Those who lived through the 1960s could tell you it was the best of times and it was the worst of times. A feeling of liberation was in the air and yet many struggled to be free. It was a time of peace and a time of war. There was great prosperity and great poverty. There was agreement and there was dissent. Musically, there were songs of love to tug at your heartstrings and there were songs of protest.
As the 1970s arrived, America was ready to put the turbulent ‘60s behind. The country was seeking calm and tranquility, perhaps especially in its music. It was against this background James Taylor’s album Sweet Baby James was released. The album was produced by Peter Asher in December 1969 at Hollywood’s Sunset Sound studio. Taylor’s soothing tenor voice and intimate guitar work offered respite from a turbulent time.
Sweet Baby James was not Taylor’s first solo album. Asher, who would soon become Taylor’s manager and producer, played a demo tape of Taylor’s “Something In The Way She Moves” for Paul McCartney and George Harrison, both of who were greatly impressed. Harrison would soon use the title of Taylor’s demo as the starting point of his classic “Something.” Asher convinced McCartney to sign Taylor to the Beatles’ then fledgling Apple Records in 1968.
The result was the eponymous album, James Taylor, released in December 1968. It included the previously mentioned “Something In The Way She Moves” and “Carolina In My Mind.” Although critically well received the album was hurt commercially by Taylor’s inability to promote it.
Taylor was addicted to heroin during his recording sessions in England. He had been seeking treatment for his addiction since before leaving for London. Taylor’s addiction was at least partially responsible for the breakup of The Flying Machine, a band formed by his friend Danny Kortchmar. He returned to Massachusetts for treatment after recording James Taylor.
It was Asher who took the reins of Taylor’s career at this point. He believed in Taylor’s talent and convinced Warner Brothers Records to sign Taylor to a contract. Asher brought in fiddle player Chris Darrow, peddle steel player Red Rhodes, and future Eagle Randy Meisner on bass to play on Sweet Baby James to give the album a bit of a country feel. Carole King also appeared on the album. The album performed poorly at first but interest began to grow as “Fire And Rain” received airplay and rose to #3 on the charts.
“Fire And Rain” is an autobiographical story told in three parts. The first verse is about his learning of the suicide of his friend Suzanne Schnerr. She died while he was in London recording his first album for Apple Records. Concerned the news would distract him and ruin his big break, his friends kept the news from him. He learned about her death six months later. The second verse details Taylor’s struggle to overcome drug addiction and depression. The final verse is a look at the road he had traveled to achieve fame, if not fortune, while acknowledging the “sweet dreams and flying machines” were left in pieces on the ground.
Just as the Beatles had heralded a revitalization of rock and roll, James Taylor found himself in the forefront of the singer/songwriter era along with Joni Mitchell. Others, such as Jimmy Webb, Harry Nilsson, and Jackson Browne were part of the movement. The tunesmiths of the legendary Brill Building were being left behind unless they, like Carole King, ventured out on their own.
Some dismissed Taylor’s music as being “confessional stuff.” Others, like wall-of-sound producer Phil Spector, bemoaned having to hear about “everyone’s emotional problems.” Yet, if some were disparaging of Sweet Bay James and its creator, the public embraced it. Taylor was on the cover of Time magazine on March 1, 1971. A reissue of his first album gained the popularity that eluded it upon its first release. “Carolina In My Mind” likewise was better received the second time around.
More than 50 years have passed since Taylor’s first taste of success. Mud Slide Slim and One Man Dog soon followed Sweet Baby James. Over the years he has been nominated for 19 Grammy Awards, winning six times. The most recent win came in 2021 for his album American Standards, a collection of such memorable songs as “My Blue Heaven,” “Moon River,’” “God Bless The Child,” and “Paper Moon.”
If Taylor’s music has evolved it has done so almost imperceptibly. He continues to play songs he wrote or covers of songs with his arrangements. Songs like “How Sweet It Is,” “Handyman,” Buddy Holly’s “Everyday,” and Carole King’s “You’ve Got A Friend” reflect his belief that a cover should be a new approach to a song. Even his recording of standards was his guitar arrangements of those songs.
Given his long career and the number of notable songs he has written and recorded, one can’t help but wonder what songs of his should be added to the standards comprising The Great American Songbook. “Carolina on My Mind,” “Mexico,” “Your Smiling Face,” “How Sweet It Is,” “You’ve Got a Friend,” “Fire and Rain,” and “Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight” would certainly make the list.
Yet, when asked that question by Anastasia Stanmeyer of Berkshire Magazine recently, Taylor also named some lesser known but very good songs like “Mean Old Man,” “On The 4th Of July,” and “Only A Dream In Rio,” songs with a Latin influence he is proud of.
James Taylor was inducted into the Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame (FARHOF) over the weekend of April 19 and 20, 2024 at the Boch Center in Boston as a Solo Living Artist.
[Material in this article was obtained from the following: The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (3rd Edition); Hotel California by Barney Hoskins (2006); and Berkshire Magazine]
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