Original air date Feb 6, 2016 | Time 59:00
When Friends Meet and World's Collide
When does a pop song become an art song? It's astounding how genre is so slippery, how the people who participate in a recording can define the style and expand the native talents of a songwriter. We listen to James Taylor's 1968 debut album on Apple with Paul McCartney and George Harrison and his subsequent recordings for Warner Bros. in 1970-71. Sting performed at a tribute concert for James in 2007 and we hear him sing "You Can Close Your Eyes". Both Sting and Yo Yo Ma joined James on the title track of his latest 2015 "Before This World". We listen to Sting and Yo Yo Ma perform "Fragile" at the 2002 Olympics in Utah with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and orchestra. We shift to 1987's "Nothing Like the Sun", Sting's second solo album and then his 2009 "If On A Winter's Night". We close the program with "Snow Time" from James "Beyond This World". Enjoy.
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