In 1951 I was eight years old but it's all like yesterday. The tumbleweeds and the horny toads. Flying kites so far into the desert air that I couldn't see them.
Palmdale, California, 1951
Pretty yellow chickens hating in the sun
Fertilizer…
Sometimes it might be best not to even think about what terrible things might happen. It might be part of setting those very terrible things in motion. How can one know?
I can't remember her name. I saw her at Kerrville back in 2005. A little blond that always wore a leather cowboy had, played keys and wrote music for movies. (Someone remind me.)
COULD SHE KNOW
Could she know I think about her
Thinking…
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…
CHERRY LAUREL - James Michael Taylor - 081111
Dm C B A
There’s nothing quite so slow to grow as a cherry laurel tree
A fingerling beneath an old oak canopy
Presented as a volunteer, that creek bank west of town
One hundred yards from our…
Something of Neil Young for sure, some essence of David Crosby. And that refrain does sound spookily like you got Graham Nash in the studio with you. Nice.
Today I got an email about a lyric contest and the title had to be I WONDER...so I wrote this!
I WONDER by James Michael Taylor
I wonder, I wonder out loud
Why I wander under a cloud
A cloud with it's rain
It's lightning and pain…
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…
Tesla...maybe the smartest man that ever lived.
TESLA
Who invented remote control? TESLA
Who invented the fluorescent light? TESLA
Who invented the radio? TESLA
And who died alone and forgotten in 1943? TESLA
So, you say now, “Don’t…
MOTHER'S EYES
I used to chide my mother
She saw the loss in every face
The cemetery. The old folks home
along the way
I used to laugh at Mother
She saw the pain in every eye
Now time has passed
and Mom is gone and here am I
And…
I wrote to my children, my answer. I told the how I watched them thru the window and enjoyed them in ways they never knew. How seeing them learn and succeed at their efforts was such pleasure to me. How discovering who they were by the talents and generosity they exhibited made me happy...The first response I got was from Embyr, now a registered nurse, mother of 4, just said, "Jim, you were mean."
Sat 11:38 PM
Christopher sent Yesterday at 11:38 PM
I listened to Kite a bunch of times, trying to think how it could be improved (it can’t be), and it occurred to me that Ben Franklin flew a key. That part of the story had never occurred to me as important before. But it’s like he was trying to unlock something.
Maybe he tried it on a clear day and let the kite rise to where he couldn’t see it. That’d be a different experiment altogether. Christopher Youngblood
The story our song that night (Songwriter night, Tuesday, at The Post, where we would divide up into groups and have a new song ready to perform in one hour) was about railroads and a girl from San Antone. When I got home I had the Tejas/Chaos…
Love the piano. Love the brevity, and the words themselves. Love "voice like confetti"! I get more about her story from the music itself. The words set it up beautifully. But the music, the back up, the energy had me seeing those waves, and sensing the sleeping fish beneath! Love the "tip" of another story, her buying l ip gloss in NYC. Love that that is all that you gave.
Seen by Gwyn at 12:20 PM
Gwyn Henry
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 have posted far too many wafty and generally pleasant songs. Time for something a bit more dark and malevolent - back to the dark side......
Lyrics:
I’m gonna wait until you are happy again And be waiting for you
I’m gonna wait until…
Another soothing, kind of playful fingerpicking tune, in something like E minor.
I had intended to put some lyrics over the rhythm track, but then I was having fun with the lead and decided to just keep it this way for now. Maybe another version…
My attempt at this super fun sea shanty!
This is an old New Zealand whaling song. The popular recent version was recorded a cappella by The Longest Johns. I'm using the chords suggested by Piotrek_G on ultimate-guitar.
Edit: re-uploaded…
A bit of wah lead to a song......
As the clouds start to break the suns on the run again
Keeping all that rain at bay
I’ve had enough of this damn lockdown
I want out, I want to live and have some fun again
Come on sun shine down on me…
She lies alone. She's crying.
