But although his consistent, present (and some might say bland) sound appears deceptively simple, it warrants much more careful listening.įind Sweet Baby James on Amazon (opens in new tab) Random Access Memories by Daft Punk Spanning five decades, Taylor’s impressive canon has long been a popular choice among sound engineers tuning large PAs. Listeners easily connected with the lyrics which resonated with those for whom the promise of peace and love had fallen short and Sweet Baby James became a hit. The unconventional, understated, yet radio-friendly production of the album left Taylor’s intentions bare and mirrored the frankness of the songwriting.

Almost chamber-music like, each element feels quietly intentional, floating untethered with a rich, transparent sound. It’s a subtle record that lacks the compressed smoothness and cloak of dense reverb characterising Taylor’s later work but is still filled with expressive, dynamic detail that purposefully serves the songs. Centring the record on a balance between Taylor’s plaintive voice and his classically intricate, finger-picked guitar playing, he was deliberately restrained, using accompaniment and effects sparingly. At the end of the sessions and still a song short of the required ten tracks he needed to collect his $20,000 advance from his new label Warner Brothers, Taylor cobbled one together out of three discarded fragments, naming it Suite For 20G, creating one of the album's most joyful moments.įor his work as producer, Asher used the very lightest of touches, at odds with the ornate, psychedelic folk-rock sound of the time. I had no idea if it was any good or not”. Taylor later said that the process “went fast. The entire album was recorded over ten days at the cost of just $7600. He also unleashed, for the first time, his sardonic brand of lyricism with Steamroller, a satire of white blues, and the bleakly happy Sunny Skies. The songs sounded outwardly sweet, but they covered dark subject matter, including his struggles with drug use and the suicide of a close friend in Fire And Rain. He may have parted ways with Apple, but Taylor continued to work with Asher, who became both his manager and producer, moving into his house to write and rehearse a new batch of songs with a small group of musician friends, including Carole King on piano duties and Randy Meisner of The Eagles. To top off an eventful year, in 1969, he broke both his hands and feet in a motorbike accident, leaving him unable to play for several months. Eventually, he committed himself into a psychiatric treatment facility and swiftly gained the distinction of becoming the first artist to leave Apple records. After such an auspicious start, the resulting debut album sold poorly as Taylor relapsed into a heroin dependence he had first developed playing Greenwich Village clubs as a teenager and was unable to tour or publicise the release. In 1968, after giving a demo tape to Peter Asher, head of A&R at the Beatles' Apple Records, folk singer James Taylor became the first non-British act to be signed to the Fab Four’s fledgling label. It's an overload of ideas and sounds that should be in competition with each other but instead delight.įind Spilt Milk by Jellyfish on Amazon (opens in new tab) Sweet Baby James by James Taylor The result is daring excess laced with irony and levity, as sudden shifts and pushy drums make way for bursts of vocal chorus. The album’s title was chosen in reference to it being both over budget and behind schedule (a recurring theme in this list), as the Spilt Milk sessions dragged on for six months, while the band agonised over intricate arrangements, retakes and tweaking. Producer Albhy Galuten (famed for his work on Saturday Night Fever and creating the first commercial drum loop) carefully captured the full-bodied tones of every single instrument – and there are a lot of them – taking days to perfect each one. It bursts with late-stage grandiosity and wears its influences on its sleeve, from opener Hush – a Pet Sounds lullaby with A Day In The Life warped orchestral line – to the bombastic Queen-style romp of Joining A Fanclub including a left-field nod to Roy Wood in the sparkling saxophones lurking in the background of the searing guitar.īut this is much more than an exercise in pomp and pastiche. Indeed the album is sometimes even accused of committing the cardinal sin of being ‘overproduced’. Combining intricate harmonies, decadent orchestration and sunshine melodies, Spilt Milk was a failure commercially in part due to its unashamed craftsmanship at a time when grunge authenticity was coming to the fore.

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