Sweet Baby James

I like his sweet baby voice, a few weird lyrics though.. James don't be weird

I’m currently experiencing a critical situation where ants are shorting out my navigation system so with all due respect today is not the best day to experience James Taylor’s unique brand of laid back bittersweet folk rock.

My mom loves this album

James Taylor is a weird one for me. On the one hand, he's definitely talented; he's a great guitar player and I suppose the he has an objectively decent voice. On the other hand, everything he does is so daggum soft. Folk tends to be a pretty soft genre anyway, and James Taylor takes it to its tenderest degree. I don't NEED my music to always be running the emotional gamut, but something about his stuff always sounds so saccharin and safe to me that it does not do anything to excite or inspire thought or feeling. Even where he departs from the general tone of the rest of the album with Steamroller Blues, the song feels so devoid of actual grit—even despite its truly tasteless lyrics—that the song just winds up feeling like a really weird decision amongst a larger collection of milquetoast ballads. The one exception on this record is Suite for 20 G. But it sticks out like such a sore thumb because it is the one song that approaches something besides "lukewarm". I guess it's too much to say that I hate James Taylor's music. But I sure don't enjoy this record. I can't give it a 2-star rating because he is actually really talented, and I appreciate his talent even if I don't enjoy how he uses it. But a 3-star might usually indicate that I enjoyed at least something of this record. In this case, the 3 stars shouldn't point to that conclusion. 6/10

A very gentle, easy listen that goes right up to the edge of being morbidly saccharine and cloying, but just barely shies away. I’m always impressed by JT’s guitar-playing and fluid vocal style, both very subtle for how complicated and difficult they are to do right. Alas, this is just not really my thing even if I have a lot of respect for him as a musician and person.

DNF

Sweet and baby

Nice

The simple pleasures of an album that goes for 30 minutes, where every song is what is says on the tin.

Mimi en fond

Yeh, this was fun. I can't lie. But sort of passed me by too.

7/10 Best songs: Steamroller Blues, Suite for 20G Funky, bluesy, singer-songwriter folk rock from 1970. You can clearly hear this album's influences, but it doesn't really sound at all like its contemporaries. In general I feel mid to positive about this album, but I think that's because I'm so accustomed to the singer-songwriter genre today - yet at the time it was highly unusual. Overall good.

How can a 30 minute album feel dragged?

There's a good song on here and one vreat one. The rest, like the rest of his career, is too sweet by half.

Recognize the voice from his work with Knopfler. Very pleasant to listen to but otherwise to me unremarkable country. The tracks with the horn sections are very nice though

Solid Folk Rock, very solid

It's sappy, but I found it mostly enjoyable to be honest. "Steamroller" felt out of place, though.

Honestly I just found this pretty boring

3.5/5 https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/james-taylor/sweet-baby-james/ Has some gorgeous songs (Fire and Rain stands out on first listen), but also quite some boring ones (Oh, Susannah did nothing for me). Taylor has a pleasant voice, even though it's not a classically 'nice' vocal sound. It's clear how he's been an inspiration for a lot of singer-songwriters to come, but the thing with inspiration can also be that others end up doing it better. I think that's, for me, the case here. I do quite like this album in general, but I also feel like there's others (contemporaries and influencees) that do it better.

Nope.

3.5

A few great songs, but mostly a bit mediocre. 3.5 stars

This album probably is a bit influential as I feel like it probably ushered in the era of soft folk rock in the 70s. There's some stuff here that's pretty good - "Fire and Rain" is great, and the title track is decent, but a lot of it just kind of bland and lightweight. Also, when he tries to get bluesy, he comes across as the whitest person who ever lived. Still, it's not all bad so I'll go with a light 3 stars.

I took the cliff notes from this album. I'd get about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way through and skip to the next. I have no doubt I missed anything doing this.

7.4/10. A slower album, it still has multiple hits and propelled James Taylor into stardom after being essentially homeless while making the album. I enjoy his pace, and throughout, he included some blues, some R&B, and even some funk in a short and sweet project that has almost all good songs, none that I would skip.

