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Lawrence Welk
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Lawrence Welk (March 11, 1903 - May 17, 1992) was a musician, accordion player, bandleader, and television impresario. His style came to be known to his large number of radio, television, and live-performance fans as "champagne music." He is a 1961 inductee of North Dakota's Roughrider Award.





Beginnings

Lawrence was born in Strasburg, North Dakota, as one of nine children to Catholic, German-speaking, immigrants from French portion of Alsace-Lorraine, via Odessa, Russia.

The family lived on a homestead outside of town which today still stands as a popular tourist attraction. The first year they lived there, they spent the cold Dakota winter underneath an upturned wagon covered in sod. Never intent on being a farmer, Welk became interested in a career in music, convincing his father to purchase a mail-order accordion for $400. He made a promise to his father that he would continue to work on the farm until he turned twenty-one; in exchange, he would work on the farm and any money he made working elsewhere, whether doing farmwork or putting on a show, would go to his family.

Welk is said to have learned English only when he was already an adult because he always spoke German at home. When he was asked about his ancestry, he replied always with "Alsace-Lorraine, Germany"; This is explained in his autobiography titled "Wunnerful, Wunnerful!"


Early career

On his twenty-first birthday, Welk, having fufilled his promise to his father, left the family farm to pursue a career in music. During the 1920s, he first performed with the Lincoln Boulds and George T. Kelly bands before starting his own orchestra. He led big band engagements in the North Dakota and eastern South Dakota area, such as the Hotsy Totsy Boys and later the Honolulu Fruit Gum Orchestra. His band was also the station band for popular radio station WNAX in Yankton, South Dakota.

During the 1930s, Welk led a travelling big band, specializing in dance tunes and 'sweet' music. The term Champagne Music was derived from an engagement at the William Penn Hotel in Pittsburgh, when a dancer referred to his band's sound as "light and bubbly as champagne". The band performed in many places across the country, particularly in the Chicago area. In the early 1940s, the band began a regular 10-year stint at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, regularly drawing crowds of nearly 7000.

His orchestra also performed frequently at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City during the late 1940s. Welk also led his orchestra in many motion picture soundies, considered to be the early pioneers of music videos and had their own syndicated radio program sponsored by Miller High Life beer.


The Lawrence Welk Show


In 1951, Welk settled in Los Angeles, California. That same year, he began producing The Lawrence Welk Show on KTLA in Los Angeles where it was broadcast from the Aragon Ballroom in Venice Beach. After being a local hit, the show first aired nationally on ABC in 1955. Welk's television program had a policy to play only well-known songs and tunes from previous years, so that the target audience would only hear numbers that they were already familiar with. The type of music on the show was conservative, concentrating mostly on pop song standards, polkas, and novelty songs, delivered in a smooth, calming, good-humored easy listening style and it was family-oriented. This strategy proved commercially successful.

Much of the show's appeal was Welk himself. Although born in the United States, he spoke with a slight but notable German accent that many found to be appealing. While his English was passable, he never did grasp the English idiom completely, and was thus famous for his "Welk-isms", such as "George, I want to see you when you have a minute, right now". His TV show was recorded as if it were live and was sometimes quite free-wheeling. He often took ladies from the audience for a turn around the dance floor. During one show Welk brought a cameraman out to dance with one of the ladies and took over the camera himself.

Welk's musicians were always top quality, including accordionist Myron Floren and New Orleans Dixieland clarinetist Pete Fountain. Though Welk was occasionally rumored to be very tight with a dollar, he paid his regular band members top scale - a very good living for a working musician. He was noted for spotlighting individual members of his band and show. His band was well-disciplined and had excellent arrangements in all styles. One notable showcase was his album with the noted jazz saxophonist Johnny Hodges. Welk had a number of instrumental hits, including a cover of the song "Yellow Bird". His highest charting record was his recording of "Calcutta". Welk himself was indifferent to the tune, but his musical director George Cates said that if Welk did not wish to record the song, he, (Cates) would. Welk replied: "Well, if it's good enough for you George, I guess it's good enough for me". Despite the emergence of rock and roll, Calcutta reached number 1 on the U.S. pop charts in 1961, and was recorded in only one take.

