Sweet Baby James
The breakthrough: Fire and Rain, the title lullaby, and more than three million copies sold in the US.
James Taylor, 1970
- Released
- February 1970
- Recorded
- 8 to 17 December 1969
- Studio
- Sunset Sound, Los Angeles
- Label
- Warner Bros.
- Producer
- Peter Asher
- Length
- 31:14
Taylor had no settled home when he made it, and the sessions cost $7,600 of a $20,000 budget. Danny Kortchmar and Russ Kunkel played on it, with Carole King on piano and backing vocals. Fire and Rain reached number three, the album reached number three in the US and number six in the UK, and it was nominated for Album of the Year. It entered the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002. In Rolling Stone, Gary von Tersch found it a record wholly his own, while Robert Christgau was scornful. William Ruhlmann of AllMusic wrote that Taylor did not break the listener's heart so much as recognize it was broken already. The title track is Sweet Baby James.
Track listing
- Sweet Baby James2:54
- Lo and Behold2:37
- Sunny Skies2:21
- Steamroller2:57
- Country Road3:22
- Oh, Susannah1:58
- Fire and Rain3:20
- Blossom2:14
- Anywhere Like Heaven3:23
- Oh Baby, Don't You Loose Your Lip on Me1:46
- Suite for 20 G4:41
Personnel
- James Taylor vocals, guitar
- Danny Kortchmar guitar
- Red Rhodes steel guitar
- John London bass
- Randy Meisner bass
- Bobby West bass
- Carole King piano, backing vocals
- Russ Kunkel drums
- Chris Darrow fiddle
- Jack Bielan brass arrangements
- Bill Lazerus engineer
More from James Taylor
James Taylor (1968), Gorilla (1975), Greatest Hits (1976), Dad Loves His Work (1981)
Sources
- Sweet Baby James, Wikipedia
- Sweet Baby James review, AllMusic
- Sweet Baby James, original US LP, Discogs