Fire And Rain: The James Taylor Story

by Ian Halperin

Many musicians sing about heartache, despair, and confusion, but few have experienced those feelings more intensely than James Taylor, who rose from a childhood of privilege as the son of an affluent medical school dean to become a modern-day troubadour and pop superstar.

When he was seventeen years old, his demons led him to a Massachusetts mental institution where he confronted them the only way he knew how, by writing his first songs. Thirty years later, Taylor's songs are among the most popular in the annals of music, but the demons are still with him.

But unlike many of his contemporaries who faced a similar struggle, Taylor managed to emerge as an inspirational figure. Fire and Rain traces this remarkable path, including his troubled marriage to pop star Carly Simon and the premature alcoholism-related death of his brother: Taylor's ten-month stay in the exclusive private psychiatric institution where he finished high school; His self-imposed exile to England where he submitted some of his music to the Beatles' Apple Records, which signed him to his first record contract in 1968. Paul McCartney mentored Taylor's early career; The story behind his second album, Sweet Baby James, which contained the song "Fire and Rain" about the hopelessness of mental illness and suicide; As Taylor's fame increased, so did his problems with heroin, alcohol, and mental illness. In the seventies, the singer nearly fell over the edge many times.

Genres: Biography, Music, Nonfiction

273 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2000

About the author

Ian Halperin is a Canadian investigative journalist and writer whose 2009 book, Unmasked: The Final Years of Michael Jackson, which was a number one best seller on the New York Times list on July 24, 2009. He is the author or coauthor of nine books, including Celine Dion: Behind the Fairytale, Fire and Rain: The James Taylor Story and Hollywood Undercover. He coauthored Who Killed Kurt Cobain? and Love and Death: The Murder of Kurt Cobain with Max Wallace. Halperin has contributed to 60 Minutes II and is a regular correspondent for Court TV.

Reviews

[Jane Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well researched but not much of a pleasure to read. There's just too much of -this person said this about James Taylor and this person said that about him, and a newspaper in 1972 said he was the greatest folk sensation ever, and then shortly after that, James got depressed and had a relapse and ended up back on heroin and then his dad was quoted somewhere as saying he felt bad that he didn't do more for the Taylor kids when they were young, but Elvis was one of his biggest fans, and a lot of other famous musicians also liked his music and there are all these theories on what this song means and the fan club members take stabs at it all the time, for instance.... on and on, sort of like this review, or worse, like listening to some nerd go on and on about his favorite movie with no clue whatsoever how terribly boring he is. One last thing -- the author is a dialogue inventer; the most annoying thing about biographers, in my opinion. It's one thing if you're retelling that old college story, the one where the dialogue when you tell it for the 50th time is so different from the words that were actually spoken -- ok, you participated in that event so you can do that. But inventing dialogue for a biography of a famous person just isn't necessary! It's BS! Don't be so ridiculous to think you have any real idea of what these people were truly saying to each other in these real life situations and occurances! A) We don't need this drivel to help illustrate the story; and B)If you really think you need to invent dialogue to make the story more interesting, you need to do more work on your creative writing skills. I love James Taylor and so I'm disappointed Halperin didn't do a better job of writing this bio.

[Joan Stewart Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think Halperin pulled a lot together, but I don't think I've ever read a book where I had to paddle through so many tedious quotes. Perhaps the writer had permission from those interviewed to reword each quote, but they all sounded the same. I appreciate the book's clear and concise sentences, but it seems as if it intentionally targeted those with 6th grade reading levels. The book lacked the sophistication that its subject deserved. Although I had to plow through a lot of superfluous material, I still learned a lot about Taylor's life, such as his struggles with drug abuse, committing himself to mental institutions, time in England with the Beatles before he was famous, and musical family background. In a parallel universe, Taylor might have ended up a celebrity overdose statistic like Jimi Hendrix or Kurt Cobain.

[Dan]

Great book although unauthorized. Leaves me feeling as if I'm not getting the real story from James.

[Deity World · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this is a biography and not an autobiography which I rarely read this is actually worth reading as it tells us the story on how James Taylor made his fame from a very young age to whom he is now.

[Diane Stultz · Rating 4 out of 5]

My neighbor lent me this biography about James Taylor. I was a big fan in the 70's, but really did not continue to follow his career. so I found the info about his progression through the 80's and 90's interesting. This book was published in 2000.

The author, takes you through his adolescent years and struggles with depression and drugs. It seemed like heroin was his drug of choice. He was hospitalized on more than one occasion in rehabs and mental facilities at a very young age. Heartbreaking really... However, he always knew that he wanted to pursue music. He struggled to break into the business and had a few breaks early on that led nowhere. Finally he got his big break with producer, Peter Asher in England.

The author continues the story about his relationship with Joni Mitchell, and his rocky marriage to Carly Simon. I had read "Boys in the Trees" by Carly Simon, so it was interesting to read different perspectives of their 10 year marriage. I admire both of them as artists, so I will not take sides! LOL!
Taylor had several relapses as far as his addiction went, but I think he is clean now. I always find it so sad how talented artists feel so isolated that many turn to drugs. It must be something about their creative spirits.
Anyway... the book was interesting and worth the read if you are a Taylor fan. This is not the only book about his life. Enjoy!

[Jodell · Rating 1 out of 5]

When I was 12 James Taylor was my idol. I was to young to know of his drug use, his mental illness his instablility. I guess that what made him who he is and he couldn't sing as he dose if not for these traits. When I was older He and Carly Simon divorced and I learned he didnt speak to Carly or of her in decades despite having two grown children together. I can barly stand to think that James could be a good parent or person. Who dose that? He said in an interview about the long standing no talking to or about Carly in 2017, "that's what divorce is". Wow.....he has not learned much in his 70 years. Who dose that? How can you erase a marriage, two children, a wife? I guess that is why they call it a crush, for if you knew the whole story who would ever have a crush on anyone. Especially someone who erases parts of his life like it never happened. James, It happened.

[Mary Sims · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book ...although I knew that James Taylor was addicted to heroin, I didn’t realize how much that affected everything that he did. It was very eye-opening to say the least. it did feel like a bit of hearsay though and since it was unauthorized I didn’t feel like James Taylor contributed to it. He has always been one of my favorite singer songwriters. Good story though.

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love James Taylor - I've seen him in concert almost every summer since I was 16, meaning I've seen him almost 40 times. I love reading about James, his upbringing, life and what was happening in his life at the time he wrote the songs I love.

[Bill Rooney · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting story. Great music.

[Cheryl Klopcic]

It was okay but a bit tabloidish. Lots of quotes from other people and sources.

[Gary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been a fan of James Taylor's music for sometime now but on found out so much more about him personally reading this well written biography. His past is full of all emotions good and bad and you quickly realise he has quite a colourful past. A very good read and I am certain I will read it again.

[Beth Browne · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a lifelong fan of James Taylor, I could hardly not like this book, but I did find it less than a pleasure to read, the writing is well-researched, but somewhat dry. Still, I learned some interesting things about the man I've admired since I was a teen.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

After seeing James Taylor and Carole King perform in Chicago this summer I had to know more, and this book satisfied my curiousity about his childhood, how he became famous and his later life.