Customer Reviews

The Best of James Taylor

5 star:		(54)
4 star:		(30)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Couple of notes: the version of "Something In The Way She Moves" is the Apple Records version from 1969, but "Carolina In My Mind" is the 1976 re-recording. Also "Steamroller Blues" is the live 1975 cut. Among the odd surprises on this Collection are "You Can Close Your Eyes" a great album track from Mud Slide Slim, and "Golden Moments" a forgotten track from 1976's In The Pocket. This CD swallows the whole of the first Gr. Hits album, save for "Something" which is remade on the first (but not this) Hits CD. Because this is a WB Records release, 15 of the 20 songs are from JT's WB days. The Columbia years are sorely lacking. Where's "Her Town Too" or "Copperline" or "Secret O'Life" to name three. So, if you're a beginner to JT's catalog and you like what you hear on this CD then seek out his Greatest Hits Vol. 2 on Columbia Records. The one new song, "Bittersweet" is a good uptempo song that wasn't written by Taylor. There are no liner notes, except for a quick paragraph from JT. If you're a JT newbie this is for you. The rest can do with the other 2 Greatest Hits albums.

This is by far the best compilation of JT's work that's out there. Not only are the 20 tracks here truly representative of the best that JT's ever done, the sound quality is brilliant as the tracks have also been very well remastered. For those of you who are sticklers for detail and order, the tracks are arranged in chronological order as well and yet the album does not sound as disjointed as you might expect. The liner notes albeit short have been written by JT himself too. JT is that special individual who has managed to carve out his own unique sound and his works are able to evoke great emotion out of his listeners with the ability to transport them to other worlds. Great remastered sound, great value for money and great songwriting make this a must have in any music-lover's collection. Very highly recommended.

..."Something In The Way She Moves" and "Country Road" are not the same versions as on the original JT's Greatest Hits from '76, which I prefer. If I were to do a one-disc comp, I would have included "Never Die Young" and "Copperline" (they could have dispensed with the live "Steamroller Blues" for one of those tracks.) And, the closing, newly-recorded "Bittersweet" is okay, but sounds like a leftover track that he decided to stick on this collection because it didn't really fit anywhere else. But, those complaints aside, this is still a good overall compilation with really nice sound quality.

As a sampler of the anticipated upcoming remastering of James Taylor's Warner Bros. catalog, this is a fantastic teaser. All these tracks have been available for a long time on CD, except for the rare Apple recording of "Something in the Way She Moves," yet the WB tracks (everything up to "Handy Man") have never sounded so warm and clear. The Joni Mitchell harmonies on "You've Got A Friend" and "Long Ago and Far Away" are a revelation, as are the lovely multi-tracked JT harmonies "Golden Moments" and the strings on "Walking Man." The few tracks on the end of the disc from his early/mid Columbia years have been remastered recently, both on their original albums, and the "Greatest Hits Vol. II," which is also a nice overview of Taylor's post WB years up until his great 2002 studio album "October Road." (The exception is, the new song "Bittersweet" which is amiable, but not resonant like Taylor's other recent work.) It might have been better to draw upon some more choice album cuts from the WB years, but this is merely subjective. What's here is poignant, passionate, sublime and sounding better than it ever has.

Ok, so if you're like me, you've been waiting for a newly packaged remastered edition of JT's earlier work. All in all, this cd sounds great.. much better than the classic "James Taylor's Greatest Hits" (white cover) that's been on the shelves for such a long time. My only glitch though is that "Something In The Way She Moves" is the original version from his '68 debut, and not the recut (and better) version on the old greatest hits. The version for "Country Road" is also different, and not nearly as good. However, they did manage to include the old greatest hits version for "Carolina In My Mind" (thank God). Songs like "Up On The Roof" and "Only A Dream In Rio" are good, but not needed since they're already covered on the James Taylor Greatest Hits 2 (Columbia) release. It would have been nice to have other older tunes. The cd is great though.

Let's face it, "best of" compilations don't necessarily mean hit singles. This "best of" misses a few of Taylor's great hits to leave room for new or less familiar songs (the disappointing "Bittersweet" comes to mind). Missing gems include "Everyday" and "Her Town Too" - how could they leave these off?

The CD begins with Taylor's original 1968 recording of "Something in the way she moves". This is a rare version, as most people will be more familiar with his 1976 re-recording of it. One listen of the original will show you why he re-recorded it (the original is just plain awful). Why did they put it on here?

Most of the main hits are included from "Fire and Rain" to "Up on the Roof". Also included is the original 1976 'single version' of "Country Road" which I had not heard before. After a few listens I have to say this is a much better version that the album version so many of us know. In my opinion, this is reason enough to buy the compilation. It's that good.

