Sherry Davis texts me from her cab after the show.
James Taylor is 62 years old.
Carole King? 68…
Carole tells of hearing the first hit she wrote with Gerry Goffin on the radio while drivin in their coupe. The song? The Everly Brothers “Crying In The Rain”. And then Taylor and King duet on it as their stage in the circle rotates.
It is lovely.
It is a great song.
I wish King had dug deeper in the earliest portion of her career. No “The Locomotion” tonight, no “Up On The Roof” no “Chains” (the Beatles covered “Chains” on their first album -King is the only writer in the world for whom that would be an afterthought), and forget “Point Of No Return”. As Taylor notes, their first set list written up last November would’ve taken six hours to perform.
So what we get is mostly the sure fire hits and therin lies a problem for me. I don’t suffer from musical nostalgia. I can’t hear (and I mean hear) “I Feel The Earth Move” anymore the way I can’t hear “Hey Jude”. Sure, they are masterpieces but I am completely burnt on them and they have no more secrets to reveal.
This is the reunion from the LA Troubadour show in 1970. Which means Sweet Baby James was released at the time of the initial concerts and Tapestry wasn’t released. So sure Taylor and King were picking out songs from all parts of their career not just pre-1970 but the Troubadour monicker wasn’t just a hook. It is the same backing band as 1970 (Sherry: “I can’t believe they are all still here”) and it also means the guitarist is the legendary Danny Kortchmar, who plays some blistering blues on “Steamroller Blues” late in the set.
The band goes on at 815p and plays to 1045p with a twenty minute. Taylor opens with “Something In The Way She Moves” and King counters with “So Far Away” and the two together are so dreary I have my doubts absolutely and immediately. The set is gorgeous by the way, pictures of the band members in 1970 flits on screens along with lovely song illustrations. The band is great, both Taylor and King are in fine voice but it is a bit perfunctory and it is a naff start.
It takes them half an hour to get their bearings and it takes the exceedingly witty James Taylor’s dubbing of an awesome one two punch, “Sweet Seasons” followed by “Country Road”, as “Hymns for agnostics” for the set as to regain its balance. King gets all of her masterpiece on the way Seasons and years move and Taylor is even better with an extended rap at the end of a blistering and awesome “Country Road”. This was followed a little later by a gospel flavored “Shower The People” and a thrilling “Natural Woman”. King trying (and failing) to steal the song back from Aretha Franklin.
The second half begins with “Back To Canaan”. In 2010 I prefer the Tapestry follow up Rhyme And Reason. Seen as a disappointment at the time, it is a straight up continuation and completely great and since it is less popular than Tapestry it feels new when I listen to it. A song from it maybe not the best choice for the rest of the audience.
And I have another problem as well. When King says Taylor inspired her to start writing the lyric as well as the music and to sing the songs herself, ergo Tapestry, I don’t believe her. And for all the masses of affection on the stage it is a little studied to my mind.
Nitpicking? You wanna try this when you’re 68 years old? Sure, you’re right. But while I am happy, the world ISN’T moving: On the truly dreadful (undisputed worst song she has ever written) “Jazzman” I wanna throw things at the stage and during a dire twofer with a similar theme they wrote at the same time, I have no idea why they think I wanna listen to em.
By the end however I am being wooed and how, the Shirelles “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” is moving and kinda racy (it is ALL SUBTEXT) and “Fire And Rain” still devastating.
The concert ends with “I Feel The Earth Move” and “I’ve Got A Friend” and encore with Marvin Gaye’s great “How Sweet It Is” before rolling stuff up alone together with “Close Your Eyes” (never heard it before, but…)
So, yeah, Sherry loved it and I didn’t hate it. It is always an honor to see Carole King and it has been five years since I caught her at Radio City. Taylor is always around and so we take him for granted. He is playing Carnegie later this year.
From Taylor blues blowout on “Steamroller Blues” (“From the sublime to the ridiculous” he cracks. The man is hysterical) to King shaking her body in the middle of the stage, this was not just a nostalgia trip. But it was a nostalgia trip nevertheless I loved it but I’ve loved em both more.