James Taylor: One Man Band

[ Cheers and applause ] Wow.

[ Cheers and applause continue ] The great J.T.!

Thank you.

Go, Red Sox!

Alright, yes.

Yankees suck, yeah.

[ Cheers and applause ] It's a...

It's a -- it's a -- it's a -- it's a cheap way to start any performance.

[ Laughter ] That's for sure.

I mean that.

[ Playing "Something in the Way She Moves" ] [ Cheers and applause ] Well, there's something in the way she moves Looks my way or calls my name That seems to leave this troubled world behind And if I'm feeling down and blue or troubled by some foolish game, she always seems to make me change my mind I feel fine anytime she's around me now She's around me now almost all the time If I'm well you can tell that she's been with me now She's been with me now quite a long, long time And I feel fine Every now and then the things I lean on, they lose their meaning And I find myself careening in places where I should never let me go, no She has the power to go where no one else can find me And silently remind me of the happiness and good times that I know Well, I guess I just got to know, then It isn't what she's got to say, how she thinks, or where she's been To me, the words are nice, the way they sound I like to hear them best that way It doesn't much matter what they mean She says them mostly just to calm me down I feel fine anytime that she's around me now She's around me now I guess just about all the time And if I'm well you can tell that she's been with me now She's been with me now quite a long, long time Yes, and I feel fine [ Cheers and applause ] This is a picture of my dad taken in 1955 and in the South Pole, actually.

He was a bit of a polar explorer himself.

That's actually the family story basically is that my dad met my mom in Boston, had five kids, moved us all down to North Carolina, and immediately joined the Navy and went to the South Pole for two years.

[ Laughter ] So, that's it, really.

[ Laughter continues ] Here's a picture of my mom taken around the same time, thinking about murder.

[ Laughter ] [ Applause ] Thinking about murder.

[ Chuckles ] Thinking about her home in New England, so far away, and her husband at the bottom of the Earth there.

Here's a picture of them both together I got for you.

[ Laughter ] [ Applause ] [ Playing "Country Road" ] [ Cheers and applause ] Take to the highway Won't you lend me your name?

[ Cheers and applause ] Your way and my way seem to be one and the same Mama don't understand it She wants to know where I've been I'd have to be some kind of natural-born fool to walk on that road again But you know I could feel it, walking on a country road Sail on home to Jesus, won't you good girls and boys?

I'm all in pieces You can have my choice 'Cause I can see a heavenly band full of angels coming to set me free I don't know nothing 'bout why or when I can tell that it's bound to be just because I could feel it Walking on a country road Reckon my feet know where they want me to go Walking on a country road Walking on a dirt road So, take to the highway Won't you lend me your name?

Your way and my way seem to be one and the same thing tonight Mama don't understand it She wants to know where the boy's been I'd have to be some kind of natural-born fool to walk on that road again But you know I could feel it, feel it, feel it, feel it, feel it, walking on a country road Walk on down, walk on down, walk on down, walk on down, walk on down, walk on down, walk on down, walk on down, walk on down, walk on down a country road La-la-la la-la-la la la-la-la-la-la-la, yeah Walk on down I'll be walking on country roads See me walking down country roads Oh, yeah [ Cheers and applause ] This is -- I want to show you a picture of a -- this is a nightclub in Los Angeles called the Troubadour, on the corner of Santa Monica and Doheny.

Actually, it's kind.

To call it a nightclub is to stretch it.

It's a dive and a joint and a hole in the wall, and it just seems to thrive on neglect.

It continues year after year, and I played there repeatedly, evidently, in the early '70s.

[ Laughter ] That picture was not taken in the early '70s.

The cars are wrong, and the people, they'd have their costumes on, you know, and the purple haze would be all in their brains.

[ Laughter ] The Troubadour.

And when I played there, the three times I played there, I shared the bill with Carole King.

Here's a picture of Carole.

[ Cheers and applause ] And she and I shared a band.

This is what people looked like in those days.

[ Laughter ] This is what people look like when they don't have access to mirrors.

[ Laughter ] And basically they have to go on other people's say-so.

"How do I look?"

"You look fine.

How do I look?"

"You look fine.

Let's go."

[ Laughter ] Anyway, right next to Carole there, the one that looks like the Smith Brothers cough-drop box, is a legendary bass player named Leland Sklar, Lee Sklar.

[ Cheers and applause ] You know, partner Lee?

And my old best friend up above Carole there, Danny Kortchmar, "Kootch."