I know he's a talented songwriter and that he's popular amongst people with a certain taste. He clearly deserves some popularity. I, however, can't get into it. Sappy, stagnant, saccharine, soft rock. Pass...

This is James Taylor. Short and sweet, pleasant little 70s folk rock album. Being mostly familiar with Taylor through Carole King I can see the influence of him in the arrangements in Tapestry.

On the whole I liked the album. This man's music often puts me into a mellow mood. I could have done without the vocalization and choppy guitar strings of "Oh Baby, Don't You Loose Your Lip On Me", so I consider this the worst song of the album.

I’m GenX, I’m supposed to be into PiL and Radiohead and the Cure. I should think James Taylor is baby-pablum soft-country for Boomers. This is a man who was addicted to heroin, when he could have just listened to his own music for the same effect. So why do I start purring like a cat when I hear “Sweet Baby James” or “Fire and Rain” or “Your Smiling Face”? I don’t know! Some of his lyrics are so cringy-corny that they should knock me right out of the song. But I think it’s that voice of his, and his guitar-playing, that feel like a warm blanket wrapped around me on a cold day. I am powerless to resist. I shouldn’t like this album as much as I do. But James Taylor seems to have some devil magic on me.

Probably deserves another listen but I really enjoyed this.

Beautiful.

Great singing voice and songwriter, just not my favorite style. There are a handful of great songs here though, it just doesn't get me excited.

I was previously familiar with Country Road and Fire and Rain. The entire album is pretty good. Those two tracks are very much folk rock, but the album is more diverse, including some country, blues, and rock tracks. I really enjoyed this album and would come back to it for sure.

Folksy, Bluesy, Funky, Lovely.

The most asinine, inoffensive music ever to be called rock 'n' roll.

James Taylor can sing and he seems like a pretty decent guitar player, but these songs are just so inoffensive, bland, and forgettable. There are a couple tracks that are pretty bluesy and they’re actually really good. He’s definitely capable of way better

Great album, great acoustical guitar and just a good easy listening album.

Production is nice, songs are nice, James's voice is honey. Not much more to say.

Better than Coldplay

This album is maybe a bit too soft rock for my tastes, but it's also just a pure shot of nostalgia for me. This is what both me and my sister call "camping music" because it's one of the albums that my dad would play when he took us camping. I can still picture the old, black boom box he'd play CDs on (based on a quick google, probably an early 2000s era Sony CD player Boombox). My sister's father-daughter dance at her wedding was a James Taylor song. So yeah, this is not quite my taste, but I have a lot of good memories associated with this album.

I can’t vibe with the Deep South country American vibe. Some of the lyrics were just silly too, can’t take it serious

3.55 for James Taylor's Sweet Baby James. It's such an iconic folk/folk rock album, it's hard to pinpoint what makes it so good. It's a mixture of James' writing, beautiful guitar work, and delivery I suppose. I grew up listening to a lot of James Taylor and know this album well. I thought I would have rated it higher, but I think 4 stars is a good spot for it. It definitely belongs on this list for sure.

Pretty ordinary. Second rate Cat Stevens.

Mukavan rentoa ja chilliä musaa. Tykkäsin enemmän kuin oletin tykkääväni, mutta kieltämättä ykaikään biisi ei tule nyt tätä kirjoittaessani mieleen.

Me when I'm in a being boring competition and my opponent is James Taylor Bro doesn't know the difference between a gultar and a banjo 💀

I didn’t realize how short this album is. Some great songs, “Sweet Baby James”, “Country Road”, “Steamroller” & “Fire and Rain”. The warmth of music and his vocals hides the bitterness and pessimistic lyrics.

Fire and Rain is an all-timer definitely, but when it comes to (most of) the rest of this record, it doesn’t really come close to it. Some of the more blues-y elements on this come off, at least in this day and age, as a bit goofy (the “good God!” In Suite for 20G for example) and maybe it was novel back in 1970 but not feel like things that he maybe didn’t need to throw in there.

