Customer Reviews

James Taylor

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

 

 

I confess that I love vintage music and anything from the sixties. The music of the sixties came at you with an energetic freshness and unpredictability that stirred an entire generation and culture. It's still very pleasing, listening to these time capsules, many of which are period pieces in comparison to the everyday ordinary stuff put out today, IMHO.

I really think James Taylor requires no validation. I have always enjoyed listening to this individual album because of its intrinsic songwriting talent and skill. It fit well alongside S&G's Bookends, as well as Badfinger, Mary Hopkin, and everything else that was hip and eclectic back in the day. This is my third purchase of the eponymous work. I still have the initial Apple vinyl release, which I bought during high school in the early seventies, purchased the early Apple CD release and now, happily, this newly remastered gem.

I'm not one for 'it should have had this' or it shouldn't be like that.' It is what it is and I think it's James' magnum opus. James' close-mic'd vocals and guitar are intimate, coupled with the baroque interludes that lend a flowing stroke of whimsical color and quirky interplay to the overall conceptual beauty of the project. In my view, this is what sets James Taylor apart from the other loved albums of the day. Nothing should be changed. It is James Taylor's best work because of this feature.

James Taylor is a unique dragonfly in a maze of monarch butterflies of time. There is something about time that is powerful and, perhaps, even supernatural. James Taylor's self-titled debut on Apple Records has that type of allure and charm where it pulls you into its simplicity, clasped by the gentleness of its eloquently crafted embrace for truth. That is what the gift of time collects and engenders - truth, as well as youth, and the beauty they exude.

You must listen to this gem with a different set of ears than you would when appreciating his great, but commercial follow-up albums. Simply stated - a stunning personal masterpiece! It's perfect and it's alive. Thank you, James!

From vinyl to CD to the 2010 remastered disc, this has always been one of my favorite albums. And with this new remaster, the album sounds absolutely crystal clear and more beautiful than ever. As I write this I'm listening to Circle 'Round The Sun, which is an under-the-radar gem, and should rank up there with his other love songs. The orchestration now envelops you in a way it never has. The demos are a nice addition, especially hearing Sunny Skies and Let Me Ride in their original incarnations. Now we just need Warner Brothers and Columbia to remaster all of the other JT albums!

One of the best James Taylor albums, This re-issue by Apple is just great. The music is so vibrant on this disc, and the bonus tracks are a good listen too. Great pics and essay also.

In 2008 I reviewed a reissue CD on Rhino called "The Circle Game" by American singer-songwriter-catalyst TOM RUSH. The original LP was issued in the USA on Elektra Records in 1968 and apart from two original compositions from Rush, the album subsequently became famous for introducing 3 new writers and their extraordinary songs to the world - Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell and James Taylor (yes - all 3 on the same album). Bolstered by his need to capitalize on this modest success, Taylor arrived in London in March 1968, was signed to The Beatles Apple label within weeks, recorded his songs between June and October and then saw his own debut LP released in December of that fateful year. This CD is an expanded reissue of that album - one of 14 Apple Label albums remastered and reissued on 25 October 2010.

Apple 5099990581120 breaks down as follows (51:09 minutes):
Tracks 1 to 12 are the LP "James Taylor" released 6 December 1968 in the UK on Apple APCOR 3 (Mono)/SAPCOR 3 (Stereo) and on Apple SKAO-3352 in early 1969 in the USA.

Tracks 13 to 16 are FOUR PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED DEMOS - bonus tracks new to this 2010 issue (there were none on the 1991 reissue):
"Sunny Skies" and "Let Me Ride" were recorded in Los Angeles in early 1969 with Danny Kortchmar on Guitars, Charlie Larkey on Bass and Bishop O'Brien on Drums.

"Sunshine Sunshine" and "Carolina In My Mind" were recorded in London in the Summer of 1968 as MONO Solo Acoustic Demos.

"Sunshine Sunshine" was one of the tracks that appeared on the Tom Rush album - "Something In The Way She Moves" was the other. "Sunny Skies" was re-recorded for the "Sweet Baby James" album in 1970, while a longer version of "Let It Ride" turned on "Mud Slide Slim & The Blue Horizon" LP in 1971.

"Something In The Way She Moves" was covered by Matthews Southern Comfort on their "Second Spring" album in 1970 (a lovely version), while Taylor famously returned to "Something..." and "Carolina..." on his 1976 "Greatest Hits" set for Columbia (these versions are truly beautiful).

BOOKLET/PACKAGING:
The liner notes are split in two - PETER ASHER explains Taylor's signing and how the album came about - while noted writer and music lover ANDY DAVIS follows this with very informational details on the songs and their history. Unfortunately, like all the other reissues in this series, the booklet is a disappointingly weedy 12-pages (EMI pushes the boat out again people). Having said that, both men do at least fill it with properly informative details, trade adverts, colour photos of a young Taylor and even an 'Internal Memo' from Asher to the US branch of Apple telling them to sign their new discovery. The playing credits are on the last page. Also - when the album was issued in the UK, it originally came with 'orange' lettering on the front cover which was then replaced with 'black' lettering on 1970 represses - the outer digipak has 'black' while the booklet 'orange' - a nice nod towards both issues. The MONO mix of the album is nowhere to be seen and not available as an extra download' (nor are any other tracks).

