Customer Reviews

Sweet Baby James

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

With the launching of this album, a thirty-year career was sent into high orbit. Of course, it is still up there, spinning and lightening our loads as we make our way through the days and evenings of our lives. If the baby boomers have a long-play soundtrack to their lives, most of the songs on this album would be on it, beginning with "Sweet Baby James", a lullaby written for his nephew but detailing his voluntary `escape' from the Austin Riggs center in Stockbridge. Massachusetts, riding down the turnpike to Boston, and on to London, where he was `discovered' by the Beatles.

Then there is "Fire and Rain", another autobiographical tune that was one of the biggest smash hits of all time, one covered by more solo artists than any other, and "Country Road", by now instantly identified by its opening chords by thousands of Taylor fans. It is all here, folks; the voice, the songs, and the guitar work that made James Taylor the superstar/singer/songwriter laureate of the seventies. Along with John Denver, Cat Stevens, Elton John, and Van Morrison, he virtually revolutionized popular music for a generation with his very personal, often intense, and always very approachable and melodic approach to music. There are hours and hours of wonderful experience in store for anyone with this album, whether you've come down in a space ship and are just introducing yourself to his work, or you are an old friend stopping by to sit on the front porch for a spell while Mudslide Slim plays and sings in his unforgettable voice for you. Enjoy!

Just yesterday morning they let me know you were gone
Susanne the plans they made put an end to you
I walked out this morning and I wrote down this song
I just can't remember who to send it to

It was rather ironic that James Taylor was considered such a sensitive and soothing singer-songwriter when you listen to his signature song, "Fire and Rain," which is about the suicide of a friend who had been an inmate at a mental institution where Taylor had been committed by his parents (it also gives his cover of Stephen Foster's "Oh, Susannah" a very personal meaning). The song was written in three parts: the first verse was written in a London flat about his reactions to the death of his friend; the second verse was written in a New York hospital about Taylor trying to kick his heroin habit; and the third verse was written at a Massachusetts psychiatric facility as he recuperated from his experience.

But while the subject matter was certainly depressing, "Fire and Rain" had a confessional quality that gave it a sense of intimacy that set it apart from what others were doing. In early 1971 he was on the cover of "Time" magazine, literarily the poster boy for the wave of singer-songwriters that were dominating the music scene, including most notably his good friend Carole King and his future wife Carly Simon. Taylor was perfectly suited for the early 1970s music scene: his lyrics were introspective and because he played acoustic guitar he could sing his songs in a rather quiet manner. After the turmoil of the 1960s, which was certainly reflected in the music of the times, Taylor was a breath of fresh air.

This album made it to #3 on the Billboard Albums chart while "Fire and Rain" made it to that same spot as a single. I was surprised to discover that the other single from the album was not the title song, but "Country Road" (#37), which is fine with me because that is the second best track on the album with some lyrical elements similar to "Fire and Rain." This is not to say that this is a depressing album, because certainly "Sunny Skies", "Blossom" and "Anywhere Like Heaven" are lighter songs. "Steamroller" is sort of funky and seems out of place on the album, but if you look at the overall mix of songs Taylor is covering a lot of ground musically. But "Fire and Rain" is definitely Taylor's best song and I am surprised "Rolling Stone" only ranked it #227 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

I've seen fire and I've seen rain
I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end
I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend
But I always thought that I'd see you again

In addition to being the album with THE JT hits which one cannot get tired of listening, this album includes Taylor's rendition of "Oh Susannah" with the chord changes and guitar styling that cuts straight to your heart. The perfect segue to Fire And Rain, James takes the Stephen Foster standard and completely transforms the feel to create the type of melancholy overtone that stings behind the eyes.

Hearing the hits in the context of the other songs is totally different than owning the Greatest Hits album. One gets in touch with more of the mood of a "pre-superstar" Taylor. A little less refinement in exchange for a lot more gut. As for the hits themselves, I have personally performed "Fire And Rain" for over ten years and still find myself aimlessly wandering around a supermarket until the end of the song whenever it comes on. This is the lasting power of truly classic art, which is severely lacking in today's music scene. Young, up and coming musicians can learn a lot from the texture of this early work.

James Taylor's songs are not the typical fabricated songs aimed for heavy radio play and chart-busting sales. His songs are real, written from his heart and experience. This has to be the best of his earlier work, free and easy, simple and yet complex when you pay attention. That's not to say that this is for everyone. It isn't. But for those who have a feeling for both the joy in life and the deep sorrow in life, this is music that communicates.

The title song opens the set, and tells you something of the performer, of his feeling for the subject of his song. As he continues with the next two songs, you get the feeling of a genial, feeling person sharing with you, revealing his thoughts in a smooth and mellow style.

