James Taylor names the five best songs of his career
James Taylor has revealed his top five favourite songs he has ever written.
In a new appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the singer-songwriter was asked by the show’s host to name his top five favourite tunes that he has ever recorded. “They told me you were going to ask that,” Taylor responded, pulling out a notebook he had brought on stage to jog his memory.
Before deciding on the list, Taylor admitted, “It’s hard,” before adding, “Paul McCartney got in touch with me at one point, I know you asked this question to Paul… And he commented on a song that I had written, said he really liked it and bought the album because of it. So that’s got to go in there.”
When Colbert asked him to name the song, he revealed that it was ‘Mean Old Man’ from the album October Road.
Turning towards his second pick, Taylor brought another huge name into the fold, adding, “I know that Bruce Springsteen liked my song and performed it once, from a musical of Stud Terkel’s book Working, a song called ‘Mill Worker’.” The audience applauded in response.
As for the third, Taylor admitted, “I think ‘Sweet Baby James’ probably has to go in there,” referencing the title track from Grammy-nominated 1970 album, which he has performed in concert at least 900 times.
For his penultimate choice on the list, he brought up Bob Dylan: “He and I did a job together at the Apollo Theatre, a benefit for something going on up there […] and Dylan said, ‘God Have Mercy on a Frozen Man’,” which was his fourth choice.
When Colbert asked the singer to “bring it home,” Taylor smirked knowingly, gesturing toward one of his biggest hits: “Well, I guess ‘Carolina in My Mind’,” he smiled at the final choice.
At the end of last year, Taylor announced a UK tour, marking his first set of concerts on UK soil since 2022. The ‘You’ve Got a Friend’ singer is set to play five dates in July, including a show at London’s O2 Arena.
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