Sweet Baby James

Sweet Baby James
Studio album by James Taylor
Released February, 1970
Recorded December, 1969 at Sunset Sound
Genre Country Rock, Folk
Length 31:51
Label Warner Bros.
Producer Peter Asher
James Taylor chronology
James Taylor
(1968)		 Sweet Baby James
(1970)		 James Taylor and the Original Flying Machine
(1971)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]
Robert Christgau B− [2]
Rolling Stone (favorable) [3]
Rolling Stone Album Guide [4]
This table needs to be expanded using prose. See the guideline for more information.

Sweet Baby James is singer-songwriter James Taylor's second album, and his first release on Warner Bros. Records. Released in February 1970, it showcased Taylor's talents and showed the direction he would take in the early 1970s with the expansion of his career. The album featured one of Taylor's earliest single successes: "Fire and Rain", which reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album itself also managed to reach #3 on the Billboard Album Charts. Sweet Baby James made Taylor one of the main forces of the ascendent folk movement. The album was nominated to a Grammy Award for Album of the Year, in 1971. The album was listed at #103 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[5]

The song "Suite for 20 G" was so named because Taylor was promised $20,000 once the album was delivered. With one more song needed, he strung together three unfinished songs into a "suite," and completed the album.[6]

Contents

Awards and recognition

Track listing

All songs by James Taylor unless otherwise noted.

Side one

  1. "Sweet Baby James" – 2:54
  2. "Lo and Behold" – 2:37
  3. "Sunny Skies" – 2:21
  4. "Steamroller" – 2:57
  5. "Country Road" – 3:22
  6. "Oh! Susanna" (Stephen Foster) – 1:58

Side two

  1. "Fire and Rain" – 3:20
  2. "Blossom" – 2:14
  3. "Anywhere Like Heaven" – 3:23
  4. "Oh Baby, Don't You Loose Your Lip on Me" – 1:46
  5. "Suite for 20 G" – 4:41

Personnel

The horn players are uncredited.

References

  1. ^ Ruhlmann, William. Sweet Baby James at Allmusic. Retrieved 2 October 2004.
  2. ^ Christgau, Robert. "James Taylor > Consumer Guide Reviews". Robert Christgau. http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=james+taylor. Retrieved 13 April 2006. 
  3. ^ von Tersch, Gary (April 30, 1970). "James Taylor Sweet Baby James > Album Review". Rolling Stone (57). Archived from the original on 3 November 2007. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/sweet-baby-james-19700430. Retrieved 15 June 2006. 
  4. ^ Coleman, Mark with Edmonds, Ben (2004). "James Taylor". In Brackett, Nathan with Hoard, Christian. The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. London: Fireside. pp. 804–805. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.  Portions posted at "James Taylor > Album Guide". rollingstone.com. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/james-taylor/albumguide. Retrieved 6 November 2011. 
  5. ^ a b Levy, Joe; Steven Van Zandt (2006) [2005]. "103 | Sweet Baby James - James Taylor". Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (3rd ed.). London: Turnaround. ISBN 1932958614. OCLC 70672814. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-19691231/sweet-baby-james-james-taylor-19691231. Retrieved 20 March 2005. 
  6. ^ Suite For 20G by James Taylor Songfacts

External links

James Taylor
Studio albums
Live albums
Holiday albums
Compilation albums
Video albums
James Taylor: In Concert · James Taylor Live in Rio · James Taylor in Concert in Boston · Squibnocket · Live at the Beacon Theatre · Pull Over · A Musicares Person of the Year Tribute
Extended plays
Related articles