In the history of popular music there are few albums that have served to launch the career of an artist while at the same time ushering in a fresh form of creative expression.
Bob Dylan had previously done it with ‘The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan‘ in 1963 and in 1976 New York punk entity The Ramones did likewise with their incendiary debut set. In between them had come ‘SWEET BABY JAMES‘ by James Taylor (February 1970), a record that propelled the creator to global stardom, while becoming the foundation stone of the singer-songwriter movement whose considered, well-crafted music would bring many purveyors huge success through the early ’70s.
Just 21 at the time of release, Boston-born Taylor already had an accomplished, if barely-noticed, debut album to his name, a record showcasing a distinct flair for succinct, poetic lyrics that were not well served by cluttered, unsympathetic arrangements. Recorded in London where Taylor had moved to overcome his drug dependence, he came to the attention of Peter Asher, who having once been part of mid-60s pop duo Peter & Gordon was now A&R man for The Beatles’ Apple label.
Recording at Trident Studios at the same time ‘The White Album‘ was being created, Paul McCartney and George Harrison added uncredited backing vocals to an outstanding track entitled ‘Carolina in my Mind‘ and while his turn of phrase was to be admired and showed maturity way beyond such relatively tender years, the album made no commercial headway. Taylor returned to the United States with Asher now in situ as manager, his managerial manoeuvrings brought escape from Apple and a contract with Warner Bros, resulting in sessions at Sunset Sound, Los Angeles, in December 1969 where a batch of new songs were cut.
Retaining the same high level of lyrical accomplishment, only now complemented by less decorative, more compatable melodies, Taylor is supported by a group of core musicians comprising Danny Kootch (guitar) – the two having played together since their mid-teens – Carole King (piano), Russ Kunkel (drums), future-Eagle Randy Meisner (bass), Red Rhodes (pedal steel) and Chris Darrow (fiddle). Joining the troupe himself on acoustic guitar, the folk balladry in which his songwriting is rooted becomes infused at various times with blues, country-pop and gospel overtones, Asher as producer never allowing the appealing tones of Taylor to be lost among the instrumentation.
With music currently in the throes of a maelstrom that had brought a horde of hard rock acts to the fore, their unifying traits a tendency to play long and loud, as the 60s drew to a close others were articulating the social upheaval of the times. James Taylor was not heavy, in contemporary music terms, did not write lengthy pieces with excessive soloing and in his words made no political intimations.
Indeed, for inspiration he looked inward, drawing on his own experiences, some of which were bleak and confusing. Yet while there was despair and self-doubt, very often Taylor is looking to escape the shadows and find a clear and guiding light.
Rarely does he make sweeping statements, preferring personal observations that can be deeply affecting, none more so than in the intense and boldy autobographical ‘Fire and Rain‘ – a piece that in consectuive verses chronicles the suicide of a close friend, his heroin addiction and period spent in a mental hospital, the song widely regarded as the most harrowing ever to become a hit single.
Less dramatic but still a song of great charm and candour, the opening title track is a lilting country lullaby, the writer describing the outlook of a young cowboy who spends his nights alone in a canyon with nothing for company but his horse and cattle, loneliness kept at bay by singing himself to sleep:
‘There is a young cowboy, he lives on the range/His horse and his cattle are his only companions/He works in the saddle and he sleeps in the canyons, waiting for summer, his pastures to change/And as the moon rises he sits by his fire, thinking about women and glasses of beer.’
According to Taylor ‘Sweet Baby James‘ came to him on a drive from New York to Carolina where he was going to see a newly-born nephew who had also been named James. The second verse takes the form of a gentle country waltz, connatations of the lone traveller/cowboy feeling just a speck against the horizon, never more resonant than when he sings:
‘Now the first of December was covered with snow/And so was the turnpike from Stockbridge to Boston/
Though the Berkshires seemed dreamlike on account of that frosting/With ten miles behind me and ten thousand more to go.’
