Artist: James Taylor

Over his lengthy career, singer-songwriter James Taylor has proved himself more than adept at mastering other people’s songs. Previous hits such as "Handy Man", "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)" and "You’ve Got A Friend" have all been successfully transformed by Taylor’s mellow, flawless vocals and savvy arrangements--but it’s also true that some renditions have failed to ignite in quite the same way. Covers, Taylor’s first dedicated collection of covers, is similarly mixed. It’s an ambitious collection, covering everything from soul and country to good old-fashioned rock & roll. But while he manages to pull off convincing versions of soulful classics like The Drifters' "On Broadway", The Temptation’s “It’s Growing” and George Jones’ evergreen country shuffle "Why Baby Why", his takes on Jr. Walker’s "(I'm a) Road Runner", Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues” and "Hound Dog" are sadly lacklustre (though none are as bad as the particularly insipid reworking of Leonard Cohen’s “Suzanne”, which manages to lose all the emotional gravitas of the original). A hit and miss collection, but one that will doubtless still satisfy ardent JT fans. --<...
Mike (lover of good music), 2009-08-02
I saw James perform many of these tracks in Bournemouth (June 2009) and I just had to get the album, many covers too many to mention but he does manage to get the hairs on the back of my neck standing up. Great album not just for fans of James Taylor!

Artist: James Taylor

The album that launched a thousand heavy-hearted singer/songwriters on their not-so-merry way, Sweet Baby James was arguably the first shot in what became the soft revolution of the early 1970s. A refugee of the Beatles' Apple label, Taylor struck commercial gold with Sweet Baby James by augmenting his acoustic guitar and soothing vocals with laid-back accompaniment (with included equally influential singer/songwriter insurrectionist Carole King on piano) and penning a slew of songs that drew upon folk, soul, and rock influences. "Fire and Rain" stands as the quintessential early Taylor tune: musically mellow and lyrically restive, it put Taylor in the charts and set the tone for a popular school of 1970s sound. --Steven Stolder
time for a remaster!, 2008-05-16
I'm amazed this classic has been untouched since its initial cd release in the 80's. Technology has moved on since then, and we deserve a crystal clear version, so we can hear JT's sublime singing and picking in the way it was intended to be heard!

Artist: Yo-Yo Ma, Alison Krauss, James Taylor, Diana Krall, Renée Fleming, Dave Brubeck, Chris Thile, Edgar Meyer, Chris Botti, Natalie MacMaster

Joy, 2010-02-12
I first saw part of the dvd on Sky Arts 2 and recorded most of it . Some while later I " rediscovered " it whilst browsing Amazon - - and bought . My lady friend and I watched the dvd from start to finish , absolutely spell bound. A most beautiful musical and emotional experience
Buy Amazon's dvd/cd package and thrill to what you see and hear - - - a mandolin player who " freaks out " , sitting between Yo Yo Ma and Renee Fleming - - - Dave Brubeck " forgetting " his wedding anniversary - - - so much joy , so much humour - - - just maybe a tad too much mutual admiration society , but since some of the most talented musicians in the world are featured , perhaps understandable and forgiveable .
I loved every minute of it .

Artist: James Taylor

James Taylor's mid-70s departure from Warner Bros may be one of the best things that ever happened to the label; otherwise, it might not have been in such a rush to compile his Greatest Hits, one of the company's biggest sellers ever at 11 million and counting. Taylor's style, which all but defines the word diffident, has more backbone than it's often given credit for. Here, as surprisingly complex songs like "Carolina in My Mind" (in a newly recorded version) and "Steamroller" stack up, he sounds like an artist worth spending some time with. At the least, few of his singer-songwriter cohorts came up with a melody as lovely as "Sweet Baby James". --Rickey Wright
James Taylor: Greatest Hits, 2009-03-01
James Taylor: Greatest Hits
This is a great, laid back album. If you are a casual fan, this album has everything you need.