[ Cheers and applause ] And, anyway, the one next to him who looks like Joni Mitchell with a moustache is me.

[ Laughter ] And I seem to have forgotten to eat again.

It happened a lot in those days.

Anyway, Carole had written this great song, really a perfect pop song, I thought.

And Carole in an amazing -- what actually turned out to be a typically generous gesture, insisted that I take the first crack at this tune and record it first.

She was in the studio recording herself, but she let go what, to my mind, was the perfect song.

I didn't realize at the time that I'd be singing it every single night for the rest of my life.

[ Laughter ] But -- and glad to, really, because it's a great song to be known for.

So, anyway, I asked Joni Mitchell if she would sing some harmonies on it, and at the time she was my -- today you'd say she was my bitch.

[ Laughter ] Seems rude.

Seems rude when you just say it like that, but that's...

I was her bitch, too, you know?

[ Laughter ] So, maybe that helps.

Co-bitch kind of thing.

Anyway, so, you got your Joni Mitchell and your James Taylor and your Carole King and "You've Got a Friend."

[ Playing "You've Got a Friend" ] When you're down and troubled, and you need some lovin' care And nothin', oh, nothin' is goin' right Just close your eyes and think of me, yes, and soon I will be there to brighten up oh, even your darkest night You just call out my name, and you know wherever I am, I'll come runnin' to see you again It's winter, spring, summer, or fall Now all you got to do is call on me And I will be there Yeah, yes, I'll be there You've got a friend If the sky high above you should grow dark and full of clouds And that old, cold north wind should begin to blow Just keep your poor head together now Call my name out loud You know pretty soon I'll be knockin' on your door You just call out my name, and you know wherever I am, I'll come runnin' to see you again It's winter, spring, summer, or fall All you got to do is call And I'll be there You know I'll be there Oh, ain't it good to know that you've got a friend when people can be so cold?

They'll hurt you, yes, and desert you Well, they'll take your soul if you let them But don't you let them You just call out my name, and you know wherever I am, I'll come runnin' like as fast as I can to see you again Oh, yes Don't you know about that?

Winter, spring, summer, or fall All you got to do is call And I will be there Yeah, yes, I'll be there You've got a friend You've got a friend Ain't it good to know that you've got a friend?

Walkin' and talkin' and everything, friend Well, I said everybody here tonight in Pittsfield, no matter how low you go sometimes But take some consolation in one thing Oh, yeah Ain't it good to know?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah You've got a friend [ Cheers and applause ] [ Cheers and applause ] [ Playing "Fire and Rain" ] [ Cheers and applause ] Just yesterday mornin', they let me know you were gone Suzanne, the plans we made put an end to you I walked out this morning, and I wrote down this song I just can't remember who to send it to I've seen fire, and I've seen rain I've seen sunny days, thought they'd never end I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend But I always thought I'd see you again Won't you look down on me, Jesus?

You've got to help me to make a stand You've just got to see me through another day My body's aching, and my time is at hand And I won't make it any other way Oh, I have seen fire, and I've seen rain I've seen sunny days, thought they'd never end I've seen lonely times, and I could not find a friend But I always thought I'd see you again So, I've been walking my mind to an easy time My back turned towards the sun Lord knows, when the cold wind blows, that you'll turn your head around Well, there's hours of time on the telephone line, talking about things to come Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground Oh, I've seen fire, and I've seen rain I've seen sunny days, thought they'd never end I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend But I always thought I'd see you somehow one more time again, yeah Thought I'd see you one more time again There's just a few things coming my way this time around Thought I'd see you, thought I'd see you, fire and rain Thought I'd see you just one more time, Suzanne La-la-la, la la-la-la Oh-oh-oh Oh, yeah [ Cheers and applause ] Here's another song about North Carolina, about red dirt and pine needles and turpentine and something called "tomato wine."

I don't know.