A foundational record for singer-songwriters and countless sing-a-longs at outdoor concert sheds, Sweet Baby James has a few exceptional moments that reveals Taylor as a talented and moving songwriter. The album, however, dips into other styles in unconvincing fashion, and overall for a second album Sweet Baby James should have more fully formed songs. The latter comment comes from the inclusion of the barely listenable “Oh, Susannah” and “Suite for 20 G”, which are pure filler. I would cringe if I heard an audience “grooving” to “Steamroller Blues” an “Oh, Baby Don’t Loose Your Lip on Me.” Not sure who thought Taylor could pull off being a blues singer, but the tracks greatly diminish the record. Taylor as a singer-songwriter is perfectly fine. “Country Road” and the title track show skill in creating pleasant music. Someone would be even more cynical and sarcastic than myself to not be moved by “Fire and Rain.” Taylor caught something in its pain and hopefulness (or is that hope dashed.) It is an album saving track.

JT is one of my absolute favorite singer/songwriter.

Certainly intresting at times, boring at others. There's some cool ideas here and some of the instrumentals are decent but slips into snore-fest territory.

I mean, it's about as run-of-the-mill as you can get when it comes to late '60s singer-songwriters, but it wasn't awful or anything, just largely uninteresting. The softer, lulling songs were the clear highlights here for me, songs like 'Sweet Baby James' and 'Blossom'. Everything else was alright, but too derivative and lacking any personality. The album jumps around too much, like the (too loud) big band on 'Steamroller Blues' or the almost comically stereotypical soft-rock country track 'Country Road', which were absolute pace-breakers and completely out of place on this otherwise intimate, warm record. An album that certainly ages itself in a lot of its worst moments, but the couple of great songs are at least partially worth the price of admission alone, I'd say. It's also relatively short, so I can't knock it too much. Just wish it had a more distinctive personality and sound.

no

2.5 maybe

I am familiar with James Taylor and currently have 13 songs liked by him on Spotify - with 3 songs from this album. Liked songs are "Sweet Baby James", "Country Road", and "Fire and Rain" - which were all the songs that you might hear on the radio. These were also on his Greatest Hits album. I remember someone (probably my older sister) getting that album when that came out in '76. I then recorded that onto a cassette tape - so I had a lot of opportunities to hear these 3 songs over the years. "Fire and Rain" is THE standout track on this one. It was always on the radio when I was a kid. I remember being intrigued by the lyrics on that one and trying to figure out what it meant. It is definitely one of the songs that started my lifelong curiosity about the meanings of songs. From the first notes of the acoustic guitar, it always made me immediately focus on it and really try to listen. My least favorite tracks are the watered down blues songs like "Oh Baby, Don't Loose Your Lip on Me". I recognize "Steamroller Blues" from the Greatest Hits album - but on that one they have a live version which is better in my opinion. Also - the world didn't really need a "modern" version of "Oh Susanna". Also - some of these are kinda forgettable - like "Blossom", and "Anywhere Like Heaven" I added a 2 "new to me" songs - "Lo and Behold", and "Sunny Skies".. Liked songs on Spotify: 5/11 Rating: 3/5

I knew a couple of tracks that I was somewhat sick of hearing from years listening to mainstream radio and was all set to hate this as yet another 70's folksy singer/songwriter which seem over represented. I had never listened to a James Taylor album before. I can't place exactly what did it for me on this album but found myself smiling as I listened even on tracks that I had heard millions of times before.

I hadn't listened to this album in a while (before today) but it's something I would always be happy to put on. It really shows JT's range, from touching country-style songs like the title track (a favorite of mine) to the blues of Steamroller, and of course to his unique acoustic classics like Fire and Rain. Instant 5.

Many times these singer/songwriter albums don’t particularly appeal to me, this one though I thoroughly enjoyed. Fire and Rain is obviously the standout track and is one that is really easy to love, but the addition of “Steamroller” as a blues song and the title track as a soothing opener. This album overall is calming and serene, Taylor brings a sense of peace to its listeners.

A classic!

It's so corny and I'm not in the mood. Also, the white blues was terrible. 2.