‘Lo and Behold‘ incorporates elements of gospel blues, Taylor to the sole accompanient of his acoustic guitar evoking relgious imagery (‘I don’t build no heathen temples where the Lord has done laid his hand/There’s a well on the hill/Let it be‘), that is reminiscent of the parable songs Dylan wrote for ‘John Wesley Harding.’ For the second verse he lightens the tone, his voice and playing more relaxed, even if the message still comes with a warning:
‘Everyone’s talking ’bout the gospel story, some shall sink and some shall rise/Everyone’s talking ’bout the train to glory/Long, long time till it gets here to you, baby.’
The light jazz shuffle of ‘Sunny Skies’ belies a disconcerting narrative about a lonely, forlorn figure who sleeps all morning and is without friends.
Some have taken it as comment on time Taylor spent in the grip of despression, the final verse linking the character of the title to the author, who cannot help but ponder if his suffering has been worth arriving at the place he has. Contemplating whether his existence would be better served just letting life roll by as it is, the wider issue being the problems of the world were too big for one mind to resolve so better to find a degree of self-fulfillment – a perspective beginning to take hold as the 60s gave way to a new decade:
‘Looking at the snow and trees that grow outside my window/Looking at the things that pass me by/
Wondering if where I’ve been is worth the things I’ve been through/Ending with a friend named sunny skies.’
Written in its original form during the mid-60s Taylor later claimed ‘Steamroller‘ was his reaction to seeing middle-class white kids trying to sing and play like blues greats such as Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf. Amused by their lack of authenticity, he wrote a humerous blues lament that mixes sexual innuendo with construction vehicle meteaphors;
‘Yes I’m a cement mixer for you, babe/A churning urn of burning funk/Well, I’m a demolition derby, yeah/A hefty hunk of steaming junk.’
Beefed up with some background horns and chunky electric guitar, there is an agreeable lack of pretension about the piece, Taylor ramping up the vocal and musical theatrics – complete with a line of lyrical profanity – in a rousing live rendition included on his huge-selling 1976 ‘Greatest Hits‘ set.
On the same compilation can also be found ‘Country Road‘ and ‘Fire and Rain‘ – two songs that stand amongst the most resonant that he, or anyone else for that matter, wrote during this era.
On the former, the ‘Country Road‘ in question is one to be travelled in isolation, leaving behind family conflicts, unhappy schooldays, mental anguish, contentment found in being alone:
‘Take to the highway/Won’t you lend me your name/Your way and my way/They seem to be one and the same/Mamma don’t understand it/She wants to know where I’ve been/I’d have to be some kind of natural born fool/To want to pass that way again.’
Once again exploring the theme of solitude, only in slightly more positive manner than other instances across the album, Taylor attaches his observations to a simple, yet highly effective country-rock arrangement, the structure shaped by early work of The Band. For Taylor the past, indeed the present, may be bleak, but that is not to say the notion of finding personal freedom has been surrendered or lost:
‘Sail on home to Jesus won’t you good girls and boys/I’m all in pieces you can have your own choice/But I can hear a heavenly band full of angels and they’re coming to set me free/I don’t know nothin’ about the why or when/But I can tell you that it’s bound to be.’
While the melody has similarities, ‘Fire and Rain‘ is of far darker hue. This achingly mournful depiction of loss and loneliness makes poignant references to the death by suicide of close friend Suzanne Schnerr, (‘Just yesterday mornin’/They let me know you were gone/Suzanne, the plans they made put an end to you‘) his battle to beat hard drug dependency, (‘Won’t you look down upon me, Jesus?/You’ve got to help me make a stand/You’ve just got to see me through another day/My body’s aching and my time is at hand’) and struggle with mental issues (‘Been walking my mind to an easy time/My back turned towards the sun/Lord knows, when the cold wind blows/It’ll turn your head around‘).
