NEWS 20 Nov 2007

Carole King, James Taylor And The Original Band Celebrate The Troubador’s 50th Anniversary With A Special Three-Night Engagement For Charity

The Troubadour is honored to celebrate its 50th anniversary with a return three-night engagement, November 28, 29 and 30, from two of its most beloved singer/songwriters, Carole King and James Taylor. The special performances will feature songs from their 1969 debut Troubadour shows that helped propel them both to the world stage. King and Taylor will reunite with guitarist Danny “Kootch” Kortchmar, drummer Russ Kunkel and bassist Lee Sklar, famous in their own right as The Section. There will be two performances each night with ticket proceeds benefiting charities including Natural Resources Defense Council, MusiCares, Alliance for the Wild Rockies and the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank, a member of America's Second Harvest—The Nation’s Food Bank Network.

“James Taylor is an artist that helped define the room and establish it as the most famous night club in the country,” says Brian Smith, The Troubadour’s booker. “In these walls there is a deep musical history that spans many generations. To have Carole and James back to help celebrate the last 50 years and to bring in the next 50...is quite an honor."

In the last 50 years, The Troubadour has been a Los Angeles musical institution to countless artists and music fans alike. It helped launch the careers of the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne and Elton John, just to name a few.

“When James asked me if I wanted to join him for the 50th Anniversary of the Troubadour I thought, what a perfect opportunity to celebrate our longtime friendship and shared musical history,” notes King.

Last month Carole King released a new live DVD, Welcome To My Living Room, on her own Rockingale Records label. Filmed in Southern California in 2005, Welcome offers an intimate, unadorned glimpse into the “living room” of the great songwriter. The set features 29 songs – nearly two hours of music in all – from King’s sold-out 2005/06 Living Room World Tour, including an astonishing 21 Top 40 hits, seven #1 singles, and 11 songs that weren’t on her best-selling 2005 Living Room Tour live CD.

Carole King performed with James Taylor at the Troubadour in November 1969. This historic show marked King’s debut as a solo artist. Prior to that time, she and co-writer Gerry Goffin quietly defined a generation with more than 50 songs that landed in the Top 40. In 1971, King gave us the landmark Tapestry. The album received a Diamond certification by the RIAA for sales of more than 10 million units in the U.S., with more than 25 million units worldwide. King was the first woman to win four GRAMMY® Awards in one year (Best Album, Best Song, Best Record, and Best Vocal Performance in 1972), a feat unsurpassed for more than 25 years. Time Magazine named King “Woman of the Year” in 1972. In 1987 King and Gerry Goffin were inducted into the Songwriter Hall of Fame and honored with their Lifetime Achievement Award in 1988. Goffin and King were also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 and were honored by NARAS in 2004 with the GRAMMY® Trustees’ Award. To date, more than 400 Carole King compositions have been recorded by more than 1000 artists, resulting in 100 hit singles - many reaching the coveted #1 spot. She is arguably the most successful and most revered female songwriter in pop music history.

"Carole and I bump into each other all the time. Each time we meet, it's always the same: 'We really ought to get together on stage again...' Well, it seems like we finally will; this Troubadour 50th Anniversary event is the perfect excuse and I can't wait,” says Taylor.

Taylor made his solo debut at the Troubadour in July 1969, supporting his self-titled Apple Records release featuring classics such as “Carolina In My Mind” and “Something In The Way She Moves.”

Over the course of his career, James Taylor has sold more than 40 million albums, and won more than 40 gold, platinum and multi-platinum awards as well as five GRAMMY® Awards. Taylor’s first Greatest Hits album earned him the RIAA’s elite Diamond Award, given for sales in excess of 10 million units in the United States. In 2000, Taylor was inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the prestigious Songwriters Hall of Fame. In February 2006, The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences named Taylor its MUSICARES Person of the Year.

This month Taylor released One Man Band on Hear Music, a new CD/DVD set of live recordings which Rolling Stone Magazine described as “an artistic snapshot of his life” and career to date. The set list is drawn from Taylor’s recent concerts at the Colonial Theatre in the Berkshires and features new performances from some of Taylor’s most beloved recordings. The DVD portion, directed by Don Mischer and executive produced by Sydney Pollack tells the story of Taylor’s songs through exclusive interviews and rare multi-media footage, including home movies and photographs from Taylor’s personal archives. The result is an extraordinary, one-of-a-kind portrait of an iconic American artist, his renowned repertoire and the personal stories behind the songs.

WHO: The Troubadour’s 50th Anniversary with Carole King and James Taylor (with The Original Band, guitarist Danny Kortchmar, drummer Russ Kunkel and bassist Lee Sklar)

WHERE:

The Troubadour

9081 Santa Monica Blvd.

West Hollywood, CA 90069

DATES/TIMES:

Please note that there will be two one-hour shows each night

Wednesday, November 28

First show:

7:00 PM

Second show:

10:00 PM

Thursday, November 29

First show:

7:00 PM

Second show:

10:00 PM

Friday, November 30

First show:

7:00 PM

Second show:

10:00 PM

For more ticket and VIP charity package information or to purchase, please visit www.tickets-for-charity.com. Tickets go on sale at 9:00AM Pacific Standard Time on Tuesday, November 20.