M E L I S S A Key of G
These are letters I like to say - M E L I S S A
These are notes I like to play……
Letters that sparkle. Notes that jingle
Make a little song in my heart
There’s a song in my heart today - M E L I S S A
I wish…
M E L I S S A Key of G
These are letters I like to say - M E L I S S A
These are notes I like to play……
Letters that sparkle. Notes that jingle
Make a little song in my heart
There’s a song in my heart today - M E L I S S A
I wish…
I wrote this at my dad's urging. He likes it. We sing it together. I have YouTube Video of it up.
EULOGY
He grew up in Clinton, Oklahoma
Red dirt back yard, Gramma's place
Honey suckle in a dust bowl
Life as hard as limestone lace…
This is the title song from my first LP.
FEATHERS IN THE WIND by SNOWGEESE.
Snowgeese was my first wife, BarbaraAnne and me. Michael was a new friend we met when we moved to Texas that liked my songs enough to produce and arrange and record…
Jim Farmer
JMT...Also wanna say that I love the sound produced on those 1/4" - 4 track machines. I listened to half the tunes on "Feathers in the Wind" & really enjoyed them. I'll tell you again that I'm a big fan of your writing and your voice. Truly great stuff, my friend.
IN MY DREAM by James Michael Taylor
Last night I held your hand
Reached out and touched your hand
I know it's just a dream
I say, "What does that change?"
Today the sun will shine
Because you made it mine
IN MY DREAM
I held…
Robert White
Just reading the words, maybe to the tune of In Deams By Roy Orbinson! One of My Favorite's! I would love to Sing a Duet with You! My Voice is High like Roy Orbinson and can sing lower like Elvis! Thanks for sharing!🤗😎
IN MY DREAM by James Michael Taylor
Last night I held your hand
Reached out and touched your hand
I know it's just a dream
I say, "What does that change?"
Today the sun will shine
Because you made it mine
IN MY DREAM
I held…
IN MY DREAM by James Michael Taylor
Last night I held your hand
Reached out and touched your hand
I know it's just a dream
I say, "What does that change?"
Today the sun will shine
Because you made it mine
IN MY DREAM
I held…
IN MY DREAM by James Michael Taylor
Last night I held your hand
Reached out and touched your hand
I know it's just a dream
I say, "What does that change?"
Today the sun will shine
Because you made it mine
IN MY DREAM
I held…
IN MY DREAM by James Michael Taylor
Last night I held your hand
Reached out and touched your hand
I know it's just a dream
I say, "What does that change?"
Today the sun will shine
Because you made it mine
IN MY DREAM
I held…
IN MY DREAM by James Michael Taylor
Last night I held your hand
Reached out and touched your hand
I know it's just a dream
I say, "What does that change?"
Today the sun will shine
Because you made it mine
IN MY DREAM
I held…
IN MY DREAM by James Michael Taylor
Last night I held your hand
Reached out and touched your hand
I know it's just a dream
I say, "What does that change?"
Today the sun will shine
Because you made it mine
IN MY DREAM
I held…
This is the title song from my first LP.
FEATHERS IN THE WIND by SNOWGEESE.
Snowgeese was my first wife, BarbaraAnne and me. Michael was a new friend we met when we moved to Texas that liked my songs enough to produce and arrange and record…
Jenni Mansfield Peal
Thanks for posting these beautiful songs. I’m so sorry for the loss of your friend. Bittersweet listening; hearing Barbara, I am grieving her loss.
My motto is INWARD THRU THE FOG. One day about a month ago, Laura 'Taylor' Whitfield told me I should, "write that song." Thinking back on a fog-bound night in California, I wrote it. Norman Pilcher, a friend from Texas, and I were headed north…
I BUY GUITARS
Em
One man might buy cigarettes and waste it all in smoke
Another marijuana and share a friendly toke
Am
Another, with more money, might invest in antique cars
Em
I buy guitars
A man might buy a baseball card
Keep it…
I BUY GUITARS
Em
One man might buy cigarettes and waste it all in smoke
Another marijuana and share a friendly toke
Am
Another, with more money, might invest in antique cars
Em
I buy guitars
A man might buy a baseball card
Keep it…
... that's great! It's all very lighthearted until you get to the part about them not leaving. I guess the companion that remains true will always be the one with strings. Lazarus Knight
I was told that even tho she left me after 28 years it doesn't negate the idea.
There’s a place in my mind where your face had a home
Long before you came into my life
Before you were a known
There’s a note in my song that I knew fit somewhere…
was a Texan.
