James Taylor returned to Fenway Park in Boston this weekend–home of the Boston Red Sox–to laud both the baseball team and the venue with an original song. ‘Angels of Fenway’ has been a labor of love for the singer. He’s worked on it ever since the Red Sox broke their 86-year title drought back in 2004, winning the World Series.
It was then he came up with the music for ‘Angels of Fenway,’ but it took him quite some time to create the lyrics.
“It took me a long time to get back into the saddle of writing lyrics again,” James Taylor said during a recent interview with Billboard.
‘Angels of Fenway’ debuted on the public address system Sunday, as the Boston Red Sox hosted the New York Yankees. A video with Red Sox highlights throughout the years accompanied the music.
The song and the video will be hosted at Fenway Park starting on Monday, May 4th. James Taylor will release the album on which ‘Angels of Fenway’ is featured, on June 16th.
New James Taylor song about #RedSox muses on Yankees rivalry, 2004 World Series win http://t.co/0q26CsKLJ5 pic.twitter.com/hH5wdRgPfW
— The Boston Globe (@BostonGlobe) May 4, 2015
So how did James Taylor become such an avid Boston Red Sox fan?
He hails from the Boston area. When his family moved to North Carolina, he kept his interest strong. He returned to attend high school in the Boston suburb of Milton, becoming even further ensconced in the city’s baseball scene.
James Taylor threw out the ceremonial first pitch in Boston on Sunday. Dressed in a Red Sox T-shirt and a baseball cap featuring Ted Williams’ retired No. 9, he also sang ‘America the Beautiful’ during the seventh-inning stretch.
James Taylor will return to Fenway Park in Boston on August 6th, where he is scheduled to do a concert with Bonnie Raitt.
He will likely share ‘Angels of Fenway’ yet again with the Red Sox fans who grace the park to hear him perform.