James Taylor

The title of this article is ambiguous. Further meanings are listed under James Taylor (disambiguation) .

James Taylor, early 1970s

James Taylor, 1985

James Taylor, 2011

James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948 in Boston , Massachusetts ) is an American guitarist , singer , composer and lyricist . A five-time Grammy winner and a member of both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame , he is one of the most influential contemporary singer-songwriters on the American music scene.

biography

Taylor grew up sheltered in a liberal family in Chapel Hill (North Carolina) , but suffered from neuroses and depression , which resulted in a suicide attempt in 1965 . His three siblings, Alex (1947–1993), Kate (* 1949) and Livingston (* 1950) are also musicians.

His musical career began in the USA in the second half of the 1960s. There he founded the band Flying Machine in New York together with his friend Danny Kortchmar . Meanwhile heavily addicted to drugs, he went to Great Britain in 1968 , where he received a contract with Apple Records , the Beatles' record company, with the support of record producer Peter Asher in London , and produced his first solo LP.

After returning to the United States, he broke both hands in a motorcycle accident. After a rehab, he recorded the LP Sweet Baby James and became known to a wide audience, in particular with the track Fire And Rain contained on it , in which he addressed his drug addiction. With the song You've Got a Friend composed by Carole King , he had his first and so far only number one hit in the US pop charts in 1971. The song previously appeared on Carole King's debut album Tapestry that same year , on which James Taylor had also worked. Also in 1971 Taylor played in the film Asphaltrennen (original title: Two-Lane Blacktop ) by Monte Hellman alongside Dennis Wilson the male lead role.

Taylor was one of a number of musicians in the 1970s who were intensely involved in political and social projects. Among other things, the film and music production No Nukes , a documentary concert series against nuclear technology, followed in 1980 by the release of a live album, with the participation of colleagues such as Jackson Browne , Bruce Springsteen , Graham Nash , Bonnie Raitt and others .

In the 1970s, Taylor secured regular studio and live productions from the session band The Section , which also worked for many other well-known artists. From 1972 to 1983 he was married to his colleague Carly Simon (* 1945). With her he has the daughter Sally Taylor (* 1974) and the son Ben Taylor (* 1977), both musicians. James Taylor was a frequent guest star on third-party productions by Joni Mitchell , Linda Ronstadt , Art Garfunkel and others. In 1972 he was a guest musician on Neil Young's successful album Harvest , where he can be heard in the songs Heart of Gold and Old Man . In 1998 Taylor received a Grammy Award for his album Hourglass . His album Greatest Hits was awarded a diamond record (11 times platinum) for more than eleven million copies sold in the USA in 1996 . In 2000 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame . In the same year, Mark Knopfler's second solo production, Sailing to Philadelphia , appeared, which includes the title song of the same name as a duet with James Taylor. Other songs in which he can be heard as a background singer: Back in the High Life by Steve Winwood and Perfect Love by Marc Cohn .

In 2006 he contributed the title Our Town to the soundtrack for the animated film Cars .

In 1997, the US country musician Garth Brooks named James Taylor one of his great role models and named his first daughter (Taylor) after him.

Taylor broke a special record with the placement of the album American Standard (2020) at number 4 on the US Billboard charts. Nobody but him has managed to hit at least one top 10 album in each of the past six decades.

