TAYLORED TO FIT: James Taylor – ‘MUD SLIDE SLIM and the BLUE HORIZON’

[email protected] July 8, 2022

Even with the break-up of The Beatles, it would be wrong to say rock music stood at a crossroads in 1970.

True, there were divergent strands, best exemplified by the metallic sound of countless heavy metal acts who millions had taken to their head-banging hearts, this in huge contrast to the melodic balladry purveyed by an emerging breed of singer-songwriter – whose poetic lyricism was also at odds with the unsubtle utterances littering many a hard rock song.

The acoustic guitar-based compositions of Stephen Stills featured on the 1969 ‘Crosby Stills & Nash‘ debut album had progressed the country rock song, taking it a step further than the folk meditations of early Bob Dylan material. But even accounting for the huge-selling CSN/CSNY albums to which Stills was attached, the most popular exponent of these pastoral soft-rock sensibilities in 1970 was twenty two year-old Boston-born James Taylor – whose ‘Sweet Baby James‘ album was a dazzling example of the form.

This collection of mature, often poignant musings were best exemplified by ‘Fire and Rain‘ that in describing his past descent into heroin addiction stands as the most harrowing song ever to become a hit single.

There was widespread misconception at the time of ‘Sweet Baby James‘ being his debut set and a stunning one at that, but two years before saw release of ‘James Taylor‘ which appeared on The Beatles’ Apple label – and while it had sunk without trace, not helped by an unsympathetic production, was a record of remarkable literacy and substance, containing as it did two songs (‘Something in the Way She Moves’/Carolina in My Mind‘), that would go on to rank among his most accomplished work.

With its trilling harpsichord and occasionally intrusive orchestration, ‘James Taylor‘ bore obvious late-60s studio decoration, but his second album was representative, initiated in fact, the mellow ambience that would typify any number of subsequent albums in this field – and given he would use the same players and write more observational songs (eleven of the 13 included) for his next record, then third LP ‘MUD SLIDE SLIM AND THE BLUE HORIZON‘ (April 1971), can be seen as continuation of ‘Sweet Baby James.’

What differences there are can be found in the confusion and bewilderment in songs where Taylor contemplates the sudden rush of fame to have engulfed him. Changes in musical emphasis are more slight, the electric guitar contributions of Danny Kortchmar are kept to a minimum and the pedal steel banished altogether.

The nucleus of his recording unit – Taylor/Kortchmar (guitars), Russ Kunkel (drums), Carole King (piano), now joined by stalwart LA session bassist Leland Sklar – are once again in situ, manager Peter Asher remains on production duty with Joni Mitchell dropping in with some harmony vocal support. But when horns or an extra layer of keyboards or percussion are added the ensemble sound less CSN and more like The Band – an effect he perhaps noted at the sessions from which ‘Tapestry‘ would emerge, King concurrently recording her masterpiece with the same players, including Taylor.

Throughout ‘Mud Slide Slim‘ are songs of journeys and homecomings, but just as often can be found songs about singing and songwriting, creation of songs his calling and occupation. At various times Taylor sounds confident, weary, ironic, often with a sense of being helpless in the face of new found fame – the strain of life on the road not always offset by returning home where stability can prove elusive.

Things at least begin in upbeat fashion, Taylor embracing the positive nature of romance on ‘Love Has Brought Me Around‘, even if it takes him until the chorus to get there.

The opening lines, ‘Don’t come to me with your sorrows anymore/I don’t need to know how bad you’re feeling today/I declare I’ve had my share/It’s time for me to be stealing away,’ have an air of discontent, but are counterpointed by an engaging performance from the troupe, fleshed out by rapturous horns, gospel-tinged background vocals from Joni and James – the two romantically attached at the time – Taylor enthused enough by the last verse to assert:

‘Now my head is full of springtime and my heart is full of you.’

The second song from the album to be released as a single, it was chosen to follow his cover of ‘You’ve Got a Friend‘, Taylor having a worldwide hit (reaching number one in the US), with a piece King had written for ‘Tapestry’.

In order to differentiate between the two versions, James builds his on a base of acoustic guitars rather than piano, keyboards replaced by understated congas. The warmth of his voice in this affirming ode to deep and lasting friendship is accentuated when Mitchell adds airy harmonies, conjuring the feel of a cool breeze on a summer day when they combine for the second reading of the chorus:

‘You just call out my name and you know wherever I am/I’ll come running to see you again/Winter, spring, summer or fall, all you’ve got to do is call and I’ll be there/You’ve got a friend.’

Taylor himself ruminates on friendships that now appear at an end in ‘Places in My Past‘, friends lost to the passage of time rather than any apparent animosity. Even at the tender age of 22 Taylor, leading this meandering ballad from the piano, is reflecting ruefully on times gone by (‘And though I never took a wife/May I say I loved me one or two’), showing ambivalence to the turn his life has taken, ‘I don’t know I just seem to sing these songs/And say I’m sorry for the friends I used to know.’

With banjo and fiddle accompaniment as obligatory on a ‘train’ song as train-themed songs were on many albums of this era, ‘Riding on a Railroad‘ is a metaphor for the way Taylor is currently living – the allusions to travel in the opening couplets leading to the somewhat gloomy acceptance of, ‘Time to time I tire of the life that I’ve been leading/Town to town and day to day.’

