Sweet Baby James

Very unsettled by this, it’s what I’d expect a murderer to have playing in the background whilst I’m strapped to a chair and he begins to systematically remove my face skin with a scalpel. Then he peels off and wears my face and mouths along to all the lyrics. Especially the song “sunny skies”

this sounds like a nice cosy evening with raining outside and just chilling inside

Oh Sweet Baby James, you sinister, demented villain. Laying your sappy brand of sap upon the world with merciless vigor, coating the masses in a film of safe, gentle sweetness. The world is stagnant because of you, failing to venture into richer realms of funk and rock, treading circular to nowhere, listening easy and listening safe, the soft drips of the acoustic dragging them all to the ground day by day, with each adult mix blend station play. You and your gaggle of singer/songsucker demons not only won the mid seventies, but irre-“vocally” tainted the hearing skills of so many for ages to come. I will not succumb to it. In my mind sunny skies are not a persons name but an adjective and plural noun. I refuse to be bewitched by your light voice and simplistic stylings, I find refuge in drum beats, in guitars electric, in songs not stupid. You have dulled the souls of millions, Sweet Baby James, but you will not weaken mine, for I too have seen fire and rain, and I know the truth of them. Fire is hot and rain is wet. You, Sweet Baby James are mild and dry.

Wow, former president James Taylor. 8/10

Having been a teenager in the early 90’s, this type of soft rock singer-songwriter schlock will never be anything but painfully uncool to me. The only way shit like this sold in the 90’s was by way of the Time-Life compilations that were advertised via infomercials aired on Saturday or Sunday afternoons. It was boring and lame then, doubly so now. Just have a look at these lyrics from “Steamroller”: “I'm a cement mixer A churning urn of burning funk I'm a cement mixer A churning urn of burning funk I'm a demolition derby A hefty hunk, steaming junk I'm a steamroller baby I'm 'bout to roll all over you I'm a steamroller baby I'm 'bout to roll all over you I'm gonna inject your soul With some sweet rock 'n' roll And shoot you full of rhythm and blues” It’s possibly the dumbest metaphor for coitus ever committed to tape. Also, imagine telling someone you were a “churning urn of burning funk” and that person not looking at you like they were about call for a restraining order. Finally, you can thank me later for the mental image of James Taylor shooting his “rhythm and blues”.

Craving authenticity, Taylor slathers these songs with as much honey as he can get his hands on. Seems to have worked, as he's treated like an angel by many. Occasionally he sounds like one -- even less frequently these songs have a kick -- but the rest of the time he comes off like exactly the kind of dork who'd approve this album title and cover. He was never going to offer the nutritional value of John Prine or Gram Parsons -- I guess fast food salesman is a decent second place.

This album can give you diabetes with a single track

Mom was just telling me yesterday that she wanted to see albums from the likes of James Taylor and Carole King. I told her to be patient, but I guess patience isn't necessary. Previously, I'd heard only "Fire and Rain" from James Taylor, and I love that song. He's a great singer-songwriter, akin to Jim Croce but probably a bit younger and more marketable. This is a solid album, with good lyrics and great guitar work. Also a nice degree of variety, so it doesn't feel like a one-note singer-songwriter project--good use of other instruments. The music feels very organic, and James sound right at home in the different genres he explores. I wouldn't say I love it, but it's very good and enjoyable. Favorite songs: Fire and Rain, Oh Baby Don't You Loose Your Lip On Me, Lo and Behold, Steamroller Blues (up until the point where the horns come in). Album art: This is a pretty classic picture. Fits the genre in that it looks like a senior photo. Wikipedia lore says James was basically homeless and couch surfing when he made this album. For that reason, I'll assume he's not wearing pants. Put some pants on, James. Otherwise, great job.

When JT started singing about being a steamroller in the sweetest, most polite college boy tones, I thought ‘there’s no way he can pull this song off’ - but then he started absolutely ripping the blues guitar, as nasty as anyone can play it, and halfway through I was fully convinced he is not only a steamroller steamrolling chicks on the reg but also a cement mixer chunking and funking, or whatever - but doing it all in the style of a friendly neighborhood pharmacist, making it even more badass. The son of an MGH doctor, he’s an inspiration to us suburb white boys all over - we can rock too! This an old man take, but listening to this album makes me kinda mourn how little premium is placed on raw musical talent with today’s music. JT is an absolutely filthy guitar player with a beautiful voice who could not only rock your dick off but also write a song that will move you to tears. He is an American treasure. This music is perfect for Saturday/ Sunday mornings with the family. Only negative is that as I was playing this album in the kitchen snd having these grand thoughts of JT steamrolling through Martha’s Vineyard or wherever he hangs out, my wife said ‘wow you’re really turning into your dad’ and I had no counter at all.

