Livingston Taylor
Encyclopedia
Livingston Taylor is an American singer-songwriter
, born in Boston, Massachusetts
and raised in Chapel Hill
, North Carolina
. He attended the Westtown School
in Pennsylvania. He is the brother of singer-songwriter
James Taylor
and a faculty member at the Berklee College of Music
.
in 1970. His debut album, Livingston Taylor
, was produced by Jon Landau
and included the song "Carolina Day". His second album, Liv, also produced by Landau, included the song "Get Out of Bed". His third album, Over the Rainbow
was released in 1973.
Taylor left Capricorn records and released Three Way Mirror
in 1978. The album featured "I Will Be In Love With You" and "Going Round One More Time," a song that was later recorded by his brother James in 1985. Taylor promoted the album by touring as the opening act for Linda Ronstadt
.
In 1979, Capricorn Records released Echoes
, a collection of songs from Taylor's first three albums.
In the 1980s Taylor released his second album on the Epic label, Man's Best Friend
. The album contained the songs: "First Time Love," and "Pajamas" (sometimes known as "I've Got My Pajamas On"), which was later adapted into a book for children written by Taylor and his wife, Maggie
. Taylor hosted a nationally syndicated
television show, This Week's Music
, and began teaching performance
at the Berklee College of Music
in Boston. His next album Life Is Good appeared in 1988.
Taylor's single, "I Will Be In Love With You," rose to the 30th position on the Billboard charts. He recorded a duet with his brother James, called "City Lights" in the late 80's.
in 1993 and Bicycle in 1996. "Boatman" a song on the "Bicycle" album was later recorded by his brother James in 1997. Ink, a collection of cover songs, was released in 1997. A concert album, Unsolicited Material, was released in 1994, and in 1998, an eighteen track retrospective of the first decade of Taylor's career, Carolina Day: The Livingston Taylor Collection was released. In 1999 a second live album Snapshot: Live At The Iron Horse was released.
A second retrospective was released in 2005 with 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Livingston Taylor and Taylor released an album of original material, There You Are Again
that same year.
Taylor was an artist-in-residence at Lowell House
at Harvard College
from 2000 till 2006 and became a full professor at the Berklee College of Music
teaching courses on stage performance and is one of the vice presidents in the Development Office.
In 2010, Livingston Taylor released the album Last Alaska Moon
which included bassist Leland Sklar
; drummer Steve Gadd
; guitarists Vince Gill
, Chris Rodriguez
, and J.T. Corenflos; keyboardist Shane Keister
, and vocalist Andrea Zonn
.
, James Taylor
, Hugh Taylor and Kate Taylor
. He is an instrument rated private pilot and an aviation enthusiast.
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
, born in Boston, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
and raised in Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Chapel Hill is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, United States and the home of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and UNC Health Care...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
. He attended the Westtown School
Westtown School
Westtown School is a coeducational, college preparatory day and boarding school for students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade.-About Westtown School:...
in Pennsylvania. He is the brother of singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
James Taylor
James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....
and a faculty member at the Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known primarily as a school for jazz, rock and popular music, it also offers college-level courses in a wide range of contemporary and historic styles, including hip...
.
Early life and education
Taylor was born on November 21, 1950 in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. In 1952 he moved with his family to Chapel Hill, North Carolina where his father, Issac Taylor, was Dean of the Medical School at UNC. He attended public school and spent a year at the Westtown Friends School in PA. He completed his high school education at Arlington High School and began performing music at venues in the Boston area.1970 to 1990
Taylor was one of the first artists to sign with Capricorn RecordsCapricorn Records
Capricorn Records was an independent record label which was launched by Phil Walden, Alan Walden, and Frank Fenter in 1969 in Macon, Georgia.-First Incarnation:...
in 1970. His debut album, Livingston Taylor
Livingston Taylor (album)
Livingston Taylor is singer-songwriter Livingston Taylor's first album, released in 1970. Its eleven tracks include ten of Taylor's own compositions, and one cover version of the Earl Greene and Carl Montgomery country standard "Six Days on the Road"....
, was produced by Jon Landau
Jon Landau
Jon Landau is an American music critic, manager and record producer, most known for his association in all three capacities with Bruce Springsteen.He is currently the head of the nominating committee for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame....
and included the song "Carolina Day". His second album, Liv, also produced by Landau, included the song "Get Out of Bed". His third album, Over the Rainbow
Over the Rainbow (Livingston Taylor album)
Over the Rainbow is singer-songwriter Livingston Taylor's third album, released in 1973. Its eleven tracks include nine of Taylor's own compositions, as well as two cover versions: "Over the Rainbow", from The Wizard of Oz, and George Harrison's "If I Needed Someone".-Track listing:All tracks...
was released in 1973.
