R.J. Stowell's Blog: rjsomeone, page 81

Electric Ladyland - "1983...A Merman I Should Turn To Be"

Electric Ladyland sprawls over four sides, spinning with ambition, noble failures, and grand successes. Hendrix, like Brian Wilson, was using the studio as an instrument, stretching the ideas cycling through him. It was typical for a year that was less rich in its output than in its studio prep for '69, though Hendrix was so focused that, like the Beatles, he wasn't merely dragging his feet.  Some of Jimi's most radio-friendly hits appear on Electric Ladyland ("All Along the Watchtower," "Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)," and "Crosstown Traffic"), if only on the new FM format, but on side 3, is found the album's jewel and centerpiece, "1983…(A Merman I Should Turn To Be)," a proto-prog epic on the art of walking away from the nonsense humanity inflicts upon itself, "not to die but to be reborn, away from the land so battered and torn." While "Watchtower" is the LP's one-two punch,  "Merman" is a wild, left-field, Bolero-paced march where Hendrix overlaps the guitars and bass like a string section, affecting oceanic waves and surf, with Mitch Mitchell's oddly syncopated drumming as counterpoint, and the flute improvisations of Chris Wood (on loan from Traffic) offering a spacey ambiance.  
The 60s, of course, were a very different time. Today, young people are technology junkies. People are in love their phones, but here was a song written at a time when folks were pulling back from technology, rejecting the system, leaving corporate jobs to live on communes, trying to "get back to the land." Idealistically, working on a farm didn't mean driving a tractor, it meant grabbing a hoe, achieving self-sufficiency while living as nature intended.


And there was far more to it. April 1968, when the final version of "1983" was recorded (an acoustic demo version was recorded in March), was a tumultuous month for America. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination and the subsequent riots affected Hendrix deeply, and he dedicated an extended instrumental to King on April 6 at the Newark Symphony Hall.
Hurray 
I awake from yesterday 
Alive but the war is here to stay So my love Catherina and me Decide to take our last walk thru the noise to the sea Not to die but to be reborn Away from the lands so battered and torn Forever Oh say can you see it's really such a mess Every inch of earth is a fighting nest Giant pencil and lipstick-tube shaped things Continue to rain and cause screaming pain And the arctic stains from silver blue to bloody red As our feet find the sand And the sea is straight ahead


As "pencil and lipstick tube shaped things" (missiles) have made the surface unlivable, notably melting the "arctic" from "blue to bloody red," the only solution for the protagonist is to escape this dystopia, build machines to breathe underwater, become a "merman," and swim to the utopian Atlantis. The lyrics of the first verse hints at an allegorical subtext to the narrative, particularly the phrase, "alive but the war is here to stay," which in 1968 might refer to the Vietnam War, the domestic conflicts with the police, or both. Hendrix would later make an allusion to America's civil rights unrest as a "war" in an introduction to the song "Machine Gun" at a December 1970 concert, which he dedicated to "all the soldiers that are fighting in Chicago, and Milwaukee, and New York—oh yes, and all the soldiers fighting in Vietnam." 
The second verse of "1983" begins with an allusion to "The Star Spangled Banner": "Oh, say can you see it's such really such a mess." This reference to the U.S. national anthem and following image of "giant pencil and lipstick-tube shaped things" that "rain and cause screaming pain" are particularly significant. Both this verse and the war episode — the guitar sound painting of bombs, missiles, and air raid sirens — make a similar statement. While Hendrix obfuscated any direct social context here, it is significant that he would provide "1983" as an example of social commentary; the narrative is about a war-torn world, and yet the track isn't simply anti-war; Hendrix shows a disgust with the world we'd built. Interestingly, Hendrix found this kind of dissatisfaction in his own corporate undertakings. The American version of the LP utilized an intense unauthorized photograph of Hendrix in black, red and yellow. Hendrix had expressly requested a Linda Eastman photo of the trio sitting on the Alice in Wonderland sculpture in New York's Central Park. While he commented that the label disregarded his wishes, it was the European cover that set him over the edge, a gatefold photo of 19 nude women by David Montgomery. He referred to it as the "naked lady" cover and called it "disrespectful." 
Soft spoken and congenial, Hendrix was often bullied on a corporate level. He remained apolitical for the most part, but in "1983," Hendrix reared his head in a fury only surpassed by his discordant and pointed "Star Spangled Banner" at Woodstock. 

