Friday January 28, 2022 “You Can Close Your Eyes” James Taylor (& Henry Taylor)
James Taylor is another 2000 inductee into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and it surprised me it took so long for him to get there.
The term singer/songwriter may well have been created for James Taylor who is the epitome of that title as well as one of today's most talented guitarists.
He was one of the first artists signed to the Beatles fledgling label Apple Records when he was brought to George Harrisons attention by producer Peter Asher. You may recall that Peter Asher was half of the duo Peter & Gordon as well as the older brother of actress/model Jane Asher who was at that moment Paul McCartney’s girlfriend.
That first James Taylor album, produced by Peter Asher for Apple, was not the success that everyone hoped for so Asher, now as Taylor’s manager, took his client to Warner Brothers where they recorded his breakout album Sweet Baby James which contained songs like “Fire & Rain”, “Country Road” and the title track “Sweet Baby James”. The album would win Taylor a Grammy for Album of the Year, his first of six Grammys and establish him as a radio staple.
Peter Asher would go on to manage Linda Ronstadt’s career and produce records for artists as varied as Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt, J.D. Souther, Cher and 10,000 Maniacs.
James Taylor has recorded twenty albums and sold more than one hundred million records making him one of the best selling artists of all time.
Stay safe and well…and enjoy this pairing of obviously proud father James Taylor and his youngest son Henry doing a recent live version of “You Can Close Your Eyes”.