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James Taylor

James Taylor

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James Taylor: Universal Amphitheatre, LA

Live Review by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 16 August 1975

JAMES TAYLOR'S UNIVERSAL Amphitheatre gig, though predictable at times, established new beginnings for the folkster as he returned to the Southland for the first time ...

Audio interviews

Peter Asher (2003)

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages audio, 18 October 2003

The singer-turned-producer talks about returning to Los Angeles with client James Taylor; the Troubadour scene; the people: Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell, J.D. Souther; meeting Linda Ronstadt and being turned on to C&W; fellow businessmen David Geffen and Elliot Roberts, and the rise of the Eagles.

File format: mp3; file size: 59.1mb, interview length: 1h 01' 31" sound quality: ***

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The NEW Blind Date: Alvin Lee

Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 21 December 1968

ALVIN LEE, guitarist-leader of Ten Years After, recently returned from a successful Stateside tour, lent an ear to this week's selection of albums and singles ...

James Taylor: James Taylor (APCOR 3)

Review by Miles, International Times, 1 January 1969

TAYLOR'S FIRST ...

As long as Apple people are appreciated by some of the people some of the time, they're happy!

Profile by Maureen O'Grady, Rave, March 1969

Maureen O'Grady writes on the other artistes signed to the Beatles. ...

James Taylor: James Taylor (Apple SKAO 3352); Moby Grape: Moby Grape '69 (Columbia CS 9696)

Review by Pete Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 16 March 1969

James Taylor: Fine Folk Feeling ...

James Taylor: The Saga of Sweet Baby James

Profile by Jacoba Atlas, Circus, May 1970

"Goodnight you moonlight ladies Rock-a-bye Sweet Baby James" ...

James Taylor: Sweet Baby James (Warner Bros.)

Review by Ben Edmonds, Fusion, 15 May 1970

JAMES TAYLOR was the first artist signed to the Beatles’ Apple label, and ironically, the first to leave it as well. While there, he produced ...

James Taylor, Pentangle: Community Theater, Berkeley CA

Live Review by Philip Elwood, The San Francisco Examiner, 30 May 1970

Pentangle holds up its half of show ...

The Week's Singles: Laura Nyro, James Taylor, Eric Clapton, The Band et al

Review by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 10 October 1970

Magnificent, dynamic Nyro ...

James Taylor Comes To Town

Profile and Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 31 October 1970

JAMES TAYLOR was in town and you could tell it by the buzz in the air and the musicians who walked around muttering his name ...

James Taylor, Matthews' Southern Comfort: Palladium, London

Live Review by Jerry Gilbert, Sounds, 31 October 1970

THE CLUMSY, gangling, instantly lovable James Taylor conquered the London Palladium and made his eventual return to England a triumphant one on Sunday. ...

Joni Mitchell in with James

Report by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 31 October 1970

JONI MITCHELL flew into London last Sunday – with James Taylor the man with whom she is being romantically linked. ...

Joni Mitchell, James Taylor et al: The Pop Aristocrats

Overview by Caroline Boucher, Disc and Music Echo, 20 March 1971

There's a new pop elite in America today, a closely-knit group of singers and musicians who have taken the music scene by storm. The members ...

On Location With James Taylor

Report and Interview by Jacoba Atlas, Circus, April 1971

DURANT, OKLAHOMA – James Taylor and Dennis Wilson (drummer of the Beach Boys) were into their sixth week of filming their first movie. The toll ...

James and Alex Taylor: And He Played Real Good For Free

Report by Al Aronowitz, Melody Maker, 10 April 1971

CHILMARK, MASSACHUSETTS.The Island Children's School gave its first annual benefit concert here last January 12 and if you've read The Vineyard Gazette then you know ...

James Taylor: Mud Slide Slim And The Blue Horizon (Warner Reprise)

Review by Jerry Gilbert, Sounds, 1 May 1971

GOOD OLD predictable James has done it again. He offers not the slightest hint of surprise on his new album, and as expected he has ...

James Taylor: On The Road With Sweet Baby James

Interview by Keith Altham, Record Mirror, 15 May 1971

AMONG THE very few road managers who have put their heads, hearts, hands and feet into their work is Super-Scot Eric Barrett who hit the ...

James Taylor, Carole King, Jo Mama: Royal Festival Hall, London

Live Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 17 July 1971

FROM THE outset you just can't but help having a warm affinity for James Taylor. Seemingly all arms, legs and baggy trousers, Taylor shyly lopes ...

Danny Kootch: Danny Boy

Interview by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 24 July 1971

YOU GET this sweaty little record company office and you're issued with the regulation afternoon tea or coffee. Danny Kootch looks suitably bloated by both ...

Carole King — Secret Star on the James Taylor Tour

Report and Interview by Geoffrey Cannon, Los Angeles Times, 15 August 1971

Author's note, 2018: A transcendent moment in Carole King's life was during the evening of 7 December 2015 in Washington. She is sitting next to ...

James Taylor

Profile and Interview by Keith Altham, Petticoat, 23 October 1971

AS OPPOSED to coming on strong in the time honoured tradition of super-stars – James Taylor comes on weak! He is the first and the ...

The Producers: Peter Asher

Interview by Harold Bronson, Hit Parader, 1972

HIT PARADER: From Peter and Gordon, how did you get into producing? ...

James Taylor: Radio City Music Hall, New York NY

Live Review by Lillian Roxon, New York Sunday News, 12 November 1972

Radio City Rocks and Rolls ...