Discography

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)				Remarks
		DE	CH	UK	US
1968	James Taylor	-	-	-	US62 (28 weeks) US
1970	Sweet baby James	-	-	UK6th silver (59 weeks)UK	US3 × 3 Triple platinum (102 weeks)US
1971	James Taylor and the Original Flying Machine	-	-	-	US74 (8 weeks) US	recorded between 1966 and 1967
	Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon	-	-	UK4 (42 weeks) UK	US2 × 2 Double platinum (45 weeks)US
1972	One man dog	-	-	UK27 (5 weeks) UK	US4th gold (38 weeks)US
1974	Walking man	-	-	-	US13 (18 weeks) US
1975	gorilla	-	-	-	US6th gold (27 weeks)US
1976	In the pocket	-	-	-	US16 gold (24 weeks)US
1977	JT	-	-	-	US4th × 3 Triple platinum (39 weeks)US
1979	Flag	-	-	-	US10 platinum (23 weeks)US
1981	Dad Loves His Work	-	-	-	US10 platinum (23 weeks)US
1985	That's Why I'm Here	-	-	-	US34 platinum (30 weeks)US
1988	Never Die Young	-	-	-	US25th platinum (34 weeks)US
1991	New moon shine	-	-	-	US37 platinum (47 weeks)US
1997	Hourglass	-	-	UK52 silver (2 weeks)UK	US9 platinum (24 weeks)US
2002	October Road	DE71 (2 weeks) DE	-	UK39 (6 weeks) UK	US4th platinum (25 weeks)US
2004	A Christmas album	-	-	-	US- platinum US
2006	James Taylor at Christmas	-	-	-	US16 gold (34 weeks)US
2008	Covers	-	-	UK23 silver (5 weeks)UK	US4 (16 weeks) US
2015	Before This World	DE32 (2 weeks) DE	CH41 (1 week) CH	UK4 (6 weeks) UK	US1 (13 weeks) US
2020	American Standard	DE24 (2 weeks) DE	CH66 (1 week) CH	UK11 (2 weeks) UK	US4 (5 weeks) US

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

Live albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)				Remarks
		DE	CH	UK	US
1993	live	-	-	-	US20th × 2 Double platinum (24 weeks)US
2007	One man band	-	-	-	US4th gold (38 weeks)US
2010	Live at the Troubadour	-	-	UK33 (3 weeks) UK	US4th gold (37 weeks)US	with Carole King

More live albums

• 1994: Best Live
• 2009: Amchitka (with Joni Mitchell and Phil Ochs )

Compilations

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)				Remarks
		DE	CH	UK	US
1976	Greatest hits	-	-	UK- platinum UK	US15th Diamond + platinum (69 weeks)US
1987	Classic songs	-	-	UK53 silver (5 weeks)UK	-
2000	Greatest Hits Volume 2	-	-	-	US97 gold (12 weeks)US
2003	The Best Of James Taylor - You've Got A Friend	-	-	UK4th gold (12 weeks)UK	US11 platinum (42 weeks)US
2013	The Essential James Taylor	-	-	UK50 (2 weeks) UK	US- platinum US

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

More compilations

• 2019: The Warner Bros Albums 1970-1976

EPs

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)				Remarks
		DE	CH	UK	US
2009	Other covers	-	-	-	US122 (2 weeks) US

