{"id":802941,"date":"2026-05-17T13:40:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T13:40:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/802941\/"},"modified":"2026-05-17T13:40:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T13:40:16","slug":"most-people-forget-that-the-everly-brothers-recorded-one-of-james-taylors-early-hits-in-1969","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/802941\/","title":{"rendered":"Most People Forget That The Everly Brothers Recorded One of James Taylor\u2019s Early Hits in 1969"},"content":{"rendered":"

Think of a James Taylor song, and \u201cCarolina In My Mind<\/a>\u201d is likely somewhere near the top of the list. The song, one of Taylor\u2019s earliest singles, didn\u2019t chart when it was first released. Now, decades later, it remains one of his signature songs. But what most people forget is that one year after Taylor released \u201cCarolina On My Mind\u201d in 1968, The Everly Brothers released the same song.<\/p>\n

In 1969, the duo, made up of siblings Phil Everly and Don Everly, released \u201cCarolina In My Mind\u201d, changing the title slightly to \u201cCarolina On My Mind\u201d. The song did not appear on an album and did not chart. Still, The Everly Brothers liked the song enough to include it on their 1994 Heartaches and Harmonies boxed set.<\/p>\n

Taylor wrote \u201cCarolina In My Mind\u201d by himself. From his eponymous freshman record, the song says, \u201cIn my mind I\u2019m going to Carolina \/ Can\u2019t you see the sunshine, can\u2019t you just feel the moonshine? \/ Ain\u2019t it just like a friend of mine to hit me from behind? \/ Yes, I\u2019m going to Carolina in my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other artists who have recorded this Taylor classic include George Hamilton IV, Melanie, and John Denver<\/p>\n

How James Taylor Wrote \u201cCarolina In My Mind\u201d<\/p>\n

Taylor was born in Massachusetts. But when he was just a little boy, his family moved to North Carolina, which is what inspired \u201cCarolina In My Mind\u201d. In the song, Taylor sings, \u201cKaren, she\u2019s the silver sun, you best walk her way and watch it shine \/ Watch her watch the morning come \/ A silver tear appearing now I\u2019m crying, ain\u2019t I? \/ I\u2019m going to Carolina in my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taylor later reveals that Karen was a real person whom he met on the Spanish island, Formentera. They later traveled to Ibiza but missed the last ferry. Without money to spend the night anywhere, they killed time at an outdoor cafe, which made Taylor a bit nostalgic<\/a> for home.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started getting homesick,\u201d Taylor recalls on Late Night With Seth Meyers<\/a>. \u201cAnd I thought of this song and my home so far away and wrote \u2018Carolina In My Mind\u2019 as the sun was coming up.\u201d<\/p>\n

It may not have been a big hit, but Taylor still performs \u201cCarolina In My Mind\u201d in his live shows today.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy audience responds well to it,\u201d Taylor tells Parade<\/a>. \u201cAnd because it wears well, I like \u2018Carolina In My Mind\u2019. I play it almost every time I perform, and I haven\u2019t tired of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo by David Warner Ellis\/Redferns\/Getty Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Think of a James Taylor song, and \u201cCarolina In My Mind\u201d is likely somewhere near the top of…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":802942,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[976,171,69005,975,234787,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-802941","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-classic-rock","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-james-taylor","11":"tag-music","12":"tag-the-everly-brothers","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116590203844537065","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=802941"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802941\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/802942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=802941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=802941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=802941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}