PREVIEW: Tickets for James Taylor at Tanglewood July 3 and 4 go on sale Monday, January 23, at 10 a.m. | CPT PPP Coverage

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James Taylor and his all star band performing in the Shed at Tanglewood. Photo by Jamie Soja.

Lenox — Yo-Yo Ma can fill the place. So can John Williams and a few other classical music superstars. But could any of them sell out Tanglewood two nights in a row? Months in advance? James Taylor has been doing that very thing each summer, ever since he cut back from a three-night Tanglewood regimen (e.g., 2010, 2012) to a two-night one. That’s how it goes when you have an immense catalog of timeless pop songs that are loved around the world, performed by a group of legendary backup musicians. And on July 3 and 4, 2023, he will do it again, although the tickets will be long gone before he arrives in Lenox.

That’s why people in the know have already established an account at JamesTaylor.com so they can participate in James’ exclusive ticket presale event on Monday, January 23, at 10 a.m. (The rest of the world has to wait until the BSO starts selling James Taylor tickets on January 31.) Those same knowledgeable people are also savvy to the fact that a limited supply means James’ allotment of tickets is usually gone within 30 minutes. The early bird gets the worm.

James Taylor first performed at Tanglewood on July 30, 1974, and has appeared there almost 60 times since then. By 1974, Taylor had released several albums, including his debut on Apple Records in 1968 (which he tells funny stories about in his concerts because he was discovered by the Beatles) and “Sweet Baby James” in 1970, origin of the famous lines, “Now, the first of December was covered with snow; So was the turnpike from Stockbridge to Boston; Though the Berkshires seemed dreamlike on account of that frostin’…” which for some reason elicit copious tears every time he utters them.

And wouldn’t you think he’d be sick of “Fire and Rain”? Not at all. In a National Public Radio interview many years ago, Taylor described his “communal” approach to performing “Fire and Rain.” It starts with a connection to the audience: “It helps,” Taylor said, “to have an audience there receiving it, because then you want it to happen for them, too.” He continued, “Making music for an audience is a communal process. And so, you know, they’re resonating with it, I catch that, too. That’s contagious.” And, lo and behold, he sings the song as though he had written it last week and couldn’t wait to share it.

In the year following his debut Tanglewood appearance, Taylor released “Gorilla,” which included “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)” and “Mexico,” two barn burners that have consistently made his set list ever since.

Fireworks will follow the July 4 concert, the proceeds of which will be donated (as usual) by Kim and James Taylor to support Tanglewood.

Get tickets to see James Taylor’s 2023 Tanglewood show at his own website on Monday, January 23, at 10 a.m., or from the Boston Symphony Orchestra on January 31.

Complete details of the 2023 Tanglewood Season will be announced on Wednesday, February 1.