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)				Remarks
		UK	US	Country	A. C.
1969	Carolina in My Mind James Taylor	-	US67 (7 weeks) US	-	-	Chart entry when re-released in 1970
1970	Fire and Rain Sweet Baby James	UK42 silver (3 weeks)UK	US3 (16 weeks) US	-	A. C.7 (12 weeks) A. C.
1971	Country Road Sweet Baby James	-	US37 (8 weeks) US	-	A. C.9 (8 weeks) A. C.
	You've Got a Friend Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon	UK4 (15 weeks) UK	US1 gold (14 weeks)US	-	A. C.1 (11 weeks) A. C.
	Long Ago and Far Away Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon	-	US31 (8 weeks) US	-	A. C.4 (8 weeks) A. C.
1972	Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight One Man Dog	-	US14 (11 weeks) US	-	A. C.3 (10 weeks) A. C.
1973	One Man Parade One Man Dog	-	US67 (4 weeks) US	-	-
1974	Walking Man One Man Dog	-	-	-	A. C.26 (6 weeks) A. C.
1975	How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You) Gorilla	-	US5 (15 weeks) US	-	A. C.1 (13 weeks) A. C.
	Mexico Gorilla	-	US49 (8 weeks) US	-	A. C.5 (10 weeks) A. C.
1976	Shower the People In the Pocket	-	US22 (16 weeks) US	-	A. C.1 (14 weeks) A. C.
1977	Woman's Gotta Have It In the Pocket	-	-	-	A. C.20 (9 weeks) A. C.
	Handy Man JT	-	US4 (20 weeks) US	-	A. C.1 (20 weeks) A. C.
	Your Smiling Face JT	-	US20 (17 weeks) US	-	A. C.6 (17 weeks) A. C.
1978	Honey Don't Leave LA JT	-	US61 (6 weeks) US	-	-
1979	Up on the roof flag	-	US28 (11 weeks) US	-	A. C.7 (21 weeks) A. C.
1981	Her Town Too Dad Loves His Work	-	US11 (14 weeks) US	-	A. C.5 (13 weeks) A. C.	with JD Souther
	Hard Times Dad Loves His Work	-	US72 (5 weeks) US	-	A. C.23 (9 weeks) A. C.
	Summer's Here Dad Loves His Work	-	-	-	A. C.25 (8 weeks) A. C.
1985	Everyday That's Why I'm Here	-	US61 (11 weeks) US	Country26 (16 weeks) Country	A. C.3 (21 weeks) A. C.
1986	Only One That's Why I'm Here	-	-	Country80 (9 weeks) Country	A. C.6 (15 weeks) A. C.
	That's Why I'm Here That's Why I'm Here	-	-	-	A. C.8 (14 weeks) A. C.
1988	Never Die Young Never Die Young	-	US80 (5 weeks) US	-	A. C.3 (18 weeks) A. C.
	Baby Boom Baby Never Die Young	-	-	-	A. C.16 (15 weeks) A. C.
	Sweet Potato Pie Never Die Young	-	-	-	A. C.37 (6 weeks) A. C.
1991	Copperline New Moon Shine	-	-	-	A. C.13 (18 weeks) A. C.
1992	(I've Got To) Stop Thinkin '' 'Bout That New Moon Shine	-	-	-	A. C.28 (10 weeks) A. C.
	Everybody Loves to Cha Cha Cha New Moon Shine	-	-	-	A. C.19 (13 weeks) A. C.
	Like Everyone She Knows New Moon Shine	-	-	-	A. C.31 (8 weeks) A. C.
1997	Little More Time with You Hourglass	-	-	-	A. C.3 (26 weeks) A. C.
2002	On the 4th of July October Road	-	-	-	A. C.16 (15 weeks) A. C.
	Whenever You're Ready October Road	-	-	-	A. C.21 (17 weeks) A. C.
2003	September Grass October Road	-	-	-	A. C.25 (11 weeks) A. C.
2008	It's growing covers	-	-	-	A. C.11 (25 weeks) A. C.
2015	Today Today Today Before This World	-	-	-	A. C.29 (4 weeks) A. C.
	SnowTime Before This World	-	-	-	A. C.19 (5 weeks) A. C.
The following songs did not appear as single, but were made available for download and streaming through the album and were thus able to achieve a placement:
2001	Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas October Road	-	-	-	A. C.4 (5 weeks) A. C.
2004	Santa Claus Is Coming to Town James Taylor: A Christmas Album	-	-	-	A. C.12 (2 weeks) A. C.
	Deck the Halls James Taylor: A Christmas Album	-	-	-	A. C.5 (4 weeks) A. C.
	Winter Wonderland James Taylor: A Christmas Album	-	-	-	A. C.8 (2 weeks) A. C.

More singles

• 1969: Knocking 'Round the Zoo
• 1969: Something's Wrong
• 1970: Sweet Baby James
• 1973: Hymn
• 1974: Daddy's baby
• 1976: Everybody Has the Blues
• 1976: You Make It Easy
• 2015: Angels of Fenway
• 2015: Montana

Guest Posts

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)				Remarks
		UK	US	Country	A. C.
1974	Mockingbird hotcakes	UK34 (5 weeks) UK	US5 gold (16 weeks)US	-	A. C.10 (12 weeks) A. C.	with Carly Simon
1978	(What a) Wonderful World Watermark	-	US17 (14 weeks) US	-	A. C.1 (14 weeks) A. C.	with Art Garfunkel & Paul Simon
	Bartender's Blues Bartender's Blues	-	-	Country6 (3 weeks) Country	-	with George Jones
	Devoted to You Boys in the Trees	-	US36 (9 weeks) US	Country33 (10 weeks) Country	A. C.2 (14 weeks) A. C.	with Carly Simon
1986	Back in the High Life Again Back in the High Life	UK53 (4 weeks) UK	US13 (21 weeks) US	-	A. C.1 (21 weeks) A. C.	with Steve Winwood
2017	What I'm Thankful For (The Thanksgiving Song) Back in the High Life	-	-	Country50 (1 week) Country	-	with Garth Brooks

Further guest contributions

• 1994: Crying in the Rain (with Art Garfunkel)
• 2001: Sailing to Philadelphia (with Mark Knopfler )
• 2012: Soul Companion (with Mary Chapin Carpenter )
• 2013: Don't Try So Hard (with Amy Grant )
• 2018: Change (with Charlie Puth )

