If there was a latter day version of the Great American Songbook, chances are James Taylor would be well represented.
An earnest, expressive songwriter and distinctive vocalist, he wrote and sang at least half a dozen 70s standards, most of which were spread across the half a dozen albums Taylor recorded for Warner Bros between 1970 and 1976 – the very best in this sequence of recordings among the finest LPs of their time.
For songs predominantly based on his acoustic guitar playing, Taylor took his influences from folk, jazz, blues and country to conceive a soft rock sound that spawned a host of imitators, but few peers.
Almost single-handedly he created the image of the sensitive, sometimes laid-back singer-songwriter – although in truth, his well-documented personal life suggests he was neither.
While rarely taking the role of social commentator, differing in that respect from say Neil Young or Jackson Browne, his themes were mostly personal, intensely so at times – Taylor taking smaller, though nonetheless intriguing snapshots of life, his music if anything an antidote to political uncertainties of the time, but also the emerging hard rock hordes.
Born 12 March 1948 in Boston, Massachusetts, Taylor emerged from a musical family with older brother Alex and younger siblings Livingston and Kate all making albums in their early lives. Like elder brother James, Livingston and Kate would both spend time in a local mental hospital as teenagers, James discharging himself after nine months when he went to New York, putting together a rock band with childhood friend and later noted session guitarist Danny Kortchmar.
Before breaking up in 1967, the ‘Flying Machine‘ as they were known, recorded a number of Taylor compositions, their split partly precipitated by his growing heroin use.
In a bid to break his drug habit, Taylor left the United States armed with a demo tape of songs which found their way to Peter Asher (formerly of the pop duo Peter and Gordon). Impressed by what he heard, Asher signed Taylor to The Beatles’ Apple label – his first recordings as a solo act made not beneath the sunshine of Los Angeles, a city with which his music would become so associated in the following decade, but the leaden skies of London.
Released in December 1968 ‘James Taylor‘ went largely unheralded – for years afterwards it remained, scandalously, out of print, which is no reflection on the work as it remains an audacious debut (despite the unsympathetic production), with a number of outstanding, if slightly disconcerting, autobiographical songs.
With Apple in disarray as The Beatles came ever closer to dissolution, Asher – taking the role as manager along with that of producer – negotiated a contract with Warner Bros, Taylor heading to LA in order to record a follow-up.
Recorded in December 1969 and appearing in February 1970 ‘SWEET BABY JAMES‘ met with a slew of positive reviews and although the public were slightly slower to catch on, it went onto become not just one of the biggest selling albums of the 70s – but one of the most defining.
Sure, he could come across as delicate and self-contained, but tracks such as ‘Steamroller‘ showed him capable of a cheeky turn of phrase, while ‘Lo and Behold‘ and ‘Sunny Skies‘ have understated positivity.
It is, however, on the trio of best-known songs from the record – the title track, ‘County Road‘ and ‘Fire and Rain‘ – where Taylor is at his most literate and heartfelt. Indeed, the latter, that verse by verse chronicles his time in a sanatorium, being a drug addict and suicide of a close friend, stands as one the most harrowing songs ever to become a hit single. The success of ‘Fire and Rain‘ gave the album a prolonged stay in the upper reaches of the LP charts, his music sounding even more extraordinary in light of Taylor writing songs of such maturity when barely twenty-two.
The same group of backing musicians – primarily consisting of Kortchmar (guitar), Carole King (piano), Russ Kunkel (drums) and Leland Sklar (bass) – were assembled for his next outing ‘MUD SLIDE SLIM AND THE BLUE HORIZON‘ (April 1971). It proved another largely excellent set, if not quite up to the near masterpiece level of its predecessor.
‘Love Has Brought Me Around‘, ‘You Can Close Your Eyes‘, the title song and ‘Hey Mister That’s Me Up on the Jukebox‘ (lovingly covered by Linda Ronstadt three years later), showed Taylor in very favourable light. There are moments of hesitancy, understandable perhaps in the wake of such a significant breakthrough, but it proved another huge commercial success, the single ‘You Got A Friend‘ reaching number one on the US Charts.
