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Troubadours: Carole King/James Taylor & The Rise of the Singer-Songwriter
In the wake of the turbulent 1960s, a new style of song and songwriter came to the fore -- a style marked by vulnerable introspection, raw, naked emotion and young singer/songwriters who shared their most intimate thoughts, backed by little more than a lone acoustic guitar or simple piano. Never before in music had the line between the songwriters and the songs seemed so transparent. They descended on the old club the Troubadour in Los Angeles, the emerging center of the American music scene -- and the careers of James Taylor, Carole King, Randy Newman, Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell, Cat Stevens and so many others were launched. Carole King, one of the great songwriters of the '60s, started playing piano in James Taylor's band, creating a bond that they still share today. It is through them and their unique voices that we chronicle this group of musicians, who played before, after, and alongside them.