The Rolling Stones' Rock and Roll Circus

Along the lines of Magical Mystery Tour, The Rolling Stones' Rock and Roll Circus was an obscure December 1968 sideshow that featured clowns, tigers, fire-eaters, the Rolling Stones and a menagerie of musicians like The Who, Eric Clapton and John Lennon. Unhappy with their performance, The Stones shelved the project and cancelled its premiere on the BBC. A clip of The Who performing "A Quick One While He's Away" made it into The Kids Are Alright, but the rest stayed on the shelf until 1996. 
The Stones put together the circus after releasing Beggar's Banquet and finding themselves on top with a smash single in "Jumpin’ Jack Flash," and a top 10 album on three continents. Ringmaster/producer Mick Jagger recruited his sideshow friends along with Marianne Faithfull, Taj Mahal and the then-unknown Jethro Tull (having only released their first album, This Was, six weeks prior). Twenty hours of filming resulted in a production that alternated between vaudevillian spectacle and offbeat rock and roll. Especially noteworthy is a blistering version of the Beatles' "Yer Blues" by the Dirty Mac, a supergroup featuring John Lennon on rhythm guitar and vocals, Eric Clapton on lead, Keith Richards on bass and Mitch Mitchell (of The Jimi Hendrix Experience) on drums. The Stones went on at 1am, performing a set that included several songs from Beggar's Banquet and the as-yet unreleased "You Can’t Always Get What You Want." It is, despite the self-deprecation, a stellar performance building to a hypnotic "Sympathy For The Devil" and a rousing sing-along of "Salt Of The Earth," featuring all the side show freaks.
The Rock 'n Roll Circus was  the first major performance of  Jethro Tull, featuring their first and last gig with guitarist Tony Iommi, who left just weeks later to form Black Sabbath; it was one of the first times The Who performed a rock opera live (and nailed it); it featured one of the first rock supergroups, The Dirty Mac (a play on Fleetwood Mac) and Lennon's first concert performance without the Beatles. As well, it was the last time the original Rolling Stones performed live, and sadly, the last gig for Brian Jones, who was found face down in a swimming pool but a month later. The special had its origins when Jagger, seeking an innovative way to promote Beggars Banquet, teamed with director Michael Lindsay-Hogg (Brideshead Revisited, Let It Be) to create a television concert with a circus theme filmed in front of an audience of invited guests. The broadcast begins with all the performers entering at once, followed by Jagger dressed as a ringmaster and offering an invocation to the viewers. At times a bit tortured and contrite, The Rolling Stones' Rock 'n' Roll Circus is a must watch (once) and a great listen weeded down to a playlist.

