James Taylor: One Man Band

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Jesse Kornbluth wrote in the Huffington Post: "His voice: undented after four decades of regular use. Sense of humor: still charmingly off-center, but never blue. And his stories about his early days — they take me back to when we were kids. … It was September 1963, and my brother Richard and I were 'new boys' at Milton Academy. … James was 'Moose', because he was tall and gangly, with a shy, embarrassed smile that suggested he knew he was in the wrong place. … [A]t Harvard … James, now somewhat itinerant, spent the occasional night on my couch. … Through it all, James was making music. … And then James was off to England. … The Beatles loved his butter-smooth voice and those ultra-laid back, sorta-country-but-not-quite songs, and they made him the first 'artist' on their new label. … [T]he impulse to do a straightforward, confessional piece is the musician's equivalent of writing a memoir. It's hard to do. But this one doesn't feel fake, and it doesn't sound forced, and although he's still got that shy, embarrassed smile, James Taylor looks as if he feels he's in the right place" ("Exclusive Preview," 11/7/07).