Artist: James Taylor

Ol' Sweet Baby James is known for his gentle cooing about life's little joys and tragedies (he's seen fire and he's seen rain) and for surrounding himself with the best studio musicians money can buy. Steve Jordan and Steve Gadd on drums ensure the rhythm is solid and guitarist Danny Kortchmar and saxophonist Michael Brecker are top flight cats who keep things in place in New Moon Shine. Taylor himself is in fine form, penning an immediate audience favourite, "Copperline", and getting playful with Sam Cooke's hit, "Everybody Loves to Cha Cha Cha", which initially seems incongruous but over time makes sense as more blue shirt soul from Martha's Vineyard's favourite boy. --Rob O'Connor
voice of velvet....., 2010-02-20
What can you say? James Taylor could sing the telephone directory and I'd buy it! He's one of those songsmiths and singers who makes a song his own, and even as he looses his hair, and his looks, his voice still makes the hair on the back of your neck stand on end. Every track a winner on another superb album.

Artist: James Taylor

Any good singer can interpret a song, but it takes a stylist to make it his own. James Taylor is a stylist. You've Got a Friend obviously can't chronicle much more than the hits and high points of Taylor's career, but it nonetheless captures the artistic essence of a performer who's become a virtual synonym for "singer-songwriter" since his emergence in the late 1960s. A lot of ink has been spilled ruminating about Taylor's role in soothing a 60s-burned generation, but given his own well-known demons (depression, addiction) his gentle voice often sounds like the physician wisely healing himself. His muse seems fully formed from the opening "Something in the Way She Moves", a track cut for the Beatles' Apple label in late 1968 (and one that seems to share some symbiotic relationship with George Harrison's own classic "Something" from the period), its tone at once familiar and inviting--if ripe for a few decades of parody--as it wends its way from his seminal early-1970s hits through a slate of later originals, R&B ("How Sweet It Is", "Handy Man") and pop ("Up on the Roof") covers. Tellingly, he delivers those chestnuts with an offhand confidence and illumination that makes th...
When your down and troubled, 2010-02-20
And you need a helping hand. and nothing - no nothing is going right - Close you eyes and listen to this album. Excellent value

Artist: James Taylor

One Mam Band, 2009-08-02
I saw the One Man Band tour when JT came to the UK and then saw the show on television. This CD/DVD set is the closest you can get to being at the concert. A great buy!

Artist: James Taylor

mud slide slim, 2009-03-08
Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon
What can i say its James Taylor at his best.I have always been a fan and have yet to find a bad album.If you haven't yet got any of his albums this is a good place to start.

Artist: Joni Mitchell & James Taylor

Circel Game - Joni Mitchell, 2009-07-15
Am Amazing album. To be able hear a Joni Mitchell concert of almost forty years ago, with Joni singing some of her most beautifully crafted songs from the 60's, and to hear how extraordinarily skillful both she and James Taylor on guitar were even then is fantastic. A great recording, and one that any self--respecting JM fan must have.

Artist: James Taylor

Way beyond anything I expected, 2009-12-26
I bought this for my partner as we're both JT fans and I wasn't expecting a great deal. I thought that it's just another Christmas record but James's great voice will maybe save it. How wrong can a person be, it's just superb !. The CD was mainly produced and arranged by Dave Grusin and the arrangements are just fantastic. So many top-rank musicians that it's difficult to name them all but the rhythm section of Jimmy Johnson on bass and Vinnie Colaiuta on drums, is unbeatable. Great support also from John Pizzarelli and Michael Landau on guitars. Dave Grusin also contributes consistently inventive piano playing. I would say that the arrangements transform each track and even add life to old chestnuts like 'Go Tell it on the Mountain'. James's sense of humour is always there too.

My personal favourites are Santa Claus is coming to Town, Jingle Bells and Some Children See Him. I'm not remotely religious, in fact quite the opposite but this is simply great music. Whoever envisaged doing Jingle Bells as a funky blues complete with slide guitar and a marvellous guitar solo, deserves a medal. It's just brilliant and I just broke down in laughter as it progressed.

James's voice is consistently excellent and is surprisingly adaptable on these mainly jazzy interpretations. We played this CD non-stop for all of Christmas day and I would unreservedly recommend it.