Of all the singer-songwriters who emerged from the folk-rock boom of the mid-60s, none was as commercially successful through the 1970s as James Taylor.
After recording an overlooked but commendable debut set in London through the summer of 1968 during a short-lived tenure on The Beatles Apple label, Massachusetts-born Taylor (12/3/1948) returned to the United States. On overcoming heroin addiction he gravitated to Los Angeles and cut the huge-selling ‘Sweet Baby James‘ L.P. (February 1970), his acoustic guitar balladry containing lyricism of remarkable maturity for one so young.
With manager Peter Asher performing an effective turn as producer and featuring a clutch of session players – drummer Russ Kunkel, bassist Leland Sklar and guitarist Danny Kortchmar, who would go on to find renown in their own right – the record also featured the piano work of Carole King in her pre-‘Tapestry‘ days. ‘Sweet Baby James‘ catapulted Taylor to worldwide fame, became an immediate best-seller (U.S. 3/U.K. 6), was nominated for a Grammy (best album category) and quickly assumed landmark status among albums in the singer-songwriter field.
Containing two songs, ‘Country Road‘ and ‘Fire and Rain‘ that did brisk business when issued as 45s (the latter in describing his drug addiction, time spent in a psychiatric hospital and suicide of a friend, the most harrowing song ever to become a major hit single), the follow-up album ‘Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon‘ (April 1971) brought Taylor another round of praise and high-chart placings. The success of this effort was aided in no small way by his rendition of ‘You’ve Got A Friend‘ (penned by King), reaching number one on the U.S, charts.
While his output from this point onward became prone to inconsistency – well received sets such as ‘Gorilla‘ (1975) and ‘JT‘ (1977) offset by lesser affairs, ‘One Man Dog‘ (1972), ‘Walking Man‘ (1974) and ‘In the Pocket‘ (1976) – Taylor remained a significant chart presence. His profile rose to an even higher level of public awareness in 1973 on marrying songstress Carly Simon, the union producing two children before the decade was out.
Despite having written at least half a dozen pieces that had become contemporary standards, he closed the 1970s with ‘Flag‘ (May 1979), an altogether disappointing affair that while earning him another gold disc met with a slew of negative notices. The malaise affecting his professional endeavours had also taken hold in domestic matters, Taylor finding difficulty balancing family life with the demands of keeping a career on track.
The dichotomy between settled domesticity and serving his status as a frontline recording artist is evident in the title and through several tracks that constitute ‘DAD LOVES HIS WORK‘ (March 1981) – Taylor’s tenth studio album finding him in reflective, if uncertain mood.
Which is not to say the music is hesitant or Taylor is unsure of what he wants to say. Indeed, the one certainty running through his ruminations is the sense that change sounds imminent – this to the extent of James and Carly divorcing less than two years after the album appeared.
Opening track ‘Hard Times‘ immediately alludes to marital strife, Taylor depicting a relationship, (‘We’ve seen some hard times/ Hard times/Holding it together ain’t always easy/An angry man/Hungry woman/They’re driving each other crazy‘) going through a challenging period.
Set to an engaging soul-infused melody where the R & B overtones are enhanced by the lush harmonies of David Lasley and Arnold McCuller, Taylor receives cohesive musical support (as he does throughout the record) from a quintet of Sklar, drummer Rick Marotta, keyboard player Don Grolnick along with guitarists Dan Dugmore and Waddy Wachtel, all of whom he had worked with before – the man at the centre of things making his customary acoustic guitar contribution.
Despite what indications there are to the contrary, (‘I may be wrong for you, baby/Maybe I’m wrong/But I love you just the same‘), the marriage appears not to have reached a point where it is beyond saving. That said, the portents are more succinct and specific on soft-rock ballad ‘Her Town Too.’
Co-written with Wachtel and long-time Eagles collaborator JD Souther, who also does a suitably excellent job singing alongside Taylor, allusions to Simon are apparent through the first two verses. But at the bridge, where he and Souther exchange vocal lines, the fundamentals of their estrangement are laid bare:
‘Well, people got used to seeing them both together/But now he’s gone and life goes on/Nothing lasts forever, oh no/She gets the house and the garden/He gets the boys in the band/Some of them his friends/Some of them her friends/Some of them understand.’
