James Taylor (1975–1979)
From 1975 to 1979, James Taylor’s tours were all about feel—clean, intimate sound, great players, and songs that didn’t need anything extra to land exactly where they’re supposed to. This part of the archive highlights SHOWCO-connected material from those years: behind-the-scenes photos, tour ephemera, and any technical or crew documents that show what it took to support that kind of understated, world-class live show night after night—shared and preserved through contributions from SHOWCO alumni.
If you have anything from James Taylor’s 1975–1979 touring years that belongs in the archive, please reach out.
How Guitar Feedback Sent James Taylor and Doc Gans to an Indianapolis Library
James Taylor had been struggling with an ongoing guitar-feedback problem while on tour. After a change in monitor engineers, Showco’s Jack Maxson brought Bill “Doc” Gans in mid-tour to help solve it.
During rehearsals in Indianapolis, Doc and James went together to a public library to research musical frequencies and better understand what was causing the feedback. Doc made a photocopy of a technical musical-engineering reference page—and kept that actual copy from the library visit.
The surviving document lists the frequencies of musical notes across ten octaves. Together with Doc’s recorded recollection, it preserves both the technical problem and the wonderfully human way they went looking for an answer before information was instantly available online.
Special thanks to Chris Leonard of How We Got Loud for recording Doc’s original podcast interview and generously allowing me to extract and preserve selected clips from their conversation. Chris’s work captured these stories in Doc’s own voice, making it possible for them to become part of the Showco Archives.
The actual photocopy Bill “Doc” Gans made and kept during his Indianapolis public library visit with James Taylor. From the Bill “Doc” Gans Collection.
James Taylor — McFarlin Auditorium
KZEW/The ZOO radio spot
Aired: June 29, 1977
Venue: McFarlin Auditorium
A Showco Production
Source: Original reel-to-reel recording
Audio courtesy of Billy Wilson, KZEW Historian
The Section Touring '77 James Taylor Summer 6/26-7/29/1977 - courtesy of Doc Gans
The Section 1977 Touring James Taylor Proposed Fall Tour - courtesy of Doc Gans
James Taylor, Leland Sklar - 1976
James Taylor, Carole King - Red Rocks, 1976
James Taylor, Russ Kunkel - Red Rocks, 1976
Leland Sklar, James Taylor - 1976
Rob Joyce (Asher Ent.), Russ Kunkel
Rob Joyce (Asher Ent.), Russ Kunkel
David Sanborn
James Taylor, David Sanborn - Universal Amphitheatre
James Taylor, Leland Sklar, Carole King, Peter Asher - Blossom Amphitheatre
James Taylor, Leland Sklar, Carole King, Peter Asher - Blossom Amphitheatre
Leland Sklar, Carole King
Leland Sklar, Carole King
Peter Asher, James Taylor, Carole King, Doc Gans
James Taylor - Red Rocks, 1976
James Taylor “In the Pocket” vintage long-sleeve tour shirt
EFC Presents James Taylor and Larry Coryell sold-out concert T-shirt
James Taylor Flag Tour ’79 vintage baseball jersey
James Taylor Flag Tour Summer 1979 vintage polo shirt
James Taylor and Kim Carnes Stanley Theatre sold-out vintage shirt, 1980
EFC Presents James Taylor and Kim Carnes at the Mann Music Center vintage jersey
SSC concert crew James Taylor vintage T-shirt
Summerthing James Taylor at Harvard Stadium vintage concert T-shirt
💬 Add to the Story
Were you part of this tour? Attend one of these shows? Recognize someone in a photo?
I'd love to hear your memories, stories, corrections, or additional information. Your contributions help preserve The Family Behind the Music.
Every memory shared here helps make the Showco Archives more complete for future generations.