His clear, undemonstatrive vocal is perfect for the sombre subject matter and while some lines have been subject to misinterpretation, rather than plane crash ‘Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground‘ is reference to the unsuccessful band ‘Flying Machine‘ he and Kootch were members of a few years before. The chorus, however, makes clear his conflicted state of mind and anguish at losing Schnerr:
‘I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain/I’ve seen sunny days that I thought would never end/I’ve seen lonely times when I could not find a friend/But I always thought that I’d see you again.’
Arriving at the onset of a new decade, the appearance of a folk-pop ballad so moving in its nuance and narrative could not have been more timely, standing almost as a closing statement for a generation searching for purpose and direction – or as one critic put it, ‘an anthem for those suffering ’60s burn out.’
In contrast ‘Blossom‘ finds Taylor adopting a breezy tone. The spectre of a solitary figure still looms, (‘Blossom, smile some sunshine down my way/Lately I’ve been lonesome/Blossom, it’s been much too long a day/Seems my dreams have frozen/Melt my cares away‘), but is tempered by melodicism where Taylor comes across as a one man Crosby, Stills & Nash. The atmospheric steel guitar of Rhodes carries the wistful ‘Anywhere Like Heaven‘ into gentle country-rock territory, but by virtue of an engaging vocal Taylor sounds thoughtful rather than troubled when singing:
‘There’s a pasture in the countryside I used to call my own/There’s a natural pillow for my head/The grass there is overgrown/I think of that place from time to time/When I want to be alone’/Cause I’ve come a long way from anywhere/Like heaven to this town.’
Neither ‘Oh Baby Don’t Lose Your Lip on Me’ an enjoyable acoustic blues romp or the lone cover, a sprightly run through of the 19th Century Stephen Foster standard ‘Oh Susannah‘ run to two minutes, Taylor playing the role of self-accompanying troubabdor in ensuring there is no chance of either outstaying their welcome.
To show he was not adverse to sly humour when the opportunity arose, he closes the album with ‘Suite for 20G‘ – so named as the artist was promised $20,000 on completition of the album, the track incorporating three unfinished songs that were merged into a four minute ‘suite‘.
It serves the purpose well in rounding things off in upbeat fashion. The mix of acoustic and electric guitars in the first half create a sound close to where The Byrds have been and the Eagles would go, while in the second the horns return, Taylor out front of a soft rock/soul ensemble when he declares:
‘When I catch a common cold/Wanna hear a saxophone/When I let the good times roll, baby/Slide me a bass trombone.’
If the reviews were somewhat mixed, Rolling Stone labelling it ‘a very listenable record‘ while dismissed as ‘for true believers only‘ in Village Voice, ‘Sweet Baby James‘ quickly found a receptive audience among record buyers who in no time sent it to number three on the Billboard listings – the success of ‘Fire and Rain‘ and ‘Country Road‘ when issued as singles ensuring a lengthy stay on the album charts.
Early the following year ‘Sweet Baby James‘ was nominated for a Grammy in the ‘Album of the Year‘ category (losing out to ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’), yet by then the record had become recognised as a defining work of the time. Soon it was acknowledged as the first in a trilogy of recordings – joined by ‘Blue‘ (Joni Mitchell) and ‘Tapestry‘ (Carole King) – whose lyrics and refined, understated ambience provided an antedote to the hard rock excesses of the time, while also reflecting the moral anxieties of the peace and love fraternity as the 60s grew more distant.
Not least for Taylor, Mitchell and King was what to do with the riches and renown brought by success – a dilemma they would address to varying degrees on subseqent releases.
JAMES TAYLOR – ‘SWEET BABY JAMES‘ (Released February 1st 1970):
Sweet Baby James/Lo and Behold/Sunny Skies/Steamroller/Country Road/Oh Susannah/Fire and Rain/Blossom/Anywhere Like Heaven/Oh Baby, Don’t Lose Your Lip On Me/Suite for 20G;
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