From his own tribulations he switches attention to those of wounded servicemen leaving the battlefield on ‘Soldiers‘, a 73-second episode in which only nine of the twenty strong have survived the engagement (‘Just nine out of twenty was headed for home/With eleven sad stories to tell‘). Taken by some as depiction of the ongoing conflict in Vietnam, the fifth and sixth lines (‘Come drumming and footsteps/Like out of a dream‘), suggest connotations to the American Civil War, Taylor by all accounts never offering any indication one way or the other.

Bringing side one of the original album to a close, the title track brings strongest indication yet that Taylor, if not exactly gloomy about his current high profile status would appreciate some time to take stock. With the players given license to stretch out on the longest cut on the record, there is a funky, relaxed feel as an escape from the demands of everyday life is being plotted:

‘I’m gonna cash in my hand and pick up a piece of land/I’m gonna build myself a cabin in the woods/And it’s there I’m gonna stay until there comes a day/When this old world starts changing for the good.’

With slick electric guitar work from Kortchmar and tightly harnessed background vocals proving supremely effective, the writer in the form of ‘Cause there’s nothing like the sound of sweet soul music to change a young lady’s mind/And there’s nothing like a walk down by the bayou/To leave the world behind‘ has begun to see light at the end of his tunnel.

The sensation of hearing one of his own songs in a public place is not portrayed as an altogether happy one on ‘Hey Mister, That’s Me Up on The Jukebox.‘ Through this country-tinged lament he becomes sadder with each dime that brings forth his voice, the summation of his melancholy encapsulated in ‘I’ve done been this lonesome picker a little too long/I’ve been spreading myself thin these days, goodbye,‘ lines leaving no ambiguity in regard to his state of mind.

The acoustic lullaby ‘You Can Close Your Eyes‘ serves not just as an exquisite love song but how, contrary perhaps to popular belief at the time, how guitar playing did not have to be fast, flashy and electric to be expressive.

It is a soothing, serene piece written at a late hour perspective, (‘Well the sun is surely sinking down/But the moon is slowly rising,’) Taylor leaving this song for his lover before they must shortly separate for a while, (‘And I can’t sing the blues anymore/But I can sing this song/And you can sing this song/When I’m gone,’) showing faith in the future by closing it out with, ‘It won’t be long before another day/We gonna have a good time.‘

‘Machine Gun Kelly‘ is a breezy run through of an upbeat song written by guitarist Kortchmar on the criminal exploits of the 1930s gangster, his domineering wife Kathryn featuring as much in the lyric as the outlaw himself.

Mitchell returns with vocal support on ‘Long Ago and Far Away‘ a midtempo track with light jazz overtones, Taylor throwing out a series of questions (‘Where do these golden rainbows end? Why is this song so sad?), for which he cannot find answers, while on ‘Let Me Ride‘ the sentiments are those of rueful acceptance at the transient nature of life on the road, the musicians behind him, again supplemented by the horn section, sounding like a soul revue as he sings:

‘I done made my mind up yesterday and I just can’t stay/So hand me down my highway shoes.‘

The opening verse of ‘Highway Song’ dips into the Bible with references to Noah (‘Father let us build a boat and sail away/There’s nothing for you here/And brother let us throw our lot upon the sea/It’s been done before,’) in setting out scenes based on the experiences of touring – ‘So I grab my bags and I pack my clothes and I’m back on the road again.‘

Realisation of what living this life entails is made clear when he observes, ‘Here I am again/Holiday Inn/Same old four walls again,’ the song, a piano ballad with just bass and drums accompaniment, giving the brief closing cut ‘Isn’t It Nice To Be Home Again‘ the feeling of an epilogue – James and his guitar having returned from their travels, making a statement rather than posing a question.

On release Taylor saw his new album race up charts around the world, only denied the US Number One spot by the monumental sales of ‘Tapestry,’ a wave of mixed reviews proving no barrier to enormous commercial success.

Rolling Stone labelled it ‘dull‘ but also referred to moments that were ‘pleasant and absorbing‘ while Robert Christgau awarded the record a paltry C+ in his A-D rating system, denouncing Taylor for (his) ‘self-pity,’ taking the overall view it was ‘interesting, intricate and unlistenable’ which sounded smart alliteration even if ‘unlistenable‘ was far from true.

The point critics of the day appeared to miss was that rather than make social comment in the manner of say Randy Newman or Neil Young, James Taylor, like Carole King to a large extent on ‘Tapestry‘, offered an antidote rather than appraisal of the world, this at a time when America was still mired in the Vietnam war, wracked by the political paranoia eventually leading to Watergate and where the aspirations of the Woodstock generation were fast losing traction.

If the charge against Taylor was one of self-absorption then in the dock with him were King, Mitchell and Stills, artists who were turning increasingly inward for songwriting stimuli rather than protesting on behalf of the people – ‘Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon‘ a prime example of providing refuge rather than reaction to the world at large.

JAMES TAYLOR – MUD SLIDE SLIM and the BLUE HORIZON (Released April 13 1971):

Love Has Brought Me Around/You’ve Got a Friend/Places In my Past/Riding On a Railroad/Soldiers/Mud Slide Slim/Hey Mister, That’s Me up on the Jukebox/You Can Close Your Eyes/Machine Gun Kelly/Long Ago and Far Away/Let Me Ride/Highway Song/Isn’t It Nice to Be Home Again;

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NEIL SAMBROOK is the author of ‘MONTY’S DOUBLE‘ – an acclaimed thriller now available in paperback and as an Amazon Kindle book.