The truth hit her like a rock
A rock thrown thru her window
The window to her heart
His eyes told her a story
And she believed it, every word
She made plans to leave forever
Her time was over on this earth…
Written for a song challenge. We were given the theme of a name found on an item, carved on a tree, on a street sign - whatever. Then off we raced all in our different directions, just to see where different songwriters would end up. I chose to…
When I was young we lived opposite a big play area - lots of grass and trees and bushes to rampage around - and in the middle a tarmac playground with the "amusements" - a witches hat (aka umbrella), a long rocking horse with saddles along its…
Ashes and dragon's breath - bright things in the sky, childhood games, battlegrounds, cemeteries.
Lyrics:
Long long days, summer holidays, staying up late
green wood on the bonfire, we danced around the flames
street lights and stars…
Ashes and dragon's breath - bright things in the sky, childhood games, battlegrounds, cemeteries.
Lyrics:
Long long days, summer holidays, staying up late
green wood on the bonfire, we danced around the flames
street lights and stars…
Summer In The Wind was written by me and recorded by the Ninja Broilers (myself and my sister). It is dedicated to our mum. A song of sad goodbyes and new beginnings.
This is one of our first "international collaborations" - so the production…
Comments on James Michael Taylor's stuff
Wistful though not wishful. The drum is very effective. Doubling the tempo for the spoken parts - excellent!
Your speaking voice is really believable. I like that! Sounds great! A most clever song JM Who's your friend?
Yeah, sure you would! Oh, love it! What a cracking good song.
Yep.
Great fun!
Ah now, yes lovely lyrics! Oh, I knew I had heard part of it before, well, I love the expanded version. (smiley face)
Something of Neil Young for sure, some essence of David Crosby. And that refrain does sound spookily like you got Graham Nash in the studio with you. Nice.
Some classy changes in this, and a really nice lyric.
Raw and gritty and very good
I do like the sounds James, The book of JOB. If anyone really had a pure understanding of it Nothing more would be needed.
MMMMMMMMMMMM!.
Great job. Thanks.
Just to say: you're cool man, James!
Fabulous
Great flowing vocals and interplay of sounds and instruments!
Now that is one *beep* of a storytelling song :)
Well, you got that off your chest quickly,
Very, very clever. And excellent guitar & mandolin work. I love it! Totally pro!
Really like this. I like the tempo very much and the native American sounding backing singing too. great track.
This one is a little bizarre, but very clever and really well done.
Comments made by James Michael Taylor
I wrote to my children, my answer. I told the how I watched them thru the window and enjoyed them in ways they never knew. How seeing them learn and succeed at their efforts was such pleasure to me. How discovering who they were by the talents and generosity they exhibited made me happy...The first response I got was from Embyr, now a registered nurse, mother of 4, just said, "Jim, you were mean."
Sat 11:38 PM Christopher sent Yesterday at 11:38 PM I listened to Kite a bunch of times, trying to think how it could be improved (it can’t be), and it occurred to me that Ben Franklin flew a key. That part of the story had never occurred to me as important before. But it’s like he was trying to unlock something. Maybe he tried it on a clear day and let the kite rise to where he couldn’t see it. That’d be a different experiment altogether. Christopher Youngblood
Love the piano. Love the brevity, and the words themselves. Love "voice like confetti"! I get more about her story from the music itself. The words set it up beautifully. But the music, the back up, the energy had me seeing those waves, and sensing the sleeping fish beneath! Love the "tip" of another story, her buying l ip gloss in NYC. Love that that is all that you gave. Seen by Gwyn at 12:20 PM Gwyn Henry
"Love this! That last verse... ummm hmmmmm." Gwyn Henry
Could you please add the lyrics. I'm a bit hard of hearing and I'm missing some words.
Great guitar sound. You write great "throw-away songs."
What a great groove (with Beatle fragments).
My mother had dementia:https://alonetone.com/jamesmichaeltaylor/tracks/mama-has-a-time-machine
It might be silly but that's great rhythm track.
I like the bendy-swooniness of this..
Fresh and lively...trying to pick along...
Love it!
Gitty Up!
Been there with my parents...so sad.
"Unbelievable..., unbuckled my jaw." Christopher Youngblood
This song makes me want to share a song of mine with you:https://alonetone.com/jamesmichaeltaylor/playlists/cushions/the-couch-022815-1
You are the female Pete Seeger. Talking is singing and singing is talking.
You are my new favorite singer/songwriter. I want to know everything about you.
Another gem. A picture book...
Another beautiful piece. I want to listen to everything you have written.