Fans packed the Brighton Centre on Monday night to hear iconic troubadour James Taylor, famous for such hits as Fire And Rain and You've Got A Friend.

A seasoned performer with more than 30 years' experience, Taylor had the crowd eating out of his hand as he played tracks from recent album October Road as well as older classics including Sweet Baby James and Carolina In My Mind.

Despite a lengthy career and a life that has been troubled at times - including drug problems and a spell in a psychiatric hospital - his voice was in excellent shape and his spirits seemed high, with frequent jokes and lengthy anecdotes between songs.

Of course, it helps that he is able to call on the best musicians in the world to form his backing band. Sadly these didn't include Ry Cooder or Michael Brecker, both of whom played on October Road, but the players he did have were first-rate.

Special mention must surely go to drummer Steve Gadd, quite rightly introduced by Taylor as "a bit of a legend", although it was a shame he didn't get the chance to go beyond fairly straight pop-rock to display the "Gadd shuffle" for which he is famous.

Although Taylor's talent as a songwriter is not in dispute, there are those who regard his work as middle-of-the-road and verging on the overly sentimental.

Although it is unfair to apply such a criticism to all his output, Shower The People did seem schmaltzy and his cover of the Dozier-Holland-Holland soul classic How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) must have sounded woefully light-weight to anyone familiar with the Marvin Gaye version.

As far as most of the audience was concerned, however, he could do no wrong - after all, this was the man who wrote the soundtrack to a substantial part of their lives.

And whatever your generation, few would deny James Taylor is not only an icon but a hugely important and influential singer-songwriter too. It was great to see him.