I've owned this album since I was an early teen and don't remember ever listening to it all the way through. I was obsessed with "Sweet Baby James" and "Fire and Rain" as a young kid, think the latter is one of my earliest memories of songs I've heard on the radio. The record is an impressive blend of country, folk, and blues. Bummer I've waited this long to listen all the way through. Favorite tracks: "Fire and Rain", "Steamroller Blues", "Country Road"

This album is literally the old people tamer. Play it to anyone over the age of 50 and they will instantly be calmer. If it worked on my parents, it'll work on yours!

I hate this so much. It's sugary and gross. Safe mom rock for the masses. A mention of weed is out of place I'll admit but this is as bland and American wholesome as it gets. And it sucks.

I could listen to James Taylor all day forever.

Super nostalgic for me. This is a fantastic album and Sweet Baby James is an all-time great song. James' voice is smooth and effortless. A real treat.

A few fantastic songs, a few good ones, and definitely some filler. Fire & Rain, Country Road, and Sweet Baby James are just beautiful songs. I like Steamroller’s inclusion here as a gritty blues song that cuts against melancholy of F&R and SBJ.

Listening to this album made me feel like I was watching an episode of Sesame Street for some reason. This is super country. It’s not like the rock country or the blues country or even fiddle country. This is just straight living in the Appalachians with a hand crank well pump in your front yard and an outhouse. If you like that, listen to this album. It might be too heavy for you though.

James Taylor is that guy who brings his guitar to a camp fire, and starts playing just when you're in a middle of a really lively conversation. And of course everyone has to stop talking and listen politely, cause he's pretty good after all, better than any one of us that's for sure, but what we really want to do is drink and talk shit, not feel all sad and nostalgic over cliches like empty country roads and lush green pastures and sunny skies.

fuck country music. fuck it right in its eye. chop off its tits with a rusty hacksaw blade. stick a fork in its throat. comfortably the shittest off all the genres. i know there has to be bad music for good music to exist and if country didn't exist then something else would take its place but fuck me its bad.

All timer.

no strong objections to the music, which is at its best is a nice breeze across the face, but come on rng machine u havent even given me a joni album yet. get real

If you think Cat Stevens is too metal, this is your guy.

This is offensively bland, I can feel my personality trickling out of my ears. Terrible, how did this even get on the list, is it a joke? Is it just here to make everything else sound better? This man never deserved the Taylor name. Appalling.

Heck yeah. This album is awesome. James Taylor is awesome. Three all time classic tunes and a bunch of strong songs. Throw in Carole King on piano and my maths tell me this is a 5 star album.

Play this to experience Fire and Rain!

The classic Dad album. Timeless songwriting and great recording. James Taylor is one of the best lyricists of all time and this album resonates with men of many ages. My dad loved it in his time as do I.

My mom used to listen to a lot of James Taylor when I was a kid and I got very burned out on it, but I was surprised by how much I like it now... maybe I'm getting old. Fire and Rain is great, and Steamroller is fun because Mama Rims used to skip that song because it's too dirty. I still think you need to be in the right mood for James Taylor but I found it pleasantly digestible.

Fuck Facebook! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpDGJbC8RMo&ab_channel=MikeMcCarty I love James Taylor. Fire and Rain is an all-timer.

i love this album every song is so good. while i am rating this 5 stars, i acknowledge that i have an extremely positive bias towards this album.

Perfect

Absolute perfection, could listen to this album over and over.

Fantastic soft rock album

Great album. Great acoustic songs, no misses though only a few memorable songs high 4.5

More looks on here than I knew him for. The blues was particularly good

Very nice. Exactly one of my styles. really liked the sweet songs

What a voice and what a singer songwriter. A true American musical icon. Sweet Baby James, Fire and Rain are classics. Tempted to go 5 here, but as a complete album there are a couple of unremarkable tracks. Still great though!