Yellow Submarine - 1968

In 1963, the Beatles signed a three-picture movie deal with United Artists. They made the first two films, as agreed upon, in quick, neat order. The first, A Hard Day's Night, released in 1964, was loved by all, fans and critics alike. It made a huge profit and became an instant classic. Help!, the second Beatles movie, was made in 1965 and made a bundle as well. This time reviews were mixed, with critics scrutinizing its flaws, the honeymoon over. Help!, although the higher-budgeted of the two films, was seen as a disappointment to many, the Beatles included, and most especially to John Lennon. Lennon was to always cite Help! as being "crap" and other not-so-gracious epithets. In retrospect and through the lens of time and Technicolor, the film comes off as a playful romp full of colorful scenes and imaginative comedy that stands the test of time.
With the mess that was Magical Mystery Tour, it was time to regroup, and out of that came Yellow Submarine. Al Brodax was an American producer who created the Saturday morning Beatles cartoon series in 1965. The Beatles cartoons were a smash hit, generating huge ratings. Brodax was concurrently in the process of creating a full-length animated feature film "starring" the Beatles themselves. It would feature Beatle songs with the Beatles doing voice-overs and playing themselves. The Fab Four, unable to face actually "acting" and "going in front of the cameras" again, agreed to this compromise. While initially it was conceived that The Beatles would do the voices, the unexpected death Brian Epstein, from a drug overdose, in August of 1967, John, Paul, George and Ringo bowed out. Four actors were summarily signed up to supply the boy's voices.
But the Beatles did supply four brand-new songs for the film's soundtrack. "That'll do for the film," Lennon would say sarcastically, whenever the Beatles had recorded a mediocre, lesser song. The Beatles, after contributing the four so-so songs, thereby washed their hands of the project and thought that pesky 1963 contract had been fulfilled. After it's completion, the Beatles were given a private screening of Yellow Submarine and were surprised and delighted with the results. They loved the movie and even agreed to personally film a one-minute cameo to be shown at the tail end of the film. John and Paul were both to later regret not having more to do with the production.

John was to claim, however, throughout the remainder of his life, that the Yellow Submarine people stole many of his ideas, without giving him any formal screen credit. According to John: "They used to come to the studio and chat: 'Hi John, old bean, got any ideas for the film?' and I'd just spout out all this stuff, and they went off and did it." Lennon would exaggerate and "play the victim" in countless Beatle-related anecdotes over the years, but this claim does seem justified from available evidence.
The only publicly agreed-upon story is that one night at 3:00 in the morning, John called up the producer and said "Wouldn't it be great if Ringo was walking down the street being followed by a yellow submarine?" This exact scene is shown at the beginning of the film.
The Beatles attended the film's official premiere in July of 1968 (Lennon escorting his new live-in girlfriend, Yoko Ono, although he was still married to his wife, Cynthia, at the time). George Harrison, always a man very hard to please, said: "I liked the film. I think it's a classic. The film works for every generation." Ringo added, "I loved Yellow Submarine. I thought it was really innovative, with great animation."
During the making of Yellow Submarine, the Beatles met the film's animator, Heinz Edelman, for one or two meetings. According to Edelman, Ringo was the only Beatle to make any requests of the animator. Ringo actually complained that "his nose should be bigger," said Edelman.
The film's soundtrack was comprised of a majority of previously-released material and for some strange, inexplicable reason, John's superb song "Hey Bulldog" was edited out of the American version of the film. Fortunately, the "Hey Bulldog" song and animated sequence was restored for the film's video release. Yellow Submarine, a quintessential "period piece" for the 1960's, has aged well and probably remains the most popular and well-known Beatles film. It did not, by the way, fulfill Beatles' legal commitment to UA and so another film would still be required under contract. 

