You've Got A Friend: The Best Of James Taylor

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Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
Any good singer can interpret a song, but it takes a stylist to make it his own. James Taylor is a stylist. You've Got a Friend obviously can't chronicle much more than the hits and high points of Taylor's career, but it nonetheless captures the artistic essence of a performer who's become a virtual synonym for "singer-songwriter" since his emergence in the late 1960s. A lot of ink has been spilled ruminating about Taylor's role in soothing a 60s-burned generation, but given his own well-known demons (depression, addiction) his gentle voice often sounds like the physician wisely healing himself. His muse seems fully formed from the opening "Something in the Way She Moves", a track cut for the Beatles' Apple label in late 1968 (and one that seems to share some symbiotic relationship with George Harrison's own classic "Something" from the period), its tone at once familiar and inviting--if ripe for a few decades of parody--as it wends its way from his seminal early-1970s hits through a slate of later originals, R&B ("How Sweet It Is", "Handy Man") and pop ("Up on the Roof") covers. Tellingly, he delivers those chestnuts with an offhand confidence and illumination that makes them his own, a sense that informs even his jazz and Brazilian ("Only a Dream a Rio") flirtations. The set's newly recorded bonus cut, John Sheldon's "Bittersweet", is a pleasant pop confection that showcases Taylor's knack for being laconic and upbeat in the same breath. --Jerry McCulley

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Customer reviews

review by: fuzzymuppet2002 date: 2006-09-25 rating:
Up On The Roof
This is a great album; as soon I listened to the first song I was hooked on this man, I listened to this cd for a month non-stop; his voice has something in it which I could never tire of hearing again and again; every song on here is a gem; Steamroller and Mexico spring to mind as two of the best on this cd; an utter joy to listen to anytime of the day.

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review by: date: 2005-12-23 rating:
Taylor made for success
I've been a fan of JT since Sweet Baby James, Mud Slide Slim and One Man Dog all still played on vinyl - though "You've Got a Friend" is slightly blurry as I've worn the groove down! Saw him a few years ago at Cambridge Folk Festival and was surprised how similar his voice was. It has changed little over the years - remarkable given his track record. However, he has less hair!! This album can quite rightly claim to be the best - at least it has all my favourites on many of which I only have on vinyl. It's great for playing lazily at home or on the car CD. Do yourself a favour and buy it. You'll never regret it.

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review by: Pete the music fan date: 2005-04-15 rating:
A great introduction to James Taylor's music
James was born into a wealthy family but that didn't shield him from life's problems including drug addiction and depression. Perhaps these problems ultimately helped him to succeed in the often strange music business - the song that first established his reputation (Fire and rain) is autobiographical and could not have been written by a man without any worries or problems.

James, though born and raised in America, made his first recordings in London for the Apple label in 1968. The resultant album was a flop at the time although it contained some fine songs including Carolina on my mind (here in a 1976 re-recording) and Something in the way she moves (the Beatles classic). Peter Asher, formerly of Peter and Gordon, began his career as a record producer with Apple and James Taylor's album was among his earliest productions. James returned to America following the album's failure. Peter also moved to America after quitting Apple and secured an American recording contract for James, in whom he still had faith.

James had far greater success with his first American album, Sweet baby James. The outstanding song was the aforementioned Fire and rain. Only a minor UK hit, it was a much bigger hit in America, where it catapulted him to superstardom. His next album, Mud slide Slim and the blue horizon, yielded another huge American hit - You've got a friend, which also made the UK top five and remains his only major UK hit. Indeed, James only had one more UK hit after that (Mockingbird - see later).

One-man dog, his third American album and fourth altogether, yielded another American hit, Don't let me be lonely tonight, which failed to chart in the UK. After that, Peter Asher switched his production efforts to Linda Ronstadt, with whom he had even greater success, while Carly Simon rescued James from his loneliness (at least for a few years). They married and also recorded a duet - Mockingbird, a cover of the R+B classic by Charlie and Inez Foxx, made the American top five but is conspicuous by its absence from this set.

James never quite reached the same level of brilliance again (even when he teamed up with Peter Asher again in 1978) although his later music is still worth hearing. He continued to have American hits, but with covers rather than original material. His cover hits included How sweet it is (Marvin Gaye - or Junior Walker), Handy man (Jimmy Jones) and Up on the roof (originally an American hit for the Drifters, it became a UK top ten hit for Kenny Lynch).

This compilation, focusing on his seventies music but including one newly recorded track (Bittersweet) contains all the essential James Taylor tracks except Mockingbird so if you only want one collection of his music, this is a good choice. Buy a Carly Simon compilation for Mockingbird - and plenty of other great music.

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review by: ridulfn date: 2004-02-27 rating:
Excellent
Originally I bought this CD for my Dad at Christmas. However, having listened to it before giving it to him, I was suddenly asking myself whether I should keep it or give it to him. I particularly love the song, "Handy Man" but the rest of the album is extremely listenable. Buy this!


review by: grelos date: 2003-12-31 rating:
Long live JT!!!!!!
What can i say, other than he's one of the greatest artists in contemporary music! Each and every single one of his tracks in this album brings some memory, some important date, some discovery, some period of my life. His songs are evocative, intelligent, funny, his voice is full and he managed to capture a time to perfection. Though i find it hard to be subjective, i will say that this album contains material from his best era; what he produced later in the 90s does not match his earlier work, so on that basis, i'd say go ahead and buy it and, like some other person reviewed here, smile while you listen to Walking Man...and let yourself go with Shower the people..!

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