WINNER TAKE ALL
For every singer that’s famous
There must be a couple that ain’t
Well, he was a wasn’t but also he wasn’t
The kind to be thing he can’t
So, he got him a job on the radio
Spinning’ records and speaking’ his mind
Singing…
WINNER TAKE ALL
For every singer that’s famous
There must be a couple that ain’t
Well, he was a wasn’t but also he wasn’t
The kind to be thing he can’t
So, he got him a job on the radio
Spinning’ records and speaking’ his mind
Singing…
Damn, old son! What a collection of g-damn good songs! This album got lost in the rush of all the good albums that blew in with the Peggy Winds! DAMN GOOD ALBUM!
I NEVER DREAM
I never dream of building bridges. I never dream I’ll build a dam
I never dreamed of a cathedral for the mighty God, I Am
I never dreamed of founding clinics or make donations to the cause
I don’t see my name on statues and…
I wonder how this very good song would sound now, if recorded with the more "mature" voice that 10 years has given JMT? Good song, VERY good album! I always thought this album was underappreciated... but... that is true for the whole discography of JMT!
SNOW MAN
I'll tell you right now
I don't cry
You might mistake some sweat
for a teardrop in my eye
But, I don't cry
In spite of what you might be thinking
I don't get tired of humble pie
(That's not a tear drop in my eye)
And don…
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…
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…
A PICTURE I CAN'T THROW AWAY Key C
Capo @ 4
(Yes. It's a true story. I changed it to 1st person. It was a friend of my brother, Joe's.)
This audio is missing. I will have to find it in the archives or re-record it some day…
CHOICES
"After my house burn down I was confuse.
Why are they burning down my house? My neighbor house..."
"We called it The American War."
My friend, John, said this about this bit of audio drama:
I had forgotten how painful I find…
CHOICES
"After my house burn down I was confuse.
Why are they burning down my house? My neighbor house..."
"We called it The American War."
My friend, John, said this about this bit of audio drama:
I had forgotten how painful I find…
I had forgotten how painful I find this recording... I had forgotten how painful I found that time of our country's history... that time of my life... (and I was not one of those who "Had To Go"... or should I say, I was not one of those men... one of those boys... who had to make that "choice." I was one of the... "fortunate ones.")
This song is just what it is and says what it says.
It's where I am and where my hopes lie. It all just happens to fit into a song...
WHEN PEGGY COMES HOME
When Peggy comes home I’ll have the dishes put away
The floor will be swept and…
IF IT MAKES YOU HAPPY
If it makes you happy I will tie your shoe
If it makes you happy I will tickle you
If it makes you happy I'm telling you true
If it makes you happy I'll be happy too
If it makes you happy I will wiggle my ears…
400 BULLETS
400 guns. 400 bullets.
400 babies in the grave.
You got your New Pearl Harbor
Now it’s time for a new Passover.
400 guns
400 guns. 400 bullets.
400 babies in the grave.
Buy your $10,000 dog
One bad steak and he’s a…
400 BULLETS
400 guns. 400 bullets.
400 babies in the grave.
You got your New Pearl Harbor
Now it’s time for a new Passover.
400 guns
400 guns. 400 bullets.
400 babies in the grave.
Buy your $10,000 dog
One bad steak and he’s a…
400 Bullets
400 guns. 400 bullets.
400 babies in the grave.
You got your New Pearl Harbor
Now it’s time for a new Passover.
400 guns
400 guns. 400 bullets.
400 babies in the grave.
Buy your $10,000 dog
One bad steak and he’s a knot on a log
Get outta my way, I'm headin' on down this road
I'm on my way but I got no place to go
I've paid my dues. I just want my share
I've got the sun in my eyes
and the wind in my hair
But I got nobody
I've got no one to run to
No one to see…
IF IT MAKES YOU HAPPY
If it makes you happy I will tie your shoe
If it makes you happy I will tickle you
If it makes you happy I'm telling you true
If it makes you happy I'll be happy too
If it makes you happy I will wiggle my ears…
I believe Lula must be the lady on the cover of PAPER BOATS! Lula is why many older single men fear all those dating sites! Nightmares are born when they imagine what else Lula might wiggle... besides her ears!
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…
THE WALK
I drove 400 miles that night
East of Dallas to Abilene
And the hopes that I held in my headlights
Were hopes like I'd never seen
She called me from work that afternoon
She said she'd be off about 2 AM
Said it would be nice…
They discovered a planet that has no star
Maybe they'll let me name it whoever they are
I know all about a planet without a star
Oh, please let me name it.
