Fire and Rain: The James Taylo [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

The first meeting between 13-year-old Taylor and long-time musical collaborator Danny "Kootch" Kortchmar describes Kootch as a "peace-loving hippie-type teenager." In 1961? Hello?

On a single page describing the failure of Apple records to adequately promote "James Taylor," JT's first album, the author writes "..."if Apple had been on more solid financial footing, Taylor's album would have received much more attention than it did." Two paragraphs later we read, "Taylor's album was destined for failure from the start because of Apple's financial troubles." One paragraph later we are informed that the album "was a disaster only because Apple Records did not spend enough money promoting it." Can you say redundant? Did anyone proof this puppy?

The first paragraph of Chapter 7 says Taylor's London phase began when he arrived in Great Britian "in March, 1968." The first paragraph of Chapter 9 says Taylor "returned to the United States in October 1968, after being in Europe for more than a year." Was there an editor involved here or what?

For so many of us, JT's music has been a touchstone in our lives...evocative, honest, evolving, poignant. His voice is richer than ever. His live concerts are legendary to this day. Perhaps at some point Taylor will make himself available for an authorized biography, absent the predictable focus on his love life, drug use and early episodes in mental institutions. I hope so. There's a story to be told here, but this attempt is sophomoric; simply not commensurate with one of the most thoughtful artists of our lifetime.

The whole book spends more time talking about the drug problems and sex parties than the music. Throughout the book, Halperin rightly stresses the importance of music in Taylor's life. However he spends virtually no time discussing the music or the lyrics, none of which are printed anywhere in the book. There's no discussion or analysis of the art that made the man. Halperin brushes over the releases of albums and sums them up in little paragraphs, sandwiched between cheesy gossip-column-like accounts of conversations to which he could never have been privy.

Halperin talks about a whole array of people in Taylor's life--parents, siblings, fellow artists, managers, wives, children--it makes the reader want to see pictures of them. The most important ones, save for Carly, aren't here. No childhood photos, no pics of old homes, no copies of scrawled lyrics. Rank amateur.

The book is generally favorable toward Taylor. If Halperin really wanted to show us James Taylor, he should have done his homework and immersed himself in the music. He even quotes James saying that if you want to understand him, all you had to do is listen to his music. It's all there.

Halperin is a hack. He's selling this schlock to buy a new Mercedes. I don't know of a good biography of James Taylor to recommend, but this, I can promise you, is not one of them.