Despite the fact that I’m not old enough to have been present for James Taylor’s commercial heyday, his voice is one I remember quite clearly from my youth, or more specifically my adolescence. His calm tones were ever-present on New York’s Lite-FM, a station that was a constant during late night drives with my grandmother to pick my grandfather up from work.
As I got older, despite what many folks may think about the musical taste someone who looks like me should have, I became an even bigger fan of the original JT’s music. His Greatest Hits album (you know, the one with the white cover that everyone and their mother owns) was in heavy rotation in my early twenties, and I can probably still sing that entire album front to back from memory. Not only was JT making great records well into my adulthood (1997’s Hourglass is an amazing fucking record), but his influence can be felt through any number of singer/songwriters whose music I also love, ranging from John Mayer to The Foreign Exchange’s Phonte Coleman (who covered “Something In The Way She Moves”-beautifully, I might add-in concert).
It’s been a hot minute since James released an album of new material. For the past decade, his recorded output has consisted of two covers albums and a live set with fellow singer/songwriter Carole King (whose “You’ve Got A Friend” was given a definitive reading by JT).
Well, guess what? Before This World, James’s first new music in 13 years, will be released June 16th. I’m super excited, and “Today, Today, Today” is the first single. Obviously, one wouldn’t expect James Taylor to reinvent the wheel at this point–you’re getting exactly what you sign up for on this song. You can give it a listen below.
There are a bunch of album packages available on various formats. You can of course order it digitally, but here’s a link to order the CD or record directly from Taylor’s website. Check it out here.