Preloading

The Day James Taylor's Father Rescued Him in New York City

Season 5 Episode 506
Aired on 11/29/2015 | CC tv-14
During the summer of 1967, James Taylor says he found himself going down a dangerous path in New York City. After his band, the Flying Machine, lost their record contract and his bass player quit, James spent most of his time in his apartment, getting high on drugs. "I could have disappeared down drain really quite easily at that point," he says. "It just takes a week or two in the wrong place, and suddenly, very bad things can happen."

One day, James, strung out and stranded in New York City, spoke to his father on the phone. "I don't know if I called home or if home called me, but my dad got on the phone and he said, 'How you doing, James?' I said, 'Well, I don't know. Not so good, Dad.'" James recalls. "He said, 'Stay right there. Do not leave. Don't go out of that apartment until you see me.'"

At that moment, James says his father, a successful physician in North Carolina, grabbed his wallet, got in his car and drove 13 hours to New York. "He showed up with the family station wagon," he says. "And he picked me up and took me home, and I recovered for about, six months or so until I was ready to start the next chapter."

Watch as James reveals how his father's selfless act inspired the song "Jump Up Behind Me."

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