Soft-rock singer-songwriter James Taylor's career spans four decades and
although his best work is far behind him, he was a best friend and ally to
soft-rock fans for most of the seventies.
Taylor was at his sentimental best in the 70's, releasing eight successful
albums in the decade, scoring top ten hits with the reflective and coping with
loss single "Fire And Rain," a song about the suicide of a friend and fellow
inmate of a mental hospital (where James had checked in for depression and drug
addiction) and the narrative country ballad "Country Roads." The album went on
to become a triple platinum seller and secured Taylor as a soft-rock force for
the decade.
Taylor's biggest single, the philosophical "You've Got A Friend" (written by
Carole King) almost proved to be his undoing, as expectations were set to a
higher bar. With fame from his short marriage to Carly Simon (they had a hit
with "Mockingbird"), and a gift for narrative-pop songs, Taylor released
subsequent albums all throughout the seventies. But none captured the
commercial success he had achieved previously although he had a strong and
secure fan base.
Although his commercial fame was short, if you like persistent, sensitive and
honest song writing mixed with a little folk/pop and soft blues, James Taylor
can fill that need succinctly.
Author Robert Benson writes about rock/pop music, vinyl record collecting and
operates www.collectingvinylrecords.com, where you can secure your
copy of his
ebook called "The Fascinating Hobby Of Vinyl Record Collecting."
Robert can be contacted at robert@collectingvinylrecords.com.
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