The Lawrence Welk Show embraced changes on the musical scene over the years. The show continued to feature fresh music alongside the classics for as long as it existed, even music originally not intended for the big band sound. During the 1960s and 1970s, for instance, the show incorporated material by such contemporary sources as The Beatles, Burt Bacharach and Hal David, The Everly Brothers and Paul Williams, albeit in Welk's signature Champagne style. The show, which was originally in black and white, later went to color in September 1965. In time it would feature synthesized music and, towards the end, early chroma key technology that would add a new dimension to the story settings sometimes used for the musical numbers. He refers to his blue screen effect in one episode as "the magic of television".


Personal life

Welk was married for sixty-one years, until his death, to Fern Renner, with whom he had three children. One of his sons, Lawrence Welk, Jr., ended up marrying fellow Lawrence Welk Show performer Tanya Falan. He would also have numerous grandchildren and great grandchildren.


Later years

After retiring his show and from the road in 1982, the maestro continued to air reruns of his shows which were repackaged first for syndication and starting in 1987 for public television. Welk also starred and produced a pair of Christmas specials in 1984 and 1985.

He died from pneumonia in Santa Monica, California in 1992 and is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.


Legacy

His band continues to appear in a dedicated theater in Branson, Missouri. In addition, the television show has been repackaged for broadcast on PBS stations, with updates from show performers appearing where commercial breaks were during the original shows. The repackaged shows are broadcast at roughly the same Saturday-night time slot as the original ABC shows, and special longer Welk show rebroadcasts are often shown during individual stations' fund-raising periods.

A resort community in Escondido, California, developed by the maestro and promoted heavily by him on the show, is still named for Welk.

His organization, The Welk Group consists of his resort communities in Branson and Escondido; Welk Syndication which is responsible for broadcasting the show on public television and the Welk Music Group which operates record labels Sugar Hill, Vanguard and Ranwood.

The Live Lawrence Welk Show makes annual concert tours across the United States and Canada featuring the actual stars from the television series such as Ralna English, Mary Lou Metzger and Big Tiny Little.


Facts

Welk's California automobile license plate read A1ANA2, referencing his trademark count-off before each number, "A one, and a two..." This plate is visible on the front of a Model A Ford in one of the shows from 1980.

Known as an excellent businessman, the maestro, thanks to wise investments in real estate and music publishing, was the second wealthiest entertainer in Hollywood, the wealthiest being Bob Hope.

Welk was the Grand Marshal for the Rose Bowl's Tournament of Roses parade in 1972.

He enjoyed playing golf, which he first took up in the late 1950s, and was often a regular at many celebrity pro-ams such as the Bob Hope Desert Classic.

He was also a recipient of the state of North Dakota's Roughrider Award.

The Welk family homestead in Strasburg is now a popular tourist attraction in North Dakota.

In 1994, he was inducted into the International Polka Music Hall Of Fame.

From the late 1950s to the mid-1980s, the Welk Group was known as Teleklew in which tele stood for television and klew was Welk spelled backwards. His grandson, Lawrence Welk III, is a reporter and helicopter traffic pilot for KCAL and KCBS television in Los Angeles.

Albert Salmi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Albert Salmi (March 11, 1928 - April 22, 1990) was an American actor.


Biography

Albert Salmi was born in Brooklyn, New York to Finnish immigrant parents, and following a stint in the Army, took up acting as a career, studying Method acting with Lee Strasberg. In 1955, Salmi starred in Bus Stop on Broadway. He elected to take the show on the road where he fell in love with and married his leading lady, former child star Peggy Ann Garner on 16 May 1956. Their only child, Catherine Ann Salmi died in 1995 at the age of 38.

He made his film debut as Smerdjakov in the 1958 movie version of The Brothers Karamazov with Yul Brynner, Lee J. Cobb, William Shatner, and Richard Basehart. Albert's next film was The Bravados in which he played one of the villains hunted down by hero Gregory Peck. The National Board of Review presented Albert with the NBR Award for Best Supporting Actor for his work in both of these films.

He held several memorable roles on The Twilight Zone. He also appeared in a Gunsmoke episode as a killer who comes to an ironic end.

Salmi and Garner divorced on 13 March 1963. Around the same time, he started a role as the comical Yadkin on TV's Daniel Boone opposite Fess Parker. He also had a regular role on the 1970s TV law series Petrocelli. In the series Land of the Giants last episode he appeared as a pair of evil twins.

