#record grouch

Bought: 1/1/13 for $2

Record Grouch - Greenpoint, Brooklyn

James Taylor came into my consciousness in the late ‘90s, around the time he was experiencing a career rebirth and I was in junior high.

A friend-of-mine’s dad would always pump out his records and sing along enthusiastically whenever they hosted a party. Yeah, big JT fan. He even had this story about working in an embassy somewhere, and he got to help the guy out with his travel plans because there was a hiccup with his visa. I guess maybe JT rocked the boat a bit too much when he was younger.

There’s also that great Simpsons episode, Deep Space Homer, where JT comes to mission control and plays some relaxing folk-rock for the astronauts while all hell is breaking lose on the spacecraft. Good stuff.

My appreciation of this record doesn’t really approach the critical and commercial approval it’s garnered over the years - I don’t know, it’s just some of the songs are kind of cheesy. But the whole folk-rock genre treads liquid-gouda water anyway. Even still, on this, his second album, it’s clear JT has carved out his own distinct sound. Nothing gets me in the mood to do some ponderin’ quite like that syrupy old voice. And Fire and Rain is untouchable. That songs hits like a kangaroo to the solar plexus.