Sessions: James Taylor's One Man Dog

Report and Interview by Judith Sims, Rolling Stone, 23 November 1972

LOS ANGELES — James Taylor is a very slow songwriter. It takes him months to write enough to justify a session, but once he's in ...

Carly and James: The Taylors in Paris

Interview by James Johnson, New Musical Express, 18 August 1973

WITH CARLY MAKING OLE LONESOME JAMES SMILE (WELL ALMOST) — IN AN ATMOSPHERE OF TRUE LOVE GUARANTEED TO THREATEN THE DEFENCES OF THE MOST HARDENED ...

Lou Reed, James Taylor, Beck Bogert & Appice, et al: Crystal Palace Bowl, London

Live Review by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 29 September 1973

  LOU REED and James Taylor on the same bill? What a masterstroke of pure gonzo rock n' roll strategy! ...

Carly Simon Serves Up Hotcakes

Profile and Interview by Michael Gross, Circus, May 1974

Carly's new LP offers an intimate peek into the home of one of America's most sought-after and most reclusive couples. ...

James Taylor: Milwaukee Auditorium, Milwaukee

Live Review by Barbara Charone, Rolling Stone, 6 June 1974

Magic in Milwaukee ...

The Ghost Tapes

Report by Bill Wasserzieher, Los Angeles Free Press, 22 November 1974

OLD DEMO TAPES have a habit of rising to the surface — usually as soon as a performer has become big enough to be considered ...

James Taylor: Gorilla

Review by Bud Scoppa, Rolling Stone, 17 July 1975

JAMES TAYLOR pretty much wrote the book for the singer/songwriters of the Seventies. That may be a dubious distinction but Taylor's early work, characterized by ...

James Taylor: Gorilla (Warner Bros.)/Carly Simon: Playing Possum (Elektra)

Review by Wayne Robins, Creem, September 1975

THOUGH BOTH James Taylor and Carly Simon have been frequently castigated for being sensitive rich kids, I'm surprised we've never congratulated James for transcending his ...

James Taylor: In My Pocket

Review by Miles, New Musical Express, 17 July 1976

MOST OF US drift into comfortable mediocrity; in the end it's hard to avoid, particularly if your career had dumped wads and wads of money ...

James Taylor: J. T. (CBS)

Review by Fred Dellar, New Musical Express, 6 August 1977

BACK IN 71, it seemed that the Sweet Baby was every body's favourite. He'd already had a massive hit with 'Fire And Rain', while a ...

James Taylor: Hammersmith Apollo, London

Live Review by David Sinclair, Rolling Stone, 30 April 1998

A Hazelnut Voice for All Seasons ...

Peter Asher: A World Of Sound

Interview by Bill DeMain, Performing Songwriter, April 1999

"I ALWAYS found the studio a fascinating place," says producer Peter Asher, "and the process of assembling a track and figuring out what each musician ...

One Part Genius...The Trail to October Road

Essay by Craig W. Thomas, unpublished, 2002

WHEN I WAS 14 years old the person I most wanted to be was James Taylor. It's a long time ago now. 1971. I remember ...

Ostin-powered: The Mogul of Burbank

Book Excerpt by Barney Hoskyns, 'Hotel California' (4th Estate), 2005

Five adapted excerpts from Barney Hoskyns' 2005 book Hotel California that chart the rise of Warner-Reprise Records during the reign of its revered chief Mo ...

James Taylor: One Man Band

Review by Barney Hoskyns, eMusic.com, November 2007

BACK IN THE protopunk wars of the early '70s, we were all supposed to revile James Taylor and his kind. "James Taylor Marked For Death," ...

James Taylor: "I used to check my bumpers for blood"

Report and Interview by Paul Sexton, The Guardian, 20 December 2007

He sang sweet simple tunes with deeply felt narratives, but James Taylor's demons almost tore him apart. The thrice-married ex-drug addict tells Paul Sexton how ...

James Taylor: Taylor Made

Profile and Interview by Paul Zollo, Record Collector, May 2008

TO GET TO his home, you drive down a winding country road in the heart of rural Massachusetts, under arches of ancient oaks and elms, ...

School of Rock Study Guide: Singer-Songwriters

Guide by Barney Hoskyns, iTunes, October 2008

"WHERE DO YOU have left to go but in?" It was a question posed by Joni Mitchell, the brilliant Canadian blonde who specialized in intensely ...

David Browne: Fire And Rain: The Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, James Taylor, CSNY and the Lost Story Of 1970 (Da Capo)

Book Review by Rob Young, The Word, June 2011

AROUND 15 MAY 1970, Neil Young glanced at Time magazine's coverage of the killing of four students at Kent State, grabbed a guitar and within ...

James Taylor: "A big part of my story is recovery from addiction"

Profile and Interview by Paul Sexton, Daily Telegraph, 20 June 2015

At the age of 67, James Taylor has made his 16th album, his first in 13 years. After spending his early career addicted to heroin, ...

James Taylor: Going on tour with his old friend Paul Simon

Profile and Interview by Paul Sexton, The Sunday Times, 13 May 2018

Fifty years after he signed up with the Beatles, Taylor is returning to London. He's not stopping yet. ...

James Taylor: "I took legal heroin – it's the safest way to be an addict"

Retrospective and Interview by Ian Winwood, Daily Telegraph, 7 December 2020

ON THE AFTERNOON of 7th December 1980, James Taylor was accosted by a stranger who knew his name. As the singer-songwriter battled his way home ...

see also Alex Taylor

see also Ben Taylor

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