The high point of Salmi's career came in 1968, when he was cast in the Arthur Miller play The Price. He played the lead on Broadway and in London.

In 1990, Salmi and his second wife, Roberta, were found shot to death in their home in Spokane, Washington in what was ruled a murder-suicide. In all fairness, it should be noted that according to all accounts, Salmi was a loving, devoted husband. At the time of the shooting, his wife was terminally ill and Salmi himself was also in poor health. He had often said he could not imagine life without her.

Mirror, mirror on the wall
Do you have to tell it all?


Where do you get the glaring light
To make my clothes look just too tight?


I think I'm fine but I can see
you won't cooperate with me;


The way you let the shadows play
You'd think my hair was getting gray.


What's that, you say? A double chin?
No, that's the way the light comes in;


If you persist in peering so
You'll confiscate my facial glow,


And then if you're not hanging straight
You'll tell me next I'm gaining weight;


I'm really quite upset with you
For giving this distorted view;


I hate you being smug and wise -
O, look what's happened to my thighs!


I warn you now, O mirrored wall,
Since we're not on speaking terms at all,


If I look like this in my new jeans,
You'll find yourself in smithereens

Good morning, WA2K listeners and contributors.

Hey, hawkman. I see you are up and about today with great bio's and a mirror rhyme. Love it, buddy.(except when I look in the mirror)

A smile about Lawerence Welk, BioBob. He introduced a Duke Ellington song as "....take a train..." when it should have been.........

You must take the "A"-Train
To go to sugar hill way up in Harlem
If you miss the "A"-Train
You'll find you missed the quickest way to Harlem
Hurry - get on now it's coming
Listen - to these rails a-humming - all board
get on the "A"-Train
Soon You will be on sugar hill in Harlem.

Then, there was the parody on his "bubble machine" by Stan Freberg; back later with that one.

Now for the Yitwails, here's the perfect song for today by Lambert, Hendricks and Ross


I heard me a sermonette Have you heard it yet?
With that soulful message that you won't soon forget
It tells about real true love people lost sight of
through their sinful livin' and scornin' Heaven above

It tells you to love one another, To feel that each man's your brother
Live right, 'cause you know that you reap (just) what you sew
And so to have no regrets, and to find what you're missin,
Bow your head and listen to this sermonette.

We, of course, will await our Raggedy for the face thing.

Train of Love
Johnny Cash

Train of love's a-comin', big black wheels a-hummin'
People waitin' at the station, happy hearts are drummin'
Trainman tell me maybe, ain't you got my baby
Every so often everybody's baby gets the urge to roam
But everybody's baby but mine's comin' home.
Now stop your whistle blowin', 'cause I got ways of knowin'
Your bringin' other people's lovers, but my own keeps goin'
Train of love's deceivin', when she's not gone she's leavin'
Every so often everybody's baby gets the urge to roam
But everybody's baby but mine's comin' home
Train of love's now hastin', sweethearts standin' waitin'
Here and there and everywhere, there's going to be embracin'
Trainman tell me maybe, ain't you got my baby
Every so often everybody's baby gets the urge to roam
But everybody's baby but mine's comin' home
Train of love's a-leavin', leavin' my heart grievin'
But early or late, I sit and wait, because I'm still believin'
We'll walk away together, though I may wait forever
Every so often everybody's baby gets the urge to roam
But everybody's baby but mine's comin' home

Well, edgar, guess we're on a train track this morning, Texas, so let's move along with one by The Monkees

Last Train to Clarksville

Words and Music by
Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart

Take the last train to Clarksville,
And I'll meet you at the station.
You can be be there by four thirty,
'Cause I made your reservation.
Don't be slow, oh, no, no, no!
Oh, no, no, no!

'Cause I'm leavin' in the morning
And I must see you again
We'll have one more night together
'Til the morning brings my train.
And I must go, oh, no, no, no!
Oh, no, no, no!
And I don't know if I'm ever coming home.

Take the last train to Clarksville.
I'll be waiting at the station.
We'll have time for coffee flavored kisses
And a bit of conversation.
Oh... Oh, no, no, no!
Oh, no, no, no!

Take the last train to Clarksville,
Now I must hang up the phone.
I can't hear you in this noisy
Railroad station all alone.
I'm feelin' low. Oh, no, no, no!
Oh, no, no, no!
And I don't know if I'm ever coming home.

