James Taylor - In the Pocket
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Music CD Cover Artist: James Taylor Brand: * Edition: Music CD Audio: English (Unknown) CD Release Date: 2008-07-15 Music Label: Rhino Flashback Soundtracks:
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| New | New Usually ships in 1-2 business days | $3.49 | ||
| Used | Used Usually ships in 1-2 business days | $2.61 |
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Free Music Notes for In the Pocket Album
Free Music Review: The secret of great music: melody!
Hit: 5 Stars
Still my favorite JT album along with Mud Slide Slim, Pocket has so many gorgeous melodies, matched with some of Taylor's finest lyrics and a stellar cast of players making every tune shine as best it can.
Captain Jim is a real hidden gem in the JT catalog, as is Daddy's All Gone. Shower The People could be pure sap, but the truly heartfelt singing and playing make you really believe it. One of my best friends killed himself when we were 21 and I used to listen to this tune every day for months after that to remind me what was worth living for. It's still a standout in Taylor's live shows, and stopped the show this year when he played Austin.
Slow Burning Love is another rarely mentioned classic, a shimmering ballad that evokes beach romance as well as any. I've always loved Family Man: not many guys can laugh at their middle age this well and be so in the groove about it. Money Machine, Hundred Miles, Everybody Has The Blues, all mellow, funky, feel-good songs with music that belies the sorrow beneath. Very few songwriters can get to the places JT does here, and almost none have ever gotten to so many disparate vibes on one record so convincingly.
For years as a kid I thought JT was easy listening pap until a friend gave me this and Mud Slide. I quickly grasped how much nuance lays beneath the smooth surface of Taylor's work, especially the sadness of a junkie who seems to have it all but who is always only a step or two from returning to the mental hospital he once lived in. That so much beauty and heartfelt emotion could result from that sadness, and make so many millions happy by letting them know they're not alone: that's James Taylor's artistry, and when it's at its best, as here, it just makes you glad to be alive, with so much to love.