With Asher back in harness for a third album in a row, (this after a mid-70s break from working with Taylor), applying sympathetic production including a subtle string arrangement, the sum is a conscientious, well-crafted track that climbed to number nine on the U.S. singles chart in the late spring of 1981.
Inspired by guests he observed at a social gathering, ‘Hour That Morning Comes’ – built upon funk rock grooves provided by the fluent keyboard work of Grolnick – conjures attendees at various levels of enjoyment.
Through the song one enthusiastic reveler is described as ‘Oh, look at that fool with the lampshade on/Somebody told him he was having fun‘ with someone else labelled a ‘secret agent man‘ (this according to the writer alluding to a drug dealer), although the first two verses have their origins closer to home.
Wife Carly is apparently summoned in the couplet ‘Mama makes the music and she makes the news/She dances all night in her golden shoes‘ while given the likeness in terminology ‘And papa’s kacked out with his head in his lap/Mama likes to think that he’s taking a nap‘ is likely a reference to himself, the funky ambience encapsulated in a quirky guitar solo from Wachtel.
Keyboard player Grolnick is again to the fore on ‘I Will Follow‘ where Taylor reveals an emotional vulnerability in facing the future.
Placing trust in the power of love in looking out at the years ahead, (‘Someone to hold my hand/Somebody to lead me on/ Somebody to walk beside me/Someone to follow me now‘), his hopes come couched in the background harmony singing of Lasley and McCuller, Taylor asserting his belief in companionship (‘Anywhere it leads me/I will follow love‘) right up until the final line.
Side one closer ‘Believe It or Not‘ continues the theme of anticipating how life may unfold from this point onward. His faith is nurtured by the appearance of a loved one (‘Believe it or not/I’ve been waiting for you to come through/Love of my life‘), these contemplations set to a gently lilting country-rock melody not out of place on many of his previous albums.
While there is a mournful tone to the understated pedal steel guitar incisions of Dugmore, Taylor draws assurance from the notion his current tribulations have to be endured before better times, (‘Today the world seems brighter/Light and bright and right somehow/ I could not have held on tighter/Waiting for the past to come to pass‘), come round again.
Co-written by screenwriter and sometime song lyricist Jacob Brackman, (Carly Simon among those with whom he had previously collaborated), side two opening track ‘Stand and Fight‘ had first been aired by Taylor at the ‘No Nukes‘ concerts staged at Madison Square Garden, New York in September 1979.
On that occasion it served as a rallying cry to the rock artists and audiences voicing their opposition to the growing reliance on nuclear power (and the inherent risks involved), this forceful Rolling Stones-styled workout, replete with blues harmonica, here standing as a general call to action in defence of the despairing and downtrodden:
‘You ain’t doing nobody no kind of favors/Lying around like a rug on their floor/Sooner or later, you’ve got to stand up/And say you won’t take anymore.’
The pointed assertions of the piece amount to a rare excursion into the realms of social commentary for Taylor while giving notice that Jackson Browne, a founder member of M.U.S.E (Musicians United for Solar Energy), was not the only L.A. based songsmith with a political conscience.
Being the longest track on the album at almost five minutes, the quietly vivid ‘Only For Me‘ evokes two troubled strangers who encounter each other in a dimly lit bar.
One is an elderly man licking wounds of a lifetime (‘His mind in his whiskey/And his body in a folding chair/Far beyond repair‘), the other is younger in years, although both have family struggles to relate, offering different perspectives when it comes to frayed relations involving parents and offspring.
On joining the older drinker at his table, he is told ‘”Young man, my you’re looking pretty green/Like a stranger to this kind of place’, the response confirming him as the restless type, a trait developed some years before:
‘There was a father and son/But that was a long time ago/And when the time came to run/I just couldn’t say no/So I left them behind.’
While they each have tribulations to bear, in making only brief acquaintance their burdens are momentarily lightened, the narrator describing the kinship received as ‘Human compassion will flow from a well/That has long run dry.’
In contrast ‘Summer’s Gone‘ is far more relaxed, Taylor relating this ode to the simple joys of the season in a jocular, conversational tone.
Decorated with breezy harmonica and crisp percussion, he dismisses winter with the cursory phrase ‘Old man wintertime/He goes so slow‘, sounding decidedly joyful when issuing an invite (‘Yeah, the water is cold but I’ve been in/Baby, lose the laundry and jump on in‘), to shed responsibilities and embrace spontaneity.
