His birth name is James Vernon Taylor. His father’s name is Isaac M. Taylor ( resident physician) who came from a well-off family of Southern Scottish ancestry, and his mother’s name is Gertrude Woodard (aspiring opera singer). He has three brothers, Alex, Livingston and Hugh, and one sister, Kate.
Full Answer
What happened to James Taylor's siblings?
His brother, Alex, died young in 1993. Then his father, University of North Carolina School of Medicine dean Issac Taylor, passed away in 1996.
How many wives has James Taylor?
James married actress Kathryn Walker at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine on December 14, 1985. The singer credits his second wife with helping him get off heroin. After 11 years of marriage the couple divorced in 1996.
Is Livingston Taylor related to James Taylor?
Livingston is a folk singer, and the younger brother of James Taylor. He celebrated his 50th year as a performer in 2017. He belongs to one of America's most musical families, which includes Kate Taylor, Hugh Taylor, James, and the late Alex Taylor.
What happened to James Taylor's brother Alex?
(AP) — Alex Taylor, a recording artist whose siblings included musicians James, Livingston and Kate Taylor, died of a heart attack March 12. Taylor, 47, suffered a heart attack March 7 while working on his third album at King Snake Records studio.
Did Carole King and James Taylor ever date?
While it is a common assumption that King and James Taylor were romantically involved and/or married, they never even dated. King credits Taylor for helping her build the confidence to perform for live audiences; up until their friendship, she was far more comfortable out of the spotlight.
How old is Joni Mitchell?
78 years (November 7, 1943)Joni Mitchell / Age
Who is James Taylors brother?
Livingston TaylorAlex TaylorHugh TaylorJames Taylor/Brothers
Is Livingston Taylor older than James?
Livingston Taylor talks spontaneity, Einstein and older brother James.
Who is James Taylor nephew?
James Taylorvia Alex TaylorEdward Taylorvia Alex TaylorJames Taylor/Nephews
Who was Suzanne schnerr?
Suzanne Schnerr was a young woman who had befriended Taylor during his Flying Machine days. Later, at a mental-health facility, she committed suicide after being assigned an isolation cell.
Who was Fire and Rain written about?
"Fire and Rain" is a song written and performed by James Taylor and released in August 1970 on Warner Bros. Records as a single from his second album, Sweet Baby James. The song follows Taylor's reaction to the suicide of Suzanne Schnerr, a childhood friend, and his experiences with drug addiction and fame.
Who is James Taylors wife?
Caroline Smedvigm. 2001Kathryn Walkerm. 1985–1995Carly Simonm. 1972–1983James Taylor/Wife
How many siblings does Taylor have?
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, The Outermost Inn in Aquinnah on Martha's Vineyard; and Alex died in 1993 on James's birthday.
Where is James Taylor from?
James Vernon Taylor was born at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, where his father, Isaac M. Taylor, worked as a resident physician. His father came from a wealthy family from the South. Aside from having ancestry in Scotland, part of Taylor's roots are deep in Massachusetts Bay Colony and include Edmund Rice, one of the founders of Sudbury, Massachusetts. His mother, the former Gertrude Woodard (1921–2015), studied singing with Marie Sundelius at the New England Conservatory of Music and was an aspiring opera singer before the couple's marriage in 1946. James was the second of five children, the others being Alex (1947–1993), Kate (born 1949), Livingston (born 1950), and Hugh (born 1952).
What year did James Taylor release his second album?
Once he had recovered, Taylor moved to California, keeping Asher as his manager and record producer. In December 1969 , he held the recording sessions for his second album there. Titled Sweet Baby James, and featuring the participation of Carole King, the album was released in February 1970 and was Taylor's critical and popular breakthrough, buoyed by the single " Fire and Rain ", a song about both Taylor's experiences attempting to break his drug habit by undergoing treatment in psychiatric institutions and the suicide of his friend, Suzanne Schnerr. Both the album and the single reached No. 3 on the Billboard charts, with Sweet Baby James selling more than 1.5 million copies in its first year and eventually more than 3 million in the United States alone. Sweet Baby James was received at its time as a folk-rock masterpiece, an album that effectively showcased Taylor's talents to the mainstream public, marking a direction he would take in following years. It earned several Grammy Award nominations including one for Album of the Year. It went on to be listed at No. 103 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2003, with "Fire and Rain" listed as No. 227 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2004.
What school did James Taylor go to?
Taylor earned a high school diploma in 1966 from the hospital's associated Arlington School. He would later view his nine-month stay at McLean as "a lifesaver... like a pardon or like a reprieve," and both his brother Livingston and sister Kate would later be patients and students there as well.
When did James Taylor start playing guitar?
Taylor wrote his first song on guitar at 14, and he continued to learn the instrument effortlessly. By the summer of 1963, he and Kortchmar were playing coffeehouses around the Vineyard, billed as "Jamie & Kootch". James went to Milton Academy, a preparatory boarding school in Massachusetts in 1961.
When did James Taylor record his first album?
