Chords for Livingston Taylor - James Taylor: A Brother's Perspective (5 of 10)
Tempo:
71.95 bpm
Chords used:
Bb
Ab
G
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
So, Alex is making music and sort of showing away, fighting with the parents all the time
about making music, about having long hair, having these battles.
And they were really battles.
They were real wars with my parents.
Alex was rebellious and he was a pain in the butt, certainly a pain in the butt to my parents.
And so, next comes James.
And James is an absolutely remarkable [Bb] artist, creator.
And we know that today from his body of work.
But the fact of the matter is that he shone brightly from day one.
James was a shining star, always.
And James was a fascinating little boy because James always had the sense of, you're going
to come to me.
I'm not capable of coming to you.
There is broken glass here and I'm going to be so compelling in my delivery and in my
interpretation and in who I am that you're going to be willing to walk across that broken
glass to get to me.
I do not come to you.
You have to come to me.
I'm simply psychologically, pathologically incapable of going the other way.
You come.
[Ab] And people do.
But people, they obviously do now, but they did from day one.
It is a trait he's got.
It's a feel he's got.
I'm not sure that he recognizes it, but it's quite a remarkable trait.
And he would do whatever necessary to get you to come to him.
And he's done that from day one.
And he's always been a strong and rather larger than life force.
And [N] again, from his success that started in his early 20s, it was, to me, it was predictable
in his early teens.
He learned to play the guitar.
He taught me to play the guitar.
He was a reluctant teacher of mine.
I would watch him play, and I would try to do what he was doing.
And when I didn't do it right, he'd slug me, give me a punch in the arm.
But then he would teach me how to do it right.
And so for the price of a sore shoulder, basically, I had a truly amazing guitar teacher and my
brother James.
And he, James, is a real innovative guy.
The core of his career, he's a fine songwriter, he's a fine singer, but the core of James's
career is his guitar playing and his arranging ability.
It sort of gets lost, but when you listen to his early records, when you listen to Fire
and Rain, it's going, bo-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do.
It's running the whole band.
These were young players.
These were inexperienced players.
And all they did was just lock on to James Taylor and went along for the ride.
I'm telling you, James's career, his bass, his great genius is his guitar playing.
And it's funny, I was doing a show affiliated with the Berklee College of Music in Boston
where I'm a professor, and we were doing a 60th anniversary show and Paul Simon was there.
And Paul Simon walked on stage, picked up a guitar, and I've seen Paul play many times.
And he started to play the guitar and I went, oh my God, I had forgotten.
This guy is an amazing guitar.
And then I was listening, just on some station, I listened to that Mrs.
Robinson,
when you hear, bo-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do.
That's all Paul Simon driving that band.
So it's really interesting, this musicianship that both Paul Simon and James Taylor have,
not to mention Bob Dylan's guitar playing.
[G]
That instrumentality is extremely important as the fundamental underpinning of these careers.
about making music, about having long hair, having these battles.
And they were really battles.
They were real wars with my parents.
Alex was rebellious and he was a pain in the butt, certainly a pain in the butt to my parents.
And so, next comes James.
And James is an absolutely remarkable [Bb] artist, creator.
And we know that today from his body of work.
But the fact of the matter is that he shone brightly from day one.
James was a shining star, always.
And James was a fascinating little boy because James always had the sense of, you're going
to come to me.
I'm not capable of coming to you.
There is broken glass here and I'm going to be so compelling in my delivery and in my
interpretation and in who I am that you're going to be willing to walk across that broken
glass to get to me.
I do not come to you.
You have to come to me.
I'm simply psychologically, pathologically incapable of going the other way.
You come.
[Ab] And people do.
But people, they obviously do now, but they did from day one.
It is a trait he's got.
It's a feel he's got.
I'm not sure that he recognizes it, but it's quite a remarkable trait.
And he would do whatever necessary to get you to come to him.
And he's done that from day one.
And he's always been a strong and rather larger than life force.
And [N] again, from his success that started in his early 20s, it was, to me, it was predictable
in his early teens.
He learned to play the guitar.
He taught me to play the guitar.
He was a reluctant teacher of mine.
I would watch him play, and I would try to do what he was doing.
And when I didn't do it right, he'd slug me, give me a punch in the arm.
But then he would teach me how to do it right.
And so for the price of a sore shoulder, basically, I had a truly amazing guitar teacher and my
brother James.
And he, James, is a real innovative guy.
The core of his career, he's a fine songwriter, he's a fine singer, but the core of James's
career is his guitar playing and his arranging ability.
It sort of gets lost, but when you listen to his early records, when you listen to Fire
and Rain, it's going, bo-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do.
It's running the whole band.
These were young players.
These were inexperienced players.
And all they did was just lock on to James Taylor and went along for the ride.
I'm telling you, James's career, his bass, his great genius is his guitar playing.
And it's funny, I was doing a show affiliated with the Berklee College of Music in Boston
where I'm a professor, and we were doing a 60th anniversary show and Paul Simon was there.
And Paul Simon walked on stage, picked up a guitar, and I've seen Paul play many times.
And he started to play the guitar and I went, oh my God, I had forgotten.
This guy is an amazing guitar.
And then I was listening, just on some station, I listened to that Mrs.
Robinson,
when you hear, bo-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do.
That's all Paul Simon driving that band.
So it's really interesting, this musicianship that both Paul Simon and James Taylor have,
not to mention Bob Dylan's guitar playing.
[G]
That instrumentality is extremely important as the fundamental underpinning of these careers.