Take the last train to Clarksville,
Take the last train to Clarksville,
[repeat and fade]

Oklahoma Hills
Words and Music by Woody Guthrie and Jack Guthrie

Many a month has come and gone
Since I've wandered from my home
In those Oklahoma hills
Where I was born

Many a page of my life has turned
Many lessons I have learned
And I feel like in those hills
Where I belong

CHORUS:
Way down yonder in the Indian nation
Ridin' my pony on the reservation
In the Oklahoma hills where I was born

Way down yonder in the Indian nation
A cowboy's life is my occupation
In the Oklahoma Hills where I was born

But as I sit here today
Many mile's I am away
From the place I rode my pony
Through the draw

Where the oak and black-jack trees
Kiss the playful prairie breeze
And I feel back in those hills
Where I belong

CHORUS

Now as I turn life a page
To the land of the great Osage
In those Oklahoma hills
Where I was born

Where the black oil rolls and flows
And the snow white cotton grows
And I feel like in those hills
Where I belong

CHORUS

Well, edgar. We can do hills and the ides of March at the same time.

Seven Hills

Beware false prophets bearing false gifts and carrying hidden knives and hidden agendas.

My city stands on seven hills
My ego dwells within
With seven courts for seven laws
Which bend against my will
There are many masks for me to wear
To judge with clemency
But it's a thankless task it's an empire of glass
A brittle transparency

The streets and architecture
Form a grandiose design
Sculptors mould my vision
Into artefacts sublime
Painters reflect beauty
in each image rich and bold
Poets agonize to find
The words that must be told


All roads lead me
My destiny to find
And if fate decrees to Hell I'll go
For I won't be denied

My army marched through many lands
To a thunder like applause
And plundered indiscriminately
To the betrayal of my cause
But my killer instinct failed me
In many a far off land
Until I had lost all hope and sense
Of where my city stands

A city built on one man's dreams
Can stand the test of time
If others share his vision rare
And can add to its design
But with vandals hammering at the door
And traitors from within
A swift blade thrust into the back
Cuts short a glorious reign

So lend me your ears
And hand my fiddle down

Good afternoon WA2K.

Faces to match:

There's our Raggedy with a trio of notables. Thanks, PA. There are the Gish girls, mother and daughter, Lawerence, and Albert. What a tragic end for that man and his wife. I simply cannont recall having seen him, I'm afraid.

Still looking for the bubble machine, and until I find it, I'll just make do with a bubble song.

Tiny bubbles in the wine,
Make me happy, make me feel fine,
Tiny bubbles make me warm all over
With a feeling that I'm gonna Love you 'til the end of time.

So here's to the golden moon,
And here's to the silver sea,
But most of all a toast to you and me

Tiny bubbles in the wine,
Make me happy, make me feel fine,
Tiny bubbles make me warm all over
With a feeling that I'm gonna Love you 'til the end of time.

So here's to the ginger lei
I give to you today
And here's a kiss that will not fade away.

Tiny bubbles in the wine,
Make me happy, make me feel fine,
Tiny bubbles make me warm all over
With a feeling that I'm gonna Love you 'til the end of time.

i took a whole stack of cd's out of the library yesterday including :
THE COLE PORTER CENTENNIAL COLLECTION .
just wonderful songs and melodies !
so enjoy !
hbg

Artist: Cole Porter
Song: Anything Goes
Album: Great American Composer Series
[" Great American Composer Series " CD]

Times have changed,
And we've often rewound the clock,
Since the Puritans got a shock,
When they landed on Plymouth Rock.
If today,
Any shock they should try to stem,
'Stead of landing on Plymouth Rock,
Plymouth Rock would land on them.

In olden days a glimpse of stocking
Was looked on as something shocking,
But now, God knows,
Anything Goes.

Good authors too who once knew better words,
Now only use four letter words
Writing prose, Anything Goes.

The world has gone mad today
And good's bad today,
And black's white today,
And day's night today,
When most guys today
That women prize today
Are just silly gigolos
And though I'm not a great romancer
I know that I'm bound to answer
When you propose,
Anything goes

When grandmama whose age is eighty
In night clubs is getting matey with gigolo's,
Anything Goes.

When mothers pack and leave poor father
Because they decide they'd rather be tennis pros,
Anything Goes.