Taylor left Capricorn records and released Three Way Mirror
Three Way Mirror
Three Way Mirror is singer-songwriter Livingston Taylor's fourth album, released in 1978.Its ten tracks produced the song that was perhaps Taylor's biggest hit, "I Will Be In Love With You", as well as "Going Round One More Time", later covered by Taylor's brother James on his album That's Why I'm...
in 1978. The album featured "I Will Be In Love With You" and "Going Round One More Time," a song that was later recorded by his brother James in 1985. Taylor promoted the album by touring as the opening act for Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt is an American popular music recording artist. She has earned eleven Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, an ALMA Award, numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums, in addition to Tony Award and Golden...
.
In 1979, Capricorn Records released Echoes
Echoes (Livingston Taylor album)
Echoes is singer-songwriter Livingston Taylor's fifth album, released in 1979. The album is a "greatest hits" sampler of songs from Taylor's first three albums.-Track listing:All tracks composed by Livingston Taylor; except where indicated...
, a collection of songs from Taylor's first three albums.
In the 1980s Taylor released his second album on the Epic label, Man's Best Friend
Man's Best Friend (album)
Man's Best Friend is a singer-songwriter Livingston Taylor's sixth album, and fifth original album, released in 1980.-Track listing:#"Ready, Set, Go" — #"Dance With Me" —...
. The album contained the songs: "First Time Love," and "Pajamas" (sometimes known as "I've Got My Pajamas On"), which was later adapted into a book for children written by Taylor and his wife, Maggie
Maggie Taylor
Maggie Taylor is an artist who works with digital images. She won the Santa Fe Center for Photography's Project Competition in 2004. Her work has been widely exhibited in the United States and Europe and is represented within the permanent collections of several galleries and museums...
. Taylor hosted a nationally syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
television show, This Week's Music
This Week's Music
This Week’s Music is an American syndicated half hour television show originally hosted by Livingston Taylor, brother of singer James Taylor. Similar to American Bandstand, the show featured dancers in a studio, music videos of popular hits, and live musical guests. In 1984 the show aired five days...
, and began teaching performance
Performance
A performance, in performing arts, generally comprises an event in which a performer or group of performers behave in a particular way for another group of people, the audience. Choral music and ballet are examples. Usually the performers participate in rehearsals beforehand. Afterwards audience...
at the Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known primarily as a school for jazz, rock and popular music, it also offers college-level courses in a wide range of contemporary and historic styles, including hip...
in Boston. His next album Life Is Good appeared in 1988.
Taylor's single, "I Will Be In Love With You," rose to the 30th position on the Billboard charts. He recorded a duet with his brother James, called "City Lights" in the late 80's.
1990s to present
Taylor released Our Turn To Dance in 1991, Good FriendsGood Friends (album)
Good Friends is singer-songwriter Livingston Taylor's ninth album, released in 1993.-Track listing:#"Out of This World" — 2:45#"Jacques Cousteau" — 2:17#"Heart and Soul" — 2:42#"Carolina Day" — 3:43...
in 1993 and Bicycle in 1996. "Boatman" a song on the "Bicycle" album was later recorded by his brother James in 1997. Ink, a collection of cover songs, was released in 1997. A concert album, Unsolicited Material, was released in 1994, and in 1998, an eighteen track retrospective of the first decade of Taylor's career, Carolina Day: The Livingston Taylor Collection was released. In 1999 a second live album Snapshot: Live At The Iron Horse was released.
A second retrospective was released in 2005 with 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Livingston Taylor and Taylor released an album of original material, There You Are Again
There You Are Again
There You are Again is an album by American singer-songwriter Livingston Taylor released by Whistling Dog Music in January 2006. It represented a break from his nine-year long hiatus after his previous album. Glenn Rosenstein produced There You Are Again.Tell Jesus , one of the songs on the album,...
that same year.
Taylor was an artist-in-residence at Lowell House
Lowell House
Lowell House is one of the twelve undergraduate residential houses within Harvard College, located on Holyoke Place facing Mount Auburn Street between the Harvard Yard and the Charles River...
at Harvard College
Harvard College
Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...
from 2000 till 2006 and became a full professor at the Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known primarily as a school for jazz, rock and popular music, it also offers college-level courses in a wide range of contemporary and historic styles, including hip...
teaching courses on stage performance and is one of the vice presidents in the Development Office.
In 2010, Livingston Taylor released the album Last Alaska Moon
Last Alaska Moon
Last Alaska Moon is an album by Livingston Taylor released by Coconut Bay, a division of Chesky Records, in 2010. The album was very well received....
which included bassist Leland Sklar
Leland Sklar
Leland "Lee" Bruce Sklar is an American musician, singer-songwriter and film score composer. A prominent bass guitarist, Sklar has contributed to thousands of albums as a session musician...
