My Amazon Reviews: James Talyor & Carole King "Live At The Troubadour"

Treasure Trove for Boomers
4 Out of 5 Stars

This delightful, wonderful bit of Beemer Rock will melt the hearts of most of us over 45 types, comprised of two of out countries finest singer songwriters playing live with a legendary band. Both James Taylor and Carole King have written enough songs that they could have dome a triple album and still left songs off; and yet "Live at The Troubadour" still feels warm and fuzzy.

Taylor only pulls a couple of oddities out ("Machine Gun Kelly" and "Blossom") while King stays strictly with the chestnuts. Taylor's voice has maintained his whiskey smoothness, King's has developed a husky rasp. They still sound fine, and when they harmonize together on "Will You Love Me Tomorrow," it could just give you goosebumps. And let's face it, these are soft rock classics and American Standards; "Up One The Roof," "It's Too Late," "You've Got a Friend," "Country Road," "Fire And Rain" et al. The duo do very little re-imagining of their hits, so they fit to the ears like a comfortable old hat.

The band is terrific, too. If the names Lee Sklar (bass), Russ Kunkle (drums) and Danny Kortchmar (guitar) ring any bells, it's because just about every Cali-Rock album though the early 70's on had their playing. They have only gotten clearer and cleaner with time, and the recording is well honed by their considerable skills (although there's too much high end in this CD for my tastes). Despite that, "Live At The Troubadour" is one of the most enjoyably pleasant CD's I've bought this year.