If driving fast cars you like,
If low bars you like,
If old hymns you like,
If bare limbs you like,
If Mae West you like
Or me undressed you like,
Why, nobody will oppose!
When every night,
The set that's smart
Is intruding in nudist parties in studios,
Anything Goes.

The world has gone mad today
And good's bad today,
And black's white today,
And day's night today,
When most guys today
That women prize today
Are just silly gigolos
And though I'm not a great romancer
I know that I'm bound to answer
When you propose,
Anything goes

If saying your prayers you like,
If green pears you like
If old chairs you like,
If back stairs you like,
If love affairs you like
With young bears you like,
Why nobody will oppose!

And though I'm not a great romancer
And though I'm not a great romancer
I know that I'm bound to answer
When you propose,
Anything goes...
Anything goes!

and wishing you all :
good night ! sleep tight ! and may the bedbug bite ! :wink:
hbg

Artist: Cole Porter
Song: Begin The Beguine
Album: Great American Composer Series
[" Great American Composer Series " CD]

When they begin
the beguine
it brings back the sound
of music so tender
it brings back a night
of tropical splendor
it brings back a memory of green

I'm with you once more
under the stars
and down by the shore
an orchestras playing
and even the palms
seem to be swaying
when they begin
the beguine

to live it again
is past all endeavor
except when that tune
clutches my heart
and there we are swearing to love forever
and promising never
never to part

a moments divine
what rapture serene
to clouds came along
to disperse the joys we had tasted
and now when I hear people curse the chance that was wasted
I know but too well what they mean

so dont let them begin the beguine
let the love that was once a fire
remain an ember
let it sleep like the dead desire I only remember
when they begin the beguine

oh yes let them begin the beguine
make them play
til the stars that were there before
return above you
till you whisper to me
once more darling I love you
and we suddenly know what heaven we're in
when they begin
the beguine

and a goodnight from Letty as well, hbg.

I guess that I will wear green to bed in honor of the Irish.

From Letty with love

A WALK IN THE IRISH RAIN
(S. Spurgin)

When the sun goes down o'er Dublin town
The colors last for hours, oh
The lights come on, the night's a song
And the streets all turn to gold.

A gentle mist all heaven kissed
Like teardrops off an angel's wing
Don't you know you'll cleanse your soul
With a walk in the Irish rain.

Cho: Oh, Katherine, take my hand
I've got three pounds and change
And I'll sing you songs of love again
And when I get too drunk to sing
We'll walk in the Irish rain.

Forever more I've stepped ashore
My sailing days are over, oh
Through time and tide and by your side
Together we'll grow old.

I threw my sea bag in the bin
And brought these pretty flowers home
Kiss me Kate, we'll celebrate
Before the bloom is gone.

A tinker and a tailor and a drunken old sailor
They all get together and they start to play
Time stands still while they sing their fill
They'll shout 'til the break of day.

A sweet little lady with a glass of stout
Sippin' it down 'til the foam runs out
She'll help her old man home again
With a walk in the Irish rain.

Good morning, WA2K listeners and contributors.

hbg, Cole Porter was one prolific writer of songs. Know them both, Canada, and he thought that "anything goes" was exclusive to his time? He would be shocked today, no?

Hey, edgar. Love your Irish song, Texas, but as we have discussed before, this is probably an authentic song from the Emerald Isle and not Irish American:



The Rose of Tralee

The pale moon was rising above the green mountain,
The sun was declining beneath the blue sea;
When I strayed with my love to the pure crystal fountain,
That stands in the beautiful Vale of Tralee.
She was lovely and fair as the rose of the summer,
Yet 'twas not her beauty alone that won me;
Oh no, 'twas the truth in her eyes ever dawning,
That made me love Mary, the Rose of Tralee.


The cool shades of evening their mantle were spreading
And Mary all smiling sat listening to me;
The moon through the valley her pale rays were shining
When I won the heart of the Rose of Tralee.
She was lovely and fair as the rose of the summer,
Yet 'twas not her beauty alone that won me;
Oh no, 'twas the truth in her eyes ever dawning,
That made me love Mary, the Rose of Tralee.


On the far fields of India, mid war's bloody thunder,
Her voice was a solace and comfort to me,
But the cold hand of death has now torn us asunder
I'm lonely tonight for my Rose of Tralee.
She was lovely and fair as the rose of the summer,
Yet 'twas not her beauty alone that won me;
Oh no, 'twas the truth in her eyes ever dawning,
That made me love Mary, the Rose of Tralee.