; drummer Steve Gadd
Steve Gadd
Steve Gadd is an American session and studio drummer, notable for his work with popular musicians from a wide range of genres.-Biography:...
; guitarists Vince Gill
Vince Gill
Vincent Grant "Vince" Gill is an American neotraditional country singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman to the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s, and as a solo artist beginning in 1983, where his talents as a...
, Chris Rodriguez
Chris Rodriguez
-Biography:Rodriguez was born on March 7, 1960, in Bronx New York, and moved to Nashville, becoming a veteran of the scene in the early 1990s. His debut album, Beggar's Paradise, was released by Sony in 1999, by which time he had collaborated on projects with country and CCM acts such as Amy Grant,...
, and J.T. Corenflos; keyboardist Shane Keister
Shane Keister
Shane Keister is an American musician. He is known for his work as a studio musician, writer, arranger and producer. He plays synthesizer, piano, Hammond B3, Synclavier, Fairlight, Fender Rhodes, and others.-History:...
, and vocalist Andrea Zonn
Andrea Zonn
Andrea Zonn is a singer fiddle player who grew up in Champaign, Illinois. She grew up in an environment surrounded by music. She sings, and plays classical violin, and is fluent in numerous other musical genres. Zonn first met Alison Krauss at a fiddle contest at the Champaign County Fair when she...
.
Personal
Taylor's siblings include Alex TaylorAlex Taylor (musician)
Alex Taylor was an American singer. Alexander Taylor was the eldest child of Dr. Isaac Taylor and Gertrude Taylor. He was a member of a family which produced a number of musicians, the most famous of whom is James Taylor, but also includes Livingston, Hugh and Kate Taylor.Alex Taylor had two sons,...
, James Taylor
James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....
, Hugh Taylor and Kate Taylor
Kate Taylor
Kate Taylor is an American folk singer, originally from Boston, Massachusetts.-Biography:Kate was born in Boston and grew up with her four brothers in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where her father was Dean of the medical school at the University of North Carolina...
. He is an instrument rated private pilot and an aviation enthusiast.
Discography
- Livingston TaylorLivingston Taylor (album)Livingston Taylor is singer-songwriter Livingston Taylor's first album, released in 1970. Its eleven tracks include ten of Taylor's own compositions, and one cover version of the Earl Greene and Carl Montgomery country standard "Six Days on the Road"....
(1970) - Liv (1971)
- Over the RainbowOver the Rainbow (Livingston Taylor album)Over the Rainbow is singer-songwriter Livingston Taylor's third album, released in 1973. Its eleven tracks include nine of Taylor's own compositions, as well as two cover versions: "Over the Rainbow", from The Wizard of Oz, and George Harrison's "If I Needed Someone".-Track listing:All tracks...
(1973) - Three Way MirrorThree Way MirrorThree Way Mirror is singer-songwriter Livingston Taylor's fourth album, released in 1978.Its ten tracks produced the song that was perhaps Taylor's biggest hit, "I Will Be In Love With You", as well as "Going Round One More Time", later covered by Taylor's brother James on his album That's Why I'm...
(1978) - EchoesEchoes (Livingston Taylor album)Echoes is singer-songwriter Livingston Taylor's fifth album, released in 1979. The album is a "greatest hits" sampler of songs from Taylor's first three albums.-Track listing:All tracks composed by Livingston Taylor; except where indicated...
(1979) - Man's Best FriendMan's Best Friend (album)Man's Best Friend is a singer-songwriter Livingston Taylor's sixth album, and fifth original album, released in 1980.-Track listing:#"Ready, Set, Go" — #"Dance With Me" —...
(1980) - Life Is Good (1988)
- Our Turn to Dance (1993)
- Good FriendsGood Friends (album)Good Friends is singer-songwriter Livingston Taylor's ninth album, released in 1993.-Track listing:#"Out of This World" — 2:45#"Jacques Cousteau" — 2:17#"Heart and Soul" — 2:42#"Carolina Day" — 3:43...
(1993) - Unsolicited Material (1994)
- Bicycle (1996)
- Ink (1997)
- Carolina Day: The Livingston Taylor Collection (1998)
- Snapshot: Live At The Iron Horse (1999)
- 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Livingston Taylor (2005)
- There You Are AgainThere You Are AgainThere You are Again is an album by American singer-songwriter Livingston Taylor released by Whistling Dog Music in January 2006. It represented a break from his nine-year long hiatus after his previous album. Glenn Rosenstein produced There You Are Again.Tell Jesus , one of the songs on the album,...
(2005) - Last Alaska MoonLast Alaska MoonLast Alaska Moon is an album by Livingston Taylor released by Coconut Bay, a division of Chesky Records, in 2010. The album was very well received....
(2010)