Just yesterday morning they let me know you were gone

4:45pm last night……….

Ring.. Ring… (Caller ID) Hi Tommy! Howya doin? You guys goin’ for Happy Hour?…….

Howdy.. I’m doing great.. No, not going to Happy Hour… well, we may meet there… I’ve got four tickets to James Taylor.. . He’s playing at 8pm tonight Starlight (a remarkable KC icon outdoor amphitheater)… U wanna go?

Not yes, but hells yes. I don’t needta know how many tickets you got, who’s goin’, whatever, I’ll be there.

You just call out my name
And you know wherever I am
I'll come running to see you again
Winter, spring, summer or fall
All you have to do is call
And I'll be there
You've got a friend……………. AND THANKS FOR ASKIN’!

Onea my favorite alltime youtube vids.. (I’m old).. Is an old 70’s one of James and Carly Simon singing “Mockingbird.” It’s “up”, it’s peppy. Bastard’s cocky (but good).. The kinda guy we men usedta hate. We’d sit back and say “how can you like THAT when he’s so damn cocky?’ He’d laugh, and the women wouldn’t look at us again.

James Vernon Taylor was born March 12, 1948 in Boston, MA. Raised in Chapel Hill, NC. Poppa was Dean of the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in the late 60’s, early 70’s… They vacationed on Martha’s Vineyard - an island just offa the coast of Massachusetts…

“Whadda you gonna do tonight Pops?”.. Maynard, I’m going to see James Taylor! “Yeah, I hearda him.. What kinda music does he play?” Well.. I ain’t real sure what you call it. Popular in the 70’s and 80’s, soft, rock-ish, with a lotta acoustical and soft verse… “Cool.”

To the “meeting place”… One beer. On the road to pickup #3 and 4 ticket people. Played an old James concert vid there to get pumped up. “Cheryl, u got the internet?” Uh huh. Made ‘em watch James/Carly/Mockingbird to see the difference between today/yesterday’s James. “He was a cocky sonofagun back then wasn’t he?” Hell yeah! He SLEPT with Carly Simon from ‘72 to ‘83, I HATE HIS GUTS!

Thanks Wiki à (1968-ish) While living in New York City, Taylor became addicted to heroin. One night, after receiving a desperate phone call, his father drove to New York and rescued him. Taylor later wrote a song called "Jump Up Behind Me" that paid tribute to his father's help during a time of desperate need. The song also reflects on Taylor's memories of the long drive from New York City back to his home in Chapel Hill.”

In. In the car. Headed to Starlight. If u live in KC, don’t need no explanation. If u don’t, it’s a wonderful kinda-sorta inner-city venue.. Thousands of seats in a bowl that look down on the stage. Many a play, many a famous group. Many a wild weather nights. Many a wonderful night. Hella huge brick towers on either sidea the stage - with a backdrop ‘tween ‘em to give the best sound.. And on the other sidea the seats.. Matching towers.. Where folks pee, get refreshments, enter. Words can’t do it justice, it rocks.

(Wiki) “Once recovered, Taylor signed toWarner Bros Records and moved to California.. His second album, Sweet Baby James, was a massive success, buoyed by the single "Fire and Rain," a song about his experience in an asylum and the suicide of his friend, *Suzanne Schnerr*. The success of this single and the album piqued interest in Taylor's first album, James Taylor, and propelled the album and the single, "Carolina In My Mind," back into the charts.”

$5 Parking. “FULL”. Dammit, and we were cutting it close. On the street Tom, right there. Ain’t far, we’ll walk. Who needsa beer?…….

600 yards from the entrance… applause happens.. Guit-fiddles were tuned.. A lady by us, some forty-something, mebbe fitty-something, barefooted across the clover - grabs the arm of her lagging twenty-something daughter.. HELLA smile on mom’s face.. Drags her daughter to go faster.. The look/smile on her face blurted out “We gotta hurry up and get there so I can go back to yesterday:.” She was, in a moment’s notice, reliving James, VietNam, JFK/Dallas, our Space Program, burned bra’s, equal rights, and the big’n “WHY?”…

(Wiki) In the early 1980s Taylor's career was again beset by drug problems. Additionally, Taylor's wife, Carly Simon, was unhappy with his extended absences due to touring.] After an ultimatum that he spend more time with their children, Taylor responded with the 1981 album Dad Loves His Work. He and Simon divorced in 1983.) Could James be “You’re So Vain”?

A perfect night. Well, perfect would be, arm around - but that’s ok, good company nonetheless, simply awesome weather, and a smile plastered across ma face all night.

About long tours, keeping enthusiasm, KC Star said “But Taylor can still do that. "Fire and Rain," "Carolina In My Mind" and "Walking Man" were gorgeous. And during up-tempo numbers like "Mexico" he and the band stirred up some dancing in the aisles and on the grassy areas that flank the seats.”

No, I wasn’t in the aisles or the grassy areas. I was seated around a niftily diverse crowd. Young dudes/dudettes with tattoo expressions, little kids, grand kids, and old folks like me. The Yankees. Vince Lombardi and the Green Bay Packers. Three networks. Bonanza. The race to the moon.

(Wiki) “In 1985 Taylor married, for the second time, to actress Kathryn Walker who helped him through recovery of his substance addictions. According to Taylor, he remains clean and sober to this day.” (Close ur ears… fuckin’ A Ray.)

I was in temporary heaven. He can sing anything, and did. Including “Wichita Lineman”, “On Broadway” and even the “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning," from "Oklahoma."

In 2001 Taylor wed for the third time, marrying Caroline ("Kim") Smedvig. Part of their relationship was worked into the album October Road, on the song "On the 4th of July." The couple reside in Washington, Massachusetts with their twin boys, Rufus and Henry, born in 2001 to a surrogate mother via invitro fertilization.

Sunday. I sat couped up. Mowed the yard, did laundry. Same ole same ole kinda weekend. (Remember Pete and Repete?).. Monday night, I lived. I loved (everything about it.) I was. I took another turn. Different road. Outta the ordinary.

(KC Star) “He ended with another cover but one that long ago became indelibly associated with Taylor: "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)," which set off the kind of warm, love-fest aura the Flaming Lips get during "Do You Realize." If he has grown tired of singing that one, Taylor didn't show it a bit. Or maybe he has forgotten about it.”

Mr. Taylor is really pretty cool nowadays. He’s backed off the cockiness. Still carries that sweet, on the mark voice. Nice. Complimentary. Thankful. Appreciative.

It was a good night. A very good night. Thanks Mr. Taylor. You’ve got a friend.

Love, Victurd.