[ Laughter ] [ Playing "Copperline" ] [ Applause ] Even the old folks never knew why they call it like they do I was wondering since the age of two Down on Copperline Copperhead, copper beech, copper kettles sitting side by each Copper coil, cup o' Georgia peach Down on Copperline Half a mile down to Morgan Creek I'm only living till the end of the week Hercules and a hog-nosed snake Down on Copperline Take me down on Copperline Warm summer night on the Copperline Slip away past suppertime Wood smoke, moonshine, yeah Down on Copperline One time I saw my daddy dance Watched him moving like a man in a trance He brought it back from the war in France Down on Copperline Branch water and tomato wine, creosote and turpentine Sour mash and new moonshine Down on Copperline Take me down on Copperline Oh, first kiss ever I took, stole a page from a romance book The sky opened, and the earth shook Down on Copperline We'll be there Took a fall from a windy height I only knew how to hold on tight And pray for love enough to last all night Down on Copperline Day breaks, and the boy wakes And the dog barks, and the bird sings And the sap rises, and the angels sigh, yeah I tried to go back, as if I could All spec house and plywood Tore up and tore up good Down on Copperline It doesn't come as a surprise to me It never touched my memory Well, I'm lifting up, rising free Down on Copperline Half a mile down to Morgan Creek I'm only living till the end of the week Hercules and a hog-nosed snake Down on Copperline On Copperline We were down on Copperline Oh, down on Copperline Take me back down on Copperline Lay me down on Copperline [ Cheers and applause ] Yeah.

Thanks.

It's nice to -- well, it's dangerous to play at home, but... [ Laughter ] ...but it's nice, you know?

It's the lovely Berkshires, you know, the best place on the Earth.

[ Cheers and applause ] I've done extensive research, and I find that to be true, the best place there is.

Yes.

Okay.

They'll have to take that out, though.

We'll have to edit that out because, you know, wouldn't want to show any favorites.

I have to re-record "You've Got a Friend" with all the rest of the cities in it, too.

[ Laughter ] It's painstaking, but it pays off.

Anyway... Well, we're gonna take a brief break.

I'm not exactly sure why.

[ Laughter ] Larry and I will go backstage, and we'll think about what we've done.

[ Laughter ] You know, we'll probably bong a few 'ludes and then come back and sing a second set.

[ Cheers and applause ] Second set, perfectly adequate in many ways.

It's written on some sort of a -- the material we make set lists on has changed, and this is like a roofing material of some sort.

It's very -- it's flexible but durable, like I like my women, ladies and gent... [ Laughter ] [ Applause ] See, electric guitar -- a vast improvement over the gas and steam guitars that preceded it.

[ Laughter ] Development.

The old jokes are best.

Don't you think?

Sure, sure they are.

[ Playing "Steamroller" ] Well, I'm a steamroller for you, baby I'm 'bout to roll out all over you [ Audience clapping rhythmically ] I said I'm a steamroller for you, baby I'm 'bout to roll on all over you Yeah, now, babe I'd like to inject your soul with rock 'n' roll Maybe shoot you full of rhythm and blues tonight Hey, darling Well, I'm a cement mixer for you, baby A churning urn of that burning funk I said the blues That thing they got Babe, you got to rock that thing and come back home to me, baby Churning urn of the burning funk And I'm a d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-demolition derby, mama A hefty hunk of steaming junk Oh [ Rhythmic clapping continues ] Well, I'm a love bomb for you, baby I'm guaranteed to just blow your mind Listen I'm a love bomb for you, baby Guaranteed to just blow your mind And if I can't but if I can't, and if I can't have your love now There won't be nothing ever left behind Oh, no, no, no No, no, no, no Oh, no, no No, no, no, no, no Yeah Oh, yeah Yeah, no, no, no Yeah But I never did see But I never did see in the far-distant future someday to lose Can't see to lose, baby Yeah Somebody got to help me to lose Got to help me lose Hmm-nn-hmm-nn-hmm-nn-hmm-nn Me, yeah Yeah Help me to lose my steamroller, yeah Help me to lose my steam, darling Help me to lose my steamroller, baby, yeah Help me to lose my roofer-super-roofer- saver-sufo now, my baby Yeah, yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah Yeah, yeah Yeah, babe Ha My steamroller Bib-ba-da-li-da doo-ooh [ Cheers and applause ] Whoo Ha [ Cheers and applause ] [ Cheers and applause ] [ Playing "Shower the People" ] You can play the game You can act out the part Though you know it wasn't written for you Tell me how do you stand there with your broken heart, all ashamed to playin' a fool?

