New York Times, in an article today
"Hamburgers in Paris!" Its on the front page
Everybody wants it. McDonalds in Paris
Everybody wants it
Has the taste of the forbidden. Illicit and subversive.
You can print it out. You can write it cursive…
If you were dead my life would be simple
I'd hurt and miss you like I do
But the missing would be different, if you were dead
If you were dead it would be all over
I'd cry and write a song or two
But the songs would be different, if you were…
I KNEW YOU'S GONNA SAY THAT
Well, I woke up this mornin agreeing with you completely
Oh, yeah, I woke up this mornin agreeing with you completely
(forgive me for this silly song...)
(C) 2009 Royal T Music
COOKIES
G B7 Em C
G) I got a lawn to mow. B7) Weeds to hoe.
Em) Cans I need to cash in at C) Recycle rodeo
Thots I need to think. Sites I need to link
Piles of dirty dishes waiting in the sink
But I got A) cookies in the kitchen
and…
WHEN HANNAH IS SILENT
When Hanna is silent, I worry
When Hanna is quiet, I wait
When Hannah shuts down,
There's a cloud on this town
Her silence increases the distance
When Hannah is silent, it's dark
Her words are the cues
To find…
by James Michael Taylor
I have a brain that I must keep busy
I have a heart with too many hurts
And I have a house with too many memories
My life is broken but somehow it still works
And I have a dream that wakes me up crying
I feel…
FISHING
People keep saying that it's a big ocean
There's more than one fish in the sea
Where did they get such a ridiculous notion
What's fishin' between you and me
Fishin' or fusion, photo voltaic cells
Wind mills and hydrogen too…
This is the original version of WILD BILL
that I submitted to Production back in '95
when I was working on the film. It got set aside
when the music was forwarded from Ry Cooter to Van Dyke Parks.
One day I came in from work and Peggy…
This is the original version of WILD BILL
that I submitted to Production back in '95
when I was working on the film. It got set aside
when the music was forwarded from Ry Cooter to Van Dyke Parks.
One day I came in from work and Peggy…
This is the original version of WILD BILL
that I submitted to Production back in '95
when I was working on the film. It got set aside
when the music was forwarded from Ry Cooter to Van Dyke Parks.
One day I came in from work and Peggy…
OCCUPY 0112
It's a highland I call my land
It's an island in the sun
No matter how you measure it
It's always number one
If I had a house to occupy
I'd occupy my wish
But to have a house to occupy
I must defy the rich
We buy the…
OCCUPY 0112
It's a highland I call my land
It's an island in the sun
No matter how you measure it
It's always number one
If I had a house to occupy
I'd occupy my wish
But to have a house to occupy
I must defy the rich
We buy the…
OCCUPY 0112
It's a highland I call my land
It's an island in the sun
No matter how you measure it
It's always number one
If I had a house to occupy
I'd occupy my wish
But to have a house to occupy
I must defy the rich
We buy the…
Just thinking about Happiness. Thinking about how she said she was leaving because she wanted to be happy.
HAPPY Key - C walking down...
Happy is the anvil as the hammer strikes the blade
A fleeting spark that fades as the memory is made…
OCCUPY 0112
It's a highland I call my land
It's an island in the sun
No matter how you measure it
It's always number one
If I had a house to occupy
I'd occupy my wish
But to have a house to occupy
I must defy the rich
We buy the…
Here is the latest song challenge offered by the Minnesota Asscociation of Songwriters:
. . . . . . . .
Your mission this month is twofold:
1. Try creating a boundary between the production of content versus the judging…
Here is the latest song challenge offered by the Minnesota Asscociation of Songwriters:
. . . . . . . .
Your mission this month is twofold:
1. Try creating a boundary between the production of content versus the judging…
Those guitar tracks are crisper than fresh celery. Great vocal. Really brings the lyric to life. This is the best thing I have ever heard of yours. Killer. Great song.
SLAUGHTER MOUNTAIN
My mom’s dad was a coal miner. Her mother died of TB when she was a kid. When she was twelve, her dad, dying of black lung, slit his throat with a butcher knife. That left her with a cripple little brother to take care of…
I never sing this song the same two times in a row.
The lyric below is pretty close to how I sing it now.
Listening again, this is an awful version of this song...
I have my recording machine working again...I must redo this.
I PLAY C…
So sweet.. and I relate sooo well. I only had three, but birthing them in 4 yrs, they seemed double that in number at times. And we were a share the bed family too. I played my guitar and sang for them to put them to sleep. I still have memories of the peace that held for me, and I think for them. Gwyn Henry
I never sing this song the same two times in a row.
The lyric below is pretty close to how I sing it now.
Listening again, this is an awful version of this song...
I have my recording machine working again...I must redo this.