A Beatles Failure

Coming off Sgt. Pepper, The Beatles next project had a similar conceptual theme that would prove to be the Fab Four's first "failure." The concept, no odder than that of Pepper, incorporated the British craze known as the "mystery tour," in which day-trippers boarded a bus with its destination unknown, adding that extra bit of excitement to the journey. The project was not just limited to music, of course; a short film would be released for TV, and therein lies the unraveling. While  the project was destined for failure in America from its onset, Americans having no idea what a mystery tour was, that would be a moot point in that the film would not be aired in the U.S.
The McCartney-themed project consisted only of the British EP release of what would in America be Side One of LP. In the Beatles/Parlophone tradition of not releasing on an album any song that was previously released as a single, the EP omitted many of what are arguably the band's greatest achievements; namely, "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields," as well as "All You Need Is Love," "Hello Goodbye" and "Baby You're a Rich Man." While the inclusion of these tracks on the American release guaranteed the LP's phenomenal success, the EP did not have the same dynamics in Britain. Indeed, on there own, the songs are slight at best with an intro piece in the title track, the Beatles' only instrumental in "Flying," Harrison's "Blue Jay Way" and McCartney's vaudeville construct, "Your Mother Should Know." The focus of the EP, of course, is Paul's phenomenal "Fool on the Hill" and John's wonderful absurdity, "I Am the Walrus." While these songs spelled success, add-on Capitol's genius (at least in this respect) and a good EP transforms into an album nearly as iconic as its predecessor.
The concept was McCartney's. Inspired by the drug-fueled road trip across the U.S. made by author Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters in a psychedelic-painted school bus, the idea was to gather a motley collection of friends and vaudevillians to travel around Britain on a tour bus. Along the way, the quartet, who were experimenting with LSD, would have madcap adventures. Unfortunately, The Beatles, particularly Paul, were so confident in their cultural infallibility that they didn't bother to write a script. Their hopes of filming spontaneous, wacky happenings that would emerge naturally from their inherent fabulousness turned into a free-for-all with little dialogue (the best of it banter from Ringo and his Aunt Jessie, played by actress Jessie Robins). There are random scenes of wrestling dwarves, cars racing the bus around an airport, a waiter piling buckets of spaghetti on to fat aunt Jessie's plate (inspired by a dream of John Lennon's the night before) and scenes in a laboratory where the band appear in red magicians' hats cooking up spells. Interspersed are intensely crafted Technicolor videos of the soundtrack. All of it would come to naught with the BBC's airing the film in black and white to the disappointment of 15 million British viewers, an audience of nearly ¼ the entire population of the UK.
Recorded from April 25, 1967 to November 2 and released at the end of year, the LP version of Magical Mystery Tour would go on to top the charts the first two months of 1968. The album's packaging as well was top notch. A psychedelic gatefold cover is adorned with a glossy comic book of the film's shenanigans, presented far more stylistically than in the film. Americans would not see the disasterous film until the 1980s, when it no longer mattered. Call it a failure if you like; a Beatles' failure. Doesn’t mean much.

Magical Mystery Tour - AM*

Magical Mystery Tour (AM*)
Artist: The Beatles
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Ken Scott
Released: November 27, 1967 (US Album Version)
Tracks - Side One: 1) Magical Mystery Tour (2:48); 2) Fool On The Hill (3:00); 3) Flying (2:16); 4) Blue Jay Way (3:50); 5) Your Mother Should Know (2:33) 6) I Am The Walrus (4:35); Tracks - Side Two: 1) Hello Goodbye (3:24); 2) Strawberry Fields (4:05); 3) Penny Lane (3:00); 4) Baby You're a Rich Man (3:07); 5) All You Need Is Love (3:57)
Players: John Lennon: vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, piano, Hammond organ, cowbell; Paul McCartney: vocals, electric guitar, bass, piano, Lowery organ; George Harrison: vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, harmonica, tambura, sitar, maracas; Ringo Starr: vocals, drums, harmonica, tambourine, maracas, congas, bongos, chimes; George Martin: Hammond organ, Lowery organ, piano, pianette, harpsichord, harmonium, glockenspiel; Mal Evans: harmonica, Hammond organ, piano, alarm clock; Neil Aspinall: harmonica, tambura; Guest Musicians: Marianne Faithfull; Mick Jagger, Keith Moon; Graham Nash


Try to follow this. There are three Beatles AM10s: Revolver, Sgt. Pepper and Abbey Road. Magical Mystery Tour doesn't make the cut, but only through technicalities. When the Beatles' catalog was released on CD, the original UK versions of the albums were chosen as the definitive collection; all with the exception of Magical Mystery Tour. In the U.K., MMT wasn’t released as an album at all, but as an EP, a format that never caught on stateside and the key factor making it unratable.  The EP contained only the music from the film, but none of the hits that appeared on the B side of the American issue. It was a Beatles Policy in the U.K. not to release in album form songs that were previously issued as singles, though Capitol Records held no such policy in the States. Two of those tracks, "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields" were actually from the Sgt. Pepper sessions and released nearly a year earlier as a double-sided A single.


