Q 01/05

Which songwriter wrote You've Got a Friend, the ballad that gave James Taylor a US number-one single in 1971?

A) Laura Nyro

B) Carole King

C) Carole Bayer Sager

D) Melissa Manchester

Answer · why

B) Carole King

Carole King wrote it and put her own version on Tapestry the same year. At the 1972 Grammys she won Song of the Year for it while he took the male pop...

Q 02/05

Which 1970 James Taylor hit reflects on a friend's suicide, his own addiction and the collapse of his New York band?

A) Fire and Rain

B) Sunny Skies

C) Rainy Day Man

D) Riding on a Railroad

Answer · why

A) Fire and Rain

Fire and Rain became his first US top-ten hit, and he has said he wrote it in three parts, the last about coming to grips with fame and fortune.

Q 03/05

Which singer-songwriter married James Taylor in her Manhattan apartment in 1972 and later scored duet hits with him?

A) Linda Ronstadt

B) Rita Coolidge

C) Judy Collins

D) Carly Simon

Answer · why

D) Carly Simon

Carly Simon and he saw an after-show party at Radio City Music Hall turn into their wedding reception, and their children Sally and Ben both grew up t...

Q 04/05

Which star inducted James Taylor into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, decades after playing on his debut album?

A) George Harrison

B) Eric Clapton

C) Paul McCartney

D) Elton John

Answer · why

C) Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney played bass on Carolina in My Mind in 1968, with George Harrison adding uncredited backing vocals, and did the honours at the 2000 cere...

Q 05/05

Which superstar sang James Taylor's blues parody Steamroller on the live album of a satellite concert from Hawaii?

A) Frank Sinatra

B) Johnny Cash

C) Elvis Presley

D) Dean Martin

Answer · why

C) Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley made a single of a song James Taylor had written to mock the pompous white blues bands he kept hearing in Greenwich Village.