Debra, your articles touched my heart three times this past weekend. Reading about the backstory of J.T.’s Fire and Rain, Fofelberg’s Leader of the Band, and the 9/11 story associated with Men of Harlech moved me to tears when listening to each of these. It’s a powerful reminder of the impact of music. Thank you for your insightful articles.
As always, informative, uplifting, inspiring. Grieving for friend who just lost her beloved son to mental illness... JT's soulfull voice has been a fav for decades. Thanks for sharing. Blessings, diane from dallas.
I have not listened to many audio books, but I really enjoyed this one of James Taylor reading his auto-biography "Break Shot: My First 21 Years Audiobook by James Taylor"
Yes, me, too! But I wasn't terribly surprised about the mental health issues. Sadly though back then the drug culture was drawing people in. And pulling many under. I guess James Taylor had to really fight that particular issue, and for some long time. The music, however, was heavenly.
If I had to compile a list of, oh, say, five songs that represented the "core" of my guitar learning, playing, influence, lasting quality, and simple love of the song, Fire and Rain would definitely be on the list.
IF I had to choose a favorite JT song in general (a task that would be about as easy as choosing a favorite Beatles, or other favorite musicians song -- ie, nearly impossible), I suppose it would have to be "That Lonesome Road" (not connected, as far as I know, with the 1927 song "Lonesome Road," though the themes have vaguely similar "messages" -- but maybe you know differently, Debra?). But Fire and Rain would certainly be a very close second.
And I would suggest that it falls into that select group of songs that every budding guitar player (back then, at least -- I wouldn't know what the current stock of candidates might be) learned to play the introduction as close to note-for-note perfection as possible (eg, Stairway to Heaven, Here Comes the Sun, and a few others :-) )
The first JT song I learned was "You've Got a Friend." It's still in my home-made sheet music book that my friend and I used for our singing practices, and what became our working repertoire. But if anything hit the mark for audiences, it was "Carolina in My Mind." Girl singers had a somewhat different repertoire to select from, but JT was great. There were some great tunes and great pickers to learn from in those days! We played "Here, There, and Everywhere," "The Long and Winding Road," and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" (tricky, that last one). So many great songs.
Monica, if I conquer my recording issue, I may oblige that request. Thus far, my various recorders are failing me. I likely need to get a better recording device. A few years ago I wrote a series of songs (tunes, that is) and committed them all the recording. It wasn't until later when I listened to them that I realized that my electronic recordings sounded more like a broken music box or something written in a pentatonic scale. I've been so busy lately that I hardly get a chance to actually play. I'm hoping for a bit of time over summer, when we go to Canada. Keep pestering me! It might be the nudge I need to make time for the music.
Our family is replete with JT fans, now into 3 generations! I loved when he began inserting a track here and there of an old standard. (Probably testing the market). But the market said, Yes! And voila, albums of them!.
I can understand the irresistibility of this music, haha! My own daughter has quite a taste for the Standards, and then I began introducing her to later music, which she finds wonderful. We have to bring the good music back!!
Great post! I share some of the same musical history as you. I was assigned a clarinet, and kept it up until the end of 9th grade. But I really fell in love with the guitar. My dad gave me one when I was 15 and I continued to play until a few years ago when I had to give it up because of tendinitis (after I had bought a lovely Martin guitar). My first love was folk music. Taylor's finger-picking is beautiful--I did not know the cello background for it.
My daughter is also a James Taylor fan. She used to say she would love to have him sing her to sleep--in person.:)
Marilyn, I was the smallest kid in my class -- tied with one other! What nitwit assigned me that instrument I don't recall! I'm so sorry you had to quit due to the tendinitis. I had made a "comeback" in a big way during Covid. I dusted off my Guild D25 (bought it in college) and was making great strides when the bridge gave out .. and a small crack developed in the neck. Alas! I always wanted a Martin! My grandmother had had a vintage one (circa 1930), but it "went missing" after she passed away. Alas. So during the shutdown, I bought myself a Zager -- and I'm still hoping to find a luthier to fix my Guild five years later. THEN when my husband's college went under three years ago, we started Word & Song and my playing time went out that window. But all this talk of guitars is making me determined to MAKE some time at last to play! I'm glad your daughter likes JT. Why not? His voice is very soothing and sweet. (I'm secretly hoping that someone will buy me his American Standard album for my upcoming birthday!!)
Good one, Debra. Yes, James' music sure has a special sound and feel. My guitar playing experience seems to be much like yours. When teaching my kids and grandkids a little, my first task was to get the action on their guitar set up properly!