Lovely song.

Gordon MacRae
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Albert Gordon MacRae (March 12, 1921 - January 24, 1986) was an American actor and singer, best known for his appearances in musical films of the 1950s.

Born in East Orange, New Jersey, MacRae made his Broadway debut in the mid-1940s, acquiring his first recording contract soon afterwards. Many of his hit recordings were made with Jo Stafford. It was in 1948 that he appeared in his first film, The Big Punch. He soon began an on-screen partnership with Doris Day. In 1953, he starred opposite Kathryn Grayson in the third film version of The Desert Song. This was followed by starring appearances in two major films of Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, Oklahoma! (1955) and Carousel (musical), both opposite Shirley Jones. At this point, alcoholism interfered with his career, and fewer movie musicals with a demand for his type of singing voice continued to be made, but MacRae appeared frequently on television and eventually overcame his alcoholism. He also toured in summer stock and appeared in nightclubs.

He was married to Sheila MacRae from 1941 until 1967, and was the father of Heather MacRae and the late Meredith MacRae.

He continued to record and act almost until the end of his life. He died of cancer of the mouth and jaw at his home in Lincoln, Nebraska at the age of 64.

James Taylor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Background information

Birth name James Vernon Taylor
Born March 12, 1948 (age 59)
Belmont, Massachusetts, USA
Origin Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Genre(s) Folk rock, Soft rock, R&B
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter, Guitarist
Instrument(s) Vocals, Guitar
Years active 1968 - Present
Label(s) Apple (1968-1969)
Warner Bros. (1970-1976)
Columbia (1977-2004)
Website JamesTaylor.com

James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, born in Belmont, Massachusetts.

Taylor's career began in the mid-1960s, but he found his audience in the early 1970s, singing sensitive and gentle acoustic songs. He was part of a wave of singer-songwriters of the time that also included Tom Rush, Carole King, Joni Mitchell, John Denver, Elton John, Jackson Browne as well as Carly Simon, whom Taylor later married.

His 1976 album Greatest Hits was certified diamond and has sold more than 11 million copies. He has retained a large audience well into the 1990s and 2000s, when some of his best-selling and most-awarded albums were released.




Biography

Early years

Taylor grew up in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where his father, Dr. Isaac M. Taylor, was the dean of the University of North Carolina Medical School from 1964 to 1971. His family summered on Martha's Vineyard.

Taylor's four siblings, Alex, Livingston, Hugh, and Kate, have also been musicians with recorded albums. (Livingston is still an active musician; Kate was active in the 1970s but did not record another album until 2003; Hugh operates a bed-and-breakfast with his wife; Alex died in 1993.) Taylor's children with Carly Simon, named Ben and Sally, have also embarked on musical careers. His father remarried later and had three more children: Preston, Theo, and Julia.


Early career

Taylor first learned to play the cello as a child in Chapel Hill, and switched to the guitar in 1960. His style on that instrument evolved from listening to hymns, carols, and Woody Guthrie. He attended Milton Academy, a prep school in Massachusetts, and summered with his family in Martha's Vineyard, where he met Danny Kortchmar. The two began playing folk music together. After dropping out of school, he formed a band with his brother, Alex. Later, he was committed to a psychiatric hospital for depression. He earned a high school diploma while in the hospital, and then left and formed a band called the Flying Machine with Kortchmar and Joel O'Brien. The band was signed to Rainy Day Records and released one single, "Brighten Your Night with My Day" (B-side: "Night Owl"). The record was not a success.

While living in New York City, Taylor became addicted to heroin. One night, after receiving a desperate phone call, his father drove to New York and "rescued" him. Taylor later wrote a song called "Jump Up Behind Me" that paid tribute to his father's help during a time of desperate need. The song also reflects on Taylor's memories of the long drive from New York back to his home in Chapel Hill.

In 1968, Taylor moved to London. He was signed to Apple Records after sending a demo tape to Peter Asher (of Peter & Gordon) and released his debut album, James Taylor. Despite the Beatles connection, and the presence of Paul McCartney and George Harrison on one track, the album did not sell very well, and Taylor's addiction worsened. Moving back to the United States, Taylor checked into a hospital to treat his drug problem. By 1969 he was well enough to perform live, and had a six-night stand at the Troubadour Club in Los Angeles. On July 20, 1969 he performed at the Newport Folk Festival. Shortly thereafter he broke both hands in a motorcycle accident on Martha's Vineyard and was forced to stop playing for several months.


1970s success

Once recovered, Taylor signed to Warner Bros. Records and moved to California keeping Asher as his manager and record producer. His second album, Sweet Baby James, was a massive success, buoyed by the single "Fire and Rain", a song about his experience in an asylum and the suicide of his friend, Suzanne Schnerr. The success of this single and the album piqued interest in Taylor's first album, James Taylor, bringing the album and the single, "Carolina In My Mind", back into the charts.

Taylor worked with Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys on a film, Two-Lane Blacktop, but this was unsuccessful at the time. 1971 saw the release of Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon, another hit album. He won a Grammy Award for his version of Carole King's "You've Got a Friend".

In 1972, Taylor returned with One Man Dog and married fellow singer-songwriter Carly Simon on November 3. His next album, 1974's Walking Man, was a disappointment but the following one, Gorilla, was a success partially because of a successful single cover version of Marvin Gaye's "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)". This was followed by In the Pocket in 1976 and then a greatest hits album that included some re-recordings of Apple Records-era material. It became a huge hit and remains Taylor's best selling album.

Taylor's wife, Carly Simon, was unhappy with his extended absences due to touring. After an ultimatum from her that he spend more time with their children, Ben and Sally, Taylor and Simon divorced in 1983.

Taylor signed with Columbia Records and released JT in 1977 winning another Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for his cover version of "Handy Man". The jazzy song "Traffic Jam" from the album has since become a favorite theme of rush-hour radio traffic reports.

After collaborating with Art Garfunkel and briefly working on Broadway, Taylor took a two-year break, reappearing in 1979 with another successful album, Flag, that featured a Top 40 cover of Gerry Goffin and Carole King's "Up On The Roof." Taylor also performed at the No Nukes concert in Madison Square Garden and appeared on the album and film from the concert.


1980s and 1990s

In the early 1980s Taylor's career was again beset by drug problems, plus his divorce from Simon and the pressures of the music business. He was quoted in various interviews that he was thinking of retiring after fulfilling his last contractual obligation, the Rock In Rio in 1985. However, he was surprised by the reception of the audience on Saturday, January 12 (there were 250,000 people, the biggest attendance of the 10-day festival), when he performed right before George Benson. Two days later, they were scheduled to perform in the same order but, since Taylor's extended performance had caused a huge delay to Benson's back on Saturday, Benson proposed that they switch the order. Taylor ended up the headliner in this second performance. Buoyed by the audience's reception, he decided to take back his life and his career. (16 years later, on January 12, 2001, he played the very same site, at the opening night of the third Rock in Rio, whose organizer, Roberto Medina, described Taylor to the Brazilian press then as "his good luck charm").

The song "Only a Dream in Rio" was written in tribute to that night, with verses like "I was there that very day and my heart came back alive". The album, That's Why I'm Here, from which that song came, started a series of studio recordings that, while spaced further apart than his previous records, showed a more consistent level of quality and fewer covers.

In 1988 he released Never Die Young. He began touring regularly and was especially popular on the American amphitheatre oldies circuit. His concerts, which continue to this day, feature songs from throughout his career and are marked by the musicianship of his band and backup singers. The 1993 two-disc (LIVE) album, captures this well with a highlight being Arnold McCuller's descants in the codas of "Shower the People" and "I Will Follow".

Taylor's two albums of original material from the 1990s were notably successful. His thirteenth album, New Moon Shine, went platinum in 1991 and he won the Grammy for Best Pop Album in 1998 for Hourglass.


2000s

In 2001 Taylor wed for the third time, marrying Caroline ("Kim") Smedvig, a Smith College graduate who is the Director of Public Relations and Marketing for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Part of their relationship was worked into the album October Road, on the song "On the 4th of July". The couple has twin boys, Rufus and Henry, born in 2001 to a surrogate mother via in-vitro fertilization.

