James Taylor–Mr. Full of Himself

I like a few of Mr. Taylor’s songs–all of which were recorded 30 years ago. Right now he is peddling his latest album on television. It is his album and it’s infomercial that sparked this blog. It is an incredible example of self indulgence. The music is awful and the whole advertisement is a joke.

U2, my favorite band, had a time when they felt like messing around in the studio. After the creating a pile of songs, they wanted to release it to the public. They thought somebody might want to hear what they created.

They were concerned about it. It wasn’t classic U2. They wanted to release it but didn’t want it to scar their reputation so they did two things: they labeled it experimental and released it under a different name. That was wise. It bombed hard.

Larry, the pragmatic member of the band said, “There’s a thin line between interesting music and self-indulgence. We crossed it on the Passengers record.”

James Taylor also felt like messing around in the studio. The difference is that he invited in video cameras to record the event and had every intention of making it a commercial success. After he created the complete joke of a record he made an infomercial to sell it. The infomercial is on TV all the time.

I can’t believe the ego on this guy. It’s interesting that he was married to Carly Simon. Her song, “You’re so Vain” certainly fits.