Gary, indeed! There really wasn't much to do with my awful Hohner. (The company should have stuck to harmonicas, which they did well.) Ha! I took it with me on a student tour of Europe when I was 14, a bus tour for five weeks. When we stopped in Barcelona for a day, our bus was robbed, and woosh! There it went, and a good riddance to it! Before I left for college, my folks bought me a beautiful Yamaha 12-string. But later I found a used Guild D-25, a very mellow and sweet guitar, with good action. I still have it, but during Covid when I had time to play again after a long hiatus, the bridge let loose, and a small crack developed, oy. Couldn't find a luthier then, and we have been too busy to deal with it. I bought a nice Zager -- the sound is MUCH brighter (this has taken so me getting used to for me -- but the action is adjustable, very helpful. I like the Zager, but still want my Guild fixed. Some day!
Isn’t it nifty that some of our instruments have stories to tell? My son builds beautiful guitars, mostly acoustic. Too bad we're in Florida else you could drop that Guild off for a fixin'.
A terrific topic like this one will always “Light My Fire” 🔥!!!(*)
Don Young
Columbus OH
(*) Referencing, course, the title to (IMHO) a MUCH inferior song in every way compared to James Taylor’s “Fire and Rain” — lyrics, melody, instrumental accompaniment & scoring, and definitely performance — by The Doors (1967).
The Doors had their 15 minutes of fame! But JT is still going strong. There you have it, haha! ("Light My Fire" is a good song in that particular vein, I think. There are others I put in that category, two by Johnny Cash -- "Fever" and "Ring of Fire," both of which are better songs.
Donna, it is, indeed. And for musicality in his generation, so many were self-taught, but the skills they learned from playing with other musicians. It was an organic transmission, as music has always been. When disco hit, all of our popular music came out of a can -- and the chain was broken.
Debra, your articles touched my heart three times this past weekend. Reading about the backstory of J.T.’s Fire and Rain, Fofelberg’s Leader of the Band, and the 9/11 story associated with Men of Harlech moved me to tears when listening to each of these. It’s a powerful reminder of the impact of music. Thank you for your insightful articles.
As always, informative, uplifting, inspiring. Grieving for friend who just lost her beloved son to mental illness... JT's soulfull voice has been a fav for decades. Thanks for sharing. Blessings, diane from dallas.
I have not listened to many audio books, but I really enjoyed this one of James Taylor reading his auto-biography "Break Shot: My First 21 Years Audiobook by James Taylor"
Pardon me for sharing this clip of our son who is his biggest fan.
https://youtu.be/b6irFNy_0j8?feature=shared
And kudos to you, Mrs. Esolen, and the tenacity that kept your young fingers playing that hard guitar!🎸
Oh that Hohner was the pits! But I learned basic chords on it, and when I got a better guitar I was over a lot of the hard parts, haha!
And you trained your fingers to the strings...the pain is real!
It is indeed.
The things I did not know about this singer, and this song! Mercy.
Yes, me, too! But I wasn't terribly surprised about the mental health issues. Sadly though back then the drug culture was drawing people in. And pulling many under. I guess James Taylor had to really fight that particular issue, and for some long time. The music, however, was heavenly.
If I had to compile a list of, oh, say, five songs that represented the "core" of my guitar learning, playing, influence, lasting quality, and simple love of the song, Fire and Rain would definitely be on the list.
IF I had to choose a favorite JT song in general (a task that would be about as easy as choosing a favorite Beatles, or other favorite musicians song -- ie, nearly impossible), I suppose it would have to be "That Lonesome Road" (not connected, as far as I know, with the 1927 song "Lonesome Road," though the themes have vaguely similar "messages" -- but maybe you know differently, Debra?). But Fire and Rain would certainly be a very close second.
And I would suggest that it falls into that select group of songs that every budding guitar player (back then, at least -- I wouldn't know what the current stock of candidates might be) learned to play the introduction as close to note-for-note perfection as possible (eg, Stairway to Heaven, Here Comes the Sun, and a few others :-) )
The first JT song I learned was "You've Got a Friend." It's still in my home-made sheet music book that my friend and I used for our singing practices, and what became our working repertoire. But if anything hit the mark for audiences, it was "Carolina in My Mind." Girl singers had a somewhat different repertoire to select from, but JT was great. There were some great tunes and great pickers to learn from in those days! We played "Here, There, and Everywhere," "The Long and Winding Road," and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" (tricky, that last one). So many great songs.
Oh Debra. Sometimes i wonder if we aren’t twins separated at birth. Soul sisters for sure. Thanks for another great post.
Anne, I'm glad to have you out there reading these posts! I think that the music speak (sings!) for itself, but without an audience what is music for?