In 1977 Taylor signed with Columbia Records. Between March and April, he quickly recorded his first album for the label. JT, released that June, gave Taylor his best reviews since Sweet Baby James, earning a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year in 1978.
When did Taylor and Simon break up?
Simon announced her separation from Taylor in September 1981 saying, "Our needs are different; it seem [s] impossible to stay together" and their divorce finalized in 1983. Their breakup was highly publicized. At the time, Taylor was living on West End Avenue in Manhattan and on a methadone maintenance program to cure him of his drug addiction. Over the course of four months starting in September 1983, spurred on in part by the deaths of his friends John Belushi and Dennis Wilson and in part by the desire to be a better father to his children Sally and Ben, he discontinued methadone and overcame his heroin habit.
What did the Taylor siblings write about?
Each of the five Taylor siblings did eventually become recording artists in some respect, and Taylor was often inspired to write and sing songs about the relatively taboo subjects of depression and addiction himself. The future Grammy winner certainly had material to work with, especially around the 1960s.
What happened to Taylor's brother?
Taylor’s eldest brother also struggled with addiction. “I lost my brother to it. Alcoholism killed him. Just, literally killed him,” Taylor says. And addiction wasn’t the only issue that Taylor believes he and his siblings were susceptible to, adding that they were also all “so subject to depression.”.
What is the mystery darkness in James Taylor's family tree?
Over the years James Taylor has been candid about his personal struggles, from opening up about spending time as a teen in a psychiatric hospital to descending into heroin addiction during the early stages of his career.
Is Taylor's father an alcoholic?
For instance, Taylor’s father, whom he describes as functional and brilliant, was also an alcoholic. “People argue about substance abuse and whether or not addiction is genetically predisposed,” he says. “I think it probably is. There’s definitely that gene in my family.
Where did James Taylor live?
His siblings all became musicians and recorded albums of their own. At the age of three, James and his family moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina when Dr. Taylor was appointed dean of the Medical School at the University of North Carolina.
What group did James Taylor form?
In 1966, he formed a new group called The Flying Machines, with Kortchmar and Joel O’ Brien. The band played some of Taylor’s songs that he had written in the hospital like ‘Knocking 'Round the Zoo’, ‘Don't Talk Now’, and ‘The Blues Is Just a Bad Dream’.
How many children does Taylor have?
Personal Life & Legacy. Taylor got married to his fellow singer-songwriter Carly Simon in 1972. They have two children, Ben and Sally who are also aspiring musicians. The couple divorced in 1983.
When did James Taylor release his first solo album?
He released his debut solo album, ‘James Taylor’ in the U.K in 1968 and in U.S. in 1969 but it did not do well. After an unfortunate accident in July 1969 which forced him to take a break from playing music, he signed a new deal with Warner Bros. Records.
How many copies of Sweet Baby James were sold?
His first commercially successful album ‘Sweet Baby James’ featuring the hit single ‘Fire and Rain’ hit No. 3 in the Billboards. The album sold around 1.5 million copies in the first year and almost 3 million eventually in the U.S. It was received as a folk-rock masterpiece.
Overview
James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold more than 100 million records worldwide.
Taylor achieved his breakthrough in 1970 with the No. 3 single "Fire and Rain" a…
Early years
James Vernon Taylor was born at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston on March 12, 1948. His father, Isaac M. Taylor, worked as a resident physician at the hospital and came from a wealthy Southern family. Taylor is of English and Scottish descent, with the former being rooted in Massachusetts Bay Colony; his ancestors include Edmund Rice, an English colonist who co-founded Sudbury, Massachusetts. His mother, Gertrude (née Woodard; 1921–2015), studied sin…
Career
At Kortchmar's urging, Taylor checked himself out of McLean and moved to New York City to form a band. They recruited Joel O'Brien, formerly of Kortchmar's old band King Bees to play drums, and Taylor's childhood friend Zachary Wiesner (son of academic Jerome Wiesner) to play bass. After Taylor rejected the notion of naming the group after him, they called themselves the …
Personal life
Taylor married singer Carly Simon in November 1972, in a small ceremony in Simon's New York apartment. Taylor was 24 and Simon 27; they divorced in 1983. Their children, Sally and Ben, are also musicians. Taylor married actress Kathryn Walker at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine on December 14, 1985. She helped him fight his heroin addiction, but they divorced in 1996.
Awards and recognition
• 1972: Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male, "You've Got a Friend"
• 1977: Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male, "Handy Man"
• 1998: Best Pop Album, Hourglass
• 2001: Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male, "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight"
Discography
• James Taylor (1968)
• Sweet Baby James (1970)
• Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon (1971)
• One Man Dog (1972)
See also
• Charles H. Taylor (publisher)
• John I. Taylor
Further reading
• Moritz, Charles, ed. (1973). Current Biography Yearbook 1972 (33rd ed.). New York: The H. W. Wilson Company. pp. 428–?. ISBN 9780824204938.
• Risberg, Joel (2005). The James Taylor Encyclopedia: An Unofficial Compendium for JT's Biggest Fans. GeekTV Press. ISBN 1-4116-3477-2. OCLC 184869540.