Today, in retrospect, and with the American issue standard, Magical Mystery Tour certainly deserves, if nothing else, an AM10 with an asterisk. Along with the concept piece, which works better as an album than a film, the B side contains five No. 1 singles – with, of course, more asterisks… Officially, "Penny Lane" was a No.1 single on the Billboard 100, with "Strawberry Fields" only reaching the #8 position, but that sounds like monkeyshine (doesn't the back seat of a car go the same place as the front?). "Hello Goodbye" was released as well in a similar format b/w "I Am a Walrus," though "I Am a Walrus" was the B side. Samesies for "All You Need is Love" b/w "Baby You’re a Rich Man." All in All, three singles made it to No. 1 on the charts, yet six songs were popularized on the radio - that delineation is a tough call.  
Magical Mystery Tour is the Pete Rose of rock 'n' roll: an AM10 that doesn't get to be. It is contemporary, fantastic, forward thinking, challenging, experimental and influential; indeed an AM*.

Echo Park - Jay and the Americans - Elliot Smith

Laura had an apartment in Echo Park and Carl dropped us off.  She said she'd take me home.  Across from the lake there was a big stone wall dotted with stairwells.   There was a little picket gate by her steps; not that that would deter anyone.  It wasn’t the best of neighborhoods, but it was lovely.  You walked up the steps to a building that hugged the hilly terrain.  Laura had a tiny one bedroom with a view of the park and the Hollywood sign in the distance.  She had a big date palm heavy with fruit in front of the window. She made us supper.  She had Chinese greens and onions and she fried them in peanut oil and soy sauce.  We sat cross-legged on the floor on big pillows from Pier 1 and listened to records.  We listened to Late for the Sky and Desperado.  She said call your grandmother.  Tell her you’ll be home in the morning.  She had these mushrooms.  She said just try it.  I was reluctant, but it was Laura.  I hemmed and hawed and she said you’ll never be the same. 

"Do I want that?" I asked. I was 15 years old.

She put on Miles Davis and read from a book by Carlos Casteneda called A Separate Reality.  It was all about the desert and about the mind and I touched things and things touched me.  "I feel like I'm in water," I said.  She spilled a bottle of 7-Up and in its puddle of bubbles I saw the whole universe, and the next one.  Color.  Color.  Color.  Color.  I am a lonely painter; I live in a box of paints.  She was singing so beautifully.  The floor swirled like ice cream and then we were engulfed in white, the absence of color; there was ringing everywhere and I could hear my name (if only I could remember my name), and then there was her face by mine and she was lying on the couch and she said, "You’re my best friend.  Grow up and we'll be lovers," and I gripped the grass around me and ripped up handfuls of earth.  The ground was cold and damp and the frogs were chirping and they stopped and there was silence and at the first light of dawn Laura said, "Just play beautiful songs."  

I played "Never My Love" and "Little Wing" and "Over the Hills and Far Away." "That was a mistake," she said.  "I shouldn’t have taken you there." "No, I have a mind of my own." "No you don’t." "I do, though." "No, it's because you love me."  I made eggs to prove she was wrong; they were yellow, so yellow and delicious, and we walked around the lake in the damp morning air.                              

