ABSTRACT
Singer-songwriters such as James Taylor increasingly turned towards their own feelings and inner turmoil for inspiration. Setting their personal experiences directly to song, their music became a form of autobiography. James was making his only appearance of the year at the Gaslight, and they were waiting to buy tickets. The songs that James sings are his own, born out of the torture that twice sent him into mental institutions. His lyrics are, of course, private, personal and mysterious, but at 21, James speaks for his generation with the kind of cool authority that seems destined to elect him one of the spokesmen of his time. He was 17 and in boarding school the first time he committed himself. Whatever secrets James has about himself, he thinks his music is big enough to hide behind. James steps upon the stage ready to challenge the gods.
