Two of my Mom's favorite artists are Carole King and James Taylor. When Mom's 80th birthday rolled around in April, tickets to the show seemed like a natural gift (I, of course, would accompany her. I like concerts, you see...). Mom hadn't seen either performer before (I've seen them both), so this would be an event.
Mom isn't much into music history, so she didn't realize the significance of this pairing. Carole and JT were recreating their historic shows from 1970 presented at The Troubadour in Los Angeles. This would be their first series of shows together since then. They would also reunite the original band that played with them (Kortchmar, Kunkel and Sklar). Seemed like it would be a great show.
And was it ever.
King and Taylor (though more so James Taylor) were musical mainstays in the Branz Family 70's household soundtrack. No, not unusual for the time at all, but let's face it; good is good. When my Dad bought our first cassette player, it came with a tape copy of JT's album Mud Slide Slim. What a great album. Since then, we've loved James Taylor. My Uncle Steve (10 years my Dad's younger brother) introduced us to Tapestry. A great record too, though my personal interest in Carole King is more with her songwriting prior to her solo career. Check out Dusty Springfield's recording of Oh No, Not My Baby or The Bryds Goin' Back or Wasn't Born To Follow. All were written with her then husband, Gerry Goffin .
Back to the show at hand: They opened with James' Something In The Way She Moves, a great starting point for Mr. Taylor. This takes us all the way back to his short time as a recording artist for The Beatles' Apple Records. Sounded great, as did the entire evening. From here it was Carole's So Far Away, then a recreation of their 1970 sets (to the best of their admitted cloudy memories).
The show was something of a multi-media extravaganza, featuring several video screens and a cylindrical film display. Each song was accompanied by still photos and film content. Anytime a person was referenced during an introduction to a song, their picture was displayed. Usually these pictures were from the Troubadour time period. Because of this, some of the back-up singers photos were from grade school! All the video content was thoughtful and emotional. Great stuff.
As a matter of fact, everyone on the stage was treated like family. The word 'family' was peppered throughout the show. One of the reasons my Mom has taken to Carole King is because she has always emphasized the importance of her family and family in general. She was even nice to MY family on one occasion: My wife and kids saw her speak in the little town of Barberton, Oh. on behalf of then-candidate, Barack Obama. Not surprisingly, my kids were somewhat 'vocal' during her talk. My wife tried to calm them down, but were reassured by a smiling Carole King that it was okay and that she understood. She's a Mom, too.
I know my Mom was going back in her mind to the time of the music. She mentioned at one point that the show reminded her of our move to Ohio (we moved here from Wisconsin in the Summer of '73). It was tough on all of us, leaving everyone we knew, everyone us kids ever knew. Though the music had a bittersweet effect (I saw her Kleenex come out more than once), it's one of the things that got us through our transition.
The performers took us through not just their early 70's material, but through their entire catalogs. It was nice to hear them do Mexico and Copperline, as well as the Goffin/King classic Crying In The Rain. Of course, Crying was accompanied by a photo of the picture sleeve of the original Everly Brothers record. Nice, historical touch.
The entire show approached the 3 hour mark, counting a short intermission. They gave it all they had, which was a lot. I have to admit, I was a little nervous that the show might be a little stale, as I've heard virtually all the songs hundreds of times. I needn't have worried. If I could accurately describe the show in just one word, it would be 'youthful.' The songs sounded fresh and alive, as did the performers. As did the audience, for that matter.
At one point, the gal sitting next to my Mom told her, 'I hope I'm still going to concerts when I'm 80!' My Mom appreciated that. Nostalgia is great, but now is what matters. And those songs sound good now. Just ask my youthful 80 year old Mom who loved the show.
Mom isn't much into music history, so she didn't realize the significance of this pairing. Carole and JT were recreating their historic shows from 1970 presented at The Troubadour in Los Angeles. This would be their first series of shows together since then. They would also reunite the original band that played with them (Kortchmar, Kunkel and Sklar). Seemed like it would be a great show.
And was it ever.
King and Taylor (though more so James Taylor) were musical mainstays in the Branz Family 70's household soundtrack. No, not unusual for the time at all, but let's face it; good is good. When my Dad bought our first cassette player, it came with a tape copy of JT's album Mud Slide Slim. What a great album. Since then, we've loved James Taylor. My Uncle Steve (10 years my Dad's younger brother) introduced us to Tapestry. A great record too, though my personal interest in Carole King is more with her songwriting prior to her solo career. Check out Dusty Springfield's recording of Oh No, Not My Baby or The Bryds Goin' Back or Wasn't Born To Follow. All were written with her then husband, Gerry Goffin .
Back to the show at hand: They opened with James' Something In The Way She Moves, a great starting point for Mr. Taylor. This takes us all the way back to his short time as a recording artist for The Beatles' Apple Records. Sounded great, as did the entire evening. From here it was Carole's So Far Away, then a recreation of their 1970 sets (to the best of their admitted cloudy memories).
The show was something of a multi-media extravaganza, featuring several video screens and a cylindrical film display. Each song was accompanied by still photos and film content. Anytime a person was referenced during an introduction to a song, their picture was displayed. Usually these pictures were from the Troubadour time period. Because of this, some of the back-up singers photos were from grade school! All the video content was thoughtful and emotional. Great stuff.
As a matter of fact, everyone on the stage was treated like family. The word 'family' was peppered throughout the show. One of the reasons my Mom has taken to Carole King is because she has always emphasized the importance of her family and family in general. She was even nice to MY family on one occasion: My wife and kids saw her speak in the little town of Barberton, Oh. on behalf of then-candidate, Barack Obama. Not surprisingly, my kids were somewhat 'vocal' during her talk. My wife tried to calm them down, but were reassured by a smiling Carole King that it was okay and that she understood. She's a Mom, too.
I know my Mom was going back in her mind to the time of the music. She mentioned at one point that the show reminded her of our move to Ohio (we moved here from Wisconsin in the Summer of '73). It was tough on all of us, leaving everyone we knew, everyone us kids ever knew. Though the music had a bittersweet effect (I saw her Kleenex come out more than once), it's one of the things that got us through our transition.
The performers took us through not just their early 70's material, but through their entire catalogs. It was nice to hear them do Mexico and Copperline, as well as the Goffin/King classic Crying In The Rain. Of course, Crying was accompanied by a photo of the picture sleeve of the original Everly Brothers record. Nice, historical touch.
The entire show approached the 3 hour mark, counting a short intermission. They gave it all they had, which was a lot. I have to admit, I was a little nervous that the show might be a little stale, as I've heard virtually all the songs hundreds of times. I needn't have worried. If I could accurately describe the show in just one word, it would be 'youthful.' The songs sounded fresh and alive, as did the performers. As did the audience, for that matter.
At one point, the gal sitting next to my Mom told her, 'I hope I'm still going to concerts when I'm 80!' My Mom appreciated that. Nostalgia is great, but now is what matters. And those songs sound good now. Just ask my youthful 80 year old Mom who loved the show.
That's amazing. What a lovely story; really inspirational... I'll have to live vicariously through you and your mom, though. My mom and me don't have the same musical taste at all. It was a constant source of friction when I was growing up! One another, a-hem, note: That sounds like a really super concert. I'm glad so many of the old faves are still touring.
ReplyDeleteThanks again for checking this out. Really appreciate it. Yep, as time goes on, my Mom appreciates more of my music and I appreciate more of hers. She'll probably never make it to Black Sabbath of course, but we'll meet half way!
ReplyDelete