How “Competence and Arrogance” Managed To Save James Taylor’s Career From Never Taking Off

There seems to be a million “secret ingredients” that go into becoming a successful and famous musician: plenty of luck, lots of talent, a helping handful of financial support, an even more successful and famous family member, and the list goes on. But according to James Taylor, the two things he needed to land his big break aren’t exactly qualities one would expect: competence and arrogance.

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Why James Taylor Thinks Arrogance Worked In His Favor

In a 2021 interview with Guitar World, James Taylor recalled going to London after his previous band broke up. At first, the trip was just a way to distract himself from a major career setback. But as it turned out, it was sending him on an upswing. While in London, Taylor met Pete Asher, who had just become the head of the A&R department at the newly founded label Apple. This label was, of course, established by The Beatles. Asher liked Taylor’s music and invited the American singer-songwriter to audition for George Harrison and Paul McCartney.

“I had some kind of competence and the arrogance of youth,” Taylor said. “Without which, nobody would ever do anything, because you’d hedge your bets. There’s a stage in our development where you’re allowed to do impossible things, which is why the military looks to people about that age. You can talk people into doing things that if you were asked when you were 35, you’d say, ‘No, thanks, I’ll pass on that.’ I also knew that it was somehow good. It worked for me, and I was a music connoisseur. I thought, ‘This stuff could go somewhere.’”

The Singer-Songwriter Was a Massive Beatles Fan

Arrogance and competence might have played their parts in getting James Taylor in front of The Beatles. But there was plenty of luck, too. Those fortuitous nudges by fate’s hand make these star-studded stories all the more remarkable. Even Taylor was taken aback at the hand he was dealt. “It was just otherworldly,” he told Guitar World. “I was a huge Beatles fan, and they were at the very height of their powers. To be in London, the first person signed to their label in 1968, was really like catching the big wave. It was unbelievable.”

Unfortunately, Taylor was also one of the first people that Allen Klein would fire when he took over Apple in the late 1960s. This is the same financial manager who deepened an already growing rift between The Beatles, practically guaranteeing their split. Indeed, once that big wave crashed onto the shore, no one riding its crest was safe from the impact.

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