Given to Taylor by King before she recorded it for her own ‘Tapestry‘ album, it has become Taylor’s best-known song – something of an irony when for all the memorable pieces he has written, a cover version is his signature hit (a peculiarity he shares with Jackson Browne whose remake of ‘Stay‘ remains the best-selling single of his career).
With ‘ONE MAN DOG‘ (November 1972) Taylor takes a backward step, the idea of several short instrumental passages between some of the tracks is well-intentioned (echoing his debut album where it is done to better effect), but the songs they connect fall below his previous standards – the exception being ‘Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight‘, a minor, but nonetheless classy hit single.
In November 1972 Taylor married fellow singer-songwriter Carly Simon, who was riding a huge wave of success with her impressive ‘No Secrets‘ album and chart topping single ‘You’re So Vain‘ (the couple had two children but divorced in 1983). Over the next few years, they would guest on the albums of each other, Taylor back in the singles charts with ‘Mockingbird‘, credited as a Simon/Taylor duet, on her ‘Hotcakes‘ album (1974).
The same year Taylor returned to the fray with the David Spinozza produced ‘WALKING MAN‘ (June 1974). Only his second album in three years, it proved the nadir of Taylor’s output during this time and possibly entire career. Star guests (Simon, Paul and Linda McCartney, horn maestros the Brecker Bros) abound, but aside from the title song and catchy ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Is Music Now‘, this is meagre fare and a long way removed from the originality of his early work.
But on ‘GORILLA‘ (May 1975) Taylor comes up with an altogether more accomplished collection that arrests his apparent decline.
‘Mexico‘, ‘Lighthouse‘ and ‘Love Songs‘ bear the hallmarks of an artist with renewed sense of purpose, an R&B take of the former Marvin Gaye hit ‘How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You’) fits perfectly, while ‘You Make It Easy‘ is a sexually suggestive gem.
‘IN THE POCKET‘ (June 1976 – and once again produced by Russ Titelman and Lenny Waronker), treads similar ground with slightly fewer satisfying results – although ‘Shower the People‘, ‘Slow Burning Love‘ and the Stevie Wonder collaboration ‘Don’t Be Sad ‘Cause Your Sun Is Down‘ have enough ballast to keep the album afloat.
Tempted by a lucrative offer from Columbia Records, Taylor fulfilled his obligations to Warner Bros with ‘GREATEST HITS‘ (November 1976). Owing to copyright issues, he re-recorded ‘Something in the Way She Moves‘ and ‘Carolina In My Mind‘ (both first heard on his debut album), which enhanced the originals in magnificent fashion, highlighting his development into a singer blessed with great resonance.
This faultless collection even comes with a twist in the tale – ending as it does with a live, previously unreleased take of ‘Steamroller‘. Delivered with sassy, raucous delight, Taylor raises an eyebrow or two with use of the F-word, this before a time when ‘Parental Advisory Content‘ stickers were placed on album covers.
Taylor made a couple of fine albums for Columbia, the first ‘JT‘ (June 1977) comes highly recommended and ‘Dad Loves His Work‘ (March 1981) has some pleasing moments. In more recent times he has enjoyed a welcome resurgence, ‘Before This World‘ (2015), deservedly earning a round of positive reviews.
But his renown remains based on the high spots reached during the six years spent recording for Warner Bros. ‘Sweet Baby James‘ and ‘Greatest Hits‘ are essential to any mainstream album collection with ‘Mud Slide Slim‘ and ‘Gorilla‘ worthy of repeated listens.
While the release date root these recordings firmly in the 70s, there is a timeless quality attached to the finest work James Taylor produced in the years 1970-76 – a legacy that places him firmly in the vanguard of major singer-songwriters that so crystallized the times.
JAMES TAYLOR – The Warner Bros Albums (1970-76):
SWEET BABY JAMES (1970) A; MUD SLIDE SLIM AND THE BLUE HORIZON (1971) B+; ONE MAN DOG (1972) B; WALKING MAN (1974) B-; GORILLA (1975) A-; IN THE POCKET (1976) B; GREATEST HITS (1976) A;
This article was first published on 22/10/2019.
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