Maps of Music

One Man Band (2007)

Where the lyrics of One Man Band take you, and where it was really made.

This live album has a solo-style lineup of one guitarist and one keyboardist, yet one of its percussion sounds comes from a large mechanical drum device built by Taylor and a friend.

Key places

Recorded at the Colonial Theatre (2007)

Recording site Colonial Theatre — The live album was recorded over several days at the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• One Man Band: live album by American singer-songwriter James Taylor
• Released in November 2007 on Hear Music
• Release date: 13 November 2007
• Recorded over several days at the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield, Massachusetts
• 2007 special edition: 2CD/1DVD quad-fold digipak
• The CD holds 19 live songs; the DVD is a concert of about 2 hours
• Track list includes 'Something in the Way She Moves', 'Never Die Young', 'Fire and Rain', 'Sweet Baby James', 'Carolina in My Mind', and Carole King's 'You've Got a Friend'

Background

• The premise: instead of the wide array of instruments common at concerts, Taylor is accompanied only by his guitar and Larry Goldings
• Goldings plays piano, organ, and bass
• Exceptions exist: the pre-recorded Tanglewood Festival Chorus sings on 'My Traveling Star' and 'Shower the People'
• A mechanical drum device built by Taylor and friend Gordon Fairfield appears on 'Slap Leather' and 'Chili Dog'
• The concert DVD was directed and produced by Don Mischer

Recording

• Recorded over several days at the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield, Massachusetts
• The album has a digital discrete 5.1 surround sound mix
• The DVD was released separately from the 2CD edition in 2009

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · it.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Disc 1

Disc 2

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Early years

• Born March 12, 1948 in Boston, Massachusetts; raised in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
• Learned guitar in 1960, influenced by hymns, carols and Woody Guthrie.
• Spent time in a psychiatric hospital and struggled with heroin addiction in his youth.

Career

• Formed the Flying Machine in New York in 1966; the group broke up after a single.
• Signed to Apple Records in 1968 as the first non-British act on the label.
• Breakthrough with Sweet Baby James (1970) and the hit "Fire and Rain", both reaching No. 3.
• First No. 1 hit with "You've Got a Friend" (1971), written by Carole King.
• Greatest Hits (1976) is one of the best-selling albums in US history, certified Diamond.
• Won six Grammy Awards; inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.
• Reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with Before This World (2015) after a 45-year wait.
• Continues to tour actively as of 2026.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• One Man Band came out in November 2007 on Hear Music
• The concert was recorded over several days at the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield, Massachusetts
• The format drops the wide array of instruments common at concerts
• Only Taylor's guitar and Larry Goldings on piano, organ, and bass accompany him
• Pre-recorded Tanglewood Festival Chorus voices appear on two songs
• The mechanical drum device built by Taylor and Gordon Fairfield is heard on 'Slap Leather' and 'Chili Dog'
• The 2007 special edition packaged the CDs and the concert DVD in a quad-fold digipak
• The concert DVD runs about two hours and holds 19 songs
• Don Mischer directed and produced the DVD

Records

• The digital discrete 5.1 surround sound mix won a TEC Award for best surround sound recording in 2008
• The DVD was released separately from the 2CD edition in 2009
• The CD edition contains 19 live songs

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Taylor and his friend Gordon Fairfield built the mechanical drum device that appears on two tracks
• The DVD was released separately from the 2CD edition in 2009
• Carole King's 'You've Got a Friend' sits among James Taylor's own songs on the track list
• 'Copperline' is credited to Reynolds Price and James Taylor
• Larry Goldings is credited with the instrumental track 'School Song' on the track list

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · it.wikipedia.org

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