I know all about it.
A planet. No orbit. Just lost out in space
No hope or habit…
After Brook drowned.
Ra Byn did everything but rhythm guitar.
He must have been about 12.
Open 9th tuning...
Well, you say that you're lonely
I see that you are
Tell me, where have you been
Life ain't no lay pen
Yeah, you call it a…
Gwyn Henry
Meet Me at the Club-- darker than its exterior. I love it. Barbara and Peggy sound great! What a lot of pain must have been wrapped in those sassy harmonies. This song has a Bopcat feel,. musically--- apples that fell from the same tree, and didn't roll too far from ea other. Your vocals especially good in this.
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…
TWO POUNDS - (Diethylstilbestrol Daughters)
"DES, which was once prescribed to prevent miscarriages, caused obesity, rare vaginal tumors, infertility, and testicular growths among those exposed in utero." http://www.motherjones.com/environment…
I wrote this after I sang with a friend
at his mother's funeral.
He had always wondered
why he looked nothing like his brothers...
DOOR MAT
Key - A
A) My daddy treated Mama like a door mat
D) Me and little brother didn't like that…
I wrote this after I sang with a friend
at his mother's funeral.
He had always wondered
why he looked nothing like his brothers...
DOOR MAT
Key - A
A) My daddy treated Mama like a door mat
D) Me and little brother didn't like that…
I dreamed this song a while ago. Sort of a music circle in a pub. Lots of instruments and percussion and what not. I quite like it :)
(Bass, lyre, bodhran, bongos, shaker, 2 mandolin tracks, multiple clap tracks)
Here's an instrumental folk Celtic sort of tune I made today. Guitar, bass, pennywhistle, mandolin, bodhran.
Took about 4 hours to record all the parts properly. The result is a delightful minute and a half, I think!
A cover of Great Big Sea's cover of Ron Angel's song. I love both versions. I used guitar, bodhran, vocals.
Edit: reuploaded; fixed up the vocals a bit.
Messing around, playing a classic. Recorded on my phone. Lots of fun!
(Merle Travis, Tennesse Ernie Ford, Johnny Cash all did popular versions; probably a million others have played it at some point.)
It's a long-distance love song
Yes, a long-distance love song
I'll sing it just for you
I'll sing a long distance love song
When the night is long
And you've been gone from home
Sing a long-distance love song
Yeah a long-distance love…
When I was a kid, my dad was the preacher at the Church of Christ in Tehachapi, California. We lived in Palmdale, so we'd get up early on Sunday mornings, pile the 5 of us into our 1950 Chevy coupe and head up thru Lancaster and Mojave, over the…
There is nothing like the presence of a horse. The quiet understanding. The gentle strength.
Woodlake, California...1961. I had a horse. She was my friend.
There were times in my teens when Babe was the only being that did not judge me…
ADOBE & BLOOD
Thanks to David Kneller
for bringing up the subject
and creating that phrase:
ADOBE & BLOOD
I read a lotta stories about a lotta stuff
But I tell ya folks, I'll never read enough
To block out the memories what…
This is my adaptation of a poem by Rosemarie Kempton.
"I always felt that it was fitting that you turned the poem I wrote into a poignant hymn that captured the feeling of loss of a loved one. My words sprang from my attempts to understand…
Her real name isn't Luanne and she was so drunk when this all happened (tho she has a cd with this song on it) she has no idea it's about her.
Singing this song always makes me cry...
ABOUT LUANNE capo @ 2 in Am
Am G F E repeats
Luanne…
It’s an exceptional piece... I like pieces that “bother” and flip a phrase to a point... this one intrigues me....
You must keep writing James!!! Hope to cross paths again soon...
Blu (Sharon Walker)
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…
what awesome lyrics mate!
Reminds me of good old Robert Zimmerman... but it also doubles as metaphorical mastery!
The boy represents an issue within your community... one for which you are there, and MUST help... but which the community just sits back on, not really seeing the "problem" you are attempting to fix...
Powerful stuff, mate.
Love it. Mark Brookman
GHOST TOWN
Key C Capo @ 2 or whatever works for you...
C Em F G C
I live in a Ghost Town somewhere on the edge of space
C Em F G
Everything is dusty and everything is in it's place
Am Em F G C
All the doors hang open and when it rains…
...after reading John Steinbeck's IN DUBIOUS BATTLE and watching the John Ford movie of GRAPES OF WRATH. The opening and closing statements are quotes from the Preacher in the movie.
