By Susan Shinn
sshinn@salisburypost.com
CHARLOTTE ó It was just a guy and his guitar on stage, singing for the cause on a picture-perfect North Carolina fall afternoon.
But the musician was James Taylor and the cause was the Concert for Change in support of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
Taylor kicked off a five-city tour at Ovens Auditorium in Charlotte on Sunday. He was in Asheville Sunday night, with stops later this week in Chapel Hill, Raleigh and Wilmington.
All of the concerts are free.
There didn’t seem to be an abundance of publicity for the Charlotte stop. The lower part of Ovens was filled, but only a few rows upstairs were taken. The Panthers home game may have had something to do with attendance.
Even though Taylor now lives in Boston, he grew up in Chapel Hill, and North Carolinians of a certain age still claim him as their favorite musician.
Those fans were on hand Sunday afternoon ó the crowd was overwhelmingly white, middle-aged and seemingly stalwart Obama supporters.
The man they’ve come to know as Sweet Baby James (even though the songwriter penned that hit for his newborn nephew in 1970) didn’t disappoint.
Taylor played greatest hits from early in his career in a 50-minute concert. Sunday’s playlist included “You’ve Got a Friend,” “Something in the Way She Moves,” “Fire and Rain” and “Carolina in My Mind.”
Taylor’s newest CD is “Covers,” released Sept. 30. He included just one song from that album, “Wichita Lineman,” the hit made popular by Glenn Campbell way back in 1968.
Wife Kim joined him for a beautiful duet in the encore, “You Can Close Your Eyes.”
Taylor took the stage about 2:30, wearing a chambray shirt, blue jeans, a gray cowboy hat and an Obama button.
Taylor, who’s not typically talkative in concert, spent a lot of time speaking on Obama and the importance of voting in the upcoming election ó just 15 days away now.
“I’m so excited that North Carolina could actually embody the change our country needs to go through,” Taylor said. “North Carolina can own that kind of change, and that is a wonderful thing.”
For the first time in years, North Carolina is a battleground state. It has not gone for the Democrats since 1976.
Taylor also poked gentle fun at the songs he’s sung for decades.
He said that he loved Carole King’s “You’ve Got a Friend” the first time he heard it.
“I didn’t realize at the time I’d be singing it every single night for the rest of my life,” he said. “But it could be worse.”
The hit song, he said, could have been “How Much Is That Doggie in the Window?” or “Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavor on the Bedpost Overnight?”
Throughout the concert, Taylor urged the audience to get out and vote early ó and take friends and family with them.
Early voting in North Carolina continues through Nov. 1, and you can register and vote at the same location during this time period.
A vote for Obama, he said, means “we’ll have a whole different world. We’ll be able to hold our heads up high and be proud of our government.”
Several times, Taylor thanked the crowd for coming.
“I feel the spirit of change and a new beginning,” he said. “After a long, long winter, it feels wonderful.”
Clearly, Taylor was more comfortable singing and playing guitar than talking politics. But he spoke from the heart.
Tom and Carole Brooke of China Grove, longtime fans, said they were impressed with the singer’s humility and sincerity.
“It was magical,” Carole Brooke said of the concert. “It was like being in heaven for a whole hour.”