Key:
Bb
Ab
G
Bb
Ab
G
Bb
Ab
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ So, Alex is making music and sort of showing away, fighting with the parents all the time
about making music, about having long hair, having these battles.
And they were really battles.
They were real wars with my parents.
Alex was rebellious and he was a pain in the butt, certainly a pain in the butt to my parents.
And so, next comes James.
And James is an absolutely remarkable [Bb] artist, creator.
And we know that today from his body of work.
But the fact of the matter is that he shone brightly from day one.
James was a shining star, always.
And James was a fascinating little _ _ boy because James always had the sense of, you're going
to come to me.
I'm not capable of coming to you.
There is broken glass here and I'm going to be so compelling in my delivery and in my
interpretation and in who I am that you're going to be willing to walk across that broken
glass to get to me.
I do not come to you.
You have to come to me.
I'm simply psychologically, pathologically incapable of going the other way.
You come.
[Ab] And people do.
But people, they obviously do now, but they did from day one.
It is a trait he's got.
It's a feel he's got.
I'm not sure that he recognizes it, but it's quite a remarkable trait.
And he would do whatever necessary to get you to come to him.
And he's done that from day one.
And he's always been a strong and rather larger than life force.
And [N] _ again, from his success that started in his early 20s, it was, to me, it was predictable
in his early teens.
He learned to play the guitar.
He taught me to play the guitar.
He was a reluctant teacher of mine.
I would watch him play, and I would try to do what he was doing.
And when I didn't do it right, he'd slug me, give me a punch in the arm.
But then he would teach me how to do it right.
And so for the price of a sore shoulder, basically, I had a truly amazing guitar teacher and my
brother James.
And he, James, is a real innovative guy.
The core of his career, he's a fine songwriter, he's a fine singer, but the core of James's
career is his guitar playing and his arranging ability.
_ _ It sort of gets lost, but when you listen to his early records, when you listen to Fire
and Rain, it's going, bo-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do.
It's running the whole band.
These were young players.
These were inexperienced players.
And all they did was just lock on to James Taylor and went along for the ride.
I'm telling you, James's career, his bass, his great genius is his guitar playing.
And it's _ funny, I was doing a show affiliated with the Berklee College of Music in Boston
where I'm a professor, and we were doing a 60th anniversary show and Paul Simon was there.
And Paul Simon walked on stage, picked up a guitar, and I've seen Paul play many times.
And he started to play the guitar and I went, oh my God, I had forgotten.
This guy is an amazing guitar.
And then I was listening, just on some station, I listened to that Mrs.
Robinson,
when you hear, bo-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do.
That's all Paul Simon driving that band.
So it's really interesting, this musicianship that both Paul Simon and James Taylor have,
not to mention Bob Dylan's guitar playing.
[G] _
That instrumentality is extremely important as the fundamental underpinning of these careers. _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ So, Alex is making music and sort of showing away, fighting with the parents all the time
about making music, about having long hair, having these battles.
And they were really battles.
They were real wars with my parents.
Alex was rebellious and he was a pain in the butt, certainly a pain in the butt to my parents.
And so, next comes James.
And James is an absolutely remarkable [Bb] artist, creator.
And we know that today from his body of work.
But the fact of the matter is that he shone brightly from day one.
James was a shining star, always.
And James was a fascinating little _ _ boy because James always had the sense of, you're going
to come to me.
I'm not capable of coming to you.
There is broken glass here and I'm going to be so compelling in my delivery and in my
interpretation and in who I am that you're going to be willing to walk across that broken
glass to get to me.
I do not come to you.
You have to come to me.
I'm simply psychologically, pathologically incapable of going the other way.
You come.
[Ab] And people do.
But people, they obviously do now, but they did from day one.
It is a trait he's got.
It's a feel he's got.
I'm not sure that he recognizes it, but it's quite a remarkable trait.
And he would do whatever necessary to get you to come to him.
And he's done that from day one.
And he's always been a strong and rather larger than life force.
And [N] _ again, from his success that started in his early 20s, it was, to me, it was predictable
in his early teens.
He learned to play the guitar.
He taught me to play the guitar.
He was a reluctant teacher of mine.
I would watch him play, and I would try to do what he was doing.
And when I didn't do it right, he'd slug me, give me a punch in the arm.
But then he would teach me how to do it right.
And so for the price of a sore shoulder, basically, I had a truly amazing guitar teacher and my
brother James.
And he, James, is a real innovative guy.
The core of his career, he's a fine songwriter, he's a fine singer, but the core of James's
career is his guitar playing and his arranging ability.
_ _ It sort of gets lost, but when you listen to his early records, when you listen to Fire
and Rain, it's going, bo-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do.
It's running the whole band.
These were young players.
These were inexperienced players.
And all they did was just lock on to James Taylor and went along for the ride.
I'm telling you, James's career, his bass, his great genius is his guitar playing.
And it's _ funny, I was doing a show affiliated with the Berklee College of Music in Boston
where I'm a professor, and we were doing a 60th anniversary show and Paul Simon was there.
And Paul Simon walked on stage, picked up a guitar, and I've seen Paul play many times.
And he started to play the guitar and I went, oh my God, I had forgotten.
This guy is an amazing guitar.
And then I was listening, just on some station, I listened to that Mrs.
Robinson,
when you hear, bo-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do.
That's all Paul Simon driving that band.
So it's really interesting, this musicianship that both Paul Simon and James Taylor have,
not to mention Bob Dylan's guitar playing.
[G] _
That instrumentality is extremely important as the fundamental underpinning of these careers. _ _ _ _ _ _