'Sweet Baby James'

James Taylor's eponymous debut album for the Beatles' Apple Records had its merits but wasn't an overwhelming success and his future prospects with the wilting Apple were in considerable doubt.

All of this meant James would move back to the United States, almost immediately checking into a psychiatric hospital called the Austen Riggs Center to overcome a heroin addiction. It was here that he came up with the majority of songs that would become his next album, Sweet Baby James. Along with his debut long player, the London experience had also brought James a manager and producer with a considerable pedigree in the music business: Peter Asher, a former McCartney brother-in-law and half of the British Invasion duo Peter and Gordon, who had numerous UK hits, many of which also scored on the charts stateside.

Asher immediately secured for Taylor a recording deal with Warner Brothers Records. Sweet Baby James was recorded with Asher as producer at Sunset Sound in Los Angeles in December 1969. Taylor claimed to be "essentially homeless" during the making of this record, lodging either with Asher or with his friend, and guitarist on the album, Danny Kortchmar.

In addition to Kortchmar, the players on the album included legendary singer-songwriter Carole King on piano, Russel Kunkel on drums, and on several tracks future Eagles bass player Randy Meisner. The arrangements were simple, leaving behind the orchestrations that had colored his debut, much to the chagrin of his friend Kortchmar in particular.

James has noted that the title track was actually written behind the wheel of a car, which is the perspective the listener gets as well. James's brother Alex and his wife had recently had a son whom "in a moment of weakness" (according to James) named him after his uncle James. This "cowboy lullaby" chronicles the journey through snowy New England to see his new nephew, with backing enhanced by the legendary Red Rhodes' steel guitar and John London on bass.

"Lo and Behold" features just James and Danny Kortchmar on guitars and is a basic acoustic song infused with a gospel feel and addressed accordingly to the followers of the Lord. It's a nice song and provides early notice of this weapon in the Taylor arsenal.

"Sunny Skies" by contrast is a bouncy, childlike song that features Bobby West on bass--though its darker side is in evidence if one considers that the subject of the song is not the sun but the song's author. James played it on Saturday Night Live's 100th episode on May 25, 1980. With a slightly altered lyric and a chorus of children, the song was also featured on a volume of children's songs, the Sesame Street recording In Harmony 2.

"Steamroller" is a basic blues song reminiscent of the debut album's "Blues Is Just a Bad Dream," though far more successful: Elvis never recorded "bad dream" but performed this one regularly. Anyone whose heard this tune, and especially anyone who has heard or seen James do it live, would recognize that in part this is a put-on of the white blues bands that began to overrun the music business in the late 60s. When James compiled his Greatest Hits album in 1976, he in fact included a live version of the song as he wasn't particularly fond of the Sweet Baby James version, partly because time constraints meant he had to put down the vocal with a bad head cold.

The "Steamroller" album track features a rare appearance of James on electric guitar, laying down the basic track with Kortchmar. The final version features horns by arranger Jack Beilan and the first appearance of Randy Meisner, who had been fired as bassist for Poco, was working in Rick Nelson's Stone Canyon Band, and of course would soon find fame with The Eagles.

"Country Road" is another highlight, one of two charting singles from the album. It features Meisner, Carole King on piano and Russ Kunkel on drums, and chronicles a period in which Taylor had grown disillusioned with his family--in particular his parents. The phrase "a heavenly band full of angels coming to set me free" recalls the "holy host of others" reference to the Beatles in "Carolina in My Mind." Both are references to his travels in the music business saving him from his recurring depressions and addictions.

"Oh Susannah" is an old folk song via the great Stephen Foster, which just features two minutes of James on guitar and vocals to nicely fill out the first side of the album. Filler, but high-quality filler.

Next came the masterpiece: the song that would make James Taylor a household name and fixture in the music business. "Fire and Rain" would become JT's signature song, a sad yet oddly hopeful song with an unforgettable chorus that paints an unforgettable account of the tensions inherent in the human condition. The first verse of the song was inspired by Susie Schnerr, a friend of James from his New York days who had taken her own life while he was in London. The rest of the song centers on Taylor's struggles with addiction and depression and includes a reference to his original band with Kortchmar, the Flying Machine.

The backing features Russ Kunkel using brushes on the drums to great effect and Bobby West using a violin bow on his bass. The song went to #3 on the Billboard Charts on Halloween of 1970, and spawned numerous cover versions.

"Blossom" is a beautiful song greatly enhanced by Carole King's piano; it's a song the pair revived in their tour together in 2010 with a backing band that include Kortchmar, Kunkel and Lee Sklar, known collectively as the Section.

"Anywhere like Heaven" is another track enhanced by the steel guitar of Red Rhodes this time joined on fiddle by Chris Darrow, late of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, with whom he had played on the perennial classic "Mr. Bojangles."

"Oh Baby, Don't You Loose Your Lip On Me" features just James and Danny Kortchmar on guitars. If there's a forgettable song on the album, this qualifies.

"Suite for 20G" was a combination of ideas and segments James had in mind that he strung together in order to complete the album. The title refers to the $20,000 he was promised for completion of the album.

The compensation received certainly proved to be justified as the album was an immediate success and remains a classic. It had a personal self-revelatory nature that had a major effect on the singer-songwriter movement and while certain rock critics of the time bemoaned the success of Taylor, his place in music has remained while a lot of more acclaimed artists have gone on to obscurity. Sweet Baby James was a major step forward for Taylor and was nominated for a Grammy for album of the year.