Sweet Baby James
1 February 1970 was the release date for James Taylor’s Sweet Baby James, an album I’ve had an on-off relationship with over many years.
Taylor attracted early recognition from the Beatles, and recorded his first album for Apple, but his life had been, and would continue to be, marked by mental health issues and a nasty heroin habit. A lot of the songs on this album, his second, were written in rehab.
On release, Sweet Baby James, brought him recognition, particularly in the US. And it’s easy to understand why: the title track is one of Taylor’s best songs, an easy waltz with a country feel and some neat little turns (with ten miles behind me and ten thousand more to go with its extended scansion against an Em chord, for example). Fire and Rain is one of his best loved songs and a staple of pub singers everywhere and any party where a guitar is lurking in a corner.
My problem is with the rest of the album. Taylor is a fine guitar player and everything is beautifully played. Pete Asher arranges and produces with an admirably light touch, and Taylor’s expressive, light tenor floats amiably on top. But it’s so smooth it slips away into the background without hooking me and reeling me in.
Pearls come from grit, and there’s no grit here.
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