Flag (James Taylor album)

Flag is singer-songwriter James Taylor's ninth album. Released in 1979, it included songs from Taylor's music score to Studs Terkel and Stephen Schwartz's Broadway musical, Working ("Millworker", "Brother Trucker").

The album was not particularly well received, but it did provide a hit in Taylor's cover version of the Gerry Goffin/Carole King composition, "Up on the Roof".

The signal flag that makes up the cover of the album is "O (Oscar)", standing for "man overboard."

On the 12 May 1979 episode of Saturday Night Live, James Taylor was the musical guest, and performed three songs from the album, "Up on the Roof", "Millworker", and "Johnnie Comes Back".^[4]

Track listing

All songs by James Taylor unless otherwise noted.

1. "Company Man" – 3:47
2. "Johnnie Comes Back" – 3:55
3. "Day Tripper" (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) – 4:25
4. "I Will Not Lie for You" – 3:16
5. "Brother Trucker" – 4:01
6. "Is That the Way You Look?" – 1:59
7. "B.S.U.R." – 3:23
8. "Rainy Day Man" (Taylor, Zach Wiesner) – 3:02
9. "Millworker" – 3:52
10. "Up on the Roof" (Gerry Goffin, Carole King) – 4:21
11. "Chanson Française" – 2:05
12. "Sleep Come Free Me" – 4:43

Personnel

• James Taylor — guitar, vocals
• Don Alias — percussion
• Peter Asher — timbales, vocals
• Valerie Carter — backing vocals
• Dan Dugmore — pedal steel guitar
• Steve Forman — percussion
• Don Grolnick — keyboards
• Jimmy Johnson — bass
• Danny Kortchmar — guitar
• Russ Kunkel — drums, percussion
• David Lasley — backing vocals
• Jesse Levy — cello
• Arif Mardin — strings
• Steve Edney — backing vocals
• Kate Markowitz — backing vocals
• Arnold McCuller — backing vocals
• Graham Nash — vocals
• David Sanborn — saxophone
• Ralph Schuckett — keyboards
• Louise Schulmann — viola
• Carly Simon — vocals
• Leland Sklar — bass
• David Spinozza — guitar, strings
• Alex Taylor — backing vocals
• Waddy Wachtel — acoustic, electric and slide guitar

References and notes