A friend said he wanted to do a video of this track. I…
Gwyn Henry
The Stienbeck excerpt: Especially the 2nd paragraph. My Gawd! I had forgotten how that man could write!!! I had forgotten why he is an icon among American writers,. Touched by the gods. As is your song, In Dubious Battle. It is an opus. imhop. If you had never written another song, just leaving this one would earn you a place in the echelons!! (OK, I'll calm down now.) These two pieces in combination have moved me greatly for their Truth. And so totally relevant today.
Comments on James Michael Taylor's stuff
PS!!! To those of you who read the last post... FYI... The album I am talking about is HELLO <2008> (look for it in the JMT PLAYLIST SECTION)
Damn, old son! What a collection of g-damn good songs! This album got lost in the rush of all the good albums that blew in with the Peggy Winds! DAMN GOOD ALBUM!
I wonder how this very good song would sound now, if recorded with the more "mature" voice that 10 years has given JMT? Good song, VERY good album! I always thought this album was underappreciated... but... that is true for the whole discography of JMT!
I love this one!
Well done!
Nice song with a well told story.
This is a good song!
This is a beautiful, sad song. Was it from a personal experience you had>
this is so touching...
I had forgotten how painful I find this recording... I had forgotten how painful I found that time of our country's history... that time of my life... (and I was not one of those who "Had To Go"... or should I say, I was not one of those men... one of those boys... who had to make that "choice." I was one of the... "fortunate ones.")
<3
Thank you! ❤️
you out Neil Young-ed Neil Young!
400 Bullets 400 guns. 400 bullets. 400 babies in the grave. You got your New Pearl Harbor Now it’s time for a new Passover. 400 guns 400 guns. 400 bullets. 400 babies in the grave. Buy your $10,000 dog One bad steak and he’s a knot on a log
I like the potential for this song, JMT! Especially how you start it off! You seemed relaxed and comfortable with it.
I believe Lula must be the lady on the cover of PAPER BOATS! Lula is why many older single men fear all those dating sites! Nightmares are born when they imagine what else Lula might wiggle... besides her ears!
Ouch ....I liked the story song appeal
I love this song.
I can dig it. Cool song.
i miss u
Comments made by James Michael Taylor
Gwyn Henry Meet Me at the Club-- darker than its exterior. I love it. Barbara and Peggy sound great! What a lot of pain must have been wrapped in those sassy harmonies. This song has a Bopcat feel,. musically--- apples that fell from the same tree, and didn't roll too far from ea other. Your vocals especially good in this.
Rocking the loops?
Bruce Balmer I listened to “My New Shorts.” Brilliant use of time. Like mini-oreos or something. Interesting production, nice vocals.
Holy cow. What a song. Michael Rehahn
Gwyn Henry Thanks for writing this, Jim.
"Powerful stuff." Ray Russell
Great "slap-back" feel.
Cool. I had to look up bodhran.
Love it when men sing these songs in unison. Well done.
Great old song, well done.
Very sweet. Nice solo.
That's some sweet guitar playing. Ray Russell
'Very good capture." Gwyn Henry
Visions and emotions that I haven't felt in a long time. Thank you so much. Jere Reiser
"EXCELLENT POINTED SONG RIGHT TO THE HEART OF THE MATTER!" -Don Law
That may be the most beautiful thing I ever heard. Breathtaking. Thanks for sharing. - Janet Fawcett
It’s an exceptional piece... I like pieces that “bother” and flip a phrase to a point... this one intrigues me.... You must keep writing James!!! Hope to cross paths again soon... Blu (Sharon Walker)
what awesome lyrics mate! Reminds me of good old Robert Zimmerman... but it also doubles as metaphorical mastery! The boy represents an issue within your community... one for which you are there, and MUST help... but which the community just sits back on, not really seeing the "problem" you are attempting to fix... Powerful stuff, mate. Love it. Mark Brookman
I ❤️ that song...Kavin Me too. One of his many good ones. JS Savage
Gwyn Henry The Stienbeck excerpt: Especially the 2nd paragraph. My Gawd! I had forgotten how that man could write!!! I had forgotten why he is an icon among American writers,. Touched by the gods. As is your song, In Dubious Battle. It is an opus. imhop. If you had never written another song, just leaving this one would earn you a place in the echelons!! (OK, I'll calm down now.) These two pieces in combination have moved me greatly for their Truth. And so totally relevant today.