SOUND:
The same team that handled the much-praised 09/09/09 Beatles remasters have done this - GUY MASSEY, STEVE ROOKES, PHIL HICKS and SIMON GIBSON. The audio quality is BEAUTIFUL - a massive improvement. I wish I could say the same of the music...

CONTENT:
As much as I love James Taylor's Warner Brothers albums (who doesn't), this 1968 debut is not great. First is the way it's presented - before each tune is a short musical ditty which flows into the song itself, but mostly it doesn't work - and worse - detracts from the music. Then the song itself is overdone. How to describe this - imagine someone taking one of the quieter acoustic songs off "Tea For A Tillerman" by Cat Stevens or Nick Drake's "Pink Moon" and preceding it with a English choral ditty that doesn't match the track (you can't cue up the beginning of the song because of it). Then it gets funked-up halfway through with brass and heavy-handed drum bits to make it a pop hit - you get the idea. They're not all like this of course ("Something's Wrong" is preceded by "Green Leaves" and is good), but most of the others are ruined with this lead-in gimmick and then an overloaded track.

It's easy of course to point the finger of blame 42 years after the event - Apple were trying to make a commercially viable album at the time (Asher mentions 'over-production' in the liner notes). But had Taylor been left alone or recorded in the States - how different things might have been. As it is, what we do get is a glimpse of that greatness in the shockingly good bonus tracks (two with a band, two alone) - especially the beautifully recorded acoustic demos of "Carolina In My Mind" and "Sunshine Sunshine". The tone of his voice is so sweet - and already he had his 'own' sound that is still recognizable to this day. A whole album of these pared-down band/solo numbers and Apple's belief in him as a 'major' songwriting force would have vindicated ten-fold.

To sum up - the improved sound quality will thrill fans and the bonus tracks are exactly that - bonuses. But "James Taylor" is on the way towards "Sweet Baby James" and "Mud Slide Slim..." and it would take a different country and label to get there...

A nice reissue then - but in a three-star kind of way.

PS: see also my reviews for other releases in this October 2010 series:
"That's The Way God Planned It" (1969) and "Encouraging Words" (1970) by Billy Preston, "Doris Troy" (1970) by Doris Troy, "Is This What You Want?" (1969) by Jackie Lomax, "Magic Christian Music" (1969), "No Dice" (1970), "Straight Up" (1972) and "Ass" (1973) by Badfinger

James Taylor/ (self-titled) - (Apple Records): This JT album didn't get the kind of push that it deserved, mainly because it was made for the chaotic Beatles Apple Label. Even though a few of these songs would be redone by JT in his later albums, this album is very good in its own right. The most historically interesting part of the album is how George Harrison `borrowed' the beginning of Taylor's "Something in the way she moves", reversed the scale, and created his Beatles song "Something".

I am so glad that this album has made it to cd!! This is the best James Taylor has ever done and the best produced album he ever put out. The original "Carolina On My Mind" is on this cd...the one with Paul McCartney playing bass. This is a much purer version of this song.

After some success at getting recognized with other artists, James Taylor headed for England to try out his material as a solo artist. By a stroke of luck and connection, he fell in with Peter Asher, who had just been tapped by The Beatles to work for the fledgling Apple Label. Asher recognized the depth of Taylor's talent and convinced The Beatles to bring him on board.

After being pretty much a lost album, James' 1968 debut solo album has been released as one of Apple's ambitious library resurrection project. While you can glimpse the specter of James Taylor to come, this album is way over-produced. There's almost a sense that Asher and company were trying to Apple-fy Taylor with a myriad of Beatle-esque touches; there's harps and harpsichords, "Eleanor Rigby" styled strings, choir-type chirpy back-up vocals, etc. There's so much ornate production that, at times, you get the sense that James is fighting to keep his head above it all.

Nowhere is that more obvious than on the two songs that would become standards when re-recorded years later. "Carolina On My Mind" and "Something In The Way She Moves" are both presented as perky production numbers, with "Carolina" almost to the level of a skiffle number. The true magic of the song was brought forward years later when James stripped away the window dressing, and slowed the pace down enough so the emotion of the song came through. ("Rainy Day Man" would also eventually be tapped for a redo.) It's only at the end of the original album, when James sings "Blues is Just a Bad Dream," that you hear the James Taylor who would grow up to be the man who sings "Fire and Rain."

The demos that make up the bonus tracks are so-so. Both "Sunny Skies" and "Let Me Ride" would appear on his first two Warner albums, and the demo of "Sunshine Sunshine" and "Carolina In My Mind" are of modest interest as they are not as gussied up as the album's final versions. The disc includes an OK booklet with several good pictures and a pair of worthy essays from Peter Asher and Andy David. The remastering is excellent, and respectful of the masters (IE not compressed within an inch of its life). Overall, a terrific glimpse into the time machine from which a young James Taylor would soon rocket out from.