In the 26 years since recording his solo debut album, James Taylor has
become a pop-music force whose rich voice and evocative compositions helped
define folk-rock and set the standard for at least two generations of
singer-songwriters.
He has also overcome debilitating bouts with alcohol, heroin addiction and
-- briefly in his late teens -- severe depression.
Happy and healthy at 46, the two-time Grammy Award-winner is at a
comfortable plateau in a career that saw him go "unplugged" several decades
before the phrase was even coined. He is now one of only a few pop artists
whose reputation for consistently high quality enables him to draw capacity
audiences year after year. And this holds true regardless of whether he has
a new album or single out.
"In a musical world where things tend to be more and more programmed and
mechanized, which is valid, it's good to get back to making music in real
time and hearing people's real musicianship," said Taylor, whose Thursday-
and Friday-night concerts at Embarcadero Marina Park South are both sold
out.
"The good thing is to see someone who's usually plugged in go unplugged,
because there are thousands of us folk musicians."
But there is only one James Taylor. And while he clearly works from a folk
base, the two-woman, seven-man band he leads also draws from blues, rock,
jazz, soul, country and gospel to create a blend that is eclectic and
tasteful, not forced or pretentious. All that's missing is a raucous rock
rave-up, although to hear Taylor tell it, one is on the way.
"Last night, we just tried an -- for us -- amazingly loud encore number,"
he said, speaking from Santa Fe, N.M., where he and his band were
rehearsing for a U.S. tour that stretches through mid-October.
"So it feels to us like there's a real broad range to this. We do a cowboy
song with accordion, mandolin, guitar and two vocal harmony parts, and we
also do a sort of lush Philadelphia soul version of 'Fool to Care.' And
there are solo numbers, Latin numbers, sort of Motown shuffles and a gospel
number, 'Lo and Behold' " (not to be confused with the Bob Dylan song of
the same name).
His newest album, "James Taylor (Live)," is an engaging double-CD that
features 30 songs recorded at 14 concerts during his 1992 U.S. tour.
Co-produced by George Massenberg and veteran Taylor keyboardist/musical
director Don Grolnick, it mixes his best songs (including "Sweet Baby
James," "Millworker" and "Country Road") with several inspired cover
versions of songs Taylor long ago made his own (Carole King's "You've Got
a Friend," Otis Blackwell's "Handy Man" and Holland-Dozier-Holland's "How
Sweet It Is").
As such, the album serves as an unofficial artistic summation and a career
retrospective. It neatly chronicles where the singer-songwriter has been
without giving any indication of where he might be headed. (A one-disc
version, "James Taylor (Best Live)" is due out June 21.)
"We've wanted to do a live album for a long, long time, and it took until
now to get it right and get the right performances down (on record)," he
said. "But it does feel like a summing up in a way, and I do often think of
what other form I could work in."
Earlier this year, he may have had a glimpse of that form when he toured
Europe backed by just three members of his band -- pianist-producer Don
Grolnick, bassist Jimmy Johnson, and drummer Carlos Vega. The results of
this predominantly acoustic concert trek pleased Taylor enough for him to
consider similar ventures in the future.
"That was a more interesting, spontaneous way of touring," he noted. "It
was smaller and more intimate, and we'll do more of that. And it might
open a door to some change in the future."
Jazz influences
Along with Taylor band guitarist Bob Mann, Grolnick, Johnson and Vega all
have shared backgrounds in jazz. This is no coincidence, according to the
man who hired them specifically for the stylistic breadth they bring to his
music.
"It takes a deeper knowledge of music to play jazz than folk or rock or
country," Taylor said. "It indicates some real commitment. But the way Don
says it is, he just happened to be exposed to bebop and didn't understand
pop and rock; he didn't get it for a while."
And how has jazz affected Taylor, whose past collaborators include the
Brecker Brothers and, more recently, Brazilian superstar Milton Nascimento?