1857½ Lemoyne St.I was in L.A. not long ago and went to see the old neighborhoods. I went to Tarzana and Benedict Canyon. My grandmother's apartment by the Bob's Big Boy on Van Nuys Blvd. was gone. The Bob's Big Boy was gone. I went to Echo park and drove around the lake. The little gate was still there and I walked up to see her place. I walked around the lake and over by Amy Semple McPherson's International Church of the Foursquare Gospel. I walked down Lemoyne Street and looked for 1857½ where Elliot Smith lived, and died on October 21, 2003. He is survived by his demons, Amy Semple unable to exorcise them. He'd had a fight with his girl that grew so heated that she locked herself in the bathroom. She heard Smith scream and unlocked the door to find a knife sticking out of his chest. After his death, police found a Post-it note that said simply, “I’m so sorry. Love, Elliott. God forgive me.” There is controversy about suicide or homicide and the case remains open to this day.
That's too much detail for AM, but the imagery was there in my mind as I played Either/Or. It's lyrics sharp like the knife, his emotional intelligence leaving half-assed cliches uprooted and turned on their heads ("Nobody broke your heart, you broke your own" or, particularly memorable, "You can do what you want to, whenever you want to, though it doesn't mean a fucking thing"). My lasting impression is of its hushed beauty and its screaming poignancy.

The Beatles - No. 0000etc.

While I hoped that this post would be concurrent with The Beatles articles from a few weeks back, this one took a bit more research. As mentioned, I have a relatively low-numbered American Apple release of the Beatles' self-titled album, nick-named the White Album due to its iconic all-white sleeve. The double LP is, of course, a monumental rock LP and one of the best-loved albums of all time. But what about your copy? Valuable? Of course; it's nearly 80 minutes of The Beatles – but cash? Depends.
Examine the sleeve. The sleeve for the original U.K. only pressings of the White Album is a gatefold with the openings on top of the sleeve, not on the sides (called "Open Top"). Later pressings have the openings on the sides (the American, Capitol manufactured release has the outlets on the sides). The Open Top flaps were on the inside of the gatefold. The text "The Beatles" is embossed, not printed, on the front cover; this holds true for both versions. The sleeve has a number stamped in the lower right quadrant. Generally speaking, copies with lower numbers are more valuable. If the number is absent, it's a reissue.
Take both disks out of the sleeve and examine the labels. The original pressing of the LP uses the original Apple Records logo. The outside of a green apple on the A side of each disk and an apple cut in half on the B side. The Apple Records label for the original pressing should also have the Capitol Records logo on the outside edge of the b-side label. Other labels indicate later or foreign pressings.
Find the catalog number on the right-hand side of the label. The catalog number for the first U.K. pressing is PMC 7067/8 for the mono edition and PCS 7067/8 for stereo, with all black inner sleeves. The first American pressing has the catalog number SWBO 101. The record was not released in mono in the United States. The inner sleeves of the American release are white.
The mystery is just how many copies were printed of each number. Nobody seems to have a definitive answer to this question. The first two million copies of the LP (approx.) had an edition number that was not necessarily unique. Copies were numbered utilizing the same system used at all 12 pressing plants (so there are 12 No. 1s, 12 No. 2s, etc. - maybe). Also, due to a dispute over banding (where the space between songs is visible on the record disc), some copies are banded and some are not – even between copies pressed at the same plant. The consensus is that those LPs printed in the U.K. were numbered and had "No." as a prefix, while American pressings eliminated the "No." but added an "A." Lennon got copy No. 0000001 "because he shouted the loudest," at least according to Paul. 
The music publisher's name for George's and Ringo's songs was printed "Apple Publishing Ltd." on the first printing and was changed afterward to "Harrisongs Ltd." and "Startling Mus." The albums design and art direction are officially credited to Richard Hamilton, Gordon House and Jeremy Banks, with photography by John Kelly. Paul asked Hamilton to create something that directly contrasted the flamboyancy of Pepper.
While AM has tried to simplify the releases, the numerous presses, as well as versions made and released in countries other than the U.K. and the U.S., make it impossible to provide a definitive clarification. With this kind of mystery involved, it's no wonder that a version marked as No. 0000001, initially owned by John and then Ringo, sold at auction in 2016 for more than $60,000. Your copy? A U.S. release numbered in the millions, $15 - $30. As with all LPs, condition of the cover and vinyl is essential, but any White Album in any condition is worth $5.00 easy - probably $10. 

A Public Service Announcement...