Quannah Parker was the son born to Cynthia Parker, a white girl, stolen by Comanche raiders who grew up to be the wife of the chief. Quannah, in turn became the leader of his tribe. Eventually, Cynthia returned to her people. This…
The Winnowing Wind
I feel the wind blow thru me
Oh, please don't let it undo me
Let it level and true me
The Wind. The Winnowing Wind
And here I stand, alone, against the wind,
And, who am I to think that I
Can stand alone against the…
Candy Davis
That's so much fun, singing with oneself, laying down multiple tracks. Your Winnowing Wind is such a polished, beautiful example of the magic of music.
Love
The Winnowing Wind
I feel the wind blow thru me
Oh, please don't let it undo me
Let it level and true me
The Wind. The Winnowing Wind
And here I stand, alone, against the wind,
And, who am I to think that I
Can stand alone against the…
Lazarus Knight
Beautiful arrangement and vocal peformance. When I noticed the 2007 copyright it made me wonder if the song was written and recorded before or after a certain life changing event that year.
FOR A PENNY
From the moment Toy saw the light
he was the center of attention.
In a room full of sunlight and 'Welcome,"
he was a new dimension.
Tiny traveler, arriving wet
Peggy hardly breaking a sweat
Toy was born in the middle of the…
Rahim Quazi - I love that. What did you mean when you said that you had wished you had kept the penny?
Enter
You sent
It would be a nice thing for him to have as a keepsake. The actual penny that saved his life.
Enter
You sent
Peggy had aborted the previous two pregnancies.Really didn't want any more kids. True is my best friend. I don't know what I would do without him. He is what I have left of Peggy.
Enter
Rahim
Rahim Quazi
Ahhh, I get it now. It’s a beautiful song
Walking alone in late February
Thinking on friends I’d lost
John and Sean and Christopher
Ryan, Ian, and Mark
Some of them fell to fever and drink
Some to women or song
One of them made it to the good life
But all of them are gone
All…
Gwyn Henry said, "How random, Jim! What precipitated this sharing??? Don't get me wrong, it is very funny.
My reply, "This was about when Peggy, my fuck buddy for 29 years said no more for me. She was giving it to Doug. Not funny to me. So 15 years celebate."
I'M A STRANGER TO ME - capo @ 3 playing in C
I'm a stranger to me
I make the bed where I sleep
I cook the food that I eat
I fold the towel that dries
The tears in my eyes
I'm a stranger to me
I'm a stranger to me
Every morning we meet…
I randomly chose an old album to pick a song from to post and it turned out to be songs one year after Peggy left. I was at my lowest, loneliest, most unconsolable. STRANGER was a song that also spoke to me about my dad having lost my mom. to Gwyn Henry
THE ONLY THINGS
Any road that leads to somewhere
Any thought that comes to mind
Any sight on the horizon
Any friend that's left behind
Any meal that's ever eaten
Any quilt that's ever lined
Any concert that is set thru
Any document that…
"Somewhere between the stumbling and the falling..."
SOMEWHERE
G capo @ 2 - live @ 4
Somewhere between the summer and the winter
The leaves between the tree tops and the fall
Somewhere between my heart and circled letters
Somewhere…
It’s a small town. Woodlake, California. East side of the San Joaquin Valley. 14 miles from where all those “Lindsey” olives you see on your grocery store shelves come from. The Woodlake Echo, says, “In the foothills of the Sequoias”.
FOOTHILLS…
Scott - Thanks for the link. I love how descripted they were i never have smelled the orange blossoms but i bet they are heavenly.
Me -The first time it hit me, I was taking Kay Smart for a ride, top down just west of that bridge at Lemon cove. Nothing else like it.
Scott -
Enter
Scott
Scott Carson Ausburn
I bet ; ) Nothing like smell to jog your memories. I usta be in love with this girl named Belinda that lived up the street from my Grandmothers. We would go bicycle riding often. Her front yard had plum trees that smelled heavenly when the were in bloom. Now every time i smell a plum tree bloom it takes me back to the good times i had with Belinda and wondering what ever happened to her.
Me -So sweet. Peggy wore Sweet Honesty perfume. I’m sure if I met some girl with that I would be shaken.
Refuge into the imagination:
Is it crazy?
Is it survival?
Is desire to survive crazy?
THERE SHE WAS Key - G 102811
G
She'd been gone for three years now so he'd been on the road
Playing every truck stop bar and every song he…
I have a video called THE BROKE PIANO on line at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JON_poM_sdY
Ironically, it does not include this song.
