James Taylor to Return to Tanglewood on Fourth of July

James Taylor (photo Lane Turner/ Boston Globe)

(LENOX, Mass.) – James Taylor returns to Tanglewood with his All-Star Band for a performance on Saturday, July 4, 2020 at 8 p.m. in the Koussevitzky Music Shed. The July 4 concert will be followed by a fireworks display over the Stockbridge Bowl in celebration of the Independence Day holiday. Proceeds from this concert will be donated by Kim and James Taylor to Tanglewood Building and Grounds Projects.

Ringo Starr, drummer for a major English rock band of the 1960s, opens the Tanglewood season on Friday, June 19. Starr’s group, the Beatles, had its own record label, Apple, which gave James Taylor his first break by signing him and releasing his first album. Musicians Paul McCartney and George Harrison, also of the Beatles, helped out with Taylor’s debut recording.

Other popular artists at Tanglewood this summer include Phish guitarist and singer-songwriter Trey Anastasio on Saturday, June 20, and Sixties legends Judy Collins and Arlo Guthrie – who, like Taylor, lives in the Berkshires — on Sunday, June 21. On August 27, the popular NPR program Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me! with host Peter Sagal returns to the Shed.

 

From a BSO press release:

James Taylor’s music embodies the art of songwriting in its most personal and universal forms. He is a master at describing specific, even autobiographical situations in a way that resonates with people everywhere. His iconic songs, including “Fire and Rain,” “Country Road,” “Something in the Way She Moves,” “Mexico,” “Shower the People,” “Your Smiling Face,” “Carolina In My Mind,” “Sweet Baby James,” “Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight,” “You Can Close Your Eyes,” “Walking Man,” “Never Die Young,” “Shed a Little Light,” among others, have had a profound influence on songwriters and music lovers from all walks of life. Mr. Taylor, who regularly performs to sold-out audiences at Tanglewood, has returned to the festival 28 times since his first performance there in 1974.

Taylor has two exciting new projects which will be released early this year. The first is an Audible Original spoken-word memoir titled Break Shot, a deeply personal and authentic audio-only memoir detailing Taylor’s first 21 years. Taylor will also be releasing a brand-new album of standard recordings on Fantasy Records. Both announcements will be coming out soon.

James and his wife Caroline (Kim) live in the Berkshires with their twin sons, Henry and Rufus.

Tickets for the July 4 concert by James Taylor, priced from $30 (lawn tickets) to $120, go on sale Monday, February 3 at 10 a.m. at 888-266-1200 or www.tanglewood.org, where visitors can also find full details of the 2020 Tanglewood concert schedule, including performances by the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops orchestras, the Tanglewood Music Center, and guest artists from the worlds of classical, jazz, the American Songbook, Broadway, pop rock, and film. Tanglewood—this country’s preeminent summer music festival and the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra—is located in the Berkshire Hills between Stockbridge and Lenox, Mass.

As a recording and touring artist, James Taylor has touched people with his warm baritone voice and distinctive style of guitar-playing for more than 50 years, while setting a precedent to which countless young musicians have aspired. Over the course of his celebrated songwriting and performing career, Taylor has sold more than 100 million albums, earning gold, platinum, and multi-platinum awards since the release of his self-titled debut album in 1968. In 2015, Taylor released Before This World, the first-ever #1 album of his illustrious career. Taylor has won multiple Grammy awards, has been inducted into both the Rock and Roll and the prestigious Songwriters Halls of Fame, and in February 2006, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences selected him as its MusiCares Person of the Year. Taylor was also awarded the distinguished Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government and the National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama in 2012. In November 2015, Taylor was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, and in December 2016 he received the Kennedy Center Honors, which are presented annually to individuals who have enriched American culture by distinguished achievement in the performing arts.

 

 

 

 

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