AM has such great support from its readers that we always like to pay it forward. Our good friends over at 168 Tattoo have linked up with every surfer/skater's favorite shoe brand, Vans. While AM's focus is to provide our readers with the best in rock 'n' roll, when I saw these I just had to have them, and I know that you will too!
In 1966, brothers Paul and James Van Doren, alongside Gordon Lee and Serge D’Elia, opened the first Vans store in Anaheim, California under the name The Van Doren Rubber Company.
Initially, the brothers manufactured the shoes themselves, selling directly to the public. On their first day in business, the company had only had display models in stock, so when customers picked out their Vans, they were asked to come back that same afternoon to pick up their purchase.
Paul and Lee had to then head to the factory to fabricate the shoes, 12 pairs to be exact. The customers came back to the store later in the day to pick up their Vans, but the store didn’t have any change. The Vans team, who were in no position to turn down customers, gave out the shoes and asked the customers to return the following day with their payments – all twelve did so.
The three styles sold in '66 retailed for $2.49 and $4.99 at the time. Wow.While Vans diversified over the years, was gobbled up by manufacturing giants and then spit back out, the company continues to have a growing share of the market, now manufacturing clothing as well and sponsoring events like the Warped Tour and extreme sporting events like the Vans Triple Crown.


Every old-school surfer dude, like this writer, rotates through his Chucks and his Vans, but now, thanks to 168 and tattoo artist Rick Fichter, there's a new Van in town!For a limited time only, you can get one of Rick Fichter's tattoo graphics on a pair of specially designed Vans that pair the iconic flair of original Vans and the artistry of 168’s Rick Fichter.




If you are interested in ordering a pair, send an email to 168 at rick168tattoo@gmail.com and 168 will respond within 24 hours. The 168-styled vans as shown are $125.00. 





Tell Me Honestly That You Don't Need These!

James Taylor

For recovering addicts, moving to another locale to escape the confines of substance abuse is called a "geographic cure." That the case or dumb luck, James Taylor, battling an addiction to heroin, was probably looking for that geographic cure when he moved to London in 1968.  The young singer-songwriter had a  lot to prove. He'd come from a wealthy and talented family: his mother a classically trained soprano and his siblings – Livingston, Alex and Kate – were finding various degrees of success in popular music. At 15 he became friends with Danny "Kootch" Kortchmar and the two formed a band that would eventually become The Flying Machine. However, JT's musical progress was interrupted when, at 17, he committed himself to a mental hospital in Massachusetts for treatment of depression. When he was released, he said, "I got involved in 'junk.'"
One of My Father's Billboards
When he arrived in London, Taylor's friendship with Kootch was his ticket to ride to audition for Peter Asher, of Peter & Gordon fame. Asher was then an A&R rep for the fledgling Beatles record label, Apple. While the Beatles were still under contract to EMI and Capitol Records, Apple Records had big plans to sign other artists and James would become the first non-British act to be signed by Apple.
With Asher producing, the album was recorded from July to October 1968, at Trident Studios, the same time The Beatles were recording The White Album at EMI (Abbey Road). Paul McCartney played bass and back-up vocals on the album's hit, "Carolina In My Mind." For the song "Something in the Way She Moves," Taylor wanted to title the song "I Feel Fine," after a dominant line in the chorus. That title was taken. And everyone knows the first line to the George Harrison song, "Something," from The Beatles' Abbey Road ("Something" was also taken). So, "Thanks, James," said George, though who borrowed from whom is a mystery.
The critical reaction to James Taylor was positive, but the LP didn't sell, in part due to Taylor's hospitalization for drug addiction: "I kicked junk for about a half a year and then spent a while in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. I was clean. Then I started to take a lot of codeine. I went to Europe and started to take opium and then got into smack heavy for about nine months. I got into it real thick there. I came back to this country and kicked…"
Management changes at Apple were in the wind by the time of the LP's release. A bad guy, (Beatles' lore is seeded with bad guys) who'd ripped off The Rolling Stones would reappear in the Beatles inner sanctum, and Taylor's fate was sealed. Allen Klein had manipulated the band into signing over the copyrights of all Rolling Stones songs recorded before 1971. (A messy 17-year legal battle was won by Klein, which Keith Richards called "the price of an education.") In 1969, Allen Klein became Apple's president, based on his three-to-one support from the Beatles, Paul McCartney being the only group member to oppose his involvement. McCartney's subsequent withdrawal from Apple decision-making would give Klein free rein to purge the label of alleged antagonists. Peter Asher, the brother of Paul's at the time girlfriend, Jane, was let go, and Taylor followed him out the door.
James Taylor is a tour de force in one respect: it is pure, unadulterated James at 19 years of age. While Mud Slide Slim and Gorilla, show the artist in his prime, and Hourglass displays the incredible maturity of life experience, this is young James, the hangin' around with Joni and Mama Cass James, the Laurel Canyoner who had to get away from L.A., city of the fallen angels.