Key D
D (figure is D D sus, D D sus)
I am a BROKE PIANO. Got no damper and no keys
G…
Gwyn Henry
I go farther and farther into my appreciation of you songwriting skills... lyrics poetic... ex Broke Piano.. The line that got me this time was "The only things that moves my strings is when somebody breathes" I once interviewed a popular musician in Tulsa, John D.Levan, in the late 70s. When I asked him where he got his ideas for songs, he laughed and said, "Heck, you just turn your head, and thre's a song!" Your line is saying the same, only more intensely... it's the inclusion of "human breath". goes even deeper.
I have a video called THE BROKE PIANO on line at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JON_poM_sdY
Ironically, it does not include this song.
Key D
D (figure is D D sus, D D sus)
I am a BROKE PIANO. Got no damper and no keys
G…
Gwyn Henry
That one would be my fav of all I have seen! They are all great, but my fav... will never forget you underneath that (was it a piano bed?) So many metaphors played into that... and don't we all just want to revert to childhood at times and go hide under the bed, take a crayon, etc.
jmt - You are broadening my vision of the video. Yes. Under the bed was always a place of mystery and imagined safety.
I have a video called THE BROKE PIANO on line at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JON_poM_sdY
Ironically, it does not include this song.
Key D
D (figure is D D sus, D D sus)
I am a BROKE PIANO. Got no damper and no keys
G…
Gwyn Henry
That one would be my fav of all I have seen! They are all great, but my fav... will never forget you underneath that (was it a piano bed?) So many metaphors played into that... and don't we all just want to revert to childhood at times and go hide uner the bed, take a crayon, etc.
key - C
I’m clinging to the memories as the world falls apart
The falling leaves, dead Everleys are pulling at my heart.
My quest for rationality, I can’t even start.
So, I’m clinging to the memories as the world falls apart
I’m clinging…
One day I was up on my ladder, cleaning the leaves out of the gutters when I realized why I was there, doing that.
YOUR VOICE
I hear your voice and I go get my ladder
I pull on my gloves. I climb up to the gutters
When the leaves gather…
Kat Angel
Wow! Through your words, I heard my mother, my father, my sisters and brother, my grandma and grandpa, myself talking to my husband, my best friend. I suppose we are all that predictable in time and in retrospect. You made me think and travel through time.
SOMETHING ABOUT THE NIGHT TIME - no Capo or Capo @ 4
(Am)Something about the (Bm)night time makes me feel alive
Makes me want to sing a song. Think about my life
(C)Maybe light a (D)candle. I like lemon grass
(Am)Something about the (Bm…
One day I was up on my ladder, cleaning the leaves out of the gutters when I realized why I was there, doing that.
YOUR VOICE
I hear your voice and I go get my ladder
I pull on my gloves. I climb up to the gutters
When the leaves gather…
One day I was up on my ladder, cleaning the leaves out of the gutters when I realized why I was there, doing that.
YOUR VOICE
I hear your voice and I go get my ladder
I pull on my gloves. I climb up to the gutters
When the leaves gather…
Belinda Stephens - Lovely, James. Who are you singing about?
James Michael Taylor
Belinda Stephens Specifically, Peggy. But we all have the voices of our parents and children and other loved ones that we live with.
Comments on James Michael Taylor's stuff
Pam Stakes That is AWESOME
Gwyn Henry Cute! I like the rhythm and claps.
Ruth Southern - I agree.
Jim Farmer JMT...Also wanna say that I love the sound produced on those 1/4" - 4 track machines. I listened to half the tunes on "Feathers in the Wind" & really enjoyed them. I'll tell you again that I'm a big fan of your writing and your voice. Truly great stuff, my friend.
Robert White Just reading the words, maybe to the tune of In Deams By Roy Orbinson! One of My Favorite's! I would love to Sing a Duet with You! My Voice is High like Roy Orbinson and can sing lower like Elvis! Thanks for sharing!🤗😎
Jack Lavender I could hear body parts tightening at the end.
Jody Jones So many wonderful songs you’ve penned James. Miss you.
James Kempton That was really good, Thsnks, Jim
Lazarus Knight Yep, the G is up there - Orbisonish indeed!
Kat Angel Yep, that was a high note. I can't hit it. Pretty song.
I like In my Dreams!! It does have an Orbison vibe! LIke the way it builds. Operatic. Orbison. Gwyn Henry
Jenni Mansfield Peal Thanks for posting these beautiful songs. I’m so sorry for the loss of your friend. Bittersweet listening; hearing Barbara, I am grieving her loss.
