Kate Taylor gave a very quick answer in our interview to the question “What's your favorite Beatles song?”
Taylor, of course, is the sister of James Taylor. She'll be performing in two shows as part of Peter Asher's “ A Musical Memoir of the 60s and Beyond” Jan. 20 at the Iridium in New York City. Her most recent album is "Fair Time!" You can read the rest of her interview here. Here, she talks about her favorite Beatles song and meeting three of the Beatles.
“Oh, my God, that's like saying 'Who's your favorite kid?',” she exclaimed after hearing the question.
Then, she quickly gave her answer. “'I Want To Hold Your Hand.' It was the first Beatles song I heard. And I said, 'My life is changed.' My brother Alex grabbed me when I was about 13. He was listening to the radio in the car just parked in the yard. And he said, 'Hey, hey, come here.' And he sat me down and said, 'Listen to this.' And it was the Beatles singing 'I Want to Hold Your Hand.' I thought, 'My God. This is amazing.' And somewhere in my collection of stuff, I have a picture that I took with my Kodak Instamatic camera of the television set when the Beatles were on 'The Ed Sullivan Show.' So I was a huge fan.”
“That 'Meet the Beatles' record, that was some amazing stuff. We all just waited with great anticipation for the next record to come out. They were such a phenomenon, how much music they made. And what they they did in such a short amount of time that they were together. Incredible the body of work they put out. And galvanized a generation. They were something was way beyond just a boy band. They really took it to some amazing level. Incredible, incredible group.”
Taylor has her own stories about encounters with three of the Beatles.
“I met Ringo in the stairwell of Apple when I was there with James. They were somewhat familiar because (of) the working relationship they all had. And we just basically said, 'Hi,' but nothing much more than that.
She did, however, had a memorable meeting with George Harrison.
“I got a chance to meet George Harrison one time when I had done a performance in Central Park back in 1971. (Note: It was later televised as “Good Vibrations in Central Park.”) And the show was produced by Don Kirshner in New York City. At least one of my songs was televised as part of this three or four-act concert that was put on TV. I happened to be flying home to the East Coast a day or two after it was broadcast. I got on a plane and I was in coach and one of the stewardesses came up to me and said, 'There's somebody up here in first class that wants to meet you.'
“In those days, they had those spiral staircases to first class. You could go up a spiral staircase and there would be a lounge up there. I said, 'All right.' And it was George Harrison. And he had seen me on TV and just wanted to let me know how much he'd like the performance. I, of course, was utterly speechless, which was rare. It was overwhelming.”
“And I didn't meet John Lennon, but I saw him on the street. I was talking on the telephone at a pay phone. We waved to each other.”
Note: "What Is Your Favorite Beatles song?" is an occasional series we'll feature on this page.
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