James Taylor, Rainy Day Man

In 1963, James Taylor's parents sent him to the Milton Academy, a prep school in Massachusetts. That summer, he met fellow guitarist Danny "Kootch" Kortchmar while staying on Martha' s Vineyard, and the two formed a folk duo. At 16, though, James dropped out of school to form a band with his brother Alex, called "the Fabulous Corsairs". Often moody and depressed, James committed himself to the McLean Mental Institution in Massachusetts when he was just 17 years old.
The Albert HotelIn 1966, Danny Kortchmar proposed putting together a band, The Flying Machine, with Taylor as lead singer, himself on lead guitar, and Joel O'Brien on drums. Without a bassist, they recruited old friend, Zachary Weisner, whom they had to teach to play. According to Timothy White in Long Ago and Far Away - James Taylor: His Life and Music, The Flying Machine rehearsed in the basement of the Albert Hotel in Greenwich Village, and got their first gigs at places such as the Cafe Bizarre and the Nite Owl Cafe, where they succeeded the Lovin' Spoonful, who had moved on to bigger things, including a recording contract with Kama Sutra. Taylor carried the load as the band's composer, which resulted in one of the James' most revealing early songs, "Rainy Day Man." The song was written with the musical influence of the Rolling Stones' "Paint It Black," but also amidst Taylor's initial heroin addiction. The Flying Machine attracted the attention of composer/producer Chip Taylor who got them into the studio to cut half a dozen demos, including "Night Owl" and "Rainy Day Man." A single of "Night Owl" b/w "Brighten Up Your Night with My Day" was issued through Jay Gee Records, and got modest airplay in the Northeast without charting, but that was as far as record label interest went.
The Flying MachineAfter a disastrous Bahamian Flying Machine gig in mid-'67, James had the drive to move on. After several months of traveling, he arrived in London and found a flat in Notting Hill, which was hardly the place for anyone hoping to kick a drug habit. Once again Kootch came to the rescue, and suggested that Taylor take his demo tape to Peter Asher. Kortchmar had supported Peter And Gordon on their American tour, and Asher was looking for talent as head of the newly established Apple Records. Kortchmar arranged the meeting.
In 1968, Asher got the Beatles interested in Taylor's work and brokered his signing as the first non-Beatles artist on Apple Records. Most of the songs recorded on the resulting LP, simply titled James Taylor, consisted of material that was worked up initially during his time with the Flying Machine, although with smoother, more sophisticated arrangements and instrumentation. The album showed only moderate sales, but included many songs that have proved concert favorites.
 In 1969, James returned to America, struggling with his addiction. He checked himself into a New York Hospital, and then into the Austin Riggs psychiatric facility in Massachusetts. Upon his release and following the 1969 Newport Folk Festival, life began anew for James when he signed with Warner Brothers and released his 2nd LP Sweet Baby James in 1970. Taylor in those early years had truly seen fire and rain.