One thing can be to another It doesn't take any sacrifice Oh, father and mother and sister and brother If it feels nice, don't think twice Just shower the people you love with love Show them the way that you feel Things are gonna turn out fine if you only will If we only will Just shower the people you love with love Show them the way that you feel Things are gonna be much better if you only will You can run, but you cannot hide This is widely known Yes, and what you plan to do with your foolish pride when you're all by yourself alone Once you tell somebody the way that you feel, you can feel it beginning to ease I think it's true what they say about the squeaky wheel Rascal's always getting the grease Better to shower the people you love with love Show them the way that you feel Things are gonna turn out right if you only will If you only will Shower the people you love with love Show them the way that you feel Things are gonna be much better, if you only will Shower the people you love with love Show them the way that you feel Shower the people you love with love Show them the way that you feel They say never rely Shower the people you love with love They say that rain must fall Just like pouring-down rain, pouring-down rain Show them the way that you feel Make it rain Shower the people you love with love Make it rain Show them the way that you feel Make it rain Shower the people you love with love Show them the way that you feel Shower the people you love with love Show them the way that you feel Things are gonna be much better if you only will [ Cheers and applause ] Show you a picture of my first car.

A Cortina GT, English Ford, 1968.

Those people weren't in it when I bought it.

[ Laughter ] And the fact that they seem to be smiling in this picture indicates that they haven't been any real distance in the car.

[ Laughter ] But, you know, you love your first car.

You love it so.

And I did, and, also, it represents to me that year, 1968, which was the most incredible year in my life, probably.

It's not over yet, but, you know, it was pretty amazing.

I was a huge Beatles fan.

I went to London just to travel, because I didn't know what else to do.

I was a kid, 19, I guess.

I made a demo tape at the urging of some friends I met over there.

They shopped it around.

Eventually, Peter Asher heard it, played it for Paul McCartney and George Harrison, and they signed me, the first act to be signed to Apple Records.

It was as if somebody had opened a door... [ Cheers and applause ] It's amazing.

It was the mother of all big breaks.

It was as if somebody had opened a door, and the rest of my life was on the other side of it.

And I think that happens often, but in a negative way.

Usually... [ Laughter ] ...someone opens the door, and there's hell on the other side.

Anyway... [ Laughter ] Getting a little punchy here.

The year did end.

It had to end.

And I sent the car home on a boat, and I flew home, and there was a tearful reunion on the docks in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and I hopped in my Cortina and started driving down the coast to North Carolina, because I hadn't seen my family in better than a year, and during that year my brother Alex and his wife, Brent, had had a baby, first child born to our generation in my family.

And in a moment of lapsed judgment, they named the child after me, little baby James.

And so, I had to go down and see this little varmint.

[ Cheers and applause ] Go down and see little James.

Aww!

Yeah.

Yeah, he's cute... [ Laughter ] ...you know, if you, if you like children.

[ Laughter ] But, anyway, as I was driving down the coast, I was thinking to myself, "Well, what would be a good song to sing for a little, ornery varmint like little James?"

And it had to be a cowboy lullaby.

You know, "Go to sleep, you little buckaroo"... [ Laughter ] ...or "Lights out in the bunkhouse" or, you know, something like that.

Yeah, something by Roy Rogers or Gene Autry.

That's how this next song got written.

Yeah.

[ Playing "Sweet Baby James" ] There is a young cowboy, he lives on the range His horse and his cattle, they're his only companions He works in the saddle, and he sleeps in the canyons He's waiting for summer, his pastures to change Yes, and as the moon rises, he sits by his fire Just thinkin' about women and glasses of beer Closing his eyes as the dogies retire He sings out a song which is soft, but it's clear Just as if maybe someone could hear He says good night, all you moonlight ladies Rockabye, sweet baby James Deep greens and blues for the colors I choose Won't you let me go down in my dreams?

Oh, and rockabye, sweet baby James Now, the first of December, it was covered with snow Yes, and so was the turnpike from Stockbridge to Boston [ Cheers and applause ] Though the Berkshires seemed dreamlike on account of that frostin' With ten miles behind me and ten thousand more to go You know There's a song that they sing when they take to the highway A song that they sing when they take to the sea A song that they sing of their home in the sky Maybe you can believe it if it helps you to sleep Just that singing seemed to work fine for me So, good night, all you moonlight ladies Rockabye, my sweet baby James Deep greens and blues for the colors I choose Won't you let me go down in my dreams?

Oh, rockabye, my sweet baby James [ Cheers and applause ] This last song we're gonna give you also takes us back to England and to North Carolina, as well.

I was in England recording my first record, and I was using the time that the Beatles were making their White Album in the same studio, and I was using whatever time they weren't using.

I'd just sort of dash in and put down a couple of tracks when they were finished with one of their marathon sessions.

