Customer Reviews

Jt

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There are two aspects of this singer shown here. Certainly, the trade mark pop hits are here, the songs that again have the folksy and self-revealing lyrics and music such as "Your Smiling Face", "There We Are", "Secret of Life", "Handy Man" and "Terra Nova". "Secret of Life" especially is of his highest quality. All five make this an album which will please his fans.

However, he also expresses a darker side of life, a more cynical point of being. "Honey Don't Leave L.A." expresses one who's smitten by a typical "Hollywood" girl, one who is trying for the big time, for the glamour, for the luxury. "Another Grey Morning" portrays depression, a deep down despair. "Bartender's Blues" gives a sardonic look at life, cynicism mixed again with a type of despair. The stories implied in "I Was Only Telling A Lie" and "Looking For Love On Broadway" speak of deception, emptiness, even futility. And "Traffic Jam" might at first bring a smile to those who cope with the crowded freeways regularly. But then, by the last line, you realize (if you didn't already) that the song is about more than the physical situation described. And then there's "If I Keep My Heart Out Of Sight", again where the singer is looking for love from a woman who is just looking for good times. We men can very much cheer James for this song, because while many women claim that it's the man who is just looking for momentary pleasure, we men know it works both ways. And as always, James expresses it so that those of us who've been there can appreciate the song.

This is an outstanding album, and while it does have a dark side, this is James Taylor at his usual high level.

James Taylor introduced us to his distinctive form of intelligent and simplistic pop stylings since the early 1970's. This album was released within 7 years into his recording career and is one of his finest, most consistent collections to date. There is a logical flow that glides from one melodic track to the next.

At the time of release, the album was considered a middle of the road rock and roll album. Like his earlier works, the music of Sweet Baby James has aged like a fine wine. With the inclusion of soft, sweet, emotionally tender and melodic selections, the album quickly achieved platinum status selling over a million copies and spawned many adult contemporary classics. It is still as engaging, if not more today, since it has received the remastering treatment.

The album opens with his optimistic ode to love, "Your Smiling Face," which did quite respectively on the pop charts (#20) at the time. This became a staple of late 1970's mor radio as was "Handy Man." This track peaked at #4 and won a grammy for best pop performance male at the 1978 grammy awards (his 2nd/several years back he won the same category for "Fire And Rain.") "Honey Don't Leave LA" was a moderate success, a mid-tempo bluesy track that featured several notable artists: Danny Kortchmar(who penned the track), Peter Asher(mainly known for producing the majority of Linda Ronstadt's work/Asher also produced this album), and Saxaphone extrodinaire, David Sanborn. Russell Kunkel who has worked with many A list performers (Linda Ronstadt/Stevie Nicks/etc.) performs on many tracks including playing castanets on the beautiful,"Looking For Love On Broadway." The set of songs was produced by Val Garay (who produced many acts including Kim Carnes and The Motels) in the early 1980's.

The album is a superstar fest. Several key vocalists of the decade also make an appearance. Linda Ronstadt backs up JT on the gorgeous country-tinged, honky tonk "Bartender's Blues." JT receives assistance from his ex-wife, Carly Simon who performs an exquisite harmony vocal on the stunning, "Terra Nova" (also penned by the couple).

The album has it's share of melodic and enchanting ballads. "Secret O'Life" is the most engaging highlight. It is a simple, beautiful musical wisdom piece about the pleasures of learning to grow older more gracefully. "There We Are" is a love song penned for his then wife, Carly Simon." "Another Gray Morning" brings the listener into the dark side of the singer-songwriter. "If I Keep My Heart Out Of Sight" serves as a perfect closer to the collection.

JT picks up the pace with more upbeat and funky rhythms with "I Was Only Telling A Lie" and "Honey, Don't Leave LA." One of the oddest selections is the neurotic "Traffic Jam" in which Taylor performs a pseudo-rap of sorts that touches upon his experiences with drug abuse through the years.

If you are a fan of lite california rock that typifies the singer-songwriter movement that categorized midstream 1970's pop music, then you'll enjoy this beautiful collection of songs. One of JT's finest moments.

