I believe musicians have a duty, a responsibility to reach out, to share your love or pain with others.
~James Taylor

That’s the motivation of an artist – to seek attention of some kind.
~James Taylor

When people use the term “singer/songwriter” (often modified by the word “sensitive”) in praise or in criticism, they’re thinking of James Taylor.
~William Ruhlmann (allmusic.com)

Fire & Rain – Live

Birth name James Vernon Taylor Born March 12, 1948 (age 65) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. Origin Chapel Hill, North Carolina Genres Folk rock, rock, pop, soft rock, country Occupations Singer-songwriter, musician Instruments Vocals, guitar, harmonica Years active 1966–present Labels Apple, Capitol, EMI, Warner Bros., Columbia, SME, Hear Music Associated acts Carole King, Carly Simon, Eric Clapton, Joe Walsh, Joni Mitchell, J.D. Souther, Stevie Wonder, Art Garfunkel, Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt, David Crosby, Don Henley Website www.jamestaylor.com James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. Taylor achieved his breakthrough in 1970 with the No. 3 single “Fire and Rain” and had his first No. 1 hit the following year with “You’ve Got a Friend”, a recording of Carole King’s classic song. His 1976 Greatest Hits album was certified Diamond and has sold 12 million US copies. Following his 1977 album, JT, he has retained a large audience over the decades. His commercial achievements declined slightly until a resurgence during the late 1990s and 2000s, when some of his best-selling and most-awarded albums (including Hourglass, October Road and Covers) were released. Wikipedia

We all have to face pain, and pain makes us grow.
~James Taylor

You’ve Got A Friend (Live on North Sea Jazz Festival 2009)

Album of the day

Sweet Baby James (1970)

Other March 12

• Charles “Charlie” Parker, Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), also known as “Yardbird” and “Bird”, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Miles Davis once said, “You can tell the history of jazz in four words: Louis Armstrong. Charlie Parker.”
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• The Velvet Underground & Nico is the debut album by American rock band The Velvet Underground and vocal collaborator Nico. It was originally released in March 1967 by Verve Records. Recorded in 1966 during Andy Warhol‘s Exploding Plastic Inevitable multimedia event tour, The Velvet Underground & Nico would gain notoriety for its experimentalist performance sensibilities, as well as the focus on controversial subject matter expressed in many of their songs.–
• Leonard Chess (March 12, 1917 – October 16, 1969) was a record company executive and the founder of Chess Records. He was influential in the development of electric blues.–
• Bill Payne (born March 12, 1949, Waco, Texas, USA) co-founded, with Lowell George, the American rock band Little Feat. He is considered by many other piano rock musicians, including Elton John, to be one of the finest American piano rock and blues music artists. In addition to his trademark barrelhouse blues piano, he is noted for his work on other keyboard instruments, particularly theHammond B3 organ. Payne is also an accomplished songwriter whose credits include co-writing, with Lowell George, the Little Feat classic, “Oh, Atlanta.”

-Egil