It was really quite amazing.

But they decided to take a break, and they closed down the studio to do some work, and I had some time on my hands.

So, I went with some friends to an island in the Mediterranean called Formentera, off the coast of Spain, near Ibiza and near Mallorca, really a beautiful spot -- primitive, really.

It's probably completely developed now, but in those days it was just some olive trees and a mess of goats.

And, for some reason, hundreds of smugglers were there.

[ Laughter ] So, it seemed like a good place to relax.

[ Laughter ] And we -- I had a wonderful time, a nice vacation.

I met a girl there, a young woman, by the name of Karin, and although we only knew each other for a short period of time, we grew close.

But, strange to say, I have no picture.

I never saw her again.

I almost did 20 years later in Copenhagen, but no.

[ Laughter ] And, you know, so, I thought I'd try an experiment.

On the Internet, I found a police sketch artist, the guys who make those forensic drawings of perpetrators that you see in the post office and stuff.

They were offering their wares over the Internet and their services.

So, I called up.

I was here at home in Lenox, and I called over to Los Angeles, where this guy worked.

And I said, "If you haven't seen the person for, like, 35 years, can you still make a decent drawing?"

And he said, "It just depends on your description.

I will draw what you say."

He said, "Why don't you just relax and give it a try?"

So, I said, "Okay, well, she was Scandinavian, a Swedish girl, about 5'6", I think, medium build, about 24 years old.

You know, sort of shoulder-length blond hair, a wide forehead, piercing blue eyes, a narrow chin and a full mouth and sort of a freckly, but deep, freckly tan sort of."

Guy said, "Yeah, I think I can come up with something."

I said, "Well, how soon can I hope to see something?"

And he said, "Well, if you'll just check your e-mail tomorrow, I'll send you something."

And I said, "Wow, that's fantastic."

So, the next day I was very keen.

I got up.

Sure enough, I had mail.

I opened it right up, and this is what he had sent.

[ Laughter ] So, you know, I called him up and said, "See here.

This will never do," etcetera, things to that.

He said, "Just relax.

It's my little joke.

I actually just want to make sure I've got the right address before I send it on."

And then he sent along this, which is maybe a little better, a little closer.

It doesn't really conflict with my idea of who Karin was.

So, you know, the thing is, I can't stop thinking of her now as a criminal.

[ Laughter ] Well, I had a wonderful time, but more and more I was suffering homesickness.

I missed my dad and his bicycle.

I missed my dog Hercules.

I missed my pumpkin collection.

I missed North Carolina.

And this song was the result.

[ Playing "Carolina in My Mind" ] [ Cheers and applause ] In my mind I'm gone to Carolina Can't you see the sunshine?

Can't you just feel the moonshine?

Ain't it just like a friend of mine to hit me from behind?

Oh, I'm gone to Carolina in my mind Karin, she's a silver sun You best walk her way and watch it shine Watch her watch the morning come A silver tear appearing now I'm cryin', ain't I?

I'm gone to Carolina in my mind There ain't no doubt in no one's mind that love's the finest thing around Whisper something soft and kind Hey, baby, the sky's on fire I'm dying, ain't I?

I'm gone to Carolina in my mind In my mind, I'm gone to Carolina Can't you see the sunshine?

Can't you just feel the moonshine?

Ain't it like a friend of mine to hit me from behind?

Till I'm gone to Carolina in my mind Dark and silent, late last night I think I might have heard the highway callin' The geese in flight and dogs that bite And signs that might be omens say, "I'm goin', I'm goin'" Gone to Carolina in my mind It's with a holy host of others standin' around me Still, I'm on the dark side of the moon And it looks like it goes on like this forever, oh You must forgive me if I'm gone to Carolina in my mind In my mind I'm long gone to Carolina Can't you see the sunshine?

I said, "Can't you just feel the moonshine?"

Ain't it just like a friend of mine to hit me from behind?

Oh, I'm gone to Carolina in my mind Oh, I'm gone to Carolina in my mind So, I'm already gone I'm gone Say nice things about me I'm gone You'll have to carry on without me I'm gone Oh, I'm gone to Carolina in my mi-i-i-nd I'm gone Yes, I'm gone to Carolina in my mind [ Cheers and applause ] Only close your eyes You can close your eyes It's alright Oh, I don't know no love songs I can't sing the blues anymore Sure, but I can sing this song Yes, and you can sing this song when I'm gone [ Cheers and applause ]