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17 St Anne’s Court · Soho · W1Night sessions · 1968

James Taylor

Waiting

James Taylor with long hair and a moustache, looking at the camera
James Taylor, 1971. Unknown (Billboard advertisement) · Public domain
J. TAYLOR · APPLE

In

In 1968 the Beatles had this room for the White Album. He made his first record in it after they had gone home for the night. Here are his places, from a Carolina street to a Massachusetts lawn.

Before the board · Chapel Hill and Martha’s Vineyard

A university town,
and an island every summer.

Shops and trees along Franklin Street in Chapel Hill on a summer day
Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, August 2015. Mx. Granger · CC0

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.

Chapel Hill/Orange County Welcome Center

His father, Isaac, a physician, moved the family from Boston to Chapel Hill for a job at the University of North Carolina, and later became dean of its medical school.

The welcome centre opened on West Franklin Street in March 2022 with a nine-minute video from Taylor on a screen 10 feet wide. In it he tells how he wrote “Carolina in My Mind” in London, thinking of his childhood home, and he calls Chapel Hill one of his favourite places on the planet. He also gave the centre a signed album cover for visitors’ photographs.

Open Monday to Friday 8.30 am to 5 pm and Saturday 10 am to 3 pm; free. Pictured: Franklin Street.

Sources
Fishing boats and the harbour at Menemsha under an orange sunset
Menemsha Harbor, Martha’s Vineyard, at sunset, September 2019. MarinelaK · CC BY-SA 4.0

MARTHA’S VINEYARD, MASS.

Martha’s Vineyard

The family spent its summers on Martha’s Vineyard; the Wall Street Journal calls the island central to his musical growth.

There he met the guitarist Danny Kortchmar. As Jamie & Kootch the two of them played the island’s coffee-house circuit.

An island reached by ferry; its harbours, beaches and towns are open to all. Pictured: Menemsha Harbor at sunset.

Sources
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Massachusetts and Greenwich Village · the mid-1960s

Nine months in hospital,
then a band in the Village.

A brick hospital building with a white cupola among bare trees
The Administration Building at McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts, March 2010. John Phelan · CC BY 3.0

McLean Hospital

At 17 he checked himself into McLean, a psychiatric hospital outside Boston, and was treated for depression for nine months.

Before that he had been at Milton Academy in Massachusetts.

A working psychiatric hospital, not a place to visit: it is named here and not mapped. Pictured: its Administration Building.

Sources
A Greenwich Village street of low brick buildings with shop fronts
Bleecker Street, Greenwich Village, May 2012, a block from West 3rd Street. Ken Lund · CC BY-SA 2.0

Night Owl Cafe

After high school he moved to New York and formed the Flying Machine with Kortchmar and the drummer Joel O’Brien.

The Night Owl in Greenwich Village is where he worked up his acoustic style, and his song “Night Owl” is named after it. The Lovin’ Spoonful came to fame at the club, and Tim Buckley played his first New York gig there in 1966; Bleecker Bob’s record shop took the address from 1983.

O’Brien introduced him to heroin; when the band flamed out, he moved to London.

The club is long gone; the address is on a public street. Pictured: Bleecker Street, a block away.

Sources

Marylebone High Street · 1968

A London street,
with Carolina in it.

A London high street of red-brick mansion blocks and shop fronts
Marylebone High Street, London, December 2013. Martin Addison · CC BY-SA 2.0
Shops and trees along Franklin Street in Chapel Hill on a summer day
Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, August 2015. Mx. Granger · CC0

Marylebone High Street, where Peter Asher had his flat. Hold the button.

He started “Carolina in My Mind” at Asher’s flat on Marylebone High Street, carried on with it on Formentera and finished it stranded on Ibiza.

In London he met Peter Asher, who was signing acts to Apple Records. Asher remembered signing him to Apple as quickly as he could; he was the first non-British artist on the label.

Two young men in a 1960s trade advertisement, one with glasses
Peter Asher (left, glasses) with Gordon Waller in a Capitol trade advertisement, March 1966, two years before he signed James Taylor to Apple. Capitol Records (trade advertisement) · Public domain

He auditioned alone with his guitar for George Harrison and Paul McCartney; one of the songs he played was “Something in the Way She Moves”.

Peter Asher’s flat was a private home: the street is named here, the flat is not mapped.

Sources

Trident Studios · 17 St Anne’s Court · July to October 1968

The night shift.
Wait for the Beatles to go home.

Trident had working eight-track machines when Abbey Road did not, and the Beatles were keen to use them: they cut “Hey Jude” here on 31 July 1968, from 2 pm to 4 am.

In

Out · gone home

    Waiting

    It is the Beatles’ room tonight. Four names are IN; his is waiting. Send them home one by one.

