Thursday 23 April 2015

James Taylor - Carnegie, album review



Carnegie Again

Having posted about Ryan Adams’ recent Carnegie Hall release, it only seems apt to mention that other genius songwriter James Taylor and his live performance there, recorded in May 1974 and initially released in June of that year and then re-released in December 2014. This begins with solo performances and then James brings on an ever increasing band, including Carly Simon on a few songs. Naturally, it is a stellar live set across two cds, and there are snippets of Taylor’s distinctive laconic humour punctuated between various tracks. There are the familiar gems, brilliant in any context of performance, but I do like the upbeat guitar and harmonica on Me and My Guitar, the rock of Country Road, the rousing horns and sax [and tuba by Carly Simon, apparently] on You’re the One [That I Adore], Carly dueting on their hit single Mockingbird, and the continued harmonising background vocals on Ain’t No Song.


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