Happy New Year!
James starts the New Year with content not previously released from the vault! Enjoy Part 1 of this interview filmed at James’s home studio, TheBarn, taking you on a private tour of his favorite guitars through the years. James calls this tour like a “photo album of my life”. The studio interview was shot by Dave Mirkin in 2011.
Click now to watch part one, and stay tuned for more!
Audible has announced that Break Shot, James’s Audible Original audio memoir, was their most listened original release of 2020!
Click here to see the rest of the list and visit Audible.com now to listen to Break Shot!