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…
Candy Davis
I love that album. You gifted it to me a long time ago, and I still think about those hapless men becoming ill and dying, making hickory handled hardware. And "Help!' raises so many emotions in me--that people would just stand on the shore and do nothing while you risked your life alone to save that boy. All of the songs on Slaughter Mountain are ones that are so well written and so memorable!
Randy Brown and I did a little co-write this evening and this is what we came up with...
I MISTOOK IT FOR THE MOON Capo @ 2 Key D (Play in C positions)
I was coasting across West Texas/Had my top down, it was late at night
I caught a coyote…
My mom is 91 and still holding on.
The people that help her make it thru
each day have learned that there is no
sense in arguing with her about who they
are or when it is...thus the song.
MAMA HAS A TIME MACHINE key - Em
Mama has a…
You really broke me down on that one. It's like you have been looking into my living room. It took me a second to remember your names is James also. - James Bucannan
Worshiping at an abandoned alter...
Let my breaths be as long as her legs
Let my breaths be as smooth as her back
Let my breaths be as cool as her hips
Let my heart be as still as her tongue
Let my mind be as bright as her skin
Let my…
FOREVER
She stares out the window. That look in her eye
How deep can her heart know life's passing her by
The radio's playing. She holds back a tear
A song she's forgotten
Holds back the years...Forever
And she says,
"I wish I 'd loved…
FOREVER
She stares out the window. That look in her eye
How deep can her heart know life's passing her by
The radio's playing. She holds back a tear
A song she's forgotten
Holds back the years...Forever
And she says,
"I wish I 'd loved…
But the Sun
I close the curtains
To shut out the darkness
I shut the window
To keep out the cold
But the Sun is shining
Somewhere, I know.
(C) 2020 Royal T Music
Well, it's like I went down town last night to see Guthrie playing with Ray and I came home with a song.
NOBODY KNOW ME IN TOWN ANY MORE Capo @ 1 in G
There’s a bird in the gutter that’s so sound asleep
He can’t hear the music that’s sweeping…
The lyrics of this song,
as they pertain to plot,
are my exact memory of the event.
I had spoken to the kid maybe a minute before the "action" started about how the pressure of the water was very strong. He was nestled down with his back…
NAAD -Just read your lyrics and liatend.to the son...w
Very beautiful, very moving...beautiful how you he'd on the rhyme scheme an dmade it work...so love the slave t rhymes as well...they're my favorite...super smooth transitions....tell me a bit about the inclusion of you garden reflections in the middle of the song...counter point? Balancing urgency and reality? Love, love, love thisnone...will.ha r to listen again.
"tell me a bit about the inclusion of you garden reflections in the middle of the song...counter point?" it all ties in when I relate it to the weather, "...there's lightning and thunder...but this summer is a wash...what we really need is rain." The reason the river was up that day was because there had been so much rain in the previous days, they were lowering the dam to lower the water lever in the lake that fed this river.
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…
Dang dude, I love it…🤠❤️🤠…just got on this site and read then listened to you sing this song…I’m gonna be 49 next month and just reading it pulled me in to listen to it…I’m a total ROOKIE…but I have a voice and blues everything that I’d kill this into a song… BUT NOT just one song I’d make three songs out of this whole thing…so the first two songs…I’d leave no ending…only to have people waiting and wanting more..to later on the radio station would get so many requests the DJays… would be forced into playing the 2nd and third part to get to the climax… of a brilliant Ending❤️❤️🤠🤠❤️❤️😎😎.. feel free to reach out to me through this dam computer stuff..HELL JAMIE H…… $$$ living in Baycity Michigan…EMPATH you later.zz
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…
One night after three month of no rain, as we were driving home from singing at Gringos in Grapevine a splash of water hit the windshield.
I said to myself, "Sweet Rain."
I went home and wrote the song. It's on the soundtrack of a movie called…
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…
Like most or all of your songs, there is always something really stands out and pays off big time. That last verse (or is it the last two) is absolutely, powefully emotion packed. And it is somewhat Vonnegut like in that so much is conveyed so precisely and with elegant simplicity. "... in the dream we left behind" - my God man, it's pure genius. Not the first two times I heard the song, but the first time I "listened" to it, I thought WHAT WAS THAT! And the it sunk in.
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…
I have a new love
Of course she doesn’t know
How can a work of art
Know when lovers come and go
And when the artist is the art!
My eyes are the eyes of the beholder
And my eyes are the eyes of the world…
…when the artist is the art…
OUT THERE SOMEWHERE
Her eyes were blurry. Her face was painted
Her hair was dyed black. Her purse was heavy
She said something. I asked her to repeat it
She said, “Stop the car. I thot I could trust you.”
I pulled it over and I waited…
CATTAILS AND BUTTERFLIES capo @ 4 in C
C G repeat
There was a field around the corner
And a stream flowed cross the field
There were cat tails in the summer time
And monarch butterflies
And tadpoles sprouting wings
E…
"Somewhere between the stumbling and the falling..."
