Shower the People You Love With Love, Show Them the Way You Feel

We went to the James Taylor concert last night. It was in a small theater, seating 1900 people. It was so personal and he was so personable. He spoke and commented about his songs almost as much as he sang. He showed slides and videos and told funny stories about his career. He couldn't recall if he was Joni Mitchell's bitch or if she was his bitch.

He had a huge home-made drum set. "Have you ever taken apart a music box before? It's just like that--except it's 500 times bigger and plays the drums instead of a musical comb," Taylor says. "It makes a bass drum sound that is loud and deep and killer. I have a wood shop and I mostly fix things that the kids and myself have broken. I made the prototype and I took it to a cabinet shop owned by a man named Gordon Fairfield. He made the cabinets for my kitchen, and I showed him the prototype of it. He said, "Here's how to improve it." It evolved as we went along."

Only one keyboard player accompanied him. For a couple of songs, his wife's choir, The Tanglewood Festival Chorus, accompanied him on video. He told the history of "Sweet Baby James." He wrote it while driving from Canada back home to North Carolina. His sister had recently given birth to a son named James so he wanted to write a cowboy lullaby for the baby. Thus the lullaby and lyrics about snow on the turnpike near Boston. He was driving his first car, an English car, a Ford Cortina that he bought in 1968. This was right after his big break, signing with Apple records and the Beatles in 1968.

Taylor used both his between-song monologues and the slideshow to paint a sharper picture of himself than most fans have ever seen before. One moment occurred when he showed a picture of his father, who was absent during much of Taylor's childhood years. He shared his heartfelt memories of those days, which added new meaning to the next number, "Mean Old Man."

At the end of intermission, and after each of the 4 encores, he shook hands with audience members and signed autographs. I felt like we were in his own den, listening to some great music and watching some family videos.