Focus then shifts to the troubling subject matter of ‘Sugar Trade‘ (Jimmy Buffet and Timothy Mayer also receiving a writing credit), a plaintive folk song highlighting the subjugation of young African men into slavery.
Pared back to the sparse instrumentation of Taylor (acoustic guitar/harmonica), Sklar (bass) and Grolnick (organ), there is juxtaposition between the lives of long-ago fishermen (‘Men of these shores made and gave up their lives/Pulling up fish from the sea’), with the evils of colonization, (‘While down in the African slavery trade/Stealing young men to cut sugar cane‘). The lyrics, despite centuries to have since passed, find no accountability has been established, ‘Two hundred years later and who is to blame?/The captain or the cargo or the juice of the sugar cane‘.
With the city of the title providing a backdrop to a series of personal recollections, ‘London Town‘ finds Taylor reflecting wistfully on days long ago when he was an inhabitant, ‘I can remember lots of time and space/If I lose the name, still I know the faces/Time as come and left its traces’.
As he reconnects with his former self by virtue of memories that linger from time once spent in the locale, the narrative takes a rueful twist – Taylor, amidst the punchy guitar work of Wachtel, that punctuates the general folk-rock inflections, singing from experience after pondering where the way ahead may lead:
‘When I grew too old and dull to rock ‘n roll/Like to hold on tight to you darling/And when my fires have all burned out/I’d like to think I can still think about/The things I used to sing about/When I was spending all my time alone/By myself and on my own/ Seldom seen and quite unknown.’
The path leading into the distance is viewed with fortitude and hope in closing track ‘That Lonesome Road‘, although not before admissions of regret have been taken into account.
Accompanied by Grolnick (who is listed as co-writer) on piano and a seven strong choir, including McCuller, Lasley and Jennifer Warnes, Taylor offers homespun advice (‘Walk down that lonesome road all by yourself/Don’t turn your head back over your shoulder‘), before expressing sentiments of a more introspective, regretful nature:
‘If I had stopped to listen once or twice/If I had closed my mouth and opened my eyes/If I had cooled my head and warmed my heart/I’d not be on this road tonight.’
After Taylor has resolved to ‘Carry On‘ the backing vocalists interject with the philosophical suggestion, ‘Never mind feeling sorry for yourself/It doesn’t save you from your troubled mind‘, this update of the 1963 Bob Dylan song ‘Lay Down Your Weary Tune‘ bringing a thoughtful, if sometimes solemn, album to a close.
Upon release ‘Dad Loves His Work‘ soon achieved commercial success and climbed to number five on the U.S. charts, Taylor vindicated in a decision to put his name against every track (being his first album not to include any covers since the 1968 debut), with a round of encouraging reviews.
The positivity which embraced the record, however, did not extend to his life as a whole, the artist entering a disconcerting period that brought divorce and (successful) treatment of drug addiction, all of which resulted in a four year recording hiatus that finally ended with ‘That’s Why I’m Here‘ (October 1985).
Back in March 1981′ Dad Loves His Work‘ appeared within days of ‘Face Dances‘ by The Who, the architect of each album revealing themselves as troubled, unsettled individuals, gripped by similar issues. Both would manage to sustain their careers, the line ‘One who was lost and found‘, from ‘Only for Me‘ applying as much to Pete Townshend as it would to James Taylor.
JAMES TAYLOR – DAD LOVES HIS WORK (Released March 22 1981);
Hard Times/Her Town Too/Hour That the Morning Comes/I Will Follow/Believe It or Not/Stand and Fight/Only for Me/Summer’s Here/Sugar Trade/London Town/That Lonesome Road;
Hello – hope you enjoyed another exclusive production from SAMTIMONIOUS.com
In order to create the best experience for when you drop by to read a page or two, those with the power to ordain such things (me, actually), have decided to remove all external advertising from the site – in other words articles will no longer be subject to intrusive pop-up ads. BUT – and ain’t there always one – should you wish to make a donation toward the on-costs of the most entertaining and original blog-site around, please press on the – ‘DONATE’ – button below. It will be greatly appreciated.
Stay safe everyone and thanks for dropping by – best wishes Neil
SAMTIMONIOUS.com – films, football and fabulous music at The Dominion of Opinion
NEIL SAMBROOK is also the author of MONTY’S DOUBLE – an acclaimed thriller available in paperback and as an Amazon Kindle book: