I heard a James Taylor song today on the radio, and I couldn't stop smiling. What is it about JT (the original JT, that is) that just oozes inner peace? It could be the even baritone voice, never cracking, never straining, never quavering in the slightest. It might be the gentle steel fingerpicking, always elegant but never smooth jazz-boring. Maybe it's the way he can write about human emotions without ever resorting to hoary cliches or, on the other end of the banality spectrum, navel-gazing confessional muck.
It's not because Taylor's personal life has been a smooth one. In the late 1960s, he was institutionalized for mental illness and drug addiction. He also lost one of the most magnificent heads of hair in pop history. A song like "Something in the Way She Moves" is so wistful, you wonder if this guy ever leaves his bed. Even when he sings a happy song like "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)", he doesn't seem to believe the feeling will last.
I guess James Taylor makes me happy because his warm, conversational delivery makes every emotion sound natural. Emotions, even unpleasant ones, are key components of the human experience. Taylor is a singer of great emotional power who never seems to get overwhelmed by it, always staying calm and encouraging us to do the same.
On this Thanksgiving week, my thoughts turn to "Shower the People," Taylor's hit from 1976. In one of his most sweeping and nicely harmonized choruses, he encourages us to tell those we love just how we feel about them. "Things are gonna work out fine" if we let those feelings come out every now and then. It might be true that all we need is love, but it doesn't do us any good if we keep it to ourselves.
TODAY'S RECOMMENDATION: "Shower the People" by James Taylor
AVAILABLE ON: In the Pocket; iTunes
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