Fint folksy,

some great tunes

a vision of hell

*covers drink with hand*    james taylor, everyone.  giving me the ick since the year i was born.  i see a lot of low reviews on the site beying like "so cringey" and "offensively bland" but that is not my criticism.  this is music made by men who call themselves Nice Guys but once they get you where they want you, they're domineering     1/5

I've seen James Taylor twice live. The most crystal clear sound I've ever heard in a concert. Also, his double live album is one of the best live records out there. In other words, I was predisposed to liking this as I really enjoy his music and this album has some of his biggest songs. Fire and Rain, Country Road, and Sweet Baby James are all fantastic tracks. The revelation for me was Suite for 20 G, which I just loved. That said, there's a reason I started this review the way I did. JT live is better than his recordings, in my opinion. He has honed such an amazing sound and makes choices live that improve the quality of his songs, rather than detract from them (like so many other artists). Unfortunately, given that I like those versions better, I can't give this album 5 stars. All the same, a great record with a ton to love. 4 stars.

Easy listening with nice lyrics. Not much to dislike. 3.7/5.

Great version of "Oh, Susannah". And "Steamroller Blues" was good too.

Dig soulful folk-y James Taylor. Do not dig white boy blues rock James Taylor.

Unapologetically a JT fanboy

I really don't think this album has any real value except Steamroller

Pleasant country

Is it that kinda gutless singer/songwriter soft rock that was so popular in the 1970s? You betcha. But it's not terrible and Fire and Rain is a legitimately good song.

4.5/5

Personifies boomers that have overall good politics but I still can't stand

Lyrics....angarrengement....vocals....extraordinary album

Voice interesting. Too bigbandy. 2,9

Fire and Rain is such an incredibly special song to me; it just made me cry in the office and that alone is worth the 5 stars. Steamroller Blues really captured my heart this time around.

found this one a bit dull, with the exception of Fire and Rain, which sounded very familiar but not sure why

If you’re not careful this will hit you like a Steamroller. Lo and Behold.

Even using the term 'Vanilla' is probably too generous. What a fucking boring album.

Feels a bit like Sesame Street for adults - country jazzy

Most of these tracks sound like lullabies. I dozed off a few times. When I was awake I could hear good chords, so I'll give him that. Why have James Taylor when you can listen to the superior performer (Carole King) with a better album (Tapestry). Just my opinion... Overall: 3/10

Sweet Baby James is James Taylor at his most warm, laid-back, and effortlessly listenable, the kind of album that feels like musical comfort food without ever becoming completely bland.

This is a smooth and easy going album that feels like you're under a blanket in front of a roaring fire while listening. There's just no way to be anything but chill and relaxed with this playing.

This was a nice album, I feel sometimes it was nice, but also it was very basic. Pretty standard pop and blues conventions. Some research told me that this was a landmark project in terms of intimate music and writing. It wasn't bad, but sometimes I would wince at a cliché music choice. I suppose its cliche for a reason.

What an absolute bore

Very dull

Sweet Baby James or Sweet Baby Len…..Houmous? 3.0 3/11 Sunny Skies

Nice and mellow.

3.5

Very peaceful

A lot of this sounds like safe black music for people who didn't want to listen to black music...

He's a beautiful guitar player, good song writer, ok singer, but pretty corny.

sasvim neloše, malo mi se dopalo, al fali mi ono nešto za ocjenu više

This is a fantastic album. The more I listen to it the more I like it.

Nice

lindo, tranqui. bien de domingo.

Такой сладенький, ну я не могу прям

James Taylor has a smoothness and clarity to his voice. It’s perfectly pleasant, which I actually found slightly unpleasant after a while. It’s hard for me to critique this folk/rock album…the songs are well-written, well-played, and neither the songs nor album overstay it’s welcome. Still, something about the cleanliness of it all just put me off a bit. I’m probably being grumpier than necessary but it just didn’t land for me despite being a seemingly decent album from a talented artist

I liked this a lot, it's not my go to but it's really well written country music. Probably my favorites are the title track and Fire And Rain.

When he said he was a "churning urn of burning funk," that was a lie, because this album is the opposite of that