When it comes to music it is the flaws and imperfections of a performer that sets them apart from the crowd. Where would most singer/songwriters if the world was a perfect place and everyone was content with their lot ? The sad truth is that if the world wasn't a cruel and beautiful place and songwriters weren't affected enough by it to want to be inspired than music would die.

James Taylor is one of those artists that has not only been through the rock 'n' roll mill and somehow emerged on the other side.

In a lifetime that has included spells as a drug addict and a psychiatric patient, for depression, Taylor has also written and performed some damn fine songs. Some of these are a little on the introspective side, but given his life that's not surprising.

It's also one of the reasons that James Taylor is a candidate as the focus of one of a former wife's most famous songs. The wife in question being Carly Simon, the song "You're So Vain"

In addition to his own releases and those of Simon, Taylor has also worked with a whole host of top industry names such as Simon & Garfunkle, Bruce Springsteen and Jackson Browne. Arguably one of the strangest things about James Taylor is that most of his best songs have been hits for other people whilst his biggest hits have been covers

Always slightly unpredictable, James Taylor should be high on everyone's must see list.

The Gallery