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James Taylor: The Essential Album-by-Album Guide

The singer-songwriter's finest moments, from early hits to his excellent new collection of covers

Rolling Stone

Posted Oct 02, 2008 9:10 AM

• James Taylor's Country Soul

JAMES TAYLOR (1968)
Key Tracks: "Carolina in My Mind," "Something in the Way She Moves"
Quick Take: James Taylor's 1969 debut was one of the first releases on the Beatles' Apple label. Though nearly capsized by heavy-handed orchestration, it was an eye-opening collection of songs whose highlights — "Knocking 'Round the Zoo," "Something in the Way She Moves" and "Carolina in My Mind" — point toward the path he'd pursue in the next decade.

SWEET BABY JAMES (1970)
Key Tracks: "Fire and Rain," "Steamroller Blues"
Quick Take:Sweet Baby James, Taylor's landmark second release, heralds the arrival of pop music's sensitive phase. "Fire and Rain" epitomizes the singer/songwriter stance: acoustic-based autobiography, where the arresting musical sparseness casts Taylor's gentle melodies and warm, unassuming vocals in full relief. On "Steamroller Blues," he effectively mocks the straining pomposity of then-current white bluesmen — though Taylor became entrapped by his own laid-back image soon enough.

MUD SLIDE SLIM AND THE BLUE HORIZON (1971)
Key Tracks: "Long Ago and Far Away," "You've Got a Friend"
Quick Take:It's easy to hear Taylor's reflective bent as self-satisfaction; he's never really pushed himself musically (in the way, for example, Joni Mitchell has). The fact that Taylor actually improved in the role of MOR crooner is the saving grace of his recording career. Mud Slide Slim cemented Taylor's superstar status. But the hit reading of Carole King's "You've Got a Friend" drops some strong hints about the inherent flaccidity of this mellow troubadour approach that the rest of the album doesn't heed (save for "Long Ago and Far Away," with Joni Mitchell's backing vocals).

ONE MAN DOG (1972)
Key Tracks: "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight," "Back on the Street Again"
Quick Take: Taylor spent the next few years casting around for a broader-based sound. One Man Dog is so wispy it nearly evaporates. It contained another chart his in "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight," but it's a lightweight concept album full of instrumental interludes that don't play to Taylor's strengths.

WALKING MAN (1974)
Key Tracks: "Walking Man," "The Promised Land"
Quick Take: Walking Man sums up the confusion of Taylor's unfocused middle period with its near-stationary title track. (The less said about James and Carly Simon's hit version of "Mockingbird," the better.)

GORILLA (1975)
Key Tracks: "Mexico," "You Make It Easy"
Quick Take: Gorilla is where Taylor regains his balance. "Mexico" introduces a welcome strain of humor, the title track is a natural children's song, and "You Make It Easy" positions Sweet Baby James as a posthippie torch singer. And despite the generic clunk of its track, Taylor handles the hit remake of "How Sweet It Is (to Be Loved By You)" with such breezy vocal ease that even Marvin Gaye expressed admiration.

IN THE POCKET (1976)
Key Tracks: "Shower the People," "Woman's Gotta Have It"
Quick Take: Apart from the sturdy "Shower the People," In the Pocket misses the mark. There's nothing truly terrible on it, but Taylor too often falls into his comfortable grooves and lightweight arrangements without any of his stickier melodies.

JT (1977)
Key Tracks: "Handyman," "Traffic Jam"
Quick Take: After dropping Greatest Hits, Taylor moved to Columbia. As so often happens with first efforts for new labels, JT ranks right up there with his best. Taylor reaches back for another upbeat pop classic to tenderize, and nails down "Handyman" with his most insinuating vocal performance ever. A slight rock influence sparks the rest of JT, though the goofy blues-rap "Traffic Jam" and the relaxed pace of "Your Smiling Face" feel as familiar as faded denim.

FLAG (1979)
Key Tracks: "Up on the Roof," "Rainy Day Man"
Quick Take: Full of songs Taylor co-wrote for the Broadway musical Working, Flag turns out to be a verb rather than a noun — it's a passive album redeemed only by his version of Carole King's "Up on the Roof."

DAD LOVES HIS WORK (1981)
Key Tracks: "Her Town Too," "Believe It or Not"
Quick Take: Dad Loves His Work finds JT back on the beam. It was led by the gently incisive divorce song "Her Town Too," among his finest pieces of writing and his last hit single.

THAT'S WHY I'M HERE (1985)
Key Tracks: "That's Why I'm Here," "Everyday"
Quick Take: With its heartening aura of renewed faith and burgeoning self-knowledge, That's Why I'm Here reveals a man at peace with himself, his notorious inner demons finally silenced. Producing himself for the first time, he enlivens a glowing remake of Buddy Holly's classic "Everyday," the lovelorn raveup "Turn Away" and the funky blues romp "Limousine Driver" and features guest spots from Graham Nash and Joni Mitchell.

NEVER DIE YOUNG (1988)
Key Tracks: "Never Die Young," "Home by Another Way"
Quick Take: Never Die Young is little more than pleasant. It seemed like Taylor had fallen into a pattern: after every album that showed promise of reinvention or branching out, he followed up with a stuck-in-neutral effort. Not terrible, but also not essential.

NEW MOON SHINE (1991)
Key Tracks: "Copperline," "Native Son"
Quick Take: Instead of fading into the sunset, Taylor reemerged in 1991 with New Moon Shine, his most focused and tuneful release in more than 10 years; the reflective "Copperline" and the frisky "(I've Got to) Stop Thinkin' 'Bout That" would stand out on any of his albums. In "Slap Leather" and "Native Son" he provides affecting and still-relevant takes on the human cost of the first Persian Gulf war.

HOURGLASS (1997)
Key Tracks: "Boatman," "Little More Time With You"
Quick Take: Taylor has settled comfortably into his 1990s role as an elder statesman of song. Hourglass built on the sturdy sounds of New Moon Shine, became one of Taylor's best-received releases and won the Grammy for Best Pop Album.

OCTOBER ROAD (2002)
Key Tracks: "Mean Old Man," "Carry Me On My Way"
Quick Take: October Road is brimming with the acceptance and grace that Taylor's younger self — frequently referenced here lyrically and melodically — often had trouble locating. "I had to have my way/Which was bleak and gray," he admits in "Mean Old Man," a song about how much life can lie on the other side of these feelings.

COVERS (2008)
Key Tracks: "Not Fade Away," "On Broadway"
Quick Take: On Covers, Taylor assays the likes of the Drifters' "On Broadway," Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away" and Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne." He softens the arrangements — guitar, bass, keyboards, drums, with horn and string embellishments — and brings the lyrics to the fore, emphasizing the songs as stories. Taylor doesn't compete with his sources, he defers to them — a strategy that's gracious and wise. .