Columnist Joe Delaney: Time to trace Taylor’s long recording history

Joe Delaney

Friday, Oct. 12, 2001 | 9:01 a.m.

Joe Delaney's column appears on Thursdays and Fridays. Reach him at 259-4066 or joe@lasvegassun.com

Super-sensitive singer and songwriter James Taylor performs in the Mandalay Bay Events Center Saturday at 8 p.m. ... It was the late John Hammond, responsible for the discovery and launching the recording careers of George Benson, Bob Dylan and Aretha Franklin (the same day) and Bruce Springsteen, who first made me aware of Taylor when he gave me a copy of a Taylor album.

The album was "Sweet Baby James" on the Warner Bros. label ... The year was 1971, and I was impressed by two songs that became hits, "Steamroller Blues" and "Fire and Rain" ... Hammond was merely a fan of Taylor, although I suspect he may have something to do with his later moving to the Columbia, now Sony, label.

Taylor's version of "You've Got a Friend" went to No. 1 in 1971 ... It was a Carole King composition that was released later on her classic "Tapestry" album, which still holds the record for number of weeks in succession on Billboard's best-selling album charts ... King was the pianist on the "Sweet Baby James" album.

My favorite Taylor memory involves "Fire and Rain," but Taylor was not the singer ... The singer was Bobby Darin; the year was 1973, and he dedicated the song to my wife and myself during a Desert Inn Crystal Room performance ... It became his life story ... We both cried ... Darin died just before Christmas, on the operating table, that year.

Taylor's first album release (1968) was produced in London by Peter Asher for the Beatles' Apple label, with Paul McCartney and George Harrison performing on one of the selections ... He returned to America, signed with Warner Bros., and "Sweet Baby James" came next in 1971.

Asher rejoined Taylor as his record producer for his first Columbia release, "J.T.," in 1977 ... Taylor was comparatively quiet in the 1980s, then enjoyed a resurgence of energy and popularity in the 1990s that continues today ... I'm equally fond of "Hour Glass" (1997), with guest appearances by Stevie Wonder, Shawn Colvin and Branford Marsalis.

Acoustic, simple, eloquent, yet always understated, Taylor ranks among the top poet-songwriters during the past three decades.

Reno, concluded

My recent trip was the second weekend after the tragic events of Sept. 11 ... The friendliness of the people who worked in the various hotels I visited in both Reno and Tahoe was warm, honest and consistent ... Reno took the events of Sept. 11 as hard as we did at home, but the hotels were not hit as hard the first two weeks, comparatively.

Saturday was special as Brendan Bowyer's daughter, Aisling, and Robin, the wife of Gordie Brown's musical director, Mark Scholl, drove with me to Tahoe and then completely around Lake Tahoe, one of the most beautiful Alpine lakes in the world ... Let's hope they can prevent the spread of algae and preserve the lake's pristine attractiveness.

Aisling Bowyer has that pure Irish beauty, both in her voice and her presence onstage in Dick Foster's production "Whisper," at Harrah's Reno ... She will stay with "Whisper" for six more months, with December off to tour Ireland and England with her father ... Brendan Bowyer has a No. 1 single in Ireland, "Follow On," from a CD that is No. 3 in both Ireland and England.

Foster is also responsible for the red-hot Brown show, which is the earlier attraction in Sammy's Showroom at Harrah's Reno ... Foster's "Spellbound" ran successfully for a number of years at Harrah's here, as did his "Imagine" at the Luxor ... He is also active in Atlantic City and on various cruise lines, noted for quality endeavors.

Support local activities, particularly at UNLV and CCSN ... Support good jazz wherever it's played ... Prices are right, quality is always high ... Be a participant ... See you next Thursday.