Seeing James Taylor Once Again

 

James Taylor at PPG last night

The first time that Marilyn and I saw James Taylor perform was at the Blossom Music Center in Ohio.  That was in 1975 or '76.  That was FORTY-SIX YEARS AGO, folks.  Since then we have seen him at Star Lake Amphitheater,  Heinz Hall (with the Pittsburgh Symphony), twice at PPG Paints Arena, and one or two other times that at places I can't remember.  There is no other performer that we have seen live more often than James Taylor.  He has never disappointed, and that honey-smooth JT voice remains as pure as ever.  You know exactly what you are going to get from a James Taylor concert, and, as I said, you are never disappointed, and you can't wait to see him again.

Last night's concert with Jackson Browne as the opening act (not too shabby!) was originally scheduled for June of 2020.  It was postponed twice for reasons that we all know, but when it all came to pass last night...what a delight!

Jackson Browne, as I said, was the opening act.  Much of his one hour set consisted of new material.  Honestly, given the demographics of the artists and the audience, nobody wants to hear these guys sing new material.  He looked good (he is now a look-alike for Jeff Bridges) and sounded great, and he did give us Doctor My Eyes, Running On Empty, and in a duet with Taylor, The Pretender during his 60 minute set.  Personally, I was bummed that he didn't do Somebody's Baby and Stay, but you can't have everything.

Taylor's set lasted an hour and fifty minutes, and as alluded to above, he gave the fans everything that they wanted.  How many times do you think that James Taylor has sung Fire and Rain over the course of the last fifty years?  It has to be tens of thousands of time.  You would think that he would get tired of it and either skip it or just plain phone it in some nights.  Nope.  Pours everything into it every single time.  

Can't say enough about the musicians and back up singers that accompanied each performer.  One of James' back-ups was his son Henry.  Funny story.  Taylor introduced each musician and singer throughout the course of his set.  One of then, Arnold McCullers, Taylor mentioned was from Cleveland, Ohio, which elicited the prerequisite boos from the crowd in Pittsburgh.  McCullers gave an expected good natured "what the heck", and Taylor reacted by saying "But he left Cleveland in disgust."  When the crowd cheered that comment, Taylor then said "I know how to pander to an audience."  Good stuff.

His encore set included a duet with Browne on Take It Easy that was terrific, and the show concluded with You've Got A Friend.  How appropriate.

So tell me, when will James Taylor be coming back to Pittsburgh again?

James Taylor Still Sweet

My memory can sometimes be a failing thing, so last night was either the fourth or the fifth time that Marilyn and I saw the great James Taylor in concert.  

The venue last night was the Consol Energy Center, and what can you say?  Taylor and his terrific All-Star Band delivered everything that a fan would want and could possibly expect.  "Fire and Rain", "Up on the Roof", "You've Got a Friend" as well as over a dozen other Taylor standards?  Yep, they were all in there, along with a couple of new songs (a great country blues love song called "Today, Today, Today", for example), some lesser known tracks from old albums, and an old (hundreds of years old, according to JT) Scottish ballad called "Wild Mountain Thyme" to close the night two hours and forty minutes after it began.

We loved the way Taylor talked to the audience throughout the show.  Self-deprecating and humorous, these riffs made the Consol seem like an intimate place.  He told a great story about how back in 1968 he auditioned for some executives for a new record company in London.  The record company was Apple, and the "executives" were Paul McCartney and George Harrison, who immediately signed the twenty year old Taylor to their new label.  He told about how he hung around the Abbey Road Studios that summer recording, while "the lads" were recording what came to be know as the White Album.  "I wish I could remember everything that happened, but I'm sure we all had a great time", he said.

Taylor is now 66 year old.  He has aged very well, and his voice sounds exactly the way it did when you first heard it back in your college days - or my college days, anyway - in the early Seventies.  And what a professional.  How many times do you suppose James Taylor has sung "Fire and Rain" or "You've Got a Friend"?  Thousands? Tens of thousands?  Do you suppose that there might ever be an occasion when he might just go through the motions on stage and phone it in sometime?  Well, he sure didn't last night.

We first saw James Taylor live at the Blossom Music Center in Ohio back in 1976 or -77 when we were living in Cleveland.  I know that we also saw him at Star Lake Amphitheater back in the early '00's, and sometime I believe a performance at Heinz Hall or the Benedum was sandwiched in there, so as I said, last night was either the fourth or fifth time we've seen him, and I can pretty much guarantee that we will see him again whenever the "Country Road" leads him back the Western Pennsylvania again.

A word on the Consol Energy Center.

This was only my second visit to this "new" arena, and it was Marilyn's first.  It really is a nice place.  It was the first time we saw a concert there and the sound, the acoustics, and the sight lines were wonderful.  The blackout curtains were drawn over the upper bowl of the Arena, so the place seemed quite intimate for a huge sports arena.  Very impressive as a concert venue.

They Say It's Your Birthday....

In addition to sending Happy Birthday wishes out to his younger sister, Patty, today, The Grandstander also wishes a Happy 64th Birthday to singer-songwriter James Taylor, ol' Sweet Baby James himself.

Taylor came on the scene back in my college days, around 1971 or so. I loved him then, and still do today. I have seen Taylor perform on three different occasions over the years, and his act never gets old. Talk about a guy who has aged well.

See for yourself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-T35WXFOmwI