Not sure if this will be a fair review. I was only a passive JT listener until I got this SACD. My new appreciation for all things Carole King led me to explore more of James Taylor's recordings. With that said, I can't compare this to the original LP, cassette, 8 track, reel to reel, CD, mp3... so sorry. What I will say is that the music on this album is nothing short of phenomenal, and I can't believe I've waited this long to give JT a spin. Nice mellow easy listening tunes perfect for a Sunday morning listening session, or unwind with your liquor of choice after a long day at the workplace. I suppose as we grow older our musical taste develop into something a bit more refined and not so angst ridden. I've been very pleased with all the MoFi SACDs I've acquired so far, and this one does not disappoint in the least. Without a frame of reference to go by in terms of previous versions of this album, I can only say that MFSL mastering duo of Shawn R. Britton and Rob LoVerde has once again given us a reference quality mastering worthy of the MoFi label. Nothing comes off as ear-bleeding shrill or lifeless and dull, but rather that rich, creamy, full signature sound we've now come to expect from MoFi SACD releases. Instruments sound natural, not overbearing but perhaps just a tad laid back on a few tracks, allowing one to fully take in JT's soothing vocals. I use Yamaha source components for SACD playback, which are just a tad on the warm side of neutral to my ears. The overall presentation of this recording is very mellow and warm, and you tend to forget that you're listening to a digital transfer rather than an analog format. Amazing. You know it's an excellent mastering job when you pay no attention to the trivial technical details, but become totally immersed in the music instead. This release follows the current MFSL trend of mini-LP style packaging with the disc housed in a scratch resistant sleeve, further protected by a hard paper outer sleeve, which provides a detailed description of the proprietary GAIN2 mastering system. There are no additional booklet with liner notes. The mini gatefold fits right in with other current MoFi SACD releases. Overall, this SACD is well worth the cash whether you're a hardcore or even a passive fan. While I can't say with absolute certainty that this is THE definitive version, I would be surprised if there is another version out there that is sonically superior. Buy with confidence.

The perfect mix of sunshine and shadow, this album includes what is, for my money, the most beautiful and romantic ballad ever written: "There We Are." Taylor's a poet.

The music is classic James Taylor, which means it's good stuff you like him, so I won't try to sell you on the music.

The SACD multichannel mix is fabulous. Taylor's voice is almost exclusively in the center speaker, so a good center speaker is necessary to fully enjoy this. The surrounds are a solid but subtle improvement over stereo. On a few occasions they catch your attention, which I always like in moderation, but mostly they just provide a nice ambience. Carly Simon's bit at the end of Terra Nova is an exception, where she does three parts and they come from different locations. Great mix. Overall this is just great. I wish all of my SACDs were this good.

I don't have this new remastered version, but I couldn't find another place to express my feelings about this album.

This album is everything James Taylor is about. It has pleasant, slightly vacuous lyrics (with the exception of Traffic Jam), but that's okay.

Taylor's clear vocals are the featured attraction and they're in fine form. I could listen to Taylor sing for hours.

This is an album without a 'bad' track. Standout tunes include Handyman (which I was disappointed to see wasn't written by Taylor), Terra Nova, Bartender's Blues, and Another Grey Morning.

I'm a newcomer to James Taylor so every time I pick up one of his albums it's a new experience. This particular CD has been in my player for two weeks now..and I'm not feeling any inclination to remove it.

I completely mirror Skytag's review. Great sound quality with an excellent mix by Nathaniel Kunkel (a talented family, to be sure!). I personally prefer predominantly ambience oriented mixes like this as opposed to a lot of discrete instrument presentation in the surround channels. I want to be listening to the band, not be IN the band. But, to each there own. Also, the often unfortunate use of the Aphex Aurel Exciter during the recording of this album does not seem to have degraded the natural quality of James' voice. This is not a hybrid SACD. A solid 5+.

