James Taylor returns to his roots

Songs have new meaning
Taylor now finds that some of his oldest songs have taken on new meaning for him as he’s grown older and wiser. He opens the new CD with “the first presentable song” he ever wrote at age 17 in 1965 — the tender love song “Something In The Way She Moves,” originally inspired by a teenage girlfriend.

Her jokes that he didn’t know it at the time but the song was actually written for his third wife, Caroline “Kim” Smedvig, an executive with the Boston Symphony Orchestra whom he married in 2001. Such lyrics as “There’s something in the way she moves / Or looks my way, or calls my name / That seems to leave this troubled world behind” aptly describe his current state of mind.

His late-blooming romance also inspired one of the newest songs, “Mean Old Man,” which he says tells the story “about being a mean old curmudgeon who was turned around by somebody with a limitless, effortless love.” Taylor was especially flattered when Paul McCartney, who signed the singer-songwriter to record his debut album in London for Apple Records in 1968, wrote a letter praising the song which he initially assumed was an obscure Broadway show tune.

FREE VIDEO 'Sweet Baby James' June 21: Singer and songwriter James Taylor performs his song, "Sweet Baby James," as part of "Today's Toyota Concert Series." Today Summer Concerts

“It took me a long time to find the person that I’m meant to be with in my life,” said Taylor, whose past includes a tumultuous 1972-83 show business marriage to singer Carly Simon and a second marriage to actress Kathryn Walker, who along with the jazz saxophonist Michael Brecker helped him on his 12-step recovery from heroin addiction in the ’80s.

“I simply wasn’t a suitable partner for a long, long time and it really was a miracle that Kim was available and unspoken for when I met her. ... I just couldn’t believe my luck.”

‘I emotionally sat out 20 years of my life’
Taylor, who expressed his rootlessness in such songs as “Wandering” and “Walking Man,” has made the scenic Berkshires in Massachusetts his permanent home since 1999. His first marriage to Simon broke up in part because his long absences kept him apart from his two children, but now he’s devoted to his twin 6-year-old sons. And as an avid member of Red Sox Nation, he enjoyed a special thrill singing the national anthem before Game 2 of the World Series at Fenway Park in October.

FREE VIDEO 'Shower the People' June 21: Singer and songwriter James Taylor performs his song, "Shower the People," as part of "Today's Toyota Concert Series." Today Summer Concerts

Reflecting on life’s painful lessons, Taylor has some advice for today’s generation of pop performers: “Keep your overhead low so you can afford to do your work, keep away from a major drug habit. don’t pick up a lot of debt so you become a wage slave, and don’t have kids before you’re ready to settle down. In other words, just try to travel light.”

Last month. Taylor became a grandfather when his and Simon’s 33-year-old singer-songwriter daughter Sally gave birth to a boy. He turns 60 in March, but doesn’t feel his age.

“Partly because of being a drug addict for 20 years and partly because ... I emotionally sat out 20 years of my life, I got started late. It was sort of embarrassing to be feeling like a teenager at the age of 35, but that’s what happens when you put yourself in suspended animation with substance abuse.

“If you’re lucky enough to live beyond it, you just have to start all over again. ... This is an extremely positive time for me. ... I’m trying to look at my blessings and how amazingly well against all odds things have turned out for me.”

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