''Sweet Baby James'' is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter

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. Taylor achieved his breakthrough in 1970 with the single "Fi ...

, released on February 1, 1970, by

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

. It reached number three on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' Top LPs & Tapes chart, and includes two of Taylor's earliest successful singles: " Fire and Rain" and " Country Road", which reached number three and number thirty-seven on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, respectively. This success made Taylor one of the most prominent figures in the emerging singer-songwriter movement. At the

13th Annual Grammy Awards The 13th Annual Grammy Awards were held on 16 March 1971, on ABC, and marked the ceremony's first live telecast. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1970. The ceremony was hosted for the first time by Andy Williams. Awa ...

, ''Sweet Baby James'' was nominated for Album of the Year. It was listed at number 104 on ''

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. The magazine was first known fo ...

''s list "

The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is a recurring opinion survey and music ranking of the finest albums in history, compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and indu ...

", and, in 2000, it was voted number 228 in

Colin Larkin Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British music writer. He founded and was the editor-in-chief of ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. Along with the ten-volume encyclopedia, Larkin also wrote the book ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'', and edited th ...

's ''

All Time Top 1000 Albums ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'' is a book by Colin Larkin, creator and editor of the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. The book was first published by Guinness Publishing in 1994. The list presented is the result of over 200,000 votes cast by the ...

''. In 2002, the album was inducted into the

Grammy Hall of Fame The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...

Background

Produced by Peter Asher, ''Sweet Baby James'' was recorded at

Sunset Sound Sunset (or sundown) is the disappearance of the Sun at the end of the Sun path, below the horizon of the Earth (or any other astronomical object in the Solar System) due to its rotation. As viewed from everywhere on Earth, it is a phenomenon th ...

in Los Angeles, California, between December 8 and 17, 1969, at a cost of only $7,600 (US$ in dollars) out of a budget of $20,000. Taylor was "essentially homeless" at the time the album was recorded, either staying in Asher's home or sleeping on a couch at the house of guitarist Danny Kortchmar, or anyone else who would have him. The song "Suite for 20 G" was so named because Taylor was promised $20,000 (US$ in dollars) once the album was delivered. With one more song needed, he strung together three unfinished songs into a " suite" to complete the album. The album produced two charting singles: " Fire and Rain" (b/w "Anywhere Like Heaven"), which peaked at number three on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on October 31, 1970, and " Country Road" (b/w " Sunny