Video albums

• 1979: James Taylor: In Concert (Sony Music Distribution)
• 1986: James Taylor Live in Rio (Columbia)
• 1988: James Taylor in Concert in Boston (Sony)
• 1993: Squibnocket (Sony)
• 1998: Live at the Beacon Theater (Columbia)
• 2002: Pull Over (Sony)
• 2006: A Musicares Person of the Year Tribute ( Rhino Records )
• 2007: One Man Band - Live CD & DVD concert at The Colonial Theater in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, with Larry Goldings as a "one-man band"
• 2010: Live at the Troubadour (Carole King and James Taylor) (Hear Music)

Awards for music sales

Silver record  United Kingdom 1978: for the album The Best Of Golden record  Australia 2010: for the video album Live At The Troubadour  United States 2003: for the video album Pull Over Platinum record  Australia 2010: for the album The Best Of James Taylor - You've Got A Friend  Canada 1977: for the album JT  United States 2000: for the video album Live At The Beacon Theater

2 × platinum record  Australia 2010: for the video album The Pull Over Tour 6 × platinum record  United States 2018: for the video album Live At The Troubadour

Note: Awards in countries from the chart tables or chart boxes can be found in these.

Country / Region	silver	gold	platinum	diamond	Sales	swell
Awards for music sales (country / region, awards, sales, sources)
Australia (ARIA)	-	gold1	3 × platinum3	-	107,500	bpi.co.uk
Canada (MC)	-	-	platinum1	-	100,000	musiccanada.com
United States (RIAA)	-	10 × gold10	28 × platinum28	diamond1	35,250,000	riaa.com
United Kingdom (BPI)	6 × silver6th	gold1	platinum1	-	900,000	bpi.co.uk
All in all	6 × silver6th	12 × gold12	33 × platinum33	diamond1

Awards and recognitions

Grammy Awards :

• 1971: Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male , You've Got a Friend
• 1977: Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male , Handy Man
• 1998: Best Pop Album , Hourglass
• 2001: Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male , Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight
• 2003: Best Country Collaboration With Vocals , How's the World Treating You , with Alison Krauss

Other awards:

• 1998: Billboard Century Award
• 2000: Induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
• 2000: Induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame
• 2006: A Musicares Person of the Year, The Musicares Foundation
• 2012: Chevalier des Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
• 2015: Presidential Medal of Freedom
• The Rolling Stone listed Taylor 84th of the 100 greatest musicians, 74th of the 100 best singers and 69th of the 100 best songwriters of all time .

Filmography

• 1971: Two-Lane Blacktop by Monte Hellman
• 1994: Guest appearance in the episode Homer the space hero of the series The Simpsons ( OT : Deep Space Homer ; Season 5 )
• 2009: Cameo in How Life Plays Original: Funny People by Judd Apatow with Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen

Web links

Commons : James Taylor  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• Official website (English).
• James Taylor Online (unofficial website )
• James Taylor in the nndb (English)
• Detailed biography, German
• Interview , June 2015

Individual evidence

1. ↑ More information about the song in: Fred Bronson: The Billboard Book of Number One Hits . 3rd revised and expanded edition. New York City, New York: Billboard Publications, 1992, p. 296
2. ↑ Janet Maslin in the New York Times (Eng.)
3. ↑ http://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=top_tallies&ttt=DA&col=artist&ord=asc#search_section
4. ↑ Rock and Roll Hall of Fame James Taylor in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
5. ↑ Timothy White : James Taylor: Immense Singer, Considerable Cranium in Mojo , September 1997 (English)
6. ↑ James Taylor Becomes First Act With Top 10 Albums in Each of Last Six Decades , billboard.com on March 8, 2020, accessed April 27, 2020
7. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Chart sources: DE CH UK US
8. ↑ 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Rolling Stone , December 2, 2010, accessed August 7, 2017 . 
9. ↑ 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. Rolling Stone , December 2, 2010, accessed August 7, 2017 . 
10. ↑ The 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time. Rolling Stone , August 2015, accessed August 7, 2017 . 
11. ↑ FAZ.net, June 15, 2015; FASZ June 7, 2015, page 43