I PLAY C…
WATERMELON WIND Capo @ 3 Key G
On a (G) road outside of Brownsboro there’s a (Bm) watermelon stand
Dm Dm - E
All boarded and bedraggled, fallen signs peak thru the sand
Am…
I would never sing this song in a room that wasn't listening.
Enter
You sent
Peggy taught me an Eagles song toward the end off our life together. I think it was NEW BOY IN TOWN. I had no idea what she was telling me. I took the chord progression from that song and wrote this song with it. Peggy thought that was cheating.
WATERMELON WIND Capo @ 3 Key G
On a (G) road outside of Brownsboro there’s a (Bm) watermelon stand
Dm Dm - E
All boarded and bedraggled, fallen signs peak thru the sand
Am…
The 1st time I sang this song in public was at a Nashville Songwriters Association meeting, Fort Worth chapter, and a woman burst out when it hit her. I can hardly sing this song without crying. I really know how to push my buttons.
"...ha! Push your own buttons… I know hat you mean. I listened to the song again to refresh my memory…omg it is so pretty! And yes! I remember well, I did get it that the watermelon man was his father. In fact it brought to my mind another disappearing father, that of my daughter Lisa. He passed several yrs ago. So too late for him now. But your song has beauty and meaning for a lot of folks, I am sure." Gwyn Henry
I saw him live in Dallas about a year before he died. He was sooo good.
His sweet wife sat stage right and frequently he would go over and kiss her. His playing and showmanship were tops and he was like in my living room sharing the things…
LOVE THIS!! Just listened. I'll bet Dale would love it too, He passed in 2019, I just read in wiki, at the age of 85. Your comparison to his doctore may have been apt: He beat colon cancer twice and lived on another eleven years. And he left us his amazing music! - Gwyn Henry
A song I wrote over the last few days. Did a one-take-wonder on the recording, so it's pretty simple. Hope you like it!
Sometimes You Don't
Verse 1
Sometimes in the early morning hours
As the sun lights up the sky
I look back and think…
A friend got me excited about writing short instrumentals for Video, TV etc and posting them on Pond5 ( A site catering to that type of thing). I recorded this little banjo piece this morning.
This is so crisp and bright. Sunlight and rippling waters. It reminds me of one of my rare instrumentals:https://alonetone.com/jamesmichaeltaylor/playlists/slaughter-mountain/sunlight-on-spider-web
(Remastered 22/10/2021)
And here is the first reply to In Your Hands.
I say "first" because I've found another one, When I Try To Be Me, that Mrs R says I have to do too... but that's unlikely to be the next one I post because I'm working…
(Remastered 22/10/2021)
OK, let's delve once more into the magical shoebox of unused songs...
I've already recorded several that were written in 1994 (Sleeping with the Ghost, Elizabeth's Room, With Mum Again, If You Knew, A Hundred and…
(Remastered 22/10/2021)
And here we go - Edith FINALLY gets it...
Actually, she's been getting it ever since I wrote it on the 29th May. I thought it would take a week or so, but it proved to be more of a fight than I was expecting.
On…
(Remastered 22/10/2021)
Here it is in all of its glory...
THIS is the song that Mrs R and I had decided was a suitable response to a request to "Upload something HAPPY, stat!!!!!!!!!"
I tried to record it back in 2013 when I wrote it…
I was once asked to write a happy song. It turned out to be about a woman who killed herself and when I found out THAT SHE ACTUALLY KILLED HERSELF I wasn't sure what to think about my premonition.https://alonetone.com/jamesmichaeltaylor/tracks/a-happy-song. THEN, later an old friend asked if I had any happy songs so I wrote this:https://alonetone.com/jamesmichaeltaylor/tracks/if-it-makes-you-happy-092914-1
(Remastered 22/10/2021)
I was asked (told?) to upload something happy. Hmmm, I thought. This will end well...
So, a few days later, I was rehearsing a pleasant little thing I wrote several years ago that has a working title of "She Was…
(Remastered 22/10/2021)
Here's the very latest from the broom-cupboard.
I wrote it one dark night over 23 years ago.
****
**All I Have To Do - A A J Russe**
There isn’t much time to get this out
You won’t hear me if I have to…
(Remastered 22/10/2021)
Okies, so I'm working on some other thing and it's taking a while... drums to do and wotnot. But in the middle of it I'm digging how my Martin acoustic is working out. You probs won't even be able to hear it amongst…
(Remastered 22/10/2021)
I wrote this one last September.
Allison Jane Sixsmith 1965-2016.
****
**Forever - A A J Russe**
I can see you on your rocking horse now
The one that turned around and kicked you in the teeth
He thought…
I hear you’re drinking at the chocolate fountain
You pulled the handle off the door
But they won’t mind
They’ll be mending it forever..." Great images...
