JOINT (HA HA) TOURS: JAMES TAYLOR/CAROLE KING, EAGLES/FLEETWOOD MAC

Lots of boomers may have to take a break from recession-inspired austerity. This summer there are at least two co-headlining tours that are kind of big deals, and neither are likely to be cheap.  I'm being a jerk here: anyone who loves classic pop songswriting will probably dig these tours, especially the first one.

First off, James Taylor and Carole King. Two peers and incredible songwriters. In 2007, they did a handful of shows together at The Troubadour in Los Angeles, where I guess they used to perform back in the day.  I think the shows may have been based around their era-appropriate albums, Sweet Baby James and Tapestry. Judging by the photos that I've seen (including the one at the left,) it looks like they will perform at least a few songs together. Tapestry is an incredible album. It's weird that Carole is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a "Non-performer" (i.e. as a songwriter for other people, but not for her own recordings) but James is in as a performer. That seems, I don't know, sexist.


The other tour, which is only in the rumor mill at this point, is The Eagles and Fleetwood Mac. Both are quartets that were more famous as quintets.  Fleetwood Mac's loss of keyboardist singer Christine McVie (to retirement) is a bigger deal to them than The Eagles' loss of guitarist Don Felder (who was fired). I imagine that this will be a greatest hits deal for both bands, and I doubt there will be any collaboration.  There's too much jealousy and ego between the members of the individual bands, and probably between both bands.