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Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | I'm a big fan of James. Got his new CD. I'd give it a real strong 3, maybe 4. Everything is well done, just the choice of material is pretty weak.
Just my 2cents. |
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Posts: 3618
Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | I'd agree. Well-produced, and great talent present. Coulda had a bit more substance. Looked like they had a real good time, though! |
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Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | There seems t'be a recent rash of people putting albums of "covers", lately . . .
JT was on Letterman a couple weeks ago.
Stayed-up t'catch him at the very end.
I forget the tune, but I just wasn't impressed by it . . . |
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Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | JT always fell into that "Talented but, TakeIt or LeaveIt" category for me. Much of his music felt Middle-of-the-Road. |
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Posts: 4996
Location: Phoenix AZ | Originally posted by cliff:
There seems t'be a recent rash of people putting albums of "covers", lately . . .
'recent' and 'lately' seems redundent to me |
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Posts: 5563
Location: Blue Ridge Mountains | I forget the tune, but I just wasn't impressed by it . . .
Ergo: forget...
Taylor was always great in concert back in the day...I saw him on the lawn at Bush Gardens Williamsburg in circa '81: he was spectacular! |
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Posts: 15667
Location: SoCal | Jerrie and I caught him on one of the morning shows about 5-6 weeks ago. He and Yo Yo Ma were playing from the front porch of an old inn near where he lives and he did Wichita Lineman (I'm a HUGE Jimmy Webb fan -- writing, not singing). It was good, but nothing new. I got the album when it came out. It's good, but not great...... |
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Location: NJ | ". . 'recent' and 'lately' seems redundent to me . ."
That was intentional.
(tho' I thought that it'd be Moody who'd "catch" it . . .)
"Middle-of-the-Road".
Yeah, . . he CAN be.
His voice kinda' fits in a certain range & doesn't swing too wide in either direction . .
I like his songwriting and the phrasing that he uses on his acoustic.
Somebody once wrote that there are two VERY "distinct" guitar players that can be spotted a mile away . . .
For electric, it was Hendrix.
For acoustic, it was Taylor. |
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March 2002
Posts: 15667
Location: SoCal | Originally posted by cliff:
(tho' I thought that it'd be Moody who'd "catch" it . . .) I'm only on my second cup of coffee and I still can't taste the day.....
Originally posted by cliff:
For acoustic, it was Taylor. Taylor only seems to know about 10 chords on the guitar. He always uses a capo to use those chords, but sumbitch, he knows them better than anybody else and has used that knowledge to create a style that's unique and distinctive. It's very impressive..... |
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Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | He does get big points for THIS , however |
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March 2002
Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | Move three bolts, and it doubles as a trebuchet . . . |
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Posts: 7307
Location: South of most, North of few | "Taylor only seems to know about 10 chords on the guitar."
Hey, anybody that knows 7 more than I do is impressive to me. |
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Posts: 9301
Location: south east Michigan | Look how far Fogerty got with 3 chords. |
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March 2008
Posts: 2683
Location: Hot Springs, S.D. | I heard an interview a few years ago where he admitted that because of deadlines, he sometimes wrote and recorded songs that he knew were mediocre. Maybe the well is running dry (as it often does with extremely talented people), so he is doing covers of some of his favorites by other people instead. Doesn't matter to me. I still love his music, and no matter how many times I listen to his old stuff, it is always soothing. |
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Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | Yes, I like his old stuff, just not when he does other people's old stuff.
I don't know for sure but I'd guess the scene with Yoyoma was filmed on the front porch of the Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge. Very famous place. Right across the street from the Rig, where he wrote Fire and Rain when he "stayed" there. |
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Posts: 15667
Location: SoCal | Beal, I think you're right about the Red Lion Inn. He commented on writing Fire & Rain right around there. |
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November 2004
Posts: 1330
Location: ms | I think part of what people miss is the fact that he really makes it look easy. Most anybody can play the cords but its not at all easy to sound like him. |
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May 2008
Posts: 1556
Location: Indiana | Originally posted by gulfcoast:
I think part of what people miss is the fact that he really makes it look easy. Most anybody can play the cords but its not at all easy to sound like him. Very true. Tear apart "Secret of life" and "Frozen Man". Nothing simplistic there. |
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February 2004
Posts: 1634
Location: Warren,Pa. | We saw James (and his band of Legends) this past summer at Blossom in Ohio; It's just not possible to assemble a better bunch of musicians. Steve Gadd is one unbelievable drummer!
James' own songs were a pleasure to hear, but about the last half of the concert was made up of these covers. He didn't say there was an album coming out soon consisting of these covers; he simply said that when the band was rehearsing for a couple of months before the tour, they got stuck on these songs and really enjoyed playing them as a band.
Some of them were fun, but I was disappointed that so much of the show was taken up with them. James has such a huge body of work, and his songs connect strongly with most of my life. I didn't come to hear that other stuff.
Most artists do an occasional album (?) like this, and I can buy it or not buy it; paying for half a concert of them is not what I bought the tickets for.
John <>{ |
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Posts: 623
Location: Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey | James is amazing, and I catch him live whenever I can. Incredible acoustic guitar sound each time.
Saw this past tour of "covers", long before the cd was out. Great show, but I prefer hearing the man alone with his guitar, not horn sections, etc. Was not motivated for the cd despite the great show and haven't purchased it.
Many of his songs sound similar, but he's still brilliant in his own way. There's a gentleness and 'space' in his phrasing, both guitar and vocals. He's always got this devilish grin on his face when he plays, just like he stole the last cookie out of the cookie jar and no one else knows it yet. |
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Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | I read an interview w/him in AmericanSongwriter.
He poured a lot of his own personal shit into the real early stuff . . . basically, because he thought that "no one was gonna' hear 'em, anyway" . . .
When he started getting airplay, it was like:
". . oh shit! . . what do I do NOW?? . . ."
Beal, I'll bring that issue(I'm done w/it) to th'House.
d'You get the FretboardJournal that I sent?? |
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March 2002
Posts: 15667
Location: SoCal | A lot of the great tunes were written when JT was in his late teens and early 20's. A period of angst.
Some of his best tunes have been remakes, ie Up On The Roof..... |
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Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | 'cept when you play it . . |
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Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | Yes. I got it, thanks! |
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James Taylor new CD