- Included among the Record Descriptions of Favorite Albums (Part 1).
- James Taylor comes from a musical family and is one of America’s most celebrated singer-songwriters; he hails from Chapel Hill, NC.
James Taylor – James Taylor’s Greatest Hits (1976): James Taylor is one of America’s most celebrated singer-songwriters and hails from Chapel Hill, NC. He comes from a musical family, with siblings Alex Taylor, Livingston Taylor, Hugh Taylor, and Kate Taylor all recording albums as professional musicians. James Taylor auditioned for Apple Records by performing the opening track on James Taylor’s Greatest Hits, “Something in the Way She Moves”; as a result, James Taylor became the first recording artist signed to the Beatles’ record label. George Harrison was so taken with the song that its title became the opening line of his composition “Something”, the only #1 single that Harrison wrote for the Beatles. James Taylor’s album for Apple Records, James Taylor (1968) was produced by Peter Asher, then an in-house producer for the label who became one of the most prominent record producers of the 1970’s – besides James Taylor, Asher’s primary client as manager and producer is Linda Ronstadt.
Another song on James Taylor that is included on James Taylor’s Greatest Hits is “Carolina in My Mind”, about his becoming homesick for North Carolina while recording his album in London. “Carolina in My Mind” is one of James Taylor’s best-known and most critically praised songs and has been covered numerous times. North Carolina country music recording artist George Hamilton IV had some success with his version of “Carolina in My Mind” in 1969. Probably the best-known version of the song other than Taylor’s is that of Melanie, who included “Carolina in My Mind” on her classic 1970 album, Candles in the Rain. Other recordings of the song have been made by the Everly Brothers, Evie Sands, John Denver, and Dawn (later known as Tony Orlando and Dawn). Glen Campbell and Linda Ronstadt performed a duet of the song in January 1971 on his TV show, The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour; the song was ultimately released in the 2007 video Good Times Again. Wikipedia says of this song: “Strongly tied to a sense of geographic place, ‘Carolina in My Mind’ has been called an unofficial state anthem for North Carolina. It is also an unofficial song of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, being played at athletic events and pep rallies and sung by the graduating class at every university commencement.” Both “Something in the Way She Moves” and “Carolina in My Mind” were re-recorded for James Taylor’s Greatest Hits due to contractual constraints with Apple Records. Surprisingly, for someone who is so renowned for his songwriting, many of James Taylor’s biggest hit singles have been covers of well-known songs; two are included on James Taylor’s Greatest Hits, “How Sweet it is (to be Loved by You)” – a 1964 hit for Marvin Gaye – and the #1 hit “You’ve Got a Friend”, a song on Carole King’s landmark album Tapestry (1971). Others not on this album include “Mockingbird”, a duet with his then-wife Carly Simon (originally a 1963 hit by Inez and Charlie Foxx, and based on a traditional lullaby called “Hush Little Baby”); and a 1959 hit by Jimmy James, “Handy Man”. Additional top hits included on James Taylor’s Greatest Hits are “Fire and Rain”, “Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight”, and “Shower the People”; along with other singles like “Walking Man”, “Mexico”, “Steamroller”, and “Sweet Baby James”, the title track from his hit album Sweet Baby James (1970). “Sweet Baby James” is written about the young son of his older brother Alex Taylor, who is named for him. James Taylor has won six Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.