SOMEWHERE
G capo @ 2
Somewhere between the summer and the winter
The leaves between the tree tops and the fall
Somewhere between my heart and circled letters
Somewhere between it…
Busted out this tasty delight overnight with my good buddy Timmy D! Oh we had a good time. We worked on the instrumentation from 6 PM to 2 AM, woke up at 7AM and recorded vocals until Tim had to leave at 10AM. It was a great jam night.
VIDEO - https://www.facebook.com/100001468692811/videos/1120270078888215/
https://www.facebook.com/true.taylor.3/videos/397153049918748
GHOST TOWN capo @ 2 in C
C Em F G C
I…
Robert Hayden
fyi Robert Hayden thanks JMT I doubt that I will try to cover this one, but I appreciate your creative genius none the less. I do cover several cof your works when I play. To me that is the highest form of a compliment, to have one of your works covered by other musicians.
Capo @ 2 in D (E) Dropped D tuning
Actually, it was almost two years. 1965-67.
Leavenworth, Kansas U S Army prison. I played the organ at the daily Protestant chapel. Took dictation and typed letters for the Protestant chaplain. Wrote 2-page…
Capo @ 2 in D (E) Dropped D tuning
Actually, it was almost two years. 1965-67.
Leavenworth, Kansas U S Army prison. I played the organ at the daily Protestant chapel. Took dictation and typed letters for the Protestant chaplain. Wrote 2-page…
One night after three month of no rain, as we were driving home from singing at Gringos in Grapevine a splash of water hit the windshield.
I said to myself, "Sweet Rain."
I went home and wrote the song. It's on the soundtrack of a movie called…
INFATUATION, UNREQUITED
They say it's just infatuation
I only wish that it was true
Infatuation, unrequited
Feels like love to, for you
And then they say, 'Silence is golden,"
And I don't know what to do
The autumn leaves, the branched…
This is all me...
VOICES
There is something deep inside that wants to laugh and cry
Something that would like to tell it's story
There is something deep inside that wants to dance and wants to fly
Maybe you would guess it's called the…
This is all me...
VOICES
There is something deep inside that wants to laugh and cry
Something that would like to tell it's story
There is something deep inside that wants to dance and wants to fly
Maybe you would guess it's called the…
Maia was from Georgia. The Georgia that was part of the the USSR. She drew pictures of her sisters. She lived on orange juice and tea.
MEETING MAIA
Where the tram stops in front of the Van Gough Museum, I waited there. She said she'd be…
James Michael Taylor
I remember that we walked and talked and walked and talked like...how many miles. One of my favorite conversation, ever...and how upset the waitress was when she found we only had enough money for appetizers. Then, when we finally got back to your apartment, we had orang juice and you showed me your paintings...
Maia was from Georgia. The Georgia that was part of the the USSR. She drew pictures of her sisters. She lived on orange juice and tea.
MEETING MAIA
Where the tram stops in front of the Van Gough Museum, I waited there. She said she'd be…
Maia wrote, February of 2024 - From Spain, "Stone Borani" (J. According to Saramago) from the shooting he went to Amsterdam and then went to Texas.
James' friend asked me to guide him around Amsterdam.
We met at the Van Gogh museum. We talk more than we meet...
It was a long, honest and interesting conversation...
Like everyone else, I've experienced highlights from other days that I'll never forget and probably worth saying.
James Michael Taylor later dedicated a song to this single but unforgettable encounter or conversation...
James Michael Taylor was a great pleasure having nice, honest and interesting chat. Still remember.
3:08
MEETING MAIA 061011 - COUNTER
This is all me...
VOICES
There is something deep inside that wants to laugh and cry
Something that would like to tell it's story
There is something deep inside that wants to dance and wants to fly
Maybe you would guess it's called the…
LISA MAKES APPOINTMENTS
Capo @ 3 in C
C stepping down G
Lisa makes appointments for her friends to come and cry
She’s got a comfy shoulder and an empathetic sigh
Am. F. Am. F
Lisa’s…
BEAVERS AND WILLOWS
Capo @ 5 in C
C) Like beavers and willows (G
Bats and mosquitos
F) Toad C) frogs and G) flies (C
Algae and oil spills
Shovels and coal hills
Black holes and light
(C) 2020 Royal T Music
About "If I'd Been A Lutheran *"
Dodie told me not to use her real name.
C Csus C Csus
C Csus C
If I had been a Lutheran I might have married
Csus
Dodie Harris…
CATFISH FISHIN'
a song by my buddie,
Guthrie Kennard
Three days of rain
Mud between my toes
First day of sun
Cut me a cain pole
I’m goin’ catfish fishin’
I’m goin’ catfish fishin
Catfish I’m fishin
Catfish fish fishin’
Lilly…
Ashley and I had been talking...
I recorded this with Pete Thompson out at Texas Central. Pete did the drums, percussion and bass. I'm not happy with my guitar and vocals but too excited getting it off the page to wait. I'll update it when…
Lazarus Knight
It has a nice bounce. It is original but with a slight "Lost in Margaritaville" vine. I like the arrangement! How many harmony parts was that?
