Customer Reviews

Dad Loves His Work

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've been a JT fan for about three years now. I started out with the Greatest Hits CD and have sporatically bought some of his studio albums: Mud Slide Slim, Sweet Baby James, JT, Hourglass and Gorilla. I recently purchased "October Road." I wasn't overy impressed with the CD but it has grown on me ("Mean Old Man" and "Caroline I See You" being early favorites). Getting "October Road" inspired me to continue my JT album collection and I just purchased "Dad Loves His Work." I didn't have grand expectations for this CD because the album cover seemed drab and uninspired. Boy, was I wrong! Dare I say it, this is my favorite JT album and I thought I'd never say that after hearing "Hourglass." After hearing the last track, "That Lonesome Road," I didn't move for about five minutes. JT is a genius and a gift from God. "I Will Follow" is another favorite but to tell you the truth they're all gems. If you're a JT fan, this album is a MUST for your collection. Albums like this remind me why I find JT's music and voice so irresistible.

When this album was released in 1980, James Taylor had just separated from Carly Simon, his wife of nine years, and was addicted to both Heroin and alcohol. This man was several centuries removed from the author of "Shower The People" or "Your Smiling Face."

Perhaps no other marital split between public figures was so well documented. "Her Town, Too," the standout track on this decidedly uneven album, candidly captures the devastation of breaking up: "Some of them his friends/Some of them her friends/Some of them understand" To get the other side of this story, listen to Carly's devestating "We're So Close" (Available on her Spy CD!).

"Hour That Morning Comes" masks its message of fear and adiction behind some southern soul music, but still gets its message across. And the desolation of "That Lonesome Road" is as much psychological as it is physical. To balance all this, Taylor does manage to throw in one positive sleeper, "Summer's Here."

Although I recommend this CD mainly for James Taylor fans, any fan of the singer-songwriter genre wil enjoy it: Even the worst song here is better than anything on Tracy Chapman's last 2 albums! Give it a listen!

I cannot say that there is anything Mr. Taylor has recorded that I do not like. Having said this, I must add that Mr. Taylor, a brilliant lyricist and musician, created songs that touched upon most, if not all, of the feelings I went through in my own divorce. Both the lyrics and the music are absolutely appropriate to one another; and, to me they seemed universal to the emotions that tumble over one another as one goes through a divorce. I would recommend it to anyone who is going through a divorce or any sort of loss, but I would also recommend it to anyone who simply appreciates beautiful lyrics and beautiful music, sung and played by a one of a kind artist, a true American treasure.

There is no doubt that this period was very dark. It is althroughout this album. Her Town Too, contrary to what some may think, is NOT about the Taylor's breakup. JT himself has stated this. On the surface, it is sometimes too easy to try to connect the dots. Not only was the marriage coming apart,but the loss of John Belushi is told in That Lonesome Road. With his passing, JT began the climb out of his addictions.Dad Loves His Work is the statement of JT's life, and what makes it.

`Stand and Fight' is the outstanding song on this CD for me. I can remember James Taylor and Carly Simon doing a great duet on `Mockingbird' in the movie `No Nukes,' so it seems obvious that James Taylor would be familiar with the feeling, "When are people ever going to see that there ain't nothing that is ever going to change until someone decides that it is time to stand and fight?" `Sugar Trade' offers a more balanced view of "Who is to blame? The captain or the cargo or the juice of the sugar cane?" on rum and race questions that resulted from the triangle of trade that provided economic support for colonies: ships bringing slaves to the Caribbean could carry rum to New England, the juice of the sugar cane being a major product among the early Americans. Ships leaving New England could carry whatever the colonists produced to Europe, then go back to Africa for more slaves. The song makes "the family name" part of the legacy, as if being haunted by history is as tragic as A TALE OF TWO CITIES by Charles Dickens, in which the revolution in France has jokes about heads getting a shave and a haircut.

`That Lonesome Road' has music that is meant to tear your heart out, which usually works. The songs on this album all show a creative spirit tied to the themes and styles that support him in spite of whatever problems most people would have if they faced the expectation that talent should be producing something that will bring in tons of money by coming up with something new and different.

All of the tracks on this album are good,but the standout for me is "The Lonesome Road." The harmonizing is gorgeous,and more importantly...the message in the song is a dead-on lesson in how to behave.Listen to it.Get this. JT is the best.

This is in my opinion one of the best recordings of James Taylor. These sounds can take you from deep reflexion to the most joyful state of mind. The cleanest sound you could ever imagine that can come out of a record can be found here. Music for listening with a purpose, to fill your heart with joy and emotion.

i first listened to james taylor when i was 21 (1985) while going out with a Brit in germany.It brings back lovely memories, not forgetting the absolutely amazingly modern style of james taylor, who has not got a wrinkle, as we french say. it's amazing to think that this was written in 1985 or so. i love his voice, he's so sensual, and i also love his poetry, all his songs have wonderful messages. i sometimes try to sing him, but somehow, it never sounds so great. enjoy!

It's hard to hear this and not think of the circumstances around which it was recorded. There was the obvious disintigration of his marriage to Carly Simon of course,his heroin problem and less well known the fact that Taylor's general commercial touch was starting to abandom him.This album could'nt be any different then they way he closed off the 70's with the bluesier,rockier Flag.Musically it's a gentler affair with the song "Her Town Too",definately reminding you of the tracks of James' tears both personally and musically. Unlike the previous two albums which were professional but fresher and rawer this is actually very slicked up,with that early 80's urban pop/R&B sheen of keyboards and lighter drumming that transformed 70's singer/songwriter pop into 80's soft rock. This is somewhere in the middle though.The edgy blues of 'Hour That The Morning Comes" and the great,pretty funky rocker "Stand And Fight" are pretty biting highlites though,shower a tougher stance for Taylor. The lyrics on this album are some of the most bittersweet and dark lyric since Sweet Baby James;it's as if over the course of one decade he'd actually come full circle,right back to the bit of despair he was in when he first broke out as a star. His personal circumstances were similar too and sometimes that world weariness that worked so well in the past drowns out some of this a little. But luckily Taylor has a witty and self deprecating humor that brings out a little light at the end of the tunnel,especially on the poppy calypso sounding "Summer's Here",a sweet highlite.There's even place for a little social commentary with the Jimmy Buffett collaberation "Sugar Trade",about apartheid and the general exploitation of the African culture. Sometimes with these kinds of songs you wonder why so many at this time sang about these things without seriously getting involved.That may be a reason why message songs stopped being taken seriously right around this time. Either way Taylor definately means it. This album will probably never go down in history as a James Taylor classic,even if it has at least a handful of classic moments.But it's certainly worthy of this master of mellowness with some fun surprises and I am proud to have it in my music collection.

This album was the follow to Flag, in my opinion easily the worst of Taylor's distinguished career. "Dad Loves His Work" demonstrated that he was still capable of delivering the goods, and for that reason alone this is a very important record. It's not as strong overall as his succeeding albums -- "That's Why I'm Here," "Never Die Young," "New Moon Shine" -- but there are some real gems here. "I Will Follow" and "That Lonesome Road" are stunningly beautiful and Taylor's voice is hauntingly understated on both. "Hard Times," "Her Town Too," and "Believe It Or Not" are winners. "Summer's Here" is good fun. "Stand And Fight," "Sugar Trade" and "London Town" don't measure up to those standards, however. Three stars may not seem enough to some JT lovers, but I'm measuring this against his other work. He produced several albums that were superior to this, but "Dad Loves His Work" really defined a new and positive career path for Taylor in the early 1980's.