When it comes to success, Livingston Taylor knows that it's all relative.
While his older brother, James, was setting the mellow gold standard for singer-songwriters, Livingston eked out a few low-key 1970s hits like “I'll Come Running” and “Carolina Day.”
Today, as brother James is feted with lifetime achievement awards, Liv, the “wimpy folk singer,” reacts with self-deprecating humor and a “collective yawn.” He isn't troubled by the yawning gap between the siblings' levels of fame.
“James Taylor is my brother, of course, but he's also my friend and my mentor. He's my older brother, he taught me to play guitar. And when I am compared to James Taylor, I view that as a deep and a wonderful compliment,” Livingston Taylor said by phone from Martha's Vineyard.
DATEBOOK
Livingston Taylor
7:30 tonight;
AcousticMusic San Diego,4650 Mansfield St., Normal Heights;
$20 and $25;
(619) 303-8176 or www.AcousticMusicSanDiego.com
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“The thing that always confuses me, of course, is that people look at my career and there's always this sort of tinge of sadness: 'Why weren't you more successful?' And the only reason I don't look successful is because I happen to be in the immediate glare of James' success. Essentially, what they're saying to me is not, 'Why aren't you more successful?,' it's, 'Why aren't you as successful as James?'
“And, of course, when James and I look at each other, we are both acutely aware that I'm pretty successful. Can you imagine my level of freedom to travel, to explore?”
Taylor doesn't need to travel with tractor-trailers full of equipment, just his Taylor (no relation) acoustic guitar. (Before he performs tonight at AcousticMusic San Diego in Normal Heights, he plans to work out some ideas at the Taylor Guitars' El Cajon factory.) He finds even more freedom as a private pilot, which allows him to shuttle between his Boston home and his “camp” on Martha's Vineyard.
These days, Taylor's success isn't measured in radio airplay or album sales. A poor student and emotionally troubled youth who “barely” finished high school, Taylor is now a full professor at Boston's esteemed Berklee School of Music, and conducts seminars at Harvard, as well.
“I love where my brain takes me, and I love being in discussion,” Taylor said. “That I was a rotten student didn't mean I was disinterested or didn't care to learn. I was just a crummy student.”
Taylor, whose 1994 live album, “Unsolicited Material,” is perhaps most representative of his work, teaches a course called Stage Performance (he's written a well-received book with the same title) to Berklee students whose musical gifts, one suspects, might exceed their social graces.
“Berklee is infinitely better than it is at Harvard University,” Taylor said of teaching a course on “presentation” there. “It's remarkable, people (at Harvard) don't know how to shake hands.”
Taylor's current musical presentation is “There You Go Again,” a gentle showcase for his talent that moves from the playful (“My Baby Don't Mind”) to the reverently spiritual (“Step by Step,” where he's joined by the New Day Jubilee Choir, conducted by Andrae Crouch). The album features a remarkably high-powered cast of supporting musicians, ranging from Vince Gill and Take 6 to Taylor's siblings, James and Kate, and former sister-in-law Carly Simon.
“With all due respect to the wonderfulness of me,” Taylor quipped, “I'm a known quantity, and it is in vogue to assemble co-workers with the hope that they will help increase your visibility until the fearful people who control access to media, who are always enormously insecure about their jobs, will basically let you in. In my case, it didn't work particularly well.”
Mikel Toombs is a Seattle writer.