    A narrow Soho alley with the front of a former recording studio
    The former Trident Studios building on St Anne’s Court, Soho, March 2023. AbstractLakx · CC BY-SA 4.0

    Trident Studios

    His first album was cut in the same studio the Beatles used for the White Album, after they had gone home for the night.

    “Carolina in My Mind” was recorded here between July and October 1968, produced by Peter Asher, with Paul McCartney on bass and George Harrison among the backing voices. The album came out on Apple in December 1968 in Britain and February 1969 in America.

    Not open to visitors: see the front of the former studio from St Anne’s Court, a footpath between Wardour Street and Dean Street.

    Sources

    Alone with his guitar he auditions for Harrison and McCartney; Peter Asher signs him to Apple.

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    A white clapboard building with a porch behind a lawn
    The Austen Riggs Center on Main Street, Stockbridge, August 2017. Daderot · CC0

    Main Street, Stockbridge · 1969

    Home, ill,
    and getting better.

    After finishing the Apple album he was treated at Austen Riggs, in Stockbridge, and wrote the song’s other two verses there.

    He began “Fire and Rain” in London, in a basement room, after learning months late that his friend Suzanne had taken her own life. The second verse is about coming home sick, exhausted and addicted; the third looks back on the Flying Machine as he gets ready to face the world again.

    A working psychiatric treatment centre, not a place to visit: it is named here and not mapped. Pictured: from Main Street.

    Sources

    Hollywood and West Hollywood · 1969 and 1970

    Two weeks in an old garage,
    a first night with Carole King.

    A low recording-studio building on Sunset Boulevard
    Sunset Sound on Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood, October 2014. Coolcaesar · CC BY-SA 4.0

    December 1969

    Sunset Sound

    The album took less than two weeks and cost less than $10,000; his band included Carole King and Kortchmar.

    Taylor made Sweet Baby James here; “Fire and Rain” was its single. “Fire and Rain” was cut live, with Carole King on piano, Russ Kunkel on drums and Bobby West on upright bass. Disney’s recording director Tutti Camarata opened the studio in a former auto repair shop on Sunset Boulevard in 1960.

    A working recording studio, not open to the public: see it from Sunset Boulevard.

    Sources
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    The Troubadour nightclub front with its sign above the door
    The Troubadour on Santa Monica Boulevard, December 2006. Gary Minnaert · Public domain

    November 1970

    The Troubadour

    In November 1970 he and Carole King first performed together here.

    Carole King, long-haired, looking down at the keys of a grand piano
    Carole King at the piano on the cover of Cash Box, 15 May 1971. Ode/A&M Records (publicity, Cash Box cover) · Public domain

    Thirty-six years later they came back for three nights and six shows for the club’s 50th birthday. The recording, Live at the Troubadour, has 15 songs and went gold.

    A working club, open since 1957: buy a ticket for any night; the box office opens at door time on show days.

    Sources
    Sunset Marquis Hotel & Villas

    Sunset Marquis

    1200 Alta Loma Road, West Hollywood · Book direct · suites and villas

    A West Hollywood hotel in nearly three acres of gardens, with its own Nightbird Recording Studio, a short drive from the Troubadour and Sunset Sound. Pictured: the Troubadour.

    Check rooms

    More from these rooms: Carole King’s World · Joni Mitchell’s World

    A wide open-sided concert shed with a lawn in front of it
    The Koussevitzky Music Shed and its lawn at Tanglewood, August 2015. Chamberednautilus · CC BY-SA 4.0

    297 West Street, Lenox · every July

    The Third,
    and the Fourth.

    He plays Tanglewood every year on the 3rd and the 4th of July.

    Tanglewood is the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, in the woods of Lenox. He lives in western Massachusetts with his wife, Kim.

    The Boston Symphony Orchestra’s summer home: buy a ticket for any summer concert; check bso.org for dates.

    Sources
    The Red Lion Inn

    The Red Lion Inn

    30 Main Street, Stockbridge, Massachusetts · Book direct · rates on the booking page

    An inn on Main Street, Stockbridge, taking travellers since 1773, with rooms in the main inn, Maple Glen, village houses and the Norman Rockwell Firehouse. Lenox and Tanglewood are a short drive north. Pictured: Tanglewood.

    Check rooms

    The back of the board

    Every room
    on one map.

    Where it is now

    7 places you can visit, from Chapel Hill to Lenox. McLean Hospital and the Austen Riggs Center are working treatment centres and Peter Asher’s flat was a private home: they are named, not mapped. Trident and Sunset Sound are seen from outside.

    Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.

    • General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Open Monday to Friday 8.30 am to 5 pm and Saturday 10 am to 3 pm; free. Pictured: Franklin Street.

