2 Greats: James Taylor

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I'm doin my thing, you new to the game
Don't hate, "Celebrate" pa, Kool and the Gang
I don't have a big crew, just Dru and Starang
And a couple of loose screw dudes boostin' your chain

- Sean P

The beat-digging nerd in me and the folk-music-raised-me nerd in me get along so nicely! Therefore, I would now like to proclaim my love to both

James "JT" Taylor, Kool & the Gang singer and vocal ruler of ten thousand roller-skating rinks in 1982, AND

James Taylor, solo sensitive man singer and Carly Simon impregnator.

Despite this blogger being a '70s funk dorkstress who often cuddles with her vinyl copy of Wild and Peaceful, I think I maybe possible actually like '80s Kool & the Gang better than '70s Kool & the Gang! Oh my! And it's all 'cause of James "JT" Taylor's voice, so buttery.
(or maybe it's just that I still have unresolved Mase and Sean Combs Anger Issues due to the desecration of my precious 1974 banger "Hollywood Swinging"?).

"Too Hot" is about relationship conflicts,
"Get Down On It" is about getting down on it,
"Joanna" is about a lovely female type named Joanna and the fact that she never lets him down, especially at night (hollerrrr),

and

this song's about me, walking down Fairfax Ave. on a 75-degree Saturday in a cotton sundress; don't let anybody tell you different.

"Fresh"

mp3.
Remember what I said before, about his buttery vocals? Ummm, yeah, that part at the end, around 3:30.
PS, today's his birthday (08/16/53)!





In part II of the post, all I do is post a picture of the other James Taylor and hope you guys understand how he was like my mom's Elliott Smith, kind of sort of, singing about substances and loss while playing guitar.



Beautiful, dark-haired, baby James Taylor circa 1970 was the best.
Pre-balding, pre-soccer-mom, pre-awful-covers-of-Marvin-Gaye-songs James Taylor was the best.


"Sweet Baby James"

mp3.

This song's like a waltz, in 3/4 time.
And it sounds so soothing, like a lullaby, because that's what it is -
a goodnight song he wrote it for his baby nephew just after he was born. Aw.


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