Livingston Taylor

Livingston Taylor

Livingston Taylor (born November 21, 1950) is an American singer-songwriter, originally from Boston, Massachusetts. He grew up in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where his father was a medical professor at the University of North Carolina. He briefly attended the Westtown School in Pennsylvania. He is the brother of singer-songwriter James Taylor and is currently on the faculty of Berklee College of Music.

Overview

Taylor's four siblings, James, Alex, Hugh and Kate, have also been musicians with recorded albums. His sister Kate has returned to a more active career, after a two-decade long sabbatical. Alex is deceased, and Hugh now runs a bed-and-breakfast with his wife. James Taylor remains a leading figure in the music industry.

Liv Taylor's best selling single, "I Will Be In Love With You," rose to the 30th position on the Billboard charts, and he has not released a Top-40 single since 1980. Taylor's personality and warm stage presence have allowed him to maintain a busy concert schedule.

Taylor is a devout Christian. He has written several songs with Christian lyrics and performed in many church services during his career. He will also play some gospel songs with secular audiences while trying to avoid "preachiness". In one particular instance that he regrets, some members of the audience at a high-end boarding school walked out after Taylor played "Tell Jesus (To Come To My House)", but he has said that he generally receives a receptive response.

Livingston Taylor and his older brother James are close while also being "very competitive" in their songwriting. Livingston has referred to James as "the greatest" and "a wonderful musician" as well as "wonderful and supportive". He has also called himself James' "confidant".

Childhood and teenage years

Taylor was born on November 21, 1950 in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. As a youngster, Taylor experienced many emotional problems. At school he suffered from such severe depression that he hospitalized himself at the same psychiatric hospital, McLean Hospital, in Belmont, Massachusetts, where his brother James had been admitted earlier. Part of Taylor's therapy involved playing guitar and singing. After his release, Taylor remained in the Boston area and began performing in local clubs and coffeehouses.

1970s

Taylor's break occurred when he was discovered by Jon Landau, (a record producer who would later go on to manage Bruce Springsteen). Taylor was one of the first artists to sign with Capricorn Records in 1970. His debut album, Livingston Taylor, produced by Landau, included the song "Carolina Day," an original, personal song which helped set the tone for Taylor's intimate and laid-back musical style.

His second album, Liv, also produced by Landau, included the minor hit "Get Out of Bed". His third album, Over the Rainbow, was released in 1973, but did not sell well.

Taylor left Capricorn Records for his next album, Three Way Mirror, released in 1978. In addition to featuring the aforementioned "I Will Be In Love With You," his highest charting song, the album included "Going Round One More Time," a song that would later be covered by Livingston's brother James, with a slight title change (Going Around One More Time) on his album That's Why I'm Here in 1985. Taylor promoted the album by touring as the opening act for Linda Ronstadt during her "Living in the USA" national tour.

In 1979, Capricorn Records released Echoes, a "greatest hits" sampler of songs from Taylor's first three albums.

1980s

As the 1980s opened, Taylor released his second album on the Epic label, Man's Best Friend. The album contained two notable songs: "First Time Love," and "Pajamas" (sometimes known as "I've Got My Pajamas On"), a childish number that has become a fan favourite and that was later adapted into a children's book by Taylor and his wife, Maggie.

During the 1980s, Taylor took up hosting a nationally syndicated television show, This Week's Music, and began teaching performance at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. His next album Life Is Good appeared in 1988.

1990s

The 1990s saw a renewed frequency in recording: 1991's Our Turn To Dance, 1993's Good Friends and 1996's Bicycle."Boatman" a song Livingston wrote from the "Bicycle" album was later covered by brother James on his "Hourglass" album in 1997. Ink, a cover album, was released in 1997. A concert album, Unsolicited Material, was released in 1994, and in 1998, an eighteen track retrospective of the first decade of Taylor's career, Carolina Day: The Livingston Taylor Collection was released. The decade closed with a second live album, 1999's Snapshot: Live At The Iron Horse.

2000s

A second retrospective was released in 2005 with 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Livingston Taylor. The year ended with an album of all-new material, There You Are Again.

Taylor has been artist-in-residence at Lowell House at Harvard College since 2000. He is also a professor at the Berklee College of Music.

In 2010, Livingston Taylor released his latest album "Last Alaska Moon". The album has Taylor playing with other expert musicians, such as bassist "Leland Sklar"; drummer "Steve Gadd"; guitarists "Vince Gill", "Chris Rodriguez", and "J.T. Corenflos"; keyboard ace "Shane Keister", and the backing vocals of "Andrea Zonn". The album was very well received.

Discography

• Livingston Taylor (1970)
• Liv (1971)
• Over the Rainbow (1973)
• Three Way Mirror (1978)
• Echoes (1979)
• Man's Best Friend (1980)
• Life Is Good (1988)
• Our Turn to Dance (1993)
• Good Friends (1993)
• Unsolicited Material (1994)
• Bicycle (1996)
• Ink (1997)
• Carolina Day: The Livingston Taylor Collection (1998)
• Snapshot: Live At The Iron Horse (1999)
• 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Livingston Taylor (2005)
• There You Are Again (2005)
• "Last Alaska Moon" (2010)

See also

• List of Christian worship music artists

External links

• Livingston Taylor Singer/Songwriter
• Livingston Taylor at IMDb