(Remastered 22/10/2021)
I wasn't even sure the recording machine was still going to work after nearly five years... Certainly, bits of me don't work anymore... But, surprisingly, I got this done in 24 hours, start to finish... Strange old world…
Comments on James Michael Taylor's stuff
That's really great. Very well told! You had me riveted!
I like the fun feel to this and the guitar. Norway does amazing burgers. Pizza too! Just saying!
Such a poignant and realistic song. Love your vocal and lyric!
Oh! happy birthday Levi!
Ha, you hit the heights vocally here! Rockin good!
Love the honky tonk feel and the melody. Oooo, who can whistle then! I think I'll make some tea!
Ah, short but most effective!
The silent alarm - great line! Lovely clear vox.
I can see you sitting on a stool in front of a live audience. Really cute song.
Great story telling! Be careful . . . You might bring up the spirit of Townes VanZant too! There is nothing better than a wistful song.
A story perfectly told. Love the vocals!
Love the contrasts in the vocals .....the trumpet works a treat ....a wonderful story
Makes me want to hoist a pint and it's only seven in the morning!
Picturing JMT in a kilt.
Very Gaelic in flavour,love it
Here is the rare chance to listen to JMT who thinking about ~Happiness~
Come here to listen to what The Man said!
Gosh, this is powerful stuff and a refreshing rework of the original. Your vocal timing is impeccable.
Sounds like an Irish folky song. The "Diamonds back to coal" is a great line! Love it, very jaunty!
whoo... JT memory is such a tricky thing
Comments made by James Michael Taylor
I thot I sent you a response... Can't see it now.
Those guitar tracks are crisper than fresh celery. Great vocal. Really brings the lyric to life. This is the best thing I have ever heard of yours. Killer. Great song.
Gwyn Henry - 😊 be-yoo-ti-full!!
Wow! I sampled all the songs, it’s a great album and I will listen to it more tomorrow. Thank you! Ken Mcintyre
So sweet.. and I relate sooo well. I only had three, but birthing them in 4 yrs, they seemed double that in number at times. And we were a share the bed family too. I played my guitar and sang for them to put them to sleep. I still have memories of the peace that held for me, and I think for them. Gwyn Henry
Seems ea song I hear of yours for the first time is my new favorite song of yours! Gwyn Henry
I would never sing this song in a room that wasn't listening. Enter You sent Peggy taught me an Eagles song toward the end off our life together. I think it was NEW BOY IN TOWN. I had no idea what she was telling me. I took the chord progression from that song and wrote this song with it. Peggy thought that was cheating.
The 1st time I sang this song in public was at a Nashville Songwriters Association meeting, Fort Worth chapter, and a woman burst out when it hit her. I can hardly sing this song without crying. I really know how to push my buttons. "...ha! Push your own buttons… I know hat you mean. I listened to the song again to refresh my memory…omg it is so pretty! And yes! I remember well, I did get it that the watermelon man was his father. In fact it brought to my mind another disappearing father, that of my daughter Lisa. He passed several yrs ago. So too late for him now. But your song has beauty and meaning for a lot of folks, I am sure." Gwyn Henry
LOVE THIS!! Just listened. I'll bet Dale would love it too, He passed in 2019, I just read in wiki, at the age of 85. Your comparison to his doctore may have been apt: He beat colon cancer twice and lived on another eleven years. And he left us his amazing music! - Gwyn Henry
Such pathos. Your voice captures the sadness so well... Sometimes you don’t feel the love until you’ve lost it..."
This is so crisp and bright. Sunlight and rippling waters. It reminds me of one of my rare instrumentals:https://alonetone.com/jamesmichaeltaylor/playlists/slaughter-mountain/sunlight-on-spider-web
Simple and clear...
"Teddy bead kisses..." So sad.
Sounds like another suicide song to me... We can feel the pain in your voice.
I was once asked to write a happy song. It turned out to be about a woman who killed herself and when I found out THAT SHE ACTUALLY KILLED HERSELF I wasn't sure what to think about my premonition.https://alonetone.com/jamesmichaeltaylor/tracks/a-happy-song. THEN, later an old friend asked if I had any happy songs so I wrote this:https://alonetone.com/jamesmichaeltaylor/tracks/if-it-makes-you-happy-092914-1
"But still I love the comfort I find in misery…" Great line. Beatle like...and that's always good.
Great guitar sound.
Love this. Beautifully done. Tonight I was trying out a song from that era: Twilight Time...https://www.e-chords.com/chords/the-platters/twilight-time
I hear you’re drinking at the chocolate fountain You pulled the handle off the door But they won’t mind They’ll be mending it forever..." Great images...
Rock on Dude...! Good to listen to some of your tunes. It's been a while. Strange relationship in this song.