James Taylor – Carolina In My Mind (1968)

Carolina in My Mind

This was Taylor’s first single and reflects Taylor’s homesickness at the time, as he was missing his family, his dog and his state. He was signed to The Beatles’ Record Company, Apple Records, after pitching his demo to Peter Asher, who was good friends with the band and worked for Apple. “Carolina in My Mind” wasn’t issued as a single until a few months after his debut album was released, and by that time he was tending a heroin habit in a psychiatric facility, which left him unable to do touring or promotion. The song stalled at #118 US, and soon Taylor was dropped from Apple.

The original recording of the song was done at London’s Trident Studios during the July to October 1968 period. The song’s lyric “holy host of others standing around me” makes reference to the Beatles, who were recording in the same studio where Taylor was recording his album. Indeed, the recording of “Carolina in My Mind” includes a credited appearance by Paul McCartney on bass guitar and an uncredited one by George Harrison on backing vocals.

The song references Taylor’s years growing up in North Carolina. He started writing the song at producer Peter Asher’s London flat on Marylebone High Street, resumed work on it while on holiday on the Mediterranean island of Formentera, and then completed it while stranded on the nearby island of Ibiza with Karin, a Swedish girl he had just met. There has been a great deal of speculation as to the identity of Karin, the woman he sings about in the line, “Karin, she’s a silver sun.” Until 2009, Taylor would not reveal her identity, leading listeners to create their own theories: Some felt that Karin was a poetic name for Carolina, others believed that Karin was a beautiful young woman that James met while on a trip to Spain, and many have said that this song is about drugs, since at the time it was written, Taylor was trying so hard to kick a serious addiction to heroin.

Taylor cleared this up in a concert screened by BBC Television in March 2009, when he revealed the identity of the Karin alluded to in this song.

At some point Taylor skipped across to the islands of Formentera and Ibiza, where he met Karin. She was Scandinavian, about twenty-four years old, and had shoulder length blonde hair. This appears to have been a fleeting relationship, or perhaps simply a meeting, but he never saw her again.  Her ghost was still haunting him 35 years later, but sadly, Taylor appears not to have been reunited with his lady friend, whatever their relationship.

Some subtle strings can be heard on this track. In an interview with Taylor’s producer, Peter Asher, he said: “In the case of the Apple James Taylor album, I did specifically think about some kind of orchestrations because I really wanted to establish the fact that he was not just another long-haired folkie with an acoustic guitar. I wanted people to take him seriously as a composer.”

When Taylor left Apple, Asher became his manager as well as his producer. His next album, “Sweet Baby James,” had a lot less orchestration.

 

Click to rate this post!
[Total: 0 Average: 0]
Once again, we here at MFU thank you for your readership. Together, we can keep the history of Rock and Roll alive. If you're interested in the project, see the about page. If you'd like to contribute an article, please feel free to use the Easy Share form. If you'd like full functionality and to participate on the site, please register. If you'd like to receive notification when new articles are published, please fill in the correct information in the subscribe section in the upper right.

Visits: 66

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *