James Taylor — Live at the Beacon Theatre
Recorded May 30, 1998
Beacon Theatre · New York · 
United States
Setlist
Wrong timestamp?
Album featured at the showHourglass1997Winner of the Grammy for best pop album in 1998, Hourglass contributes five songs to the show, including Another Day and Ananas.“To see Luis Conte's debut with James Taylor, in the Beacon Theatre special broadcast on PBS.”
Context
In May 1998, James Taylor reaches the Beacon Theatre with a fresh Grammy for Hourglass and new songs to set beside the old ones. The New York theater hosts a performance broadcast live on PBS. It is not just a retrospective: five songs from the 1997 album make the selection.
Taylor opens with You Can Close Your Eyes and moves to Another Day, bringing together two phases of his career within the first few minutes. Steve Jordan takes the drums, Jimmy Johnson plays bass and Luis Conte makes his debut alongside the singer on percussion. Four backing vocalists complete a lineup that also includes piano, guitar, cello, trumpet and saxophone.
The evening is released on VHS and DVD later in 1998. The DVD gathers 25 performances and restores four numbers missing from the original broadcast, along with interviews and other extras. Between Fire and Rain and Ananas, the recording captures a moment when the recent material takes up real space, without relying on the hits alone.
- Five songs from Hourglass make the selection, a year after the album's release.
Lineup at this show
The lineup of this performance — not necessarily the current one.
- James TaylorVocals, acoustic guitar and harmonica
- Steve JordanDrums
- Luis ContePercussion
- Clifford CarterPiano and keyboards
- Bob MannGuitar
- Jimmy JohnsonBass
- Arnold McCullerBacking vocals
- David LasleyBacking vocals
- Kate MarkowitzBacking vocals
- Valerie CarterBacking vocals
- Owen YoungCello
- Barry DanielianTrumpet
- David MannSaxophone
Trivia
Luis Conte begins working with James Taylor at this Beacon Theatre performance.
Ananas is included on the DVD but does not appear on the VHS edition.
The DVD gathers 25 performances, including four that were not shown in the original broadcast.
More concerts by James Taylor
You might also like…
More Folk, from around 1998
BroadcastAnouk
1998·Pinkpop 1998
Album Together Alone (1997)
BroadcastTori Amos
1998·Pinkpop 1998
Tour of From the Choirgirl Hotel (1998)
BroadcastDuran Duran
1998·Live in London
Tour of Greatest (1998)
Official releaseSimply Red
1998·Live in London
Album Blue (1998)
Official releaseWidespread Panic
1998·Panic in the Streets
Album Light Fuse Get Away
Official releaseBackstreet Boys
1998·A Night Out with the Backstreet Boys
Tour of Backstreet's Back (1997)
Official releaseBackstreet Boys
1998·Homecoming: Live in Orlando
Tour of Backstreet's Back (1997)
Official releaseKISS
1998·Dodger Stadium — Halloween 1998
Tour of Psycho Circus
BroadcastFountains of Wayne
1997·Pinkpop 1997
Album Fountains of Wayne (1996)
BroadcastBeck
1997·Pinkpop 1997
Tour of Odelay (1996)
BroadcastRoberto Carlos
1997·1997 Special
Era of Canciones Que Amo (1997)
BroadcastCéline Dion
1999·La dernière de Céline
Album All The Way…A Decade of Song (1999)
BroadcastWillie Nelson
1999·Woodstock 1999
Era of Night and Day (1999)
Official releasePhil Collins
1997·Live and Loose in Paris
Tour of Dance into the Light (1996)
BroadcastRod Stewart
1999·Live at Hampden Park
Era of When We Were the New Boys (1998)
BroadcastRammstein
1997·Pinkpop 1997
Album Herzeleid (1995)
BroadcastCounting Crows
1997·Pinkpop 1997
Tour of Recovering the Satellites (1996)
BroadcastAlanis Morissette
1999·Pinkpop 1999
Tour of Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie (1998)
BroadcastGotthard
1999·Taubertal Festival 1999
Tour of Open (1999)
BroadcastMichael Jackson
1997·Live in Munich
Tour of HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I (1995)
