James Taylor - Sweet Baby James
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Free Music Notes for Sweet Baby James
Free Music Review: "ROCK-A-BYE SWEET BABY JAMES..." (sweet, soulful and bluesy acoustic perfection)
Hit: 5 Stars
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, which 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, about his friend who suddenly died, the second, about his own battles with drugs and depression, and the third, his dealing 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.
Free Music Review: i love Two Lane Blacktop, but this CD sucks
Hit: 1 Stars
Two Lane Blacktop is my favorite movie of all time. I love James Taylor's acting in it. But, there is a reason he is not a successful singer. The evidence: Sweet Baby Jane. This is probably the worst CD I have ever heard, and I have listened to some bad CD's. I bought this CD because JT was in it, thinking it couldn't be too bad. I have never listened to it all the way through. I can't. Can't stomach it. There is virtually no intelligent lyrics, and I have absolutely no idea what the songs are about. This could have been called "Chronicles of the Tone deaf Drifters". Now, I have this album in my CD collection and people ask me, "What is that?" And, I say, "Oh, That's a CD James Taylor recorded back in the day." And, then they say, "Oh . . . Well, Should we . . ." And, I say, "No. NO! Don't ever listen to this CD. Ever. You would be better served picking lint out of your bellybutton or watching paint dry, because this CD is like that, with worse lyrics and less vivid accompaniment." But, that is probably the same reaction JT has now, when some random fan mentions this CD and he cringes, before putting his head in his hands, and saying "What was I thinking . . ."Free Music Review: One of JT's best!
Hit: 5 Stars
I loved this album in high school, still love it now after 30 years. Taylor is a true music man, from soul to skin.Free Music Review: His Best Album Just Got A Whole Lot Better!
Hit: 5 Stars
Just as any classic album should be there are no filler tracks on what must be James Taylor's best album at least during his full-set-of-hair days. This album is consistently good throughout and "Fire and Rain" isn't even the best track on this album. Perennial Taylor favourites like "Sweet Baby James", "Steamroller" and "Country Road" are here too. James Taylor fans will tell you that listening to a JT record is an extremely rewarding experience. JT has a very unique style and his voice is extremely soothing and has an honesty that comes across and hits you right in between the eyes of your heart. Great singer/songwriting is showcased within the 11 tracks here and the mini lp sleeve replica design is very well put together as well. All tracks have been remastered quite well so the sound quality is good and we get all the lyrics in both English and Japanese here as well. This is probably the best version of this JT classic that is currently out there and comes highly recommended.Free Music Review: Still Shiny After Many Decades
Hit: 5 Stars
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.