One of my more mellow favorites growing up was James Taylor. I had to be in a really mellow mood to listen to him.

James Taylor was born on March 12, 1948 and lived in Belmont, Massachusetts. His father, Isacc M. Taylor was the dean of the University of North Carolina Medical School from 1964 to 1971. He spent his summers on Martha’s Vineyard.

When he was a child, he learned to play the cello, but later switched to the guitar in 1960. His early roots were hymns, carols, and Woody Guthrie. He dropped out of school to persue music with a friend of his, Danny Kortchmar. He formed a band with his brother, Alex.

James Taylor was committed to a psychiatric hospital for depression. He earned his high school diploma while in the hospital. When he got out, he left for New York City. While living in New York, he became addicted to heroin. He called his father to rescue him and bring him back home.

In 1968, he moved to London after sending a demo tape to Peter Asher. Even with the help of Paul McCartney and George Harrison on one song for his first album, he records didn’t sell very well, and his addiction worsened. He came back to the U.S. and checked back into a treatment facility in Stockridge, Mass. On July 20, 1969, he performed at the Newport Folk Festival. Shortly afterwards, he broke both his hands in a motorcycle accident on Martha’s Vinyard and was forced to stop playing for several months.

His second album, which actually came out in 1970 was his more successful album, Sweet Baby James. The song, “Fire and Rain” was a song that he wrote about his experience in an asylum and the suicide of his friend, Suzanne Schnerr.

James Taylor and Joni Mitchell performing at Queens College, New York, circa 1969

He married Carly Simon in the early seventies. He revived some old songs, “How Sweet it is (to be loved by you)” by Marvin Gaye, and Carol King’s songs, “Up On The Roof”, and “You’ve Got A Friend”. He was divorced in 1983 because he was always going overseas to perform, but was married two more times later, and has done many projects over the years.