Songwriters Hall of FameInducted 2000 | BMI Writer

Accolades aplenty have be heaped on James Taylor, the definitive songwriter, one of the composers for whom the term singer-songwriter was first coined, and a recording artist with an uncanny knack for making both his own songs as well as those of others come to meaningful life.

"James Taylor is an artist who represents a timeless link between Stephen Foster, Jimmie Rodgers, Hoagy Carmichael, Pete Seeger, Ewan MacColl and other great troubadour stylists of modern song in the western hemisphere," said Timothy White, Billboard editor-in-chief. White also suggested that, "More than anything else, generations of listeners know that the heart has no hiding place from the simple hymn-like truth of Taylor's art."

Wonderful words indeed for an extraordinarily talented commentator through song of his own era, a tumultuous time of change for America and the world in which it exists. With a father from North Carolina and a mother from Newburyport MA., Taylor managed to grow up quite literally in both states. He was born in Boston March 12, 1948, and over the years, he and brothers Livingston, Alex, Hughand sister, Kate experienced many a driving trip from the Bay State to Carolina. As children, they got to spend the summer vacations in both places, although in the long run, Massachusetts claimed more of their time. And in like manner, because of happy summers on Martha's Vineyard, that idyllic spot in the Atlantic just off Cape Cod, ultimately became James Taylor's home.

His first working experience in music came when the band Flying Machine was formed in 1967 with guitarist, Danny Kortchmar. As a solo artist, Taylor was also signed by the…

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