"Your Smiling Face" is a hit single by singer

James Taylor James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, havi ...

. First available on the album '' JT'', and released as the album's sophomore single in September 1977, "Your Smiling Face" peaked at number 11 in '' Cash Box'' magazine and at 20 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 near year's end. It reached number 11 on the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' Top Singles chart in Canada. On Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart, it reached number 6.

Background

Lines like "Isn't it amazing a man like me can feel this way?" reflect Taylor's surprise at his newfound happiness in his relationship with Carly Simon. ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' critic Peter Herbst described it as being "unabashedly happy". However, according to Taylor biographer Timothy White, the song was written for Taylor's and Simon's then three-year-old daughter

Sally Sally may refer to: People *Sally (name), a list of notable people with the name Military * Sally (military), an attack by the defenders of a town or fortress under siege against a besieging force; see sally port *Sally, the Allied reporting na ...

. White described the song as a "pop sonnet". ''

Billboard Magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the musi ...

'' described the song as a "strong followup" to " Handy Man" and described the melody as being "upbeat" and "infectious." Taylor described it as a "good, light-hearted pop love song". '' Cash Box'' said that "some whimsical vocal gymnastics that add the crucial personal touch." Herbst praises Taylor's vocal for being "a pretty convincing rock singer" on the song. "Your Smiling Face" was a fixture in Taylor's live shows, but he had to abandon it for a while because he went through a period where he had difficulty reaching the falsetto notes.

Personnel

– lead vocals, acoustic guitar *

Danny Kortchmar Daniel "Danny Kootch" Kortchmar (born April 6, 1946) is an American guitarist, session musician, producer and songwriter. Kortchmar's work with singer-songwriters such as Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, David Crosby, Carole King, David Cassidy, Gr ...

– electric guitar *

Leland Sklar Leland Bruce Sklar (born May 28, 1947) is an American bassist and session musician. Sklar rose to prominence as a member of James Taylor's backing band, which coaleced into a group in its own right, The Section. This group of musicians so frequ ...

– bass * Dr. Clarence McDonald – piano *

Russell Kunkel Russell Kunkel (born September 27, 1948) is an American drummer who has worked as a session musician with many popular artists, including Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell, Jimmy Buffett, Harry Chapin, Rita Coolidge, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Da ...

– drums * David Campbell – string arrangements, conductor

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Popular culture

*The song was used in the 1978 film '' FM'', starring

Michael Brandon Michael Brandon (born Michael Feldman; April 20, 1945) is an American actor. He is known for his role as James Dempsey in the British drama series '' Dempsey and Makepeace'' (1985–1986). His theatre credits include the original Broadway produ ...

and

Eileen Brennan Eileen Brennan (born Verla Eileen Regina Brennen; September 3, 1932 – July 28, 2013) was an American actress. She made her film debut in the satire '' Divorce American Style'' (1967), followed by a supporting role in Peter Bogdanovich's ''The ...

. *It was parodied in the '' South Park'' episode " Fat Camp" as "The Prostitute Song." *On ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) ...

'', Taylor sang a parody of the song to Oscar the Grouch titled "Whenever I See your Grouchy Face". *The trailer for

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as dult swim'' and often abbreviated as s'') is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programmed by its in-house ...

show ''

Smiling Friends ''Smiling Friends'' is an adult animated television series created by Zach Hadel and Michael Cusack for Cartoon Network's night-time programming block Adult Swim, which revolves around a small company dedicated to making people smile. The pilo ...

'' uses the song.

References

{{James Taylor 1977 singles James Taylor songs Songs written by James Taylor Song recordings produced by Peter Asher Columbia Records singles 1977 songs