Sweet Dreams and Flying Machines The Life and Music of James Taylor

In 1970 a scraggly, antiheroic man from North Carolina by way of Massachusetts began presenting a comforting yet biting new sound. Within a year, when young ears sought the latest in rock, there was "Fire and Rain" and "You've Got a Friend," and a new Southern California-fed branch of pop music. James Taylor was its reluctant leader. 

Remarkably, Taylor has survived: his 2015 release, Before This World, edged out Taylor Swift and went to No. 1 on the charts. Today he is in better physical (and probably mental) condition than during the whirlwind era when he influenced music so heavily, the decade when magazines and newspapers printed feverish stories about his gawky hunkiness, his love affair with Joni Mitchell, his glittery marriage to Carly Simon, his endlessly carried-out heroin habit, and sometimes even his music. Despite it all, Taylor has become the nearest thing to rock royalty in America. 

Based on fresh interviews with musicians, producers, record company people, and music journalists, as well as previously published interviews, reviews, and profiles, Sweet Dreams and Flying Machines is the definitive biography of an elusive superstar.

Mark Ribowsky has written thirteen books, including Whiskey Bottles and Brand-New Cars and widely praised biographies of Tom Landry, Howard Cosell, Otis Redding, Phil Spector, and Stachel Paige. He has also contributed extensively to magazines including Playboy, Penthouse, and High Times. He lives in Boca Raton, Florida. 

Introduction: The Troubadour
Chapter 1: How Sweet It Is
Chapter 2: “If You’re Taylor and a Male . . .”
Chapter 3: Carolina in My Mind
Chapter 4: The Need for Connection
Chapter 5: A Victim of Hippiephrenia
Chapter 6: Something’s Wrong
Chapter 7: Apple Scruff
Chapter 8: It’s Like Being Dead
Chapter 9: California Scheming
Chapter 10: Acts of God
Chapter 11: “Where’s Joni?”
Chapter 12: Granfalloon
Chapter 13: “That’s My Husband”
Chapter 14: “That James Taylor Thing”
Chapter 15: “A Functional Addict”
Chapter 16: “He Goes Away Forever Every Day”
Chapter 17: Mockingbirds
Chapter 18: Sparks in the Darkness
Chapter 19: Never Mind Feeling Sorry for Yourself
Chapter 20: Hourglass
Sources
Index