James Taylor's music came of age when many Baby Boomers were putting the tumult of the times of the 1960s behind them, graduating college, heading into or getting out of the military, and launching careers and families.

As Boomers moved on from the breakup of the Beatles, the "Death of Hippie" in Haight-Ashbury, the post-Woodstock reality of the Rolling Stones' disastrous Altamont Festival concert, and the Love Generation dissolving with the Charles Manson cult Tate-LaBianca murders.

Along came Watergate and the Boomers were adrift in a sea of doubt.

Taylor, after an overlooked but brilliant beginning with his eponymous release in 1968 on the Beatles' Apple Records label, threw Boomers a lifesaver, starting with "Fire And Rain," a No. 1 charting hit in 1970, from his "Sweet Baby James" album.

"Before This World" is the first album of new material in 13 years for Taylor, 67, who kicks off his summer tour with his All-Star Band at 8 p.m. July 2 at PPL Center, Allentown.

Taylor has been making the rounds of the media, including a June 12 "Today" show performance of "Today, Today, Today," the Celtic-flavored first single and opening track, and the gospel-inspired "Shed A Little Light," from "Before This World."

It's no wonder that "Before This World" was Taylor's first-ever No. 1 album on Billboard's Top 200 album chart upon its June 16 release. "Before This World" is not only a return to form for Taylor, it is an exploration of the form that made him a generation's preeminent singer-songwriter. The new songs are strong, the playing is assured, the singing is confident and full.

After the PPL Center, Taylor heads to Tanglewood, Lenox, Mass., for a July 4 concert. The tour continues with stops in Portland, Me.; Hershey; Hartford, Conn.; Canandaigua, N.Y.; Grand Rapids, Mich.; Indianapolis., Ind.; Cincinnati, Oh.; Knoxville, Tenn.; Columbia, S.C.; Greensboro, N.C.; Atlantic City, N.J.; Youngstown, Oh.; Forest Hills., N.Y., and concludes Aug. 6 (as of the most recent listings on his web site) at Fenway Park, Boston.

The touring Taylor has had a long association with the Lehigh Valley, including five concerts at Stabler Arena, Lehigh University, Bethlehem. He was in concert at the Allentown Fair in 1992 and 2006, the last time he played the Valley.

"Before This World" weighs in with a number of familiar Taylor themes: confessional love lost and ruminated ("You And I Again," with a plaintive string section), story-song ("Angels Of Fenway"), the Hammond B-3 fueled R&B road song ("Stretch Of The Highway"), celebrations of time and place ("Montana"), reflections on family and relationships ("Watchin' Over Me," with a jaunty bluegrass beat), landscape lullabies (the winter intimacy of "SnowTime"), blending the universal with the personal (his resonant finger-picking style of "Before This World"), revisiting those country roads (the sea-shanty double-tracked chorality of "Jolly Springtime"), a soldiers' service tribute ("Far Afghanistan," set to a military cadence), and summer's solace ("Wild Mountain Thyme"), rendered all in the comforting lilt of Taylor's soothing baritone.

In concert, look and listen for some of these new Taylor-penned songs, as well as catalogue classics he's written: "Carolina In My Mind" (1968), "Something In The Way She Moves" (1968), "Sweet Baby James" (1970), "Country Road" (1971), "You Can Close Your Eyes" (1971), "Long Ago And Far Away" (1971), "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" (1974), "Mexico" (1975), "Shower The People" (1977), "Your Smiling Face" (1979) and classic covers: "You've Got A Friend," "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)," "Handy Man" and "Up On The Roof."

Through the years, James Taylor has reinvented himself. He's enjoyed several renaissances, the latest a career-capper with a fine new album, "Before This World." As he kicks of his tour, what could be more fitting? He's a renaissance man in a renaissance town.