When James Taylor sat down for a recent interview with Stephen Colbert, the host of The Late Show, he reflected on the 55th anniversary of his third studio album, Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon. While the album is a cornerstone of the singer-songwriter era, the story behind its biggest hit, “You’ve Got a Friend,” is a masterclass in creative synchronicity and the deep bond between Taylor and Carole King.
Taylor recalls that he had been “channeling” King long before they met, having learned and loved the fantastic pop songs she wrote as a “pen for hire” with Gerry Goffin. When they finally met on the West Coast, the connection was immediate. King played piano on Taylor’s Sweet Baby James album, Taylor played on her landmark Tapestry, and soon, she was playing in his band as they hit the road together.
Breaking the Seal at The Troubadour
The two were playing an engagement at The Troubadour in Los Angeles—a venue Taylor describes as “a dive, really, but an important gig to play.” It was there, during their second or third stint at the club, that King “broke the seal” on a brand-new tune.
For Taylor, the song didn’t feel new; it felt eternal. “I was sure I knew the song already, because it was such a classic immediately,” Taylor told The Late Show. The impact was so strong that he “literally ran” to find his guitar just so he could play along.
The “Spur of the Moment” Recording
A few weeks later, Taylor was in the recording studio finishing up tracks for Mud Slide Slim. With a couple of hours of studio time left over, the band looked for a cover to record—a practice that previously resulted in hits like “How Sweet It Is,” “Handyman,” and “Up on the Roof.”
“In this case, I learned this song of Carole’s,” Taylor recalled. At the time, King was in the same studio complex recording Tapestry, and no one had heard the song yet. Taylor decided to record it, later admitting he “blithely” went ahead with the track because they liked the way it sounded so much.
The situation created a unique moment in music history: Taylor was recording a song that the songwriter herself hadn’t even released yet. Taylor eventually had to go to King and admit, “I sort of cut your hit.” Her response was “typically generous,” telling him, “That’s great.”
The Inspiration: A Response to “Fire and Rain”
Perhaps the most poignant part of the James Taylor “You’ve Got a Friend” story is the reason the song exists at all. King told Taylor that the inspiration came directly from a line in his hit “Fire and Rain”: “I’ve seen lonely times when I could not find a friend.”
As Taylor shared in the interview, King told him, “She said, that’s what inspired that song ‘You’ve Got a Friend.’ She said, I heard those lines and I was thinking to myself, I’m going to tell him he does have a friend.”
A Restored Moment in Time
The collaboration between these two legends was captured perfectly in 1971 for the BBC series In Concert. In the restored footage, Taylor performs the song on guitar while King sits at the piano, accompanied by Leland Sklar on bass and Russ Kunkel on percussion.
Watch the performance here: James Taylor and Carole King, “You’ve Got a Friend” (BBC In Concert, 1971)
Legacy of a Classic
Both Tapestry and Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon were released in 1971, and both featured the song. Taylor’s version became his only No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, while the song earned King a Grammy for Song of the Year and Taylor a Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.