So the fourth cut, "Steamroller", comes as a surprise, a change of pace, a display of the funky side of a young man of the 70's. But after this rather suggestive outburst, we settle back into the strong statement of "Country Road", of yearning and seeking.

Steven Foster's "Oh, Susannah" may have never before been sung in the context that it is here, and when a person realizes that this is being sung for his girl friend who so tragically left this world, it is heart wrenching. I can imagine that he may have sung this to her while she was alive, and now, he's still singing it to her. From this, we go into the classic "Fire And Rain", as he continues singing to her. The instrumental accompaniment here is dramatic at times.

After the emotional intensity of those two songs, we go to the hope, and the wanting of "Blossom". "Anywhere Like Heaven" portrays the country person who's been transplanted to the city and city life.

After the one rather lesser song, one necessary to contrast with what's to come, we have "Suite for 20G" which gives a solid climax to this set of songs with an upbeat performance featuring truly fantastic instrumentation.

There are those who just won't dig this and I hope that I have expressed accurately what this album is, so you have a good idea whether it is for you or not. If you like your music easy going and natural, but still with emotional depth, this...I am sure...CD's for you.

This was probably the first LP I ever bought. I played the grooves out of it. I bought it recently as an MP3 from Amazon, because I was away from home and wanted something to mellow out.

What I found is that one of my favorite songs of all time is Steamroller Blues by James Taylor. However... This is NOT the original version. This is the LIVE version from a much later album. It is the ONLY live song on the entire download. And I KNOW... the original album had a real tasty bluesy Steamroller.

What is up Amazon???

Sweet Baby James (1970) is the second album from James Taylor, his breakthrough and his best. The sweet, bluesy acoustic guitar and vocals on this album are authentic and interesting. No, this isn't the easy listening JT of Handyman and Your Smiling Face fame, this is the down home and down-to-earth folk-blues singing and guitar picking JT. Of course, the quiet thoughtful folkie side of James Taylor is here, too. The themes are often reflective, and Taylor's sense of melancholy mixes well with his instinct to survive. He accepts his sadness in a realistic way by acknowledging it, but not letting it get the best of him.

The title song is one of JT's greatest, a two-part cowboy lullaby that's a description of James' car trip to meet his baby nephew (also named James) for the first time, and images of a young cowboy on the range.

And as the moon rises he sits by his fire
Thinking about women and glasses of beer
And closing his eyes as the doggies retire
He sings out a song which is soft but it's clear
As if maybe someone could hear

JT gets bluesy on Steamroller Blues, a song that starts as a one-man-band guitar and vocal blues, and shifts into a delicious and lazy rocking blues swing with help from a big brass band. Country Road is another one of Taylor's greatest songs. The Carolina boy sings of finding peace of mind on a country road in soulful tandem with his heavenly acoustic guitar.

I guess my feet know where they want me to go
Walking on a country road

Sunny Skies is a lighthearted tune, and JT does a remake of Stephen Foster's 1847 song Oh Susanna that sounds surprisingly good. Of course, the big hit on the album is the signature Fire And Rain, and JT has said the song was written in three parts. The first part is about his friend who suddenly died, the second part about his own battles with drugs and depression, and the third part deals with new found fame and fortune. The song has a particular and profound personal meaning for many people in the world, myself included.

Well there's hours of time on the telephone line
To talk about things to come
Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground

JT gets bluesy again with the country-blues tinged Oh Baby, Don't You Loose Your Lip On Me. There's some great acoustic blues guitar and laid back blues singing here, and it sounds sweet and soulful.

Sweet Baby James is quiet, down-to-earth and folk-style bluesy. It's also sweet in a soulful and thoughtfully acoustic way. It's James Taylor at his singing-songwriting best, playing songs that are touching, fun, sad, contemplative and of the highest quality. If you get any of James Taylor's albums, this should be the one.

Aftermath of September 11, 2001. The first thing I did to center myself after the horrendous impact of the events was to listen to my most favorite album of all time, Sweet Baby James. I find the words to Fire & Rain so poignant for this unforgetable moment in time. Words written so many years ago are so perfect for today. If I were stranded on a dessert island with only one album, this would be it.Thank you James Taylor, your voice is comfort for the soul.

One sign that an album is strong on quality is its continuing sales and popularity through many years, even decades after it was initially released. Many records have gone out of print after a number of years due to declining interest and sales and are "forgotten", especially to newer listeners. Others persist in the catalog market because of positive response by the listening audience. Among these is "Sweet Baby James" by singer-songwriter James Taylor, one of his earlier albums, which was released in 1970. Although this is actually his second recorded album in his career as a singer, it is the first to enjoy widespread recognition and market sales. It reached #3 on the pop music chart, which is documentation of its mass appeal to a music fan base.