Grew up on this, the greatest hits songs are timeless, the rest are a bit less sparkly but a 4 nonetheless, fight me

Sweet Baby James He still has one of my favourite voices, soft and honeyed, suiting his soft-folk guitar playing, and giving his music a warm, soothing, friendly ambiance. I’ve always tended to listen to his greatest hits, but I am vaguely familiar with this, and of course it contains a few classics in Sweet Baby James, Sunny Skies, Country Road and the still superlative Fire and Rain. I’m not always convinced by the more bluesy songs in his catalogue, like Steamroller. I don’t actually mind it, but there is no doubt that it carries an anaemic quality that makes you think he isn’t actually a truly hot and bothered lover about to mow you down. Oh Baby works slightly better musically, but I still don’t believe in ‘old lovin’ man JT’. Outside that some of the songs I knew less well I really liked: Lo & Behold is a very nice country-folk bluesy number, Blossom and Anywhere are both similarly lilting, enjoyable soft pop rock tracks But Fire & Rain really is a superb song, a sad and melancholic song about suicide that is able to balance the specific and universal with a brilliant melody and arrangement, particularly the long low double bass throughout. I’m not quite sure it makes it to a 5 as there is a feeling of slightness, but this is a solid 4 star singer songwriter country-folk-soft-rock delight - loosen your turtle neck, light the fire, turn down the lights, pour a glass of red wine, put this on and lie luxuriantly on your sheepskin rug. 👶👶👶👶 Playlist submission: Fire and Rain

It's a weak four for me, not because it's lacking anything really, but it's on the edge of what I would normally listen to on a random day. That said, there's a lot I like about the album, and I could easily recommend it to anyone who likes the broad singer songwriter genre.

Another neat folk album with some blues and other cool stuff thrown in. Fun easy listen but nothing life changing.

C'est bien simple, James Taylor est en fait une version évoluée de Gene Clark. En effet, James nous porpose une country impeccable pendant 30 délicieuses minutes, qui parvient même à surclasser celle de son grand ami Eugene Clark. Seul petit bémol, une présence scénique inexistante, James passant l'intégralité de l'album prostré sur son tabouret, à plusieurs mètres du jury. Il faudra travailler l'aspect chorégraphie de sa performance, sans quoi la place en finale risque d'être compromise.

James Taylor does not move me, but the pillow he presses gently to my sleeping face is soft, not unpleasant.

Feel like this was on a lot around the house growing up. Steamroller Blues, Country Road, and Fire and Rain are so good. Not my style enough to get four stars, but it's a well respected 3.

Mostly harmless. Nothing bad, but very little that makes me want to rate it above a 3 (Fire and Rain is a beautiful song, and rightly a classic, though). Light folk interspersed with country and blues sounds. To the latter, he veers into the cultural misappropriation zone, particularly in Oh Baby, Don't You Loose Your Lip on Me and the end of Suite for 20 G. Seriously: "Good God / Looky here, looky here!"?? Stay in your lane, James. Favorite tracks: Lo and Behold, Fire and Rain.

Good singer-songwriter. Pleasant but not exceptional. Wish he stuck to his folky songs, when he attempts the blues it's a bit boring (hard to make blies exciting at all, and he just doesn't have 'it'). When he adds some big band fills it's worse. But most of the songs are fine. Well written and sung. A generous 3.

Pour vous donner un peu de contexte, James Taylor venait d'apprendre juste avant l'enregistrement de cet album que ses deux sourcils n'allaient finalement jamais se rejoindre. Ni une ni deux, les textes de ce projet traiteront essentiellement de cette inquiétude passée. Les démons de Taylor ne s'éclipseront toutefois pas en un clin d'œil et son manque de confiance en lui continuera de transparaître dans Sweet Baby James. On entendra en effet dans plusieurs morceaux l'équipe technique lui murmurer des encouragements tels que « rapproche-toi, n'aie pas peur », « chante un peu plus fort on t'entend pas ici » ou encore « allez James c'est pas le moment de craquer »... Le projet d'enregistrer un album entier était peut-être trop ambitieux.

I generally like classic folk/country, but this album is too sappy for my tastes.

Just kind of bland.

So close with the unibrow. I feel like in the era before "no means no" this album was the soundtrack to an awful lot of quasi consensual sex.

My mother is a vehement James Taylor fan, and I heard him while growing up. I never got into him, so I was excited to sit and listen and see if my taste changed in 30+ years. I just don't get it. While Taylor is an extremely gifted singer and songwriter, I just think this is the safest and most inoffensive music possible. That is, it's completely milquetoast, bland, etc. If it were food, I'd eat it and it would fill me up, but I'd be reaching for salt or hot sauce just to feel something. It would be a food served at the old folks home, which the boring suburban elite can eat up between their reruns and not worry about black pepper being too spicy. Perhaps this is too harsh, but it's just disappointing there is absolute no spice or edge here. Disappointing because of the backstory of Taylor being "essentially homeless" and broke when recording and due to his immense talent, so there could have really been deeper messages on capitalism (maybe indirectly with "Suite for 20 G") or loneliness or perseverance, etc. Some spice slips through in "Oh Baby, Don't You Loose Your Lip On Me" or "Country Road", and "Fire and Rain" is indeed an excellent song. But overwhelmingly this is a white guy distilling folk, gospel, blues for a mass audience, with standard boring production. Sorry, mom.

