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

Notoriously reticent singer-songwriter Taylor has been the subject of numerous biographies over his almost 50 years in the music business. One of the best things in Ribowsky's (Dreams To Remember: Otis Redding, Stax Records, and the Transformation of Southern Soul) book is the extensive bibliography. Unfortunately, though the author interviewed several influential figures, he did not have contact with Taylor himself, and this title suffers in comparison with recent autobiographies such as Carly Simon's Boys in the Trees and Carole King's A Natural Woman. Ribowsky relies on (sometimes conflicting) secondhand information and speculation; compounding the distance from the subject source and despite the wealth of insight there are some factual errors regarding who recommended Taylor to Apple Records and personnel on his recordings. Apart from these lapses, it merits a place on the shelf as it traces Taylor's career through the 2015 release of the billboard chart-topping Before This World.