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”

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.

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

Wow, former president James Taylor. 8/10

This album can give you diabetes with a single track

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”.

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.

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"

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.

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.

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.

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.

All timer.

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.

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

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.

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!

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Some of these songs hold a special place in my heart for they were sung to me when I was a child. And Taylor’s own voice is one of unparalleled serenity even on the surprisingly burly “Steamroller”.

Beautiful stuff. He is such a good songwriter my lord. Just smoothest music ever

A touchstone in the seventies Singer-Songwriter movement that revealed a more sophisticated folk music. Two powerhouse songs in Fire and Rain and Country Road manage to not overshadow the rest of the album. While his storytelling and earnestness can overcome the impending corniness of material like Steamroller. A beautiful album.

James Taylor is a real guilty pleasure for me, I don't think this is anything ground breaking but I find his singing super relaxing and this album has some of his catchiest hits. I guess this is a personal 5* that I might not rate that highly if I was trying to be impartial!

Who knew a man with a bad haircut and a blue shirt could pull off such a banger of an album?

Sweet Baby James is the second studio album from James Taylor, and the first to find significant success. Taylor's calm, clear voice matches his introspective songs, and his understated acoustic guitar playing supports the simple, elegant sound of his songs. The album includes two of Taylors' first hits, "Fire and Rain" and "Sweet Baby James." These - and most of the other songs on the album - help start the career of one of the successful, celebrated singer/songwriters in popular music.

Not bad! Anyone that can write a song about traveling on The Massachusetts Turnpike or a song walking down a street near a mental institution in a Boston suburb and make both scenarios sound epic is the mark of a great song writer.

The first song on here does not set it up good. Thought it'd just be some regular old singer/songwriter crap. But wow, the rest of these songs really prove me wrong. There's always something interesting going on musically, and the melodys are downright angelic in places. This album is extremely well played and the sound is varied while still having that 70s air on it

Sweet, sweet baby James. Silkyyy smooth. I don’t want to keep giving everyone a 5 but I really can’t find a fault on here. Maybe too many blues tunes? Didn’t bother me though. Took a walk through the woods and this couldn’t have been a better soundtrack.

I think we needed a chill album to bring us all home after Hot Rats and All Hail The Queen Sweet Baby James is/was a 32 trip through country roads, gospel, blues and periods of ecstasy like happiness. JT has a pretty voice and an incredible ability to make little flurries of notes on his acoustic (having played fire and rain for a decade, I don't come across many players who choose to finger chord shapes like him to pul that off) One big takeaway was how soul/gospel JT is in his discography. Favorite two tracks were Country Road and Oh, Susannah. 4.5 stars and rounding up

Great album

oh just so beautiful, great album

Awesome album. I’ll be coming back for more

a great surprise, became one of my favourites

Some delicate gems that are smooth and pleasing

Not sure if this is a 5 because of nostalgia or its just a 5 on its on, but still a 5.

Super hyggelig musik

Great

A very good album with some of the best songs ever written such "Sweet Baby James", "Fire and Rain" and "Country Road".

Loved every song

James Taylor can do no wrong in my book.

An all time fav. It's been awhile since I have listened to the album. Glad it was on the list.

Amazing, loved it!

Never been a James Taylor fan but I can deny that this is a great album. Begrudgingly I have to give it a 5.

Its a classic. Such a beautiful, gentle voice that works better for blues songs than it has any right to. Short and sweet!

I didn’t like James Taylor before, I do now

Great songs that don’t overstay their welcome. Musicianship. Mix of country folk blues and sometimes makes me think of Bill wurtz! 4.5

I just love James Taylor. This is such a perfect record. “Fire and Rain” is an amazing song and stands out on an album full of amazing songs. There should be more James Taylor on this list, but I’m glad at least this one is here.

5 stars. I will always love this one. Eternal comfort. Everything will be all right.

One of the best mellow albums of all time

maybe his best

Another classic singer-songwriter folk-rock album from the early 1970s - it seems amazing today just how big this type of music was back in the day. IOn addition to the title track, this album also contains the single "Country Road", the massive "Fire and Rain", the bluesy "Steamroller", and an interesting version of "Oh, Susannah".

Singrr Songwriter mit tollen Harmonien.

I don't know why I can never keep James Taylor and Jackson Brown straight in my head. They're both great but this album in particular is special to me.

The platonic ideal of a folk singer-songwriter album; Taylor has such a pure sweet voice, and his lyrics conjure vivid imagery. “Fire and Rain” is a stone classic, and hits even harder once you learn what it’s about.

Folky, funky, soulful-James Taylor is an American treasure ❤️

I live for this

Fire and Rain. Great album

Love revisiting these classics.

As good as it gets for James Taylor fans! A real classic.

Loved

great

Like a mix of Jim crocce and John Denver! Can't believe I've never listened to him before

I suppose I first heard James Taylor when Fire & Rain first got radio play after its release in August 1970. It eventually entered the 2UE Top 40 in November, where it spent 19 weeks in that chart, reaching #5. So it was big and I was a big fan. Taylor had been touring with Joni Mitchell that year & they played a concert recorded by the BBC at the Royal Albert Hall in October 1970. Sometime in 1971 ABC announcer Chris Winter featured the broadcast of that concert on his radio show Room To Move. And not long after that I purchased a copy of a vinyl bootleg of the concert, called In Perfect Harmony, at Martins Record Store, corner of Pitt & Goulburn Streets in Sydney. They were literally selling bootlegs from under the counter. That was when I first heard Steamroller, which had become the comedic part of Taylor’s set. I bought this album soon after & it’s been a favourite ever since. I’m a sucker for western movies & therefore also a sucker for songs about cowboys, so the title track, which had been the first single released from the album but never charted, was a no-brainer for me. The last single released from the lp was Country Road, which did chart. Except for Stephen Foster’s Oh, Susannah, Taylor wrote all the songs. Except for Carole King (who was about to release Tapestry, the biggest-seller of the 70’s) on piano, the musicians were among the cream of west-coast soft-rockers. And the album was produced by Taylor’s manager Peter Asher, who had signed Taylor to Apple Records in 1968, produced his first album for Apple, which he left to follow Taylor back to the U.S. when that album failed. It still works for me.

Loved the album! That was the beginning of that singer/songwriter genre being big and he is the epitome of it. Great album. It’s also in my wheelhouse. That’s my favored genre, so it gets a great rating.

Really great album. Enjoyed the songs and definitely an artist I will listen more to.

Ooooh Susannah, now don't you cry for meee!

This one of the best albums by singer-songwriter ever.

Calm voice. Nice kinda country kinda troubadour, I've sing fire and I've seen rain song in this album

Awesome

Almost every song perfect. This album - egotistically titled as it is - took folk singing in a new direction. JT, Carly Simon... CSN (&Y), Joni Mitchell... the sound of the early 70s (and beyond), leading to Linda Ronstadt, The Eagles... and unfortunately "Soft Rock" and the slam it receives. But such beautiful music.

I am an unapologetic fan of this record. Taylor is a wonderful song writer and a capable guitar player. Fire & Rain is beautiful and poignant. I quite like the percussion on the record, too.

This album is rated entirely too low on this site. Is it sappy? Sure. But James Taylor can sing, his songs are fun to listen to, and easy to sing along with. I probably should knock it down a star because I really hated the Oh Susannah on here (doesn't fit the album for me and sort of puts the brakes right in the middle of the thing) but I won't do it. When you want something very easy to listen to, with good acoustic guitar work, and some blues sensibilities, it's really hard to go wrong with this one.

Classic rock. Wonderful album. Great voice. Very talented.

One of my top 10 - ever. The Beatles recognized his talent, produced/published his first album, but didn't keep him in the Apple Studios corral!

Classic

Love this so much

Anywhere Like Heaven is my favorite song on this album. Overall the album has weathered well. This being one of the many soundtracks of my teen years I enjoyed reminiscing as I listened.