This album is an introduction to his style of presenting music, which includes a great variety of genres, all found in this one collection. Although he basically performs folk type of music, he also brings in country, rock 'n' roll, jazz, and expecially blues to his work, as can be heard on this album. A common trait to the songs here is his smooth, mellow voice, and his down-to-earth lyrics about feelings, thoughts, relationships, traveling through life and going to places. All of these songs consist of straightforward words about these experiences and feelings, in a contemplative and personal way. The album also initially appeared during a turbulent era in society, yet does not hint at the issues that were swirling around at the time, as many other records of that year did so prominently. The listener can retreat from those issues by tuning in to the "Sweet Baby James" album which hosts themes that are timeless and not connected to any particular date or historical events and concerns. If someone were to hear these songs for the first time, more than thirty years after they were released, they would sound as fresh and contemporary as they did in the early 1970s.

The folk style predominates in several of these tracks that are found in the central part of the album. A very popular and perhaps the most well-known of these songs is "Fire And Rain", about the unexpected death of a friend or a loved one; it deals with feelings about various things, both good and bad. This song reached #3 on the pop chart, and was remade into a country hit by another singer many years later. The other folk-sounding hit that came off of this album is "Country Road", an introspective, mild piece in which he contemplates thoughts as he walks down a road, both literally and figuratively. It reached #37 on the pop music chart. "Blossom" is a guitar piece that compares a girlfriend to a flower that brings sunshine and "melts my cares away." Then there is the remake of singer-songwriter Stephen Foster's poem "Oh Suzanna", addressed to a girl. James Taylor puts his own twist on this timeless gem.

The steel guitar so prevalent in country music is heard in a couple of the songs here: the title track (and initial song) is "Sweet Baby James", a country/Western lullaby ballad in 3/4 time, first a story of a cowboy singing a song, then about traveling on a long snow-covered highway from Stockbridge to Boston and beyond. "Anywhere Like Heaven" is a country-style track that contemplates about life, time slipping by, and visiting a town and realizing that the city is not a place in which he would be happy.

"Sunny Skies" is bouncy, light-hearted and jazzy, with lively folk guitar picking; it personifies the sun-filled sky as if it were a person, a friend, with its own feelings and actions. The preceding track "Lo And Behold" showcases blues and soul gospel, with religious overtone amidst a backdrop of folk guitar. James sings the verses, then the background singers join in for the chorus. The popullar "Steam Roller Blues" starts out gently with a folk guitar along with a blues overtone, then changes pace and steps up the volume midway through with brass horns, adopting the jazz and rock 'n' roll sound while still retaining its blues features. The fairly brief blues track, "Oh Baby, Don't You Lose Your Lip On Me" very much fulfills the description of blues, where wailing depicts the sadness, and ends with brisk strumming.

The last track "Suite For 20 G" is the longest and serves as a grand finale to this versatile album. This composition begins as a gentle folk ballad with introspective and observant lyrics about spring days passing by, relationships, love and letting go, being free someday. James' friends accompany him on vocals in the background. This changes to a high energy style midway through, with jazz, blues, and rock 'n' roll all blended together. Musical insturments are mentioned as cures for ailments like the common cold, rockin' pneumonia, and boogie woogie flu. The track (and the album) end with just the instruments: brass horns, guitars, and drums as they gradually fade away.

This album should be considered a classic among the popular music listings. Even with the passage of time, these songs sound as fresh as when they were brand new. They have withstood the changes in times and years. Once again, troublesome issues surround the world, but James Taylor's songs still offer a welcome retreat from these concerns.

I recently bought the Sweet Baby James CD and was disappointed at the audio quality. There is a lot of background hiss, which by 2010 is something that calls for a remastering to correct.

But the songs are perfect. James was never better, each song hits it on the mark, whether is a fast rocker like Steamroller, soft ballad like Blossom or a heartfelt song like Fire and Rain, which was a huge hit for him, and most likely helped drive album sales then.

I bought this the moment it was released, in a (now) old-fashioned record store in Princeton, NJ. I think I had heard a song from it on Princeton University's FM (then kind of new) radio station. I played it a great deal in the first few years I owned it, and bought more JT releases, but none of them seemed as good as this one. I have not cared about James in nearly 25 years. I moved on to other kinds of sounds and stories, but this LP, although long-gone from my house, stays in my memory. James is considered to be a nostalgic PBS reunion soft folkie now, but when this album was new, and he was new to music lovers, he seemed to have a quirky edge that was quite appealing. "Fire and Rain" has been recorded by scores of artists, but I doubt anyone's version is better than the one on this CD.