Fire and Rain- James Taylor cover

"Fire and Rain" is a folk/rock song written by James Taylor and performed here by Mike Rice (Strat2caster).

The sparse arrangement, centered on Taylor's ringing acoustic guitar figures, came to represent Taylor's signature sound, and was influential among other performers

Taylor said the song was actually about several incidents during his early recording career. The second line of the song is "Suzanne the plans they made put an end to you" refers to Suzanne Schnerr, a friend of his who died suddenly while he was away recording his first album. In that same account, Taylor said he had been in a deep depression after the failure of his new band The Flying Machine to coalesce (the lyric "sweet dreams and Flying Machines in pieces on the ground"; the reference is to the name of the band rather than a fatal plane crash, as was long rumored).

In 2005, Taylor laid the rumors to rest during an interview on NPR. He explained to host Scott Simon that the song was written in three parts:[1]
The first part was indeed about Taylor's friend Suzanne, who died while Taylor was in London working on his first album after being signed to Apple Records. Friends at home, concerned that it might distract Taylor from his big break, kept the tragic news from him, and he only found out some time later.
The second part details Taylor's struggle to overcome drug addiction and depression.
The third part deals with coming to grips with fame and fortune, looking back at the road that got him there. It includes a reference to James Taylor and The Flying Machine, a band he briefly worked with before his big break with Paul McCartney, Peter Asher, and Apple Records.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• James
• Taylor
• fire
• and
• rain
• sweet
• baby
• mike
• rice
• strat2caster
• north
• carolina
• on
• my
• mind
• 414ce
• martin
• fingerstyle
• fingerpicking
• finger
• picking
• pick
• rock blues
• Suzanne
• Flying
• Machine

[curbshoppin]

sweet stuff dude been enjoying your videos and love the wild web design on yer video page,takes me back to my youth ...i love live music warts and all..peace out

[strat2caster]

cool thanks for the encouragement ;o)

[harleysnmore]

Beautiful originally made better this way. I like your style, bro.

[strat2caster]

thanks very much ;o)

[cadvan3]

I had forgotten how much Gordon and James influenced me to pick up and play the guitar many moons ago! Thanks for the blast from the past. I almost want to tie dye some shirts for the kids. Peace, love, regards to Kathaleen and Larry.

[strat2caster]

it was a kinder, gentler time wasnt it ?! J has enjoyed plenty of success but he never "sold out" and still produces some of the purest music around ;o) thanks man

[luckymouse1971]

Another great cover!! As I was writing this comment, I could swear I heard a little James Taylor in your voice. I had to stop and just listen!!

[tatianaalternative]

You're beautiful, just like this song. Amazing cover.

[KleinstadtHippie]

hey man you really good! you play an own version of the song i like that!

[alanmichaelwong]

favorited: great cover!

[Tewks44]

cool cover. it's different than James Taylor but that's def. not a bad thing. I like the different approach to the song.

[thisux7x7]

@mdhonze I know what you meant by your post, and I'm not thinking of you as being critical. I'm just an older musician, and through the years you start looking at cover music a little differently. Copying a song exactly like an artist is not an impossibility, but it's also not necessary. Showing your own style of a song and interpreting it a bit differently helps a person to preserve a measure of originality. And if you are going to sound just like the original record, why bother.

[mdhonze]

@thisux7x7 well I'm not trying to be critical but there is a correct way to play song. This dude has a good voice and he is a mediocre guitar player, I;m just saying.....learn to play it right and it will sound much better...

[thisux7x7]

@mdhonze There's no wrong way to play a song dude. It is his interpretation of the song, he's not trying to be JT, he being himself, which makes this an awesome job in my book...

[mdhonze]

you are playing it wrong!!!

[aspenflyer2]

Wonderful, Thank you