Unchain My Heart
(quoted song:
Soul Thing)
Taylor describes his young self as "some southern fried version of Eddie Haskell on
Leave It To Beaver", the mischevous kid with a gift of gab, always trying to ingratiate himself with the parents of his friends.
:haha:
At one friend's house, noticed the parents had "an extremely cool record collection full of classic soulful oldies." He sat their in the sunny living room with his mouth open, just staring at the cover and listening over and over again to the songs.. THE BEST OF OTIS REDDING.
The music spoke to me and yet took me outside of myself. As I hung on every word and every note Otis delivered, it felt as if I'd become unstuck in time. It was as if I'd found the mysterious but instantly relatable music that had always been within my own divided soul.
discussion question: Do you remember music that had this sort of impact on you as a child?
When Taylor puts the Otis Redding disk on his own turntable he couldn't stop singing along to "Try A Little Tenderness". "The song killed me then just as it kills me now."
(And it's always killed me.. I don't remember when the first time I heard Otis' version, must have been in the 60s when I was not too far from the age Taylor was.... )
"I guess I was looking for any tenderness I could find back then. A few days later, I sang the song for my grandmother Jonie, who was nice enough to at least act suitably impressed. That might have been one of my first good reviews -- and maybe the most important, because that was probably the first time I thought of myself as a singer."
It's interesting to me that the tenderness Taylor first related to, at his early age, was not Romantic love, but just basic human affection. For me "Try a Little Tenderness" and "You Send Me" were Taylor's best two performances on American Idol 5. I wonder if Taylor, while up there on that stage, was taking himself back, remembering those days back in Birmingham, and the first time he sang TALT for Grandma Jonie.
Taylor talks about opening for Percy Sledge. He realized that the man had sung the same songs every night for more than thirty years.
"Yet somehow he still sang them like he meant every word. Percy Sledge could do that because he did mean those songs. He understood that singing your heart out is not about what you get paid or how many people are watching you. Singing is about passing something on and connecting with whoever is out there in the dark watching."
Isn't this what makes the great singers great? I pray that Taylor never loses sight of this. That even if he has a bad night, with 25 people in the crowd, he still sings "You've Come to the Right Place Baby" as if he will really "be there". Yes indeed.
These are awesome discussions and thoughts, Margaux. When my head clears a little and I get some rest I'll be back. "Yes, indeed."
Music has always played such a huge role in my life.My parents were music lovers and our home was filled with music when we were children.Frank Sinatra was their favorite and Tony Bennet was a close second,I grew to love this music and then something happened Elvis came along and that was the start of my love for Rock &Roll too.I would listen to songs over and over because I felt every word was being sung for me.Connecting with a song and a performer is so important.A connection is what keeps you a fan.
Taylor does sing his heart out at every concert and I believe he means every word he is saying,he has that unique ability ! This part of the book tells a lot about who Taylor is and why he chose the path he did.This was one one of my favorite chapters. Great subject and thoughts Margaux !
JAG: Isn't it one of the best chapters in the book? I really enjoyed re-reading last night to find gems for the discussion. I could have done just about the whole thing...
Margaux.........I keep rereading parts of the book to make sure I didn't miss anything ! Your discussion questions have been thought provoking,there is nothing like a great discussion.
My family on my mother's side was very musical. All her uncles were musicians, but all of that was lost on my mother, who does not have a musical bone in her body, for playing or listening! My father was the music lover in my house. He always had music playing and had a substantial record collection. He introduced me to a lot of music from the 50's and early 60's.
My bigger influence was my Uncle Jim, my mother's baby brother. Younger and hipper than dad, he introduced me to the Beatles, the Stones, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Elton John and Billy Joel. He bought me my first non-teeny bopper record (read not the Partridge Family
), Elton John's
Honky Chateau. That record still holds a special place in my heart and I recently started listening to it again!
I am one of those people who feels their life has a soundtrack. There are songs I hear that take me to a particular point in my life. Hearing Tom Jones sing
What's New Pussycat brings me back to a summer party in my Long Island NY neighborhood. Jim Morrison and the Doors remind me of my best friend in high school, whom I lost freshman year in college. When I hear the J. Geils Band's
Centerfold, it's blaring out of a dorm room window at Northeastern University in Boston. And James Taylor's
Sweet Baby James reminds me of Cassie's birth.
While there has always been music in my life, I lost the passion for a while. I think it was a combination of things in my life that were overwhelming and the lack of passion in the music that was out there. Until Taylor. Taylor has restored that passion and now I am passing it on to my daughter.
This chapter is also my favorite so far. Reading it, I became certain that music saved that boy. Can I get an amen and an hallelujah!
I had a children's record player and my first memories are of playing songs from The Brady Bunch..."I think I'll go for a walk outside now, the summer sun's calling my name, I hear it now. I just can't stay inside all day, got to get out..."
Around the same time I listened to my siblings' Beatles records. I was 6 and they were in high school. I knew all the words to Can't Buy Me Love and many others. My sister wrote her name + Paul and George in hearts all over the back of the album jacket. Even at age 5 I knew Paul was the cutest Beatle!
My mother seemed to only listen to two artists when I was a kid...Dionne Warwick (songs by Burt Bacharach) and The Carpenters, so I naturally knew ALL the words to their songs! Noone in my family plays an instrument or sings.
My parents separated and eventually divorced when I was in junior high school and that's when I really got into music big time. My favorites as a teen were The Eagles, Foreigner, Journey, Bread, and of course Bob Seger. When my brother got married he gave me a few duplicate albums that he and his new bride had in their collections and among them was Elton John.
In college I was a bit obsessed with Elton. I would listen to his older ballads every night to help me fall asleep and I saw him in concert 4 or 5 times.
I sometimes think of the "soundtrack" to my life and all the important music I'd put on that soundtrack.
Taylor has enriched and awakened my love of music which was dormant for about 7 to 9 years.
Got my book and sat down and read it... except for the last few pages.
Interesting discussion. My dad loved music and we always had a great stereo playing wonderful records. Funny, I just had this conversation with my adult daughter. I told her that when he hit his 50's my dad (a respected businessman in our town) would become a huge fan of a current singer and go nuts buying all their music and playing it non-stop (Roger Miller, Nat King Cole and Dean Martin come to mind). My daughter looked at me in surprise and said "oh REALLY". It was then I realized I was not becoming my mother in my middle years, I am becoming my father !! LOL