"I think it's like everything else in the mix of things that have
influenced me," he replied. "I don't think of myself as a studied musician
or someone who's in control of it. I think of myself as a folk or pop
musician, and my definition of it is that you are basically the product of
what you've heard and what's influenced you, without having gone into a
focused study of it.
"Jazz is a more studied music, and the simpler forms of it are what I'm
capable of -- Brazilian jazz and the West Coast sound -- and the things
that influence jazz, which are blues and gospel."
The musical sophistication of Taylor's band also enables him to regularly
make changes in the arrangements of his songs, many so subtle that his
audiences are not even aware of them. ("We sort of live for those nuances,"
he said.)
Regardless, Taylor feels that onstage experimentation is generally to be
avoided.
"A lot comes from the audience," he said. "Part of the job is you want the
show to come off and make them feel they're getting what they came for. So
a lot of what goes into a satisfactory night's work often has to do with
faithfully re-creating the songs and doing them well. And that's worth
doing and that works.
"But it does help to have slight changes and hear people (in the band)
accent things ever so slightly differently. It's not that jazz thing of
never wanting to play the same thing twice the same way; it's a much
subtler variation from time to time."
Might the best way to describe Taylor, then, be as a devoted craftsman
whose music is in a constant state of refinement?
"Yeah, there's certainly something to that, more and more, especially
doing this type of work and playing for audiences," he said. "I shouldn't
give even a slight impression that I find this tedious or even slightly a
grind. I couldn't be more excited on the eve of a new tour. It's a great
thing to do and amazingly gratifying."
Uncharted Territory
Taylor clearly loves his work and is understandably pleased to have such a
devoted following. But he also sounds at least slightly torn about his
position. Perhaps wary of the complacency that can result when your
audience responds warmly to everything you do and makes no demands, he
appears to desire a move into uncharted territory -- even if he doesn't
quite know how or when such a move might take place.
"Sometimes I feel I'm due for some kind of change," acknowledged Taylor,
who sings the part of God on Randy Newman's forthcoming album, a musical
adaptation of "Faust." "On the other hand, in Japan they have these living
national treasures -- people who dye cloth in a certain way or hammer steel
into swords -- and they acknowledge them. These are often people in Noh
theater, and it's often the case that (what they do) is a model of doing
something over and over again. It's almost a Zen thing of endless practice
and continuing doing it, and not thinking of changing.
"And, probably (as a result), one's work for the last 10 years has been in
a very similar groove. So that's a notion . . . "
He chuckled when asked if there were any prevailing misconceptions about
him.
"I think I'm often held as being humorless," replied Boston-born Taylor,
whose stage patter has become increasingly witty over the years. "The
'earnest, suffering songwriter' bag I was connected with was a little hard
to shake. And the thing with interviewers is -- although this is not the
case in this instance -- often they don't know what they're talking about
and don't want to do it. And they're looking for a simple angle.
"That's the only time interviews get to be a drag, and it's difficult to
talk about yourself. The reason I'm a musician is (that) music is the way
to do this."
Fatherly Advice
Taylor's first marriage, to singer Carly Simon, produced two children --
Ben, 17, and Sally, 20. Both are avocational musicians, a status their
famous father maintains they should be in no hurry to change.
"My feeling is that the professional aspect is ubiquitous. The first thing
is to pay attention to how much you love music, and wait as long as
possible to take it to market," said Taylor, who married actress Kathryn
Walker in late 1985.
"It's a transition one is fortunate to make; some people bang on the door
all their lives and there's something lost. My advice to (Ben and Sally)
is, dig it and groove and follow your bliss."
And what does Taylor, whose ultimately triumphant battle against substance
abuse is well-documented, tell his children about the dangers of drugs?
"The main thing I tell them is that they're around -- they're everywhere
-- and that it's very difficult, and that I don't expect them not to be
exposed or to experiment," he said. "But the main thing I tell them is,
there is clearly a propensity in their family to be swept away by substance
abuse, and they should be aware of that. And that some drugs can do a lot
more damage to you than others.
"I'm not in a position to lecture, but I'm in a good position to talk to
them about it."