James Taylor is an acclaimed singer/songwriter from Boston who ranks as the 32nd most successful chart artist of the 70s. He maintained a chart presence across three decades, until 1997's "Little More Time With You" stalled at #70. Taylor had two brothers (Alex and Livingston) and a sister (Kate), all of whom were musically inclined, with some also tasting chart success. Kate Taylor scored a minor hit with her cover of "It's In His Kiss (The Shoop Shoop Song)," which reached #49 in 1977. Livingston Taylor pulled out two Top 40 hits: "I Will Be In Love With You" reached #30 in 1979 and "First Time Love" reached #38 in 1980. But no one could match the impressive roster of chart hit James managed to collect, beginning in 1970 when the classic "Fire and Rain" soared to #3. He topped the chart once in 1971 with the Carole King song, "You've Got A Friend." Taylor also scored hits with Carly Simon, his wife from 1972-1983, most memorably "Mockingbird," which hit #5 in 1974. "Blossom" is a sweet, yet overlooked, song from his masterful 1970 record, "Sweet Baby James."
It was really difficult to avoid going disco in the late 70s, even if you cut your teeth being a soft rock singer. The prolific Carly Simon scored an impressive array of hits before the advent of disco, including classics like "You're So Vain" (featuring Mick Jagger on backing vocals, #1 for 3 weeks), "Mockingbird" (with James Taylor, her husband from 1972-1983, #5), "Nobody Does It Better" (#2), and "You Belong To Me" (written with Michael McDonald and featuring James Taylor again, #6). She won the Grammy for Best New Artist in 1971 and her constant presence at radio made her the #39th most successful chart artist of the 70s. From the same 1978 album that spawned "You Belong To Me" comes a disco song from out of nowhere called "Tranquillo (Melt My Heart)". And it ain't half bad! Actually grows on you pretty quickly. But thankfully, Simon didn't linger in disco long. She returned to her roots and scored a #11 hit in 1980 with "Jessie." The magic began to wear off by 1987, and "Coming Around Again," which peaked at #18, become her last Top 40 appearance.
