July 3, 2010 report by Dave Conlin Read.
This reunion includes the 3 sidemen from the Troubador, the Hollywood club where King and Taylor first performed together: guitarist Danny Kortchmar, the bassist Leland Sklar and Russ Kunkel on drums. Connecticut native Kortchmar and Taylor met on Martha’s Vineyard in the mid-60s, a friendship that led Taylor to London where the Beatles signed him in 1969 and then to L.A. in 1971.
With King and Taylor taking turns on stage recalling the moments when they first heard each other’s songs, one almost could sense the firing of billions of synapses among the audience of 18,500, as it embarked on a million mile trip down memory lane. Ms. King wondered aloud whether “this is what Koussevitsky had in mind?”
Maybe not exactly; Koussevitsky being all about the learning, and this show being all about the remembering. But we can imagine the Maestro being mollified by this first-class show, the principals all having earned post-graduate honors from the University of the Sixties.
James Taylor and Carole King Troubador Reunion 2010 World Tour at Tanglewood – July 3, 2010 Set List
- Something In The Way She Moves
- So Far Away
- Honey Don’t Leave L.A
- Carolina In My Mind
- Way Over Yonder
- Smackwater Jack
- Country Road
- Sweet Seasons
- Mexico
- Song Of Long Ago
- Long Ago And Far Away
- Beautiful
- Shower The People
- (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman
- INTERMISSION
- Been To Canaan
- Crying In The Rain
- Copperline
- Sweet Baby James
- Jazzman
- Will You Love Me Tomorrow
- Your Smiling Face
- It’s Too Late
- Fire and Rain
- I Feel The Earth Move
- You’ve Got A Friend
- ENCORE
- Up On The Roof
- How Sweet It Is
- You Can Close Your Eyes
You may be interested to know that it was 2 years ago that Ms. King was a surprise guest at Mr. Taylor’s 60th birthday party in the Koussevitsky Music Shed.