I have never felt whiter than when I was listening to this.

Fire and rain is a good song The rest is the sound of a bed being wet

Someone’s gotta tell me why I needed to listen to this album. Dude’s got no variation. And the name of this album??

I'll be honest: I sort of hate James Taylor. James Taylor is just John Denver with harder drugs. And those hard drugs aren't even better drugs. Just harder, more boring drugs. If you ever want the poster child for an Anti-Heroin campaign, this is your guy. I go out of my way to avoid listening to any of his songs, except for "Fire and Rain", which is the one all-time classic in his catalog. I've probably listened to it thousands of times, and it gets me every single time. The one time when Taylor truly caught lightning in a bottle. And that's about as far as I'll go with JT. I wish I could figure out what exactly it is about him that bothers me. He sporadically refers to himself as "Sweet Baby James". Taylor Swift is allegedly named for him. He took the absolute most yawn-inducing version of a Carole King song to number 1. He was Jay Leno's final "Tonight Show" guest because of course he was. Maybe it's that he married Carly Simon and they celebrated their love by releasing an annoying version of that "Mockingbird" song that was always on the radio even though no one ever wanted to hear it. It's probably because he never again found another "Fire and Rain", yet he gets all the Laudits that get him on lists like this one instead of Jackson Browne or Bob Seger.

TODA VEZ QUE TEM UM "American singer-songwriter" NA DESCRIÇÃO EU SEI QUE VAI SER RUIM puta que pariu que ódio filho bagulho ruim da porra vsf

“I am a napalm bomb for you baby”. James, you are barely a firecracker. You ain’t got an ounce of blues in you.

I was only familiar of James Taylor for his brief appearance on the Simpsons. His music was described as bittersweet folk rock. I will describe it as bad. I did not know that Fire and Rain was the name of the song which he sang in the Simpsons episode. I once took the lyric of "Sweet Dreams and Flying Machines" and changed it to "Sweet Dreams and Pie Machines." Anyways pie is good. This album is not and thankfully it was short and thankfully I don't have to listen to it again.

You ve got a friend🫶❤️

Sweet Baby James is my favorite song by James Taylor, so I'm glad I got to hear the whole album

Classic album! This album has some of my favorite Beatles songs. Will never get old!

Yup…this one made me tear up. Beautiful record.

Lovely acoustic singer songwriter

Pretty dang good. Let it loop 4 or 5 times. Amazing voice, super relaxing. Something about his singing made me feel good.

What a treat! I was fully of the belief that this was some dumb country singer for my entire life, Wrong! This was so charming and fun and full of life I really enjoyed my little 31 minutes with sweet baby James. First album in a little while that I know I'll be coming back to often which is really nice, it's just such easy listening and every song is wonderful. Good job James.

Heartbreaking

A Giant among a genre that’s one of my faves.

Great singer. Unique voice. Music is always spot on. Musical star throughout the years. Never a bad song.

This album is magical. It's not a perfect album, but it's fantastic. Pitchfork: n/a Rolling Stone: Top 500 Albums #182 Best Songs Sweet Baby James Steamroller Blues Country Road Fire and Rain Blossom Suite for 20 G

a really swell album

Listened to before? Yes Context? One of the biggest and earliest albums of the early 70s singer-songwriter movement; features James Taylor's first hits as well as some of his most successful; strongly critically acclaimed, though not entirely overwhelmingly so. As with a lot of singer-songwriter albums of this time period, I found myself listening, and thinking "wow! These are a lot of covers!" before looking at the songwriting credits and realizing...oh wow, these songs are all originals. I hadn't heard a lot of them before, but even those I felt like I'd heard before. The melodies are so perfect that they feel like standards. Sure, it's a dated album. Very 70s singer-songwriter, and the early rock n roll, folk, soul, and all-around Americana can occasionally toe the line of derivative. But the songs are just so good that it doesn't even matter. Not to mention that the melodies are utterly timeless. The instrumentation is also incredibly tasteful—which is impressive for a second album. What many artists seem to struggle with early on in their careers is knowing when to strip back on arrangements and add dynamics to their songs—to let them marinate before piling everything on. But it seems as if Taylor has it figured out. The arrangements and instrumentation are all beautifully mapped out to maximize the emotional affect. The emotional affect is kind of insane. It's a very happy album—from the opener about his love for his nephew to the closer detailing his love for rock n roll. A lot of singer-songwriter music tends to focus on sad subject matter, which is perfectly fine and honestly what I personally prefer, but it's always refreshing to see a poet who writes about love and its relation to humanity rather than pain. It's a very calming album. I swear, my blood pressure dropped while listening to it. I remember my parents singing "Sweet Baby James" to my younger brother when he was a baby. Maybe there's some sort of bias from that memory, but I honestly don't think so. I was sort of primed to dislike this album because the cover makes him look like a serial killer, and I'm not a huge fan of Americana stuff, but God, these songs were classics before they were written.

