Carole King and James Taylor -- Live at the Troubadour

What rock song features the drummer using the brushes?

Where can you go and find a place that is "peaceful as can be"?

9081 Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood is where you'll find The Troubadour. Two of the most prolific and successful recording artists of all time are close friends and are on stage together again to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of a venue that calls itself home to such notables as Elton John, The Eagles, and Joni Mitchell. King and Taylor performed here together in November of 1970 and again in November of 2007. Carole King and James Taylor -- Live at the Troubadour is a CD/DVD collection of fifteen classic numbers chosen from the 2007 shows. Yes, your favorites are included.

As the DVD opens with quiet scenes of an empty Troubadour, Taylor is heard having a conversation with King who answers and then fades. The show begins with solos of significant songs by each. After Taylor sings "Blossom", King comments that when she was preparing for this tour, and she sat down to play this song, her brain didn't remember it but her fingers and heart did. The conversation between numbers ranges from warmth to humor to the joy of reveling in a friend's accomplishments. After the first two songs, Taylor introduces "The Section", their original band as "..still alive and at the top of their game." Joining them on stage are guitarist Danny Kortchmar, bassist Leland Sklar, and drummer Russell Kunkel. Kortchmar gets a nice solo when King performs her monster hit, "It's Too Late", and Kunkel is noted for his brushwork on "Fire and Rain".

A respectful round of applause was prompted by the opening notes of "Fire and Rain" which could easily be Taylor's signature song.  It was a moment in which Taylor connected with his audience and their emotions with his experiences recounted in an autobiographical song.  It was a moment to remember and the type of moment not found in enough concerts.

It was a surprise that King's performance of "It's Too Late" didn't take me back to 1970.  Instead, it struck me as a woman who has come to terms with her past and the lost love that inspired the song.  It wasn't the young woman who sang to me years ago, but an old friend who seemed to say, "It's over and in the past and OK now."  A joke and friendly banter on stage led into her performance of what would be a show-stopper of a song she co-wrote for The Drifters, "Up On The Roof".  It was a  great bookend to complement a breakup song with it's message that "it's peaceful as can be" on the roof and that there's "room for two". 

To support the May 4th release of the CD/DVD set from Hear Music/Concord Music Group, the superstars began a sixty concert "Troubadour Reunion" world tour in Australia in March.

The tour arrives in North America this month to sold out shows in Madison Square Garden and The Hollywood Bowl among other stops. For the tour, a special stage design has been selected that incorporates a section of tables for two surrounding the stage. Promoters say "These unique State Seats..." create an "intimate, club-like setting replicating the intimacy of the duo's legendary night at the Troubadour four decades ago, amidst the excitement of an arena performance." Each disc has the fifteen songs and no extras.

Would I buy Carole King and James Taylor -- Live at the Troubadour?

Yes. This is a lasting treasure.