SWEET, BABY JAMES!

Our roving Brit reporter, Paul Neve, attended the recent Sheffield concert, an early date on the sold-out James Taylor tour, and turned in the following review. 

Sweet “Uncle” James soothes Sheffield


A packed house of over 2000 expectant fans welcomed 59 year old troubadour James Taylor to the stage last night at the Oval Hall, Sheffield,  the latest stop in his current 12-venue UK tour. Media interest had been sparked, of course, by the bizarre shipping delays with his equipment from the United States which had threatened to disrupt the whole tour. Smart intervention and good will from the port of Felixstowe eventually secured the unloading of everything, including the famed drum machine, which meant that only the first planned date at Wolverhampton had to be delayed.

Billed as One Man Show, the mellifluous voice and trademark guitar-picking from his opening solo, Something In The Way She Moves, brought my wife to tears of emotion at seeing and hearing one of her college-day heroes live for the first time. Despite the passage of time and personal events in his life, it was clear that he had lost none of his playing skills and vocal quality.

He was then joined on stage for the remainder of the evening’s show by the ‘rest’ of his band - Boston-born jazz pianist and keyboardist par excellence - Larry Goldings.

The evening’s songs were an eclectic mix, some early period and some classics together with more recent numbers, all supported by a slide show of still and movie images forming a visual (and sometimes vocal) accompaniment. The ambiance was like being invited around to your neighbour’s house one evening to watch the latest holiday slides. And I don’t mean that negatively either. The craftily-constructed slide show, coupled with his skills as an observer of life, and his abilities as a witty raconteur provided a fascinating insight into the history of this man and his music. Phoebe Sheldon, his parents, his ‘substance’ period and the Nixon era have all clearly been powerful influences in their time.

Then, just when we thought the evening’s format had been decided with the first five numbers, the fabled drum machine, a Volkswagen-sized, somewhat Heath Robinson-looking affair was wheeled on to the stage like a pet elephant, to make the first of its two appearances that evening. While James sang the lyrics to Slap Leather through a bull horn and the respective lyrics appeared in type on the video screen, this home-made, largely wooden contraption of revolving cams, levers and hammers provided an authentic and rhythmic drumming contribution.

Yet more interest was created with My Traveling Star featuring the Tanglewood Festival Choir (which includes Kim Smedvig, his current wife) singing backing vocals, via a video recording played on the backscreen.

Nostalgic shots of the Troubadour Club, Danny Kortchmar, Leland Sklar, Joni Mitchell and Carole King provided the introductory link to You’ve got A Friend, while an electric guitar-fired and rocking Steamroller - a somewhat satirical rendition of a white Blues singer - delivered the final song of the set. I thought I detected more than a few hints of Joe Walsh and the Crossroads Guitar Festival in this particular version!!!

The second set, perhaps predictably, included a higher proportion of his classics. His performances of Line ‘Em Up and a reprised You’ve Got A Friend satirized war, politics and mass marriage ceremonies with equal glee.  Chili Dog, saw the return of the drum machine and his electric guitar, as well as an unabashed visual slide of the world famous Pink’s Hot Dog stand on Melrose and La Brea in Hollywood. Shower The People provided  a second chance to see the Tanglewood Choir in action.

We learned that Sweet Baby James was written deliberately as a cowboy-style lullaby to be sung to his newly-born nephew (also named James!) and that Carolina was written whilst feeling both lovesick and homesick on the Balearic island of Formentera.

A standing ovation from the enthusiastic crowd at the end of the set invited inevitable encores.  First, Fire and Rain which alludes to his days of addiction and hospitalization, capped by the death of his friend Susan.  This was followed by Copperline, another song to his home in North Carolina, and then a final acoustic guitar solo whilst singing the haunting  You Can Close Your Eyes.

One Man Show is great; catch it if you can. He remains a true, guitar-toting troubadour who lives for what he does best. After the UK leg, James Taylor plays the last of his current schedule of dates at Tanglewood, Lenox,  MA on 24th August. It’s sold out, of course!

First Set List

Something In The Way She Moves
Never Die Young
The Frozen Man
Mean Old Man
School Song
Slap Leather
My Travelling Star
You’ve Got A Friend
Steamroller

Second Set List

Secret O’ Life
Line ‘Em Up
You’ve Got A Friend (Reprise)
Chili Dog
Shower The People
Sweet Baby James
Carolina

1st Encore

Fire And Rain
Copperline

2nd Encore

You Can Close Your Eyes

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Comments

[Grace Gecseg]

Secured tickets at last minute for James Taylor at Bristol. Took along my sixteen year old daughter. Touched by her true appreciation of this concert. James still 'giving' himself to his audience - wonderful evening with the quirkiness of his family life and past special moments displayed on the backscreen.

[steve and sandy poingdestre]

Hi, we saw James Taylor 3 times on his UK tour. Birmingham, Bristol, and London Hammersmith.Each show was absoloutly fantastic. He was a bit shy on the first one in Birmingham, but this only shows what an incredibly humble person he is.We saw him at Powderham Castle in 2005 and he just gets better and better. His wonderful gentle nature and beautiful voice make it such an experience to see him performing live.In the audience at Hammersmith we saw Lenny Henry, Dawn French, Curtis Stigers,and even
Sir Paul McCartney.I think this speaks for itself at the quality of performance. And finally, what a joy to see his wife and boys come in for the second half. Please come back to visit us soon James.

Sandy and Steve