HAPPY "FOLK" BIRTHDAY!!
James Taylor is 63 years old today. Now, normally you would expect to hear from soulful artists on my blog. But in my opinion James Taylor is soulful to me. The way he sings a song is very uplifting. His hits included "You Got A Friend" & "Fire & Rain". I can recall the first time, I heard "Fire & Rain". When I was a kid, I remember my mother use to sing this lyrics "I've seen fire and I've seen rain". For about two years, my mother use to sing this lyrics, but I never asked her who it was, because I thought I would hear it on the radio, but that never happen. Finally, we moved to NJ, and my mother began to sing those lyrics again. Loudly, I said "Mom who the heck is this you singing, I never heard it on the radio or anything that you played". She said "Junior that's James Taylor". With me looking confused, my mother went to our cabinet where my grandparents kept the 8 track tapes. I said "Mom what are those". She laughed and said "8 tracks baby". Mom continued to laugh while I examined these tapes and saying to myself, why are these things so big. Thereafter, she pulls out this black 8 track with James Taylor on it. She goes to the 8 track player, that I seen all my life, but never asked what it was. The first track was "Fire & Rain", so it got to the chorus "I've seen fire and I've seen rain, I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end" She says "thats where I got these lyrics from". So the song ended, the next track was "How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You", the Marvin Gaye classic. I said "Mom I know this song". She smiled as if I got an A on my report card because she seemed so pleased that I knew the song. Finally, it got to Taylor's best hit the Carole King's classic "You've Got A Friend". Meanwhile, as the night continued I told my mother to keep that 8 track playing because I like Taylor's voice.
With this memory, I figured it would only be right to dedicate a blog entry to him. James Taylor taught me that music is so universal. He did a Marvin Gaye classic and made it his own. In addition, that night I saw an 8 track for the first time. As I previously stated my mother said in order for you to know music, you have to know all types of music. Thanks Mr. Taylor for opening my eyes to new music and helping me learn what an 8 track was.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY thanks for the classic music
Hits from James Taylor
FIRE & RAIN
HOW SWEET IT IS
YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND
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