Muzikland

James Taylor 離開了 Warner 後﹐便轉投 Columbia 發行加盟後的首張專輯 JT﹐他憑單曲 Handy Man 獲得 1977年 Grammy Award 的最佳流行男歌手獎項。之後歇息了兩年﹐他又憑翻唱 Carole King 的 Up On The Roof 而使到新專輯取得成功。事實上 James 獲得成功的歌曲﹐大多是翻唱歌曲﹐這對他的唱作人身份頗為尷尬。踏入80年代﹐他與 J.D. Souther 合唱的 Her Town Too 在流行榜取得不俗的成績﹐得到 Billboard 單曲榜第11位﹐然而因為婚姻及事業的壓力﹐又再陷於毒癮之中﹐1983年與 Carly Simon 終於選擇了離婚作為收場。

1985年他本計劃完成唱片合約之後引退﹐誰不知在一次 Rio的演出中﹐得到25萬人歡呼喝采﹐這使到他重拾對音樂事業的信心﹐並且把當晚的情形﹐寫成了Only a Dream in Rio ﹐而自此之後他加強信心創作﹐減少翻唱他人的歌曲。1998年他更憑 Hourglass專輯得到最佳流行唱片﹐第三度得到 Grammy獎項。2000年又為馬友友﹑Edgar Meyer及 Mark O’Connor的 Crossover專輯﹐客串演唱美國民謠 Hard Times Comes Again No More﹐同年更被入 Hall Of Frame。2001及2003年再取得兩個 Grammy Award﹐分別是Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male及Best Country Collaboration With Vocals。

筆者認識 James Taylor的歌曲不多﹐最喜歡是 You’ve Got A Friend ﹐似乎這首歌每隔一段時間又會解觸起一些共鳴。1981年從一張香港 CBS/Sony的 Super Stars Super Hits 2雜錦精選中﹐接觸到由他與 J.D. Souther合唱的 Her Town Too﹐起初感覺這首歌頗沉悶﹐然而隨著時日飛逝﹐對它的喜愛程度卻日漸加增。

Her Town Too (Edited Short Version: 原收錄自 Too Dad Loves His Work (1981/Columbia) 專輯中。
(J.D. Souther / J. Taylor / W. Wachtel)


She’s been afraid to go out
She’s afraid of the knock on her door
There’s always a shade of a doubt
She can never be sure
Who comes to call
Maybe the friend of a friend of a friend
Anyone at all
Anything but nothing again

It used to be her town
It used to be her town, too
It used to be her town
It used to be her town, too

Seems like even her old girlfriends
Might be talking her down
She’s got her name on the grapevine
Running up and down
The telephone line
Talking bout
Someone said, someone said
Something bout, something else
Someone might have said about her
She always figured that they were her friends
But maybe they can live without her

It used to be her town
It used to be her town, too
It used to be her town
It used to be her town, too

Well, people got used to seeing them both together
But now he’s gone and life goes on
Nothing lasts forever, oh no
She gets the house and the garden
He gets the boys in the band
Some of them his friends
Some of them her friends
Some of them understand
Lord knows that this is just a small town city
Yes, and everyone can see you fall
It’s got nothing to do with pity
I just wanted to give you a call

It used to be your town
It used to be my town, too
You never know till it all falls down
Somebody loves you
Somebody loves you
Darling, somebody still loves you
I can still remember
When it used to be her town, too
It used to be your town
It used to be my town, too

**********

1988年 James Taylor發了他的第12張錄音室專輯 Never Die Young﹐當時英美正流行 Remix Single﹐雖然 James Taylor沒可能會有跳舞歌﹐他還是以 12” Single 發行了 Never Die Young﹐當時筆者已經不喜歡香港版唱片的音色﹐於是也買了這張英國版 12” 。

Never Die Young (1988/CBS) Track List:
01 Never Die Young’
02 Valentine’s Day
03 Everyday

Never Die Young (Edited Short Version): 原狀收錄於 Never Die Young (1988/Columbia) 專輯中。
(James Taylor)


We were ring-around-the-rosy children
They were circles around the sun
Never give up, never slow down
Never grow old, never ever die young

Synchronized with the rising moon
Even with the evening star
They were true love written in stone
They were never alone, they were never that far apart

And we who couldnt bear to believe they might make it
We got to close our eyes
Cut up our losses into doable doses
Ration our tears and sighs

You could see them on the street on a saturday night
Everyone used to run them down
Theyre a little too sweet, theyre a little too tight
Not enough tough for this town

We couldnt touch them with a ten-foot pole
No, it didnt seem to rattle at all
They were glued together body and soul
That much more with their backs up against the wall

Oh, hold them up, hold them up
Never do let them fall
Prey to the dust and the rust and the ruin
That names us and claims us and shames us all

I guess it had to happen someday soon
Wasnt nothing to hold them down
They would rise from among us like a big baloon
Take the sky, forsake the ground

Oh, yes, other hearts were broken
Yeah, other dreams ran dry
But our golden ones sail on, sail on
To another land beneath another sky

2000年 James Taylor 發行了他的官方精選 James Taylor Greatest Hits Vol. 2﹐時藉筆者在美國出差﹐因利成便買了張美國版精選。很喜歡這張 CD的設計﹐因為第一集乃是由 Warner出版的﹐相隔多年﹐James的另一階段已在 Columbia渡過﹐雖然發行唱片各異﹐但是他仍沿用上一集的設計﹐兩張加起來﹐猶如一套小型的 Anthology ﹐很有一種 Complete的感覺。

James Taylor Greatest Hits Vol. 2 (2000/Columbia) Track List:
01 Secret O' Life
02 Handy Man [US#4]
03 Your Smiling Face [US#20]
04 Up On The Roof [US#28]
05 Her Town Too (with J.D. Souther) [US#11]
06 That's Why I'm Here
07 Only A Dream In Rio
08 Everyday
09 Song For You Far Away
10 Never Die Young
11 (I've Got To) Stop Thinkin' 'Bout That
12 Copperline
13 Shed A Little Light (live)
14 Another Day
15 Little More Time With You
16 Enough To Be On Your Way

Handy Man ﹕原唱為 Jimmy Jones (1960/Cub)﹐乃 Billboard流行榜亞軍歌曲﹐4年後又有 Del Shannon的版本 (1964/Amy)﹐ 攀上流行榜第22位﹐而 James Taylor的版本得到第4位﹐原收錄於 JT (1977/Columbia) 專輯中。
(J. Jones / O. Blackwell)


**********

Up On The Roof ﹕原唱為 Drifters (1962/Atlantic)﹐得到 Billboard流行榜第5位﹐1971年此曲的創作人 Carole King重唱﹐收錄於Tapestry (1971/Ode) 專輯中。James Taylor的版本得到流行榜第28位﹐收錄於 Flag (1979/Columbia) 專輯中。
(Carole King / Gerry Goffin)




James Taylor Official Website: http://www.jamestaylor.com/



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