Carole King & James Taylor: Just Call Out My Name

The documentary covers Carole King and James Taylor's Troubadour Reunion tour of 2010 and where it came from: the nights in 1970 when they played together at the Troubadour club in Los Angeles. Forty years on they play the same songs in the same order, this time in arenas. The film is not interested in being a concert record. It is interested in what two musicians owe each other: King writes, Taylor sings, and if their paths had not crossed at that club both careers would have gone differently. The film says so outright. The form interleaves archive and concert: black-and-white footage from 1970, rehearsal tapes and stage sections from the 2010 tour. The same song is heard twice, from two eras, back to back. Frank Marshall directed. Some of the 1970 footage was shot at the time and sat unused for years, surfacing for the first time in this documentary. It was released on HBO. Danny Kortchmar, Russ Kunkel and Leland Sklar, the same band in both periods, are onstage. Who it is for: viewers who like the singer-songwriters of the seventies and concert documentaries. Who it is not for: anyone expecting a critical eye. The film is celebratory throughout and barely touches either musician's hard years.