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…
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…
PORTAL and HAPPINESS and TIME are three of the songs on my new CD, EUREKA. Short pieces.
TIME
There was a time when I figured my Chevy van would last forever
I guess that was back when I was about thirty
And there was a time when I thot…
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. (Horns by my brother, John.)
MEETING MAIA
Where the tram stops in front of the Van Gough Museum, I waited…
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. (Horns by my brother, John.)
MEETING MAIA
Where the tram stops in front of the Van Gough Museum, I waited…
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
FCG FC FCFG
F C G F C
Like beavers and willows
Bats and mosquitos
F) Toad C) frogs and F) flies (G
DA DA - E Am G C
Algae and oil spills
Shovels and coal hills
Black holes…
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…
FOOD I MY BELLY
Capo @ 5 in Em
Em) I gotta get some food in my belly (2)
Am) My hands are shaking and I'm feeling weak
B7) I gotta get some food in my belly
I gotta get some food in my belly
I'm feeling woozy gotta get off of my feet…
(I Almost Washed the ) DISHES
I almost washed the dishes
I almost ran the water
Maybe tomorrow
Maybe Saturday
What does it matter to me
I almost washed the dishes..
(C) 2020 Royal T Music
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…
ROCKING CHAIR
Well, I got one on the porch and I got one in the den
And just enough umph for the condition I'm in
I sit myself down and close my tired eyes
And I lean back. Go for a ride. "Rocking chair."
I rock off to sleep and I dream…
ROCKING CHAIR
Well, I got one on the porch and I got one in the den
And just enough umph for the condition I'm in
I sit myself down and close my tired eyes
And I lean back. Go for a ride. "Rocking chair."
I rock off to sleep and I dream…
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…
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. Peggy said that was cheating.
WATERMELON…
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…
A friend asked me,
"Don't you have any happy songs?"
So I wrote one!
IF IT MAKES YOU HAPPY capo @ 3
C F C
If it makes you happy I will tie your shoe
C…
Tim Tandy
James Michael Taylor , have loved this song from the first time I heard it. Like so many of your compositions, it's refreshingly straightforward, simple and playful- characteristics all too rare in many relationships.
Comments on James Michael Taylor's stuff
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
This us a fantastic work JMT! Bravo!
Awesome songs! Bravo!
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.
Love the instrumentation of Food in my belly! Gassy song lol
A fantastic and fun compilation. Of shorts an ep of an ep
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.
Candy Davis What a soothing, tender, poignant song! I love it. ❤
So lovely, soothing, and poignant! <3 Candy Davis
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
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.
Tim Tandy James Michael Taylor , have loved this song from the first time I heard it. Like so many of your compositions, it's refreshingly straightforward, simple and playful- characteristics all too rare in many relationships.