James Taylor’s songs are so familiar that they seem to have always existed. Onstage at the New Yorker Festival, in 2010, Taylor peeled back some of his influences—the Beatles, Bach, show tunes, and Antônio Carlos Jobim—and played a few of his hits, even giving the staff writer Adam Gopnik a quick lesson.This segment originally aired on July 7, 2017.
Chapter 1: Who are the key influences on James Taylor's music?
I saw the Fender Electrics, the shape, the amazing finish of them, the way they looked, the chrome, the mother of toilet seat. But they wouldn't go for it. So it was a classic guitar. And immediately, I got, I'll show you what the first thing I ever played on it was. Simple, but... It spoke to me, and it just immediately started making sounds that I wanted to hear more of.
And the cello never did it. You sold the cello at that point and pawned it on 46 Train.
Chapter 2: What was James Taylor's early music education like?
Chapter 3: How did James Taylor transition from cello to guitar?
Chapter 4: What was the first song James Taylor ever wrote?
Chapter 5: How did James Taylor get his big break in music?
Chapter 6: What themes does James Taylor explore in his songwriting?
Chapter 7: How did James Taylor feel about his music becoming universal?
Chapter 8: What role do covers play in James Taylor's career?
I saw the Fender Electrics, the shape, the amazing finish of them, the way they looked, the chrome, the mother of toilet seat. But they wouldn't go for it. So it was a classic guitar. And immediately, I got, I'll show you what the first thing I ever played on it was. Simple, but... It spoke to me, and it just immediately started making sounds that I wanted to hear more of.
And the cello never did it. You sold the cello at that point and pawned it on 46 Train.
I don't know what happened to that damn cello. It's got to be around somewhere. I hope someone's playing it.
And you started to compose just the way kids do, teenagers do on the guitar. You just chord to chord and idea to idea. What was the first song you ever wrote that you thought was a good song?
I wrote a song called, when I was 13 or 14, called Roll River Roll. It's pretty awful. I can play it for you.
Would you please? I don't think this is ever here. James Taylor's first song. Has this been widely covered, James?
No, it hasn't been widely covered. And the fact that nobody here tonight has ever heard it is proof of how lame it was. You know, it was really... This is something called Travis picking that we all learned.
Right.
Sort of a walking thumb. And then the one or two fingers thrown in.
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