Flanked by two greatest hit releases, October Road appeared in 2002 to a receptive audience. It featured a number of quiet instrumental accompaniments and passages. The album appeared in two versions, a single-disc version and a "limited edition" two-disc version which contained three extra songs including a duet with Mark Knopfler, "Sailing to Philadelphia", which also appeared on Knopfer's Sailing to Philadelphia album. Also in 2002, Taylor teamed with bluegrass musician Alison Krauss in singing "The Boxer" at the Kennedy Center Honors Tribute to Paul Simon. They later recorded the Louvin Brothers duet, "How's the World Treating You?"

In 2004, after his Columbia/Sony record contract was not renewed, he released James Taylor: A Christmas Album with distribution through Hallmark Cards.

Always visibly active in environmental and progressive causes, in October 2004 Taylor joined the "Vote for Change" tour playing a series of concerts in American swing states. These concerts were organized by MoveOn.org with the goal of mobilizing people to vote for John Kerry and against George W. Bush in that year's Presidential campaign. Taylor's appearances were joint performances with the Dixie Chicks.

In December 2004, Taylor appeared as himself in an episode of The West Wing entitled "A Change Is Gonna Come". He sang Sam Cooke's classic "A Change Is Gonna Come" at an event honoring an artist played by Taylor's wife Caroline. Taylor's rendition was then released over the Internet.

In 2006, Taylor performed Randy Newman's song "Our Town" for the Disney animated film Cars. The song was nominated for the 2007 Academy Award for the best Original Song. However, also in 2006, Taylor was named the number one "wussiest" rock act ever by Blender magazine.[1]

On January 1, 2007, Taylor headlined the inaugural concert at the Times Union Center in Albany, New York, honoring newly sworn in Governor of New York, Eliot Spitzer.


Trivia

He provided a guest voice to The Simpsons episode "Deep Space Homer" where he played some of his songs to Homer, Buzz Aldrin, and another astronaut when they were in space.
In The Simpsons episode "Three Gays of the Condo" James Taylor's face is pictured on the missing jigsaw puzzle piece.
His persona made an appearance in the South Park episode, "Fat Camp", where he sings "The Prostitute Song" (a song with a tune similar to Taylor's "Your Smiling Face") with Chef.
He often played with italian rock band Elio e le Storie Tese when touring in Italy

For those who enjoy language.....


…Or severe distortions thereof…
Those who jump off a bridge in Paris are in Seine .

A man's home is his castle, in a manor of speaking.

Dijon vu - the same mustard as before.

Practice safe eating - always use condiments.

Shotgun wedding: A case of wife or death.

A man needs a mistress just to break the monogamy.

A hangover is the wrath of grapes.

Dancing cheek-to-cheek is really a form of floor play.

Does the name Pavlov ring a bell?

Condoms should be used on every conceivable occasion.

Reading while sunbathing makes you well red.

When two egotists meet, it's an I for an I.

A bicycle can't stand on its own because it is two tired.

What's the definition of a will? (It's a dead give away.)

Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

In democracy your vote counts. In feudalism your count votes.

She was engaged to a boyfriend with a wooden leg but broke it off.

A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.

If you don't pay your exorcist, you get repossessed.

With her marriage, she got a new name and a dress.

When a clock is hungry, it goes back four seconds.

The man who fell into an upholstery machine is fully recovered.

You feel stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.

Local Area Network in Australia : the LAN down under.

Every calendar's days are numbered.

A lot of money is tainted - It taint yours and it taint mine.

A boiled egg in the morning is hard to beat.

He had a photographic memory that was never developed.

A midget fortune-teller who escapes from prison is a small medium at
large.

Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.

Once you've seen one shopping centre, you've seen a mall.

Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead-to-know basis..

Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses.

Acupuncture is a jab well done.

Hawkman, you just gave us a real laugh with those one liners. Yes, the English language is pun fun often, and we will dedicate those funnies to Noddy who asked a question about them. Later, our Raggedy will do her thing with names and faces(from romantic places)

I think most of you know how much I adore James Taylor, but before we do a song from him, let's listen to this one by Gordon McRae from Carousel.

If I loved you, time and again I would try to say
All I'd want you to know
If I loved you, words wouldn't come in an easy way
`round in circles I'd go

Longin' to tell you but, afraid and shy,
I'd let my golden chances pass me by

Soon you'd leave me, off you would go in the mist of day
Never, never to know
How I love you, if I loved you

<brief>

Soon you'd leave me, off you would go in the mist of day
Never, never to know
How I love you, if I loved you