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…
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…
Comments on James Michael Taylor's stuff
Candy Davis I love that album. You gifted it to me a long time ago, and I still think about those hapless men becoming ill and dying, making hickory handled hardware. And "Help!' raises so many emotions in me--that people would just stand on the shore and do nothing while you risked your life alone to save that boy. All of the songs on Slaughter Mountain are ones that are so well written and so memorable!
Great song as always, good sir.
Wow. That is a good one. Michelle Soto
You really broke me down on that one. It's like you have been looking into my living room. It took me a second to remember your names is James also. - James Bucannan
Haunting voices and guitar work. Nuno
The line: "The window's a mirror when it's dark outside..." Wow! Nuno
Gerald Ray - I love this.
very Neil! keep it up! great!!
"Nobody Knows Me". Your voice is so different in that song. Deeper.NUNO
NAAD -Just read your lyrics and liatend.to the son...w Very beautiful, very moving...beautiful how you he'd on the rhyme scheme an dmade it work...so love the slave t rhymes as well...they're my favorite...super smooth transitions....tell me a bit about the inclusion of you garden reflections in the middle of the song...counter point? Balancing urgency and reality? Love, love, love thisnone...will.ha r to listen again. "tell me a bit about the inclusion of you garden reflections in the middle of the song...counter point?" it all ties in when I relate it to the weather, "...there's lightning and thunder...but this summer is a wash...what we really need is rain." The reason the river was up that day was because there had been so much rain in the previous days, they were lowering the dam to lower the water lever in the lake that fed this river.
Dang dude, I love it…🤠❤️🤠…just got on this site and read then listened to you sing this song…I’m gonna be 49 next month and just reading it pulled me in to listen to it…I’m a total ROOKIE…but I have a voice and blues everything that I’d kill this into a song… BUT NOT just one song I’d make three songs out of this whole thing…so the first two songs…I’d leave no ending…only to have people waiting and wanting more..to later on the radio station would get so many requests the DJays… would be forced into playing the 2nd and third part to get to the climax… of a brilliant Ending❤️❤️🤠🤠❤️❤️😎😎.. feel free to reach out to me through this dam computer stuff..HELL JAMIE H…… $$$ living in Baycity Michigan…EMPATH you later.zz
Cory Michael -I listened to the song and think you should definitely sing it next week. You're a hell of a story teller, James!
Cindy Grayson James Michael Taylor beautiful song
Pamela Steuber Anderson James Michael Taylor I love this song. Thank you.
Like most or all of your songs, there is always something really stands out and pays off big time. That last verse (or is it the last two) is absolutely, powefully emotion packed. And it is somewhat Vonnegut like in that so much is conveyed so precisely and with elegant simplicity. "... in the dream we left behind" - my God man, it's pure genius. Not the first two times I heard the song, but the first time I "listened" to it, I thought WHAT WAS THAT! And the it sunk in.
heartfelt, sincere. i dig the banjo and mouthharp
That is beautiful, James. Thank you. Rachel Eastman
Honking horn was exactly how I thought you would end this song
504 Hathaway, San Luis Obispo, California. 1954
Absolutely beautiful!
Comments made by James Michael Taylor
WoW! This SIZZLES!
Robert Hayden fyi Robert Hayden thanks JMT I doubt that I will try to cover this one, but I appreciate your creative genius none the less. I do cover several cof your works when I play. To me that is the highest form of a compliment, to have one of your works covered by other musicians.
I read the words 1st and expected a completely different musical framing for them. But this sorts rocks and works great. Kavin
Molly Gator LOVE LOVE IT !!!!!!! Incredible...
...and a very digital forest, at that. Great fun...
Love it...
Candy Davis -Aethereally lovely,I love how the dreamlike music glides beneath the dreamlike lyrics.
Beautiful and touching - LeAnne M
Fantastic! Way cool. - LeAnna M Christian
Fantastic. - Way cool - LeAnna M Christian
James Michael Taylor I remember that we walked and talked and walked and talked like...how many miles. One of my favorite conversation, ever...and how upset the waitress was when she found we only had enough money for appetizers. Then, when we finally got back to your apartment, we had orang juice and you showed me your paintings...
Maia wrote, February of 2024 - From Spain, "Stone Borani" (J. According to Saramago) from the shooting he went to Amsterdam and then went to Texas. James' friend asked me to guide him around Amsterdam. We met at the Van Gogh museum. We talk more than we meet... It was a long, honest and interesting conversation... Like everyone else, I've experienced highlights from other days that I'll never forget and probably worth saying. James Michael Taylor later dedicated a song to this single but unforgettable encounter or conversation... James Michael Taylor was a great pleasure having nice, honest and interesting chat. Still remember. 3:08 MEETING MAIA 061011 - COUNTER
Carlene Lloyd - WoW!
"A song I should be singing." Laz, "Absolutely."
LeeAnne m Christian -I listened 2 all of Shorts- really like!
Leanne M Christian - Aah, nice flow.
That was cool -Denise Albright
Lazarus Knight It has a nice bounce. It is original but with a slight "Lost in Margaritaville" vine. I like the arrangement! How many harmony parts was that?
Just listened. Such a beauty of a song and son. You both are Truly Blessed. Thanks - Connie Ramsey
Connie Ramsey - Such a beauty of a song and son.