Listening to James Taylor and his first album is like corking open a nice bottle of wine at the end of the day, or sitting in the cafe talking with a friend. The first two songs are well known in music culture. The album starts off with a nice guitar phrase and then right away he is talking to you about 'he woke up this morning'... "I've seen Fire and I've seen rain" These are classic words; a beautiful description of what we all feel - the good days with the bad. It is the sort of thing that we talk about to our friends and the kind of thing that runs through our mind through the day. A signature guitar style, a "James Taylor guitar style" makes the whole experience simply refreshing for the listener who has been filled with the more modern and more aggressive stye acoustics.
His voice weaves in and out melodically. I wonder if he anticipated, when he first sat down at the piano so many years ago how much of a cornerstone in American music these songs would become. My guess is no. He just just had the pure joy of writing a great song. His next song is " You've got a friend " vividly described as 'winter spring or fall, all you got to do is call'. Wonderful minor chords and walking down guitar phrases. All the while he is having a conversation with you like it is a nice Saturday or you are out in the park reminiscing. Again, this song resonates in our hearts, expressing something that we can all relate to with vivid lyrics.
The third song, again another cornerstone. As a kid I remember hearing this on the radio all the time. This is a more upbeat song with an electric guitar and piano, his voice just bouncing off the notes in happiness. Great third song to follow. Wonderful electric guitar and horns to break the pace a little bit.
Listening to the whole album is again, like a walk in the park, a great conversation with a friend in the cafe. A nice Saturday afternoon after a hard week. Very relaxing, very skilled musicianship, a wonderful spirit, an extremely articulate vocalist. Lots of space and wonderful sense of pace, just really taking time with the theme at hand or the story. More recently he has been singing with Carole King and I cannot wait to explore these songs.
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