Paul Smith Some of your tunes fit right in with a soundtrack feel like "Pulp Fiction". I love it. 🎶
That was great, thanks Jim Jim Kempton
... that's great! It's all very lighthearted until you get to the part about them not leaving. I guess the companion that remains true will always be the one with strings. Lazarus Knight
Lazarus Knight That's a great album!
Jenni Mansfield Peal Beautiful. Thanks so much for posting.
Candy Davis That's so much fun, singing with oneself, laying down multiple tracks. Your Winnowing Wind is such a polished, beautiful example of the magic of music. Love
Lazarus Knight Beautiful arrangement and vocal peformance. When I noticed the 2007 copyright it made me wonder if the song was written and recorded before or after a certain life changing event that year.
Rahim Quazi - I love that. What did you mean when you said that you had wished you had kept the penny? Enter You sent It would be a nice thing for him to have as a keepsake. The actual penny that saved his life. Enter You sent Peggy had aborted the previous two pregnancies.Really didn't want any more kids. True is my best friend. I don't know what I would do without him. He is what I have left of Peggy. Enter Rahim Rahim Quazi Ahhh, I get it now. It’s a beautiful song
Comments made by James Michael Taylor
Great groove...
Such pathos. We could collect all the Ghost Town songs on Alonetone and have a very interesting album.
It would be cool to put the GHOST TOWN songs in a collection. A great subject with so much sadness... You really capture it here.
Gwyn Henry said, "How random, Jim! What precipitated this sharing??? Don't get me wrong, it is very funny. My reply, "This was about when Peggy, my fuck buddy for 29 years said no more for me. She was giving it to Doug. Not funny to me. So 15 years celebate."
I randomly chose an old album to pick a song from to post and it turned out to be songs one year after Peggy left. I was at my lowest, loneliest, most unconsolable. STRANGER was a song that also spoke to me about my dad having lost my mom. to Gwyn Henry
I also like These are the Only Times I Think of You... You are so prolific and so consistent in quality of work. Gwyn Henry
WoW! What an interesting counterpoint: slow recitation with snappy drum track.
Really snappy and tight. What an interesting lyric.
That pain is incredible and I understand it Alene Brandt
Scott - Thanks for the link. I love how descripted they were i never have smelled the orange blossoms but i bet they are heavenly. Me -The first time it hit me, I was taking Kay Smart for a ride, top down just west of that bridge at Lemon cove. Nothing else like it. Scott - Enter Scott Scott Carson Ausburn I bet ; ) Nothing like smell to jog your memories. I usta be in love with this girl named Belinda that lived up the street from my Grandmothers. We would go bicycle riding often. Her front yard had plum trees that smelled heavenly when the were in bloom. Now every time i smell a plum tree bloom it takes me back to the good times i had with Belinda and wondering what ever happened to her. Me -So sweet. Peggy wore Sweet Honesty perfume. I’m sure if I met some girl with that I would be shaken.
I sang this song at a Sunday night songwriter contest at The Playground in Fort Worth. No cigar.
Gwyn Henry I go farther and farther into my appreciation of you songwriting skills... lyrics poetic... ex Broke Piano.. The line that got me this time was "The only things that moves my strings is when somebody breathes" I once interviewed a popular musician in Tulsa, John D.Levan, in the late 70s. When I asked him where he got his ideas for songs, he laughed and said, "Heck, you just turn your head, and thre's a song!" Your line is saying the same, only more intensely... it's the inclusion of "human breath". goes even deeper.
Gwyn Henry That one would be my fav of all I have seen! They are all great, but my fav... will never forget you underneath that (was it a piano bed?) So many metaphors played into that... and don't we all just want to revert to childhood at times and go hide under the bed, take a crayon, etc. jmt - You are broadening my vision of the video. Yes. Under the bed was always a place of mystery and imagined safety.
Gwyn Henry That one would be my fav of all I have seen! They are all great, but my fav... will never forget you underneath that (was it a piano bed?) So many metaphors played into that... and don't we all just want to revert to childhood at times and go hide uner the bed, take a crayon, etc.
Bobby Huskins I like this a lot! Thanks for sharing.
Kat Angel Psychedelic sound. Felt like a brain massage.
Kat Angel Wow! Through your words, I heard my mother, my father, my sisters and brother, my grandma and grandpa, myself talking to my husband, my best friend. I suppose we are all that predictable in time and in retrospect. You made me think and travel through time.
Kat Angel James Michael Taylor great song. I love the melody and the words
Joseph Brunelle Haunting Sentimental heart on the sleeve and knot in the pine
Belinda Stephens - Lovely, James. Who are you singing about? James Michael Taylor Belinda Stephens Specifically, Peggy. But we all have the voices of our parents and children and other loved ones that we live with.