Carole King and James Taylor Set for 2010 'Troubadour' Tour

Nearly 40 years after Carole King's first public performance, which was with
James Taylor at The Troubadour in Los Angeles, the duo will embark on a world tour together in 2010. The first show will be at Melbourne, Australia's Rod Laver Arena on Mar. 27. From there, they'll hit New Zealand and Japan, before heading to North America and Europe. So far, the only North American date is scheduled for May 14 at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.

Appropriately enough, their tour (the songwriters pictured here in 1972) is being dubbed 'The Troubadour Reunion' and was born out of a 50th anniversary concert the duo played in 2007, when the Troubadour turned 50. Along for the ride is their original backing band, consisting of guitarist Danny "Kootch" Kortchmar, drummer Russ Kunkel and bassist Lee Sklar.

Since the early 60s, King has been a songwriting force -- not only is she behind the landmark album 'Tapestry,' her early days found her penning songs for doo-wop, pop and Motown greats such as Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield, the Monkees, the Chiffons and the Drifters; cover versions of her songs were done by the Beatles, Marvin Gaye, Neil Diamond and even Brooklyn psych-folkers Grizzly Bear.

In September, King performed in Central Park for a concert tied around Ken Burns' new documentary, 'The National Parks: America's Best Idea.'

Taylor's most recent release is 2008's 'Covers,' an album of bluesy-folk renditions of songs such as 'On Broadway,' 'Hound Dog' and Leonard Cohen's 'Suzanne'. Earlier this year, he released an EP of sorts that culled material from the same sessions. Entitlted 'More Covers,' the seven-song set has him tackling Wilson Pickett's 'In the Midnight Hour' as well as Tom Waits' 'Shiver Me Timbers.'

This year Taylor was also the last musical act on 'The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.'

No word yet on ticket prices but we'd advise on coming up with a savings plan immediately. Here are the confirmed dates so far:

Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, Australia (Mar. 30)
Entertainment Centre, Brisbane, Australia (Mar. 31)
Hope Estate, Hunter, Australia (Apr. 3)
Entertainment Centre, Sydney, Australia (Apr. 6)
Vector Arena, Auckland, New Zealand (Apr. 10)
Nippon Budokan, Tokyo, Japan (Apr 14, 16)
Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, Calif.