I'm in my country days. You can throw any shit that sounds like country at me ----> 5 stars. Jokes aside, this is fine music.

so nice

Me semble j'ai donné 5 étoiles à pire que ça. Les vacances commencent pour moi et c'est une belle journée ensoleillée, ça me rend magnanime. En plus, juste pour avoir gravité autour de Joni, il mérite son 5 étoiles. J'aime beaucoup sa voix et sa persona de cowboy tourmenté et romantique.

Masterpiece. Really wonderful to listen to.

Sure, it's got Fire and Rain, one of the greatest folk songs of all time. Sure, it's got the title track and Country Road. But sweet mother's milk even the lesser known songs are perfect. Blossom, Sunny Skies, Anywhere but Heaven.

First time listening to James Taylor. Honestly I found it difficult to pinpoint what genre category he falls under. Yes he primarily a singer songwriter with folk instrumentation but his voice carries a country cadence to it along with some blues and a tiny bit r Rock n Roll to boot. Yeah short and sweet, i can only see this growing on me more and more.

Good

Nice and relaxing

I'm biased because this is the music that my dad played for me when I was a youth. This was the first I had heard some of the more country moments but songs like the title track and fire and rain are engrained in my memory. I could probably give this a 4 for being a little slow but for me this is music to sleep to or for getting through a bad shroom trip. So I guess it being a little boring is good.

This is one of the greatest.

Good stuff

Absolute banger

5/5

4.5/5 Incredible album, some fantastic songs on there. Honestly my biggest complaint is that it's over too soon! Some of these songs are already on my playlists :P

It’s classic, sing-along, smile, and ease.

Oh I love this one.

My father once said to me, "I know some people who absolutely love James Taylor". I couldn't tell if he disapproved of that opinion, but it's time to come clean: I'm one of them.

i figured i was gonna enjoy this, and im so happy i was right.

Just an amazingly pleasant experience. Tossed both Country Road and Fire and Rain onto my playlist. Saw that Carole King is credited on the backup vocals. Just another reason to like the album.

Classic folksy stuff. Good tunes.

Top 10 albums

As the title states this is album is sweet. James Taylor at his early best and not much as changed throughout the years. Outstanding album.

One time I was driving around Milwaukee, listening to this album and a woman passed me, called me a honky, and told me to drive faster. I consider this to be one of the most emblematic experiences of my life. I’m not sure the JT‘s voice or demeanor lends him a lot of credibility when it comes to songs like Steamroller and their entry into the blues canon. But God helped me. I love this artist, and I love this music.

I'm rating this high. Could be personal bias. I think it's one of the best albums of its style. On the fence between 4 and 5, I'm giving it the full 5 just because of how fantastic the conversation between "Fire and Rain" is with Carole King's "You've Got a Friend".

Ok, we are now at back-to-back-to-back classics of my childhood / early adulthood. I love James Taylor, I love this record. It's great.

His best

One of several albums I wore out in the 70s-80s.

Loved it

Album 1005 of 1089 Sweet Baby James - James Taylor (1970) Rating : 5 / 5 There’s really no denying how great this album is. These are songs that have quietly passed through generations and still feel just as natural and relevant today as they did when they were first released. Taylor has a rare gift — the ability to take a simple phrase, a small observation, and turn it into something lasting and deeply familiar. The songwriting is effortless without ever feeling lazy, and his vocals carry a calm confidence that never tries to oversell the moment. This album doesn’t rely on big production tricks or flashy performances. It’s just beautifully written songs delivered with warmth and sincerity from beginning to end. Whether it’s the gentle storytelling, the comforting melodies, or the way the songs seem to settle in rather than demand attention, this is one of those albums that earns its reputation honestly. A timeless listen that reminds you how powerful simplicity can be when it’s done right.

Emotional. One of my mums favourites. She passed away 2 years ago .

I was surprised to like this album this much, especially because I did judge it by its hilarious cover, but it was just really good. Solid all around. Listened to it twice.