Sweet Dreams and Flying Machines

"Fire and Rain" is a folk rock song written and performed by James Taylor. Released on Warner Bros. Records as a single from his second album, Sweet Baby James, in February failure of his new band The Flying Machine to coalesce (the lyric "Sweet dreams and Flying Machines in pieces on the ground"; the reference.
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Just tell the story about the famous musician dude, and leave your own ideas out of it, Ribowsky!! Aug 30, James Jackson rated it really liked it Shelves: The book is filled with minutia, which I happened to enjoy quite a lot because my music era coincided with James Taylor's and as a result, I could place all the references in the context of my own experiences at the times. Single line snippets of songs or even titles and artists were enough to bring back to hearing the song in my head, or remembering where I had first heard a musician or song.

Which means, if a book this style had been written about say Beyonce, I would be totally lost.

So, if y The book is filled with minutia, which I happened to enjoy quite a lot because my music era coincided with James Taylor's and as a result, I could place all the references in the context of my own experiences at the times. So, if you enjoy little details within the larger pallet of James Taylor's life, this might be the book for you.

If not, then there is probably a JT bio more suited to your tastes. May 13, Karen rated it it was ok. Lots of detail here, too much, in fact, but I did learn about the background to some of the songs i grew up with and I'm amazed that he could function, much less write, such good ones.

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The author seemed to be impressed with himself, using multiple words when a couple would have sufficed. However, his use of lyrics to detail some of these songs was nicely done. Sep 06, David Shetler rated it really liked it. Amazing that he overcame a very long running heroin addiction and today seems to be living a pretty stable and successful life.

May 16, Danielle rated it liked it. I've loved James Taylor's music for my entire life, but I realize after reading this that I didn't actually know much about his life. While I did learn a lot reading it, this wasn't a very good biography. It didn't feel very cohesive to me and it almost felt like writing a bunch of hearsay. I think partly because I had recently read Warren Zanes' excellent biography on Tom Petty I couldn't help compare the two.

This one felt so much more slight than that one.

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I imagine there are probably better I've loved James Taylor's music for my entire life, but I realize after reading this that I didn't actually know much about his life. I imagine there are probably better James Taylor biographies out there if you really want to know more about his life beyond the music. Sep 24, Kirk Weikart rated it it was ok Shelves: This read more like a PhD dissertation than a book.

Too much minutiae for my liking. Also, a disproportionate amount of time was spent on certain time periods, while others were given short shrift. While I learned some details, especially about some of the songs, the book drug along a little too slowly and lacked flow. Sep 06, Siriblake added it.

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Good book - James is not a very nice person. Kathy rated it it was ok Jul 02, Michael Burnett rated it liked it Apr 14, Tia Cudahy rated it liked it Jul 08, Swanson rated it did not like it Dec 06, Kirsten O'brien rated it liked it May 30, Karen Tighe rated it liked it Oct 02, Cathyann rated it really liked it Jan 19, Diane rated it really liked it Dec 03, Patrick Pettit rated it really liked it Sep 10, Anne rated it it was ok Jul 23, Debbie rated it it was amazing Jun 16, Allison rated it liked it Sep 29, Robert Wenig rated it it was ok Aug 12, Mr Dave Ellis rated it it was ok Dec 16, Karen rated it liked it Aug 18, The second verse is about my arrival in this country with a monkey on my back, and there Jesus is an expression of my desperation in trying to get through the time when my body was aching and the time was at hand when I had to do it … And the third verse of that song refers to my recuperation in Austin Riggs which lasted about five months.

She was a kid, like all of us. All three of them were really close to Susie Schnerr.

By the time Taylor left London for the United States at the end of , he was battling a heroin addiction for which he was hospitalized in Manhattan shortly after his return; he then committed himself to Austen Riggs, a private psychiatric facility in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Earlier, during his senior year of high school, Taylor had entered McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts, where he spent several months being treated for depression.

Sweet Dreams and Flying Machines | Chicago Review Press

After leaving that facility he traveled to New York and hooked up with childhood friend Danny Kortchmar, where they formed the aforementioned group The Flying Machine, a venture that ended badly for Taylor both professionally and personally:. The nadir of the nadir for The Flying Machine was a booking in the Bahamas at a failing nightspot called the Jokers Wild Club in Freeport; after three weeks of bad food and no pay, the group used their return tickets to flee. They disbanded once their flight landed in New York. If you'd like to learn more about how you can support us, click here. The Trayvon Martin Story.


  • La Fête-Dieu in C Major.
  • ‘Sweet Dreams and Flying Machines: The Life and Music of James Taylor’.
  • Sweet Dreams & Flying Machines on Vimeo.