Debra, just a reminder: how about a Debra Esolen sample for us…
Monica, if I conquer my recording issue, I may oblige that request. Thus far, my various recorders are failing me. I likely need to get a better recording device. A few years ago I wrote a series of songs (tunes, that is) and committed them all the recording. It wasn't until later when I listened to them that I realized that my electronic recordings sounded more like a broken music box or something written in a pentatonic scale. I've been so busy lately that I hardly get a chance to actually play. I'm hoping for a bit of time over summer, when we go to Canada. Keep pestering me! It might be the nudge I need to make time for the music.
https://youtu.be/b6irFNy_0j8?feature=shared
Our family is replete with JT fans, now into 3 generations! I loved when he began inserting a track here and there of an old standard. (Probably testing the market). But the market said, Yes! And voila, albums of them!.
I can understand the irresistibility of this music, haha! My own daughter has quite a taste for the Standards, and then I began introducing her to later music, which she finds wonderful. We have to bring the good music back!!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrbbXRLgMFYYCHPpregTcyQ
For all of the other frustrated blisterfingers out there, some years ago James Taylor was kind enough to put some lessons on You Tube
Fun to watch how he takes care of his “nails”
Timothy, thanks!!! That will be fun to watch for me over summer!
Great post! I share some of the same musical history as you. I was assigned a clarinet, and kept it up until the end of 9th grade. But I really fell in love with the guitar. My dad gave me one when I was 15 and I continued to play until a few years ago when I had to give it up because of tendinitis (after I had bought a lovely Martin guitar). My first love was folk music. Taylor's finger-picking is beautiful--I did not know the cello background for it.
My daughter is also a James Taylor fan. She used to say she would love to have him sing her to sleep--in person.:)
Marilyn, I was the smallest kid in my class -- tied with one other! What nitwit assigned me that instrument I don't recall! I'm so sorry you had to quit due to the tendinitis. I had made a "comeback" in a big way during Covid. I dusted off my Guild D25 (bought it in college) and was making great strides when the bridge gave out .. and a small crack developed in the neck. Alas! I always wanted a Martin! My grandmother had had a vintage one (circa 1930), but it "went missing" after she passed away. Alas. So during the shutdown, I bought myself a Zager -- and I'm still hoping to find a luthier to fix my Guild five years later. THEN when my husband's college went under three years ago, we started Word & Song and my playing time went out that window. But all this talk of guitars is making me determined to MAKE some time at last to play! I'm glad your daughter likes JT. Why not? His voice is very soothing and sweet. (I'm secretly hoping that someone will buy me his American Standard album for my upcoming birthday!!)
Good one, Debra. Yes, James' music sure has a special sound and feel. My guitar playing experience seems to be much like yours. When teaching my kids and grandkids a little, my first task was to get the action on their guitar set up properly!
Thank you.
Gary, indeed! There really wasn't much to do with my awful Hohner. (The company should have stuck to harmonicas, which they did well.) Ha! I took it with me on a student tour of Europe when I was 14, a bus tour for five weeks. When we stopped in Barcelona for a day, our bus was robbed, and woosh! There it went, and a good riddance to it! Before I left for college, my folks bought me a beautiful Yamaha 12-string. But later I found a used Guild D-25, a very mellow and sweet guitar, with good action. I still have it, but during Covid when I had time to play again after a long hiatus, the bridge let loose, and a small crack developed, oy. Couldn't find a luthier then, and we have been too busy to deal with it. I bought a nice Zager -- the sound is MUCH brighter (this has taken so me getting used to for me -- but the action is adjustable, very helpful. I like the Zager, but still want my Guild fixed. Some day!
Isn’t it nifty that some of our instruments have stories to tell? My son builds beautiful guitars, mostly acoustic. Too bad we're in Florida else you could drop that Guild off for a fixin'.
Oh, and I would, too! What a gift he has, building instruments!
EXCELLENT
AWESOME
OUTSTANDING
A terrific topic like this one will always “Light My Fire” 🔥!!!(*)
Don Young
Columbus OH
(*) Referencing, course, the title to (IMHO) a MUCH inferior song in every way compared to James Taylor’s “Fire and Rain” — lyrics, melody, instrumental accompaniment & scoring, and definitely performance — by The Doors (1967).
The Doors had their 15 minutes of fame! But JT is still going strong. There you have it, haha! ("Light My Fire" is a good song in that particular vein, I think. There are others I put in that category, two by Johnny Cash -- "Fever" and "Ring of Fire," both of which are better songs.
James Taylor just can't be beat!
JT’s music holds a special place in my heart, too! His style is so unique.
Donna, it is, indeed. And for musicality in his generation, so many were self-taught, but the skills they learned from playing with other musicians. It was an organic transmission, as music has always been. When disco hit, all of our popular music came out of a can -- and the chain was broken.