    1. Shops and trees along Franklin Street in Chapel Hill on a summer day
      Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, August 2015. Mx. Granger · CC0

      308 West Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

      Chapel Hill/Orange County Welcome Center

      His father, Isaac, a physician, moved the family from Boston to Chapel Hill for a job at the University of North Carolina, and later became dean of its medical school.

      Open Monday to Friday 8.30 am to 5 pm and Saturday 10 am to 3 pm; free. Pictured: Franklin Street.

      Sources

    Stay

    Sleep near the rooms.

    An old inn in Stockbridge for Tanglewood, and a West Hollywood hotel for the Troubadour.

    The Red Lion Inn

    The Red Lion Inn

    30 Main Street, Stockbridge, Massachusetts · Book direct · rates on the booking page

    An inn on Main Street, Stockbridge, taking travellers since 1773, with rooms in the main inn, Maple Glen, village houses and the Norman Rockwell Firehouse. Lenox and Tanglewood are a short drive north. Pictured: Tanglewood.

    Check rooms
    Sunset Marquis Hotel & Villas

    Sunset Marquis

    1200 Alta Loma Road, West Hollywood · Book direct · suites and villas

    A West Hollywood hotel in nearly three acres of gardens, with its own Nightbird Recording Studio, a short drive from the Troubadour and Sunset Sound. Pictured: the Troubadour.

    Check rooms

    Go there

    Walk the streets.

    Soho, the Vineyard and Hollywood’s music streets.

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    London

    Live marketplace results for guided music walks round Soho and the West End. Check each itinerary for St Anne’s Court; the former studio is not open inside.

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    Martha’s Vineyard

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    Hollywood music history tours

    Los Angeles

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    What’s on

    No dates yet.

    His 2026 tour has ended; next summer’s Tanglewood dates were not out on 21 October 2026.

    No current dated events are listed. Check providers for the latest programme.

    Take it home

    One book, two records.

    The year 1970 in a book, and the two records made at Trident and Sunset Sound.

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    Fire and Rain: The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, James Taylor, CSNY, and the Lost Story of 1970

    David Browne

    The year Sweet Baby James came out, told alongside the Beatles’ last months.

    Find the book
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    James Taylor

    James Taylor · LP, Apple, 1968

    The night-shift album from Trident, with McCartney on bass on one song.

    Live marketplace search · listings and condition change

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    Sweet Baby James

    James Taylor · LP, Warner Bros., 1970

    Made at Sunset Sound in under two weeks.

    Live marketplace search · listings and condition change

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    Dates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.

    The full record

    Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.

    10 of 10 places · 16 of 16 Moments

    • Chapel Hill/Orange County Welcome Center

      308 West Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

      • South to Chapel Hill

        His father takes a job at the University of North Carolina and moves the family from Boston to Chapel Hill.

      • A welcome on Franklin Street

        His nine-minute welcome video opens Chapel Hill’s new welcome centre.

    • Martha’s Vineyard

      Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts

      • Jamie & Kootch

        Summers on the Vineyard: he meets Danny Kortchmar and they play the coffee houses.

    • McLean Hospital

      Belmont, Massachusetts

      • Nine months at McLean

        At 17 he checks himself into McLean and is treated for depression for nine months.

    • Night Owl Cafe

      118 West 3rd Street, Greenwich Village, Manhattan

      • The Flying Machine

        The Flying Machine play the Night Owl in Greenwich Village; the band flames out.

    • Marylebone High Street

      Marylebone High Street, London

      • The audition

        Alone with his guitar he auditions for Harrison and McCartney; Peter Asher signs him to Apple.

      • Carolina in My Mind

        He starts the song at Asher’s flat on Marylebone High Street, homesick for North Carolina.

    • Trident Studios

      17 St Anne’s Court, Soho, London

      • Hey Jude at Trident

        The Beatles cut “Hey Jude” at Trident for its eight-track machines, from 2 pm to 4 am.

      • After they went home

        His first album is cut in the Beatles’ White Album studio once they have gone home for the night.

      • McCartney on bass

        McCartney plays bass and Harrison sings backing on “Carolina in My Mind”.

      • James Taylor, on Apple

        The album comes out on Apple in Britain.

    • Austen Riggs Center

      Main Street, Stockbridge, Massachusetts

      • Austen Riggs

        Treated at Austen Riggs after the Apple album, he finishes “Fire and Rain”.

    • Sunset Sound

      6650 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood

      • Sweet Baby James

        Under two weeks and under $10,000 at Sunset Sound, with Carole King in the band.

    • The Troubadour

      9081 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood

      • First night with Carole King

        He and Carole King first perform together at the Troubadour.

      • Back at the Troubadour

        Three nights and six shows with Carole King for the club’s 50th birthday.

    • Tanglewood

      297 West Street, Lenox, Massachusetts

      • The Third and the Fourth

        His annual 3rd and 4th of July shows at Tanglewood.

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