Legend has it that the recently divorced and still-addicted James Taylor was considering quitting music when he was invited to play the inaugural Rock In Rio festival in January 1985. The warm embrace of the massive crowds he played to revived his spirit, and soon after he got sober for good and delivered this album-long affirmation of what he does and why he does it.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s Why I\u2019m Here<\/i> in fact feels like the opening statement of the next phase of Taylor\u2019s career, as he evolves from the folk-rocking, hit-making singer-songwriter who dominated the 1970s to a dependable veteran live performer who occasionally puts out a new album. The opening title track lays all this out with typical frankness as Taylor leads us through moments sweet and bitter\u2014including the death of friend and fellow heroin addict John Belushi\u2014before contemplating his newfound status as his fans\u2019 summer nostalgia soundtrack. All things considered, he decides it\u2019s a life he can embrace (and has ever since).<\/p>\n
Beyond that memorable opening track lie several very strong mid-career numbers. \u201cSong For You Far Away\u201d is a typically moving and plaintive ballad, while \u201cOnly A Dream In Rio\u201d delivers a luminous reminiscence of the moment he rediscovered his musical mojo. Finishing out side one of the original vinyl, \u201cTurn Away\u201d is a snappy folk-pop number with a strong hook and \u201cGoing Around One More Time\u201d is a typically witty catalogue of a hard-luck character\u2019s romantic faceplants (\u201cI was gettin\u2019 by as I could get\u201d).<\/p>\n
Side two is where you feel some padding creeping in, with a pair of covers and a pair of what are basically novelty songs. JT\u2019s sweetly upbeat cover of Buddy Holly\u2019s \u201cEveryday\u201d is undeniably appealing, and he has fun covering Bacharach\/David\u2019s \u201cThe Man Who Shot Liberty Valance,\u201d too, but neither could be considered essential listening. Meanwhile, \u201cLimousine Driver\u201d picks up where \u201cTraffic Jam\u201d and a half-dozen other playful vamps in Taylor\u2019s catalogue leave off, and \u201cMona\u201d is a darkly humorous murder ballad about a pig (no, really). In between, \u201cOnly One\u201d offers rich harmonies courtesy of Don Henley, Joni Mitchell, and longtime JT sideman David Lasley, but the song itself is slight. (The subsequent CD version of the album also shoehorns in a sleepy stroll through Rodgers & Hart\u2019s \u201cMy Romance\u201d that would have been better saved for Covers<\/i> or American Standard<\/i>.)<\/p>\n
Putting aside the above quibbles, it must be said that the band on this album is world class. Billy Payne of Little Feat fame is the primary keyboardist, with future JT musical director Don Grolnick making his first appearance. The great Tony Levin is the primary bassist, with stalwart pal Lee Sklar (JT, Carole King, Phil Collins and a thousand sessions) stopping by for one track. Sklar\u2019s former rhythm section partner Russell Kunkel is the principal drummer, deputized for one cut by Rick Shlosser. And ace session players sprinkled through the tracklist include Dan Dugmore (pedal steel), David Sanborn (sax), the Brecker Brothers (horns) and Gregory \u201cFingers\u201d Taylor (harmonica), not to mention Graham Nash on harmony vocals for two tracks.<\/p>\n
Flaws and all, That\u2019s Why I\u2019m Here<\/i> is presented with the enthusiasm of a man who\u2019s rediscovered his purpose and surrounded himself with a stellar and deeply sympathetic supporting cast. This album might not reach the heights of vintage JT, but it\u2019s a strong representation of the man\u2019s middle period, the era when he firmly established himself as a summer touring machine here to help us all sing our blues away.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":35444,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5945],"rating":[5615],"class_list":["post-47340","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-james-taylor","rating-rating-b"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/47340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47340"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/47340\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=47340"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=47340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}