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BIOGRAPHY
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In the wake of James Taylor's enormous success, siblings Livingston, Kate, and Alex launched their own recording careers. Livingston's modest-selling debut for Atco produced a minor hit with "Carolina Day," but subsequent albums for Capricorn sold poorly. He later recorded for Epic, Critique, and Vanguard. Kate recorded her first album with James, Carole King, and Linda Ronstadt, and the album sold moderately without yielding a hit single. In the late 1970s she recorded two albums for Columbia. Alex fared the least well of the three, and he died of a heart attack in Sanford, Florida, on March 12, 1993, at age 47.
In 1972 Danny Kortchmar, already a veteran of the band Jo Mama, formed the Section with keyboardist Craig Doerge, bassist Leland Sklar, and drummer Russ Kunkel to back James Taylor on tour and record independently. Kortchmar also recorded a solo album, and the Section later served as Peter Asher's "house band" and toured with Jackson Browne on his RUNNING ON EMPTY tour.
On November 3, 1972, James Taylor married songstress Carly Simon, shortly before the release of ONE MAN DOG. Recorded with Simon, Carole King, Linda Ronstadt, and the Section, the album produced a major hit with "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" and a minor hit with "One Man Parade." In 1973 Taylor costarred with Beach Boy Dennis Wilson in the miserable film TWO-LANE BLACKTOP, and scored a smash hit with Carly Simon on a ... version of "Mockingbird." Taylor's next album, WALKING MAN, the first not produced by Peter Asher, failed to produce a hit single, but 1975's GORILLA yielded a smash pop and top easy-listening hit with Holland-Dozier-Holland's "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)" and a moderate hit with "Mexico." Taylor toured again in 1975, and his final album for Warner Bros., IN THE POCKET, includes the major pop and top easy-listening hit "Shower the People."
Switching to Columbia Records, James Taylor's debut for the label, JT, reunited him with producer Peter Asher and furnished a smash hit with a remake of Jimmy Jones's "Handy Man," a major hit with "Your Smiling Face," and a minor country hit with "Bartender's Blues," a smash country hit for George Jones in 1978. Early that year Taylor had a major pop and top easy-listening hit with Sam Cooke's "Wonderful World," recorded with Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel for Garfunkel's album WATERMARK. After scoring a major hit with Carole King and Gerry Goffin's "Up on the Roof" from Flag, Taylor scored his last major pop hit in 1981 with "Her Town Too," recorded with J. D. Souther.
Taylor had a minor hit in 1985 with a cover of Buddy Holly's "Everyday," and another with 1988's "Never Die Young." His 1991 album, NEW MOON SHINE, presented him with a more country-style accompaniment, although it failed to perform well in either country or pop markets. Success returned, however, with 1997's HOURGLASS, which charted in the Top Ten and earned him a Grammy Award for Best Pop Album.
Source: Excerpted from BAKER'S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MUSICIANS®, Centennial Edition. Nicolas Slonimsky, Editor Emeritus. Schirmer, 2001. Reprinted by permission of The Gale Group.
Top banner photos: India.Arie, Bonnie Raitt, James Taylor (photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage), and Keith Urban. |
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Sting performs one of Taylor's songs on a lute. |
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Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks. |
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The DVD is available. |
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