To compile a comprehensive one-disc best-of James Taylor album is a daunting task in and of itself. To compile it from material from three labels is a gutsy thing for David McLees and Warner Bros. to do and expect to make fans -- let alone pompous critics (no exception here) -- happy. Over 20 tracks, Warner has succeeded -- with full cooperation ...
For the most part, holiday-themed albums are about as memorable as what you had for lunch a month ago. As humans continue to evolve, there's a very good chance that we'll develop some sort of yuletide audio bypass valve that will allow us to filter the three-and-a-half million versions of every Christmas song ever made into one solid rendition ...
The heart of James Taylor's appeal is that you can take him two ways. On the one hand, his music, including that warm voice, is soothing; its minor key melodies and restrained playing draw in the listener. On the other hand, his world view, especially on such songs as "Fire and Rain," reflects the pessimism and desperation of the 1960s hangover ...
"A live James Taylor album has been suggested, demanded and contemplated for many years," writes Taylor's manager/producer, Peter Asher, in this album's liner notes, and the reasons are not hard to find. For one thing, Taylor has been a successful concert attraction for more than 20 years. For another, an artist who has scored in excess of 30 ...
James Taylor had scored eight Top 40 hits by the fall of 1976 when Warner Brothers marked the end of his contract with this compilation. One of those hits, the Top Ten gold single "Mockingbird," a duet with his wife Carly Simon, was on Elektra Records, part of the Warner family of labels and presumably available, but it was left off. "Long Ago and ...
Don't take the title of James Taylor's One Man Band literally -- this 2007 concert recording may be stripped-down but it's not just James and a guitar, he's supported by keyboardist Larry Goldings, whom Taylor dubs his "one-man band" in the liner notes, as that's all the backing band he has here. Fair enough. But this isn't just a question of ...
James Taylor's 15th studio album of his first new recordings in 32 years is, if possible, even more familiar and self-referential than ever. By now, it is an article of faith that you could take practically any track from any Taylor album and put it on another one without disturbing the mood, and that is as true of the songs here as it is of those ...
The No Nukes protest concert in 1979 was one of the defining '70s events for aging '60s hippies, a way to prove that they held political and social power. The concert was top-loaded with folk-rockers and laid-back California pop stars: Crosby, Stills & Nash, James Taylor, Poco, Nicolette Larson, and Jesse Colin Young, who had all reached their ...
James Taylor's commercial breakthrough in 1970 was predicated on the relationship between the private concerns expressed in his songs and the larger philosophical mood of his audience. He was going through depression, heartbreak, and addiction; they were recovering from the political and cultural storms of the '60s. On his follow-up to the ...
Whether you regard him as one of the greatest storytellers in American history or a cold-hearted marketing genius who forced a set of prepackaged consumerist myths on several generations of unsuspecting youth, there's little argument that the films of Walt Disney have become an indelible part of our collective subconsciousness. Then again, for ...
Inevitably, the first thing that strikes you about this benefit album for pediatric AIDS is the lineup: It contains selections by Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, and Barbra Streisand, among other top stars. When you realize that 17 of the 20 tracks were newly recorded, For Our Children quickly becomes a must-have for fans ...
James Taylor's first Greatest Hits album, released in 1976 and consisting of his well-known early '70s recordings on Warner Bros. and re-recordings of some of the songs from his 1968 Apple Records debut, is in the rarefied sales category of double-digit millions, so a second volume, taking in his tenure at Columbia Records, was a no-brainer. The ...
For anyone who grew up during the last days of AM radio, anyone who remembers gas shortages, disco scarves, and feathered hair, this mammoth seven-disc box set, Have a Nice Decade: The 70s Pop Culture Box, will be a holy grail of nostalgia. First of all, the discs themselves contain a staggering 164 tracks. Basically, if you remember the song, it ...
This outstanding album offers children's classics of the past fifty years featuring original recordings of these great artists. Titles include: Sweet Honey in the Rock--"Little Red Caboose," and James Taylor--"Jelly Man Kelly," Loggins and Messina--"House at Pooh Corner," Judy Garland--"Over the Rainbow," Burl Ives--"Polly Wolly Doodle," Pete ...
A charming record that is sure to strike an amiable chord among children's audiences and all ages. Sesame Street released "In Harmony" as an effort to bring together an all-star cast of talented musicians known for their commercial appeal during the late '70s. The album opens up with a beautifully spun and delightfully crafted poem/song, "Wynken, ...
James Taylor produced a typical collection of familiar-sounding songs on New Moon Shine, his concerns ranging from romance to the life of the working man to political issues like war and civil rights on which he took the expected liberal positions. The album was written, played, and sung with typical craft and care, and was a worthy addition to ...
While his aging contemporaries took a variety of tacks to keep up with changing fashions, from adopting more synthesized, percussive production styles to assembling an orchestra and singing standards, James Taylor just kept playing a summer concert tour each year, and periodically putting out another collection of similar-sounding songs. Never Die ...
Gorilla served notice to anyone expecting James Taylor to continue on in the personal, confessional vein of his first few albums that he did not intend to do so. Recording in Burbank with Warners staff producers Lenny Waronker and Russ Titelman, Taylor used a stellar backup band augmented by such guests as Graham Nash and David Crosby (who ...
James Taylor bounced back from the spotty Flag with this all-original album led by his collaboration with J.D. Souther on "Her Town Too," his biggest pop hit since "Handy Man," and his biggest non-cover hit since his first, "Fire and Rain," in 1970. Also included were "Hard Times" and "Summer's Here," not to mention the unusually impassioned ...
A lot was riding on this album, James Taylor's followup to his two big hits, Sweet Baby James and Mud Slide Slim and The Blue Horizon, which was released 21 months after the latter, a long time between records in those days. And what a letdown. One Man Dog contained 18 tracks, some of them instrumentals, many of them running less than two minutes. ...
James Taylor stopped pushing himself into new musical and lyrical territories in the late '70s, so it doesn't come as a great surprise that Hourglass, his first studio album in six years, doesn't offer anything new -- it's a collection of pleasant, melodic, simple songs about love, family, and social activism. That's not necessarily a bad thing, ...
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Andrew Krikawa (vocals), Becky Budd (vocals), Brian Steele (vocals), Brigitte Bellini (vocals), Curtis Olds (vocals), Dana Krueger (vocals), Erik Lautier (vocals), Gwendolyn Coleman (vocals), James Taylor (vocals), Jan Grissom (vocals)
Original Flying Machine 1967 is comprised of recordings James Taylor with his band the Flying Machine made a year before he signed to Apple Records. At this stage, Taylor was still trying to find his voice, yet that is the very reason why these recordings are of interest to fans. Most of the material on Original Flying Machine 1967 re-appeared on ...
Welcome to VH1 Storytellers gathers songs and anecdotes from some of the most popular performers to appear on VH1's intimate performance show, including David Bowie's "China Girl," Dave Matthews' "Crash into Me," Jewel's "Who Will Save Your Soul," and John Mellencamp's "Jack and Diane." Sheryl Crow and Stevie Nicks' duet on "Strong Enough," the ...
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