The other good thing about this compilation is the digital remastering which makes all the songs sound even better. Even if you own his previous compilations "Greatest Hits 1 & 2", "Classic Songs" or "Taylor Made", this CD is worth getting for its superior sound and once again, the 'single version' of "Country Road".

Go for it.

Nobody would dispute that James Taylor is one of the most pre-eminent singer-songwriters of our day. You only need to see him perform live to realize the depth of this man's talent. Forget all the pre-fab, manufactured pop "icons" mass marketed by record companies today - James Taylor is nothing of the sort. When James gained his fame back in the late 60's and 70's, it was based on nothing less than exceptional musical talent.

James Taylor writes moving songs, and he can pick a guitar with the best of them. His tenor voice is unmistakable, one of the smoothest crooners in popular music. It takes an extraordinary musician to remain in the limelight over the course of four decades, as James has done - he deserves all the accolades and recognition he's received over the years.

This greatest hits album is a wonderful collection of some of James Taylor's best tunes. It's marvelous to be able to hear songs like "Sweet Baby James," "You've Got a Friend," or "Carolina In My Mind" played under the technological gift of digitally remastered recording - these tunes have NEVER sounded better!

I don't blame you for holding onto your old James Taylor recordings - whether they're 8-track, vinyl, or cassette. You've probably got lots of memories tied up in those recordings! But I urge you to take advantage of the digital sound offered in this new release. This quality digital recording finally does justice to twenty timeless tunes from one of the best singer-songwriters ever.

For the longest time, James Taylor, it seems, refused to release a current anthology of his work, save for the 1976 Greatest Hits album. Fans for years have been crying for an updated anthology of his work and we finally got them, even if the sequence is reversed. Columbia recently released "Greatest Hits 2," featuring only his Sony recordings, Warner Brothers followed up with this updated set of his more vintage material. The Columbia songs seem redundant to me, the same songs here are on the "Hits 2" release. If Warner wanted to include his Sony songs, they should've used songs not on his "Hits" cd, "Only One" and something from "October Road" comes to mind.

Still, this is a nice collection and the updated mastering is excellent, at 70 minutes with twenty songs including the new cut there is a little room left for an additional track or two, we'll have to wait for the import version for a fuller disc.

"Greatest Hits Vol 1 Extended" might be more appropriate.

I'd love to see JT have a comprehensive box set and vintage concert footage (some of which has been shown on Trio and VH1 Classic) for DVD.

It was good to hear the original Apple Records "Something in the Way That She Moves", although I've been used to hearing the remake (Carolina In My Mind did make it on here though), but also think "Brighten Your Night With My Day", "Night Owl" or "Knockin' Around the Zoo" from his Flying Machine days would've also been a nice addition.

The import "Classic Songs" is more of a true 1 CD "best of" that covers the bases, even though it costs more. "Live" even more so, containing 30 songs over 2 CDs, where songs written 30 plus years apart sound natural together, no small feat.

A song like "Fire And Rain" he must get tired of playing, but after 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, it's a song that comes back.

Considering that he has around 16 CDs of (mostly) great material, I think it's best to pick all of them up and go from there. But this "Best of" is definitely a good place to start for starters, Best of 2 next, and "Live" being my preference.

I was lucky enough to first see James Taylor live in a small outdoor venue called Avaloch in rural Lenox, Massachusetts in the summer of 1970, after this first album recorded by the Beatles in London had been released and just before the release of the fabulously successful "Sweet Baby James" album by Warner Brothers. He appeared alone on-stage with a full head of long, long hair in a simple denim shirt and cut-up jeans with his four or five acoustic guitars, and for two and a half hours proceeded to absolutely enchant the sprawling lawn-full of hundreds of audience members with a spellbinding performance of all of the work from both of those albums. Although virtually unknown at the time, word of mouth had spread so quickly in the Berkshires area (who still considers him one of their own) that many of us went out to get this album to play before he appeared. The rest, as they say, is history.

This is a fantastic collection of his greatest hits garnered from both of his greatest hits collections, and so represents some twenty gems on an incredible collection of wonderful selections, and is therefore a terrific summary of that work. Many of my favorites are here, including "Something In The Way She Moves", "Carolina In My Mind", and "You Can Close Your Eyes". Of course, so is "Fire And Rain", "You've Got A Friend", "Steamroller Blues", and "Country Road", all now Taylor standards. My all time favorite song from this album is "Sweet Baby James", which is sung about the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts where I grew up, so I have always considered this a special song, with its evocation of a snow-driven drive along the turnpike just as winter's first snow hits the Berkshires. His performance on it is a brilliant early indication of just how incredibly talented an interpretive artist Taylor really is. He always pleases with songs like "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight", "Mexico", and "Walking Man", and this album is sure to please even the most cautious music fan. It is certainly a terrific showcase for how well Taylor can deliver on a variety of original works and covers of traditional folk songs. Enjoy!