Here comes an album that holds within it's musical chambers one of the best songs ever written. I'm speaking, of course, of "Your Smiling Face". Now we all know of James Taylor's musical brilliance, some of us from his greatest hits CD. When you look a little deeper into his studio albums you soon recognize a well conceived balance of sweet and salty. You see, listening to a greatest hits compilation, you of course meet the artist's work most beloved to the public. The 'known' songs. But when you listen to an early studio album such as "JT" in it's entirety, you understand the artists entire picture of his music as it was meant to be heard. Now here is what I think is one of Mr. Taylor's all time best, "Your Smiling Face" as well as another hit "Handy Man". But the fun thing for me was to hear all of the short, little known songs in between.

For instance "There We Are", a little known love song by Sweet Baby James. Soft and serene, interrupted by Taylor's honky tonk influences of "Honey Don't Leave L. A." and "Bartender's Blues". This is a side of Taylor I had never really witnessed until a month ago when i bought this album. Balanced perfectly is the upbeat with the down, "Another Grey Morning" being one of the down. But the sweetest little gem on this album is "Secret O' Life", one you won't come across on a greatest hits. This is a really wonderful song. A pity you can't hear a longer clip here, because part of the beauty of this song is it's subtle climb in tempo. One of those that gently grew on me over time. "I Was Only Telling a Lie" picks up again where "Honey Don't Leave L. A." left off. I really like "Looking For Love On Broadway". A sort of quiet but upbeat hopeful love song. If you listen to the next song "Terra Nova" right to the very end you may recognize Carly Simon's distinct vocals ending this track. Also lending her voice to this creation is Linda Ronstadt back in "Bartender's Blues", a nice little discovery. A lot of the fun in this album also belongs to "Traffic Jam". What initially appeared to be a tacked on studio scrap to me, turned into a beloved, breif, comicle song that would seem to have come from a frustrating downtown traffic jam experience by Taylor. Its great fun, and followed by "Out Of Sight". A quiet unintrusive ending.

This Taylor album just seems to float by, and when its over you wish there was more. James Taylor at one of his finest points, and definitely worth the buy considering it's humble price. For the Taylor enthusiast its simply a must have. This is the secret to a great musical listen.

There's 6 songs on this album that have enchanted me since I first heard them over 20 years ago. They ring as true today, making my heart soar every time I hear them. One reason is, I can't listen to his biggest radio hits. True for me for most classic rock radio friendly songs.

'Another Grey Morning' is not necessarily one of my all time favorite JT song but it reaches a place that is gentle and thoughtful.

'Secret O' Life' is another song with lyrics that one rarely runs across in song. This and 'Shower the People' could be back to back philosophy songs on how to live life well. And it ain't bad wisdom either, much less a very nice song.

'I Was Only Telling A Lie' is one of his cousin of country songs that makes me smile. It's about as close to country as I ever musically get.

'Looking For Love On Broadway' is such a sad song, portraying much of what is off track about modern life, disconnected from others yet yearning for connection, physical or otherwise, and probably telling a tale of man's yearnings that is as old as mankind.

'Traffic Jam' is one of his few dittys and so well done because, of course, most of us modern Western world dwellers have lived on the road thousands of times by now, enough for this song to make lots of emotional sense.

'If I Keep My Heart Out Of Sight' is JT at his love song best, yearning, aching, sharing his intimate heart moments with us in song, giving us expression of our own hearts, making us the 'I' in his song, like the best love songs can do.

My other favorite JT songs are from Flag: 'Day Tripper', 'I Will Not Lie For You', 'Is That The Way You Look?', 'B.S.U.R.',

'Chanson Francaise' and 'Sleep Come Free Me' and from Gorilla: 'Gorilla', 'I Was a Fool to Care' and 'You Make It Easy'. Course, from In The Pocket I gotta add, 'Shower the People' and from One Man Dog: 'Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight' to my own greatest hits of JT. chrisbct@hotmail.com

I am a proud owner of 7 James Taylor albums, and this is my favorite. This album has a very mellow tone to it, with afew country-like tracks. There are great cameo's by Carly Simon, and Linda Rondstadt. I can't get enough of this album.