Sweet Baby James and me

Last night, I watched "Spectacle: Elvis Costello with... James Taylor". It reminded me why James Taylor has always been a personal favourite of mine. I'm sure that "Sweet Baby James" is one of the first albums I ever bought.

I won't say that I identify with his music, because the themes really have nothing to do with my life. But I will say that I love listening to his music, and find it very relaxing and pleasurable.

I did see James Taylor in concert once, in 1996 at the Ottawa Civic Centre. It was Little Brother Dan's first-ever concert; we went with my sister, Dale.

There we were in our arena seats, before the concert had even started. Three rather husky women came along, looking for their seats. They were looking in the row in front of ours, and realized they were supposed to be in our row. One of them just stepped over the back of the seats, but the other two realized their tight denim skirts precluded them from doing it. Dan was sitting on the aisle seat. When we stood up to let the women pass, one of them stopped in front of 13-year-old Dan and shook her substantial rack at him. He turned to me with eyes as big as saucers and exclaimed, "I like concerts!"

Now, some 14 years later, it turns out that his daughter, five-month-old Abby, is also a James Taylor fan. Music is how Dan and Christine put Abby to sleep at night, especially when she's fussy. She even has her own MP3 later, complete with a speaker. James Taylor tunes work quite well.

However, it seems that Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours" is her favourite. I just found out why. When Abby was just a few hours old, her Daddy rocked her to sleep, playing that song on his iPod. Not coincidentally, it was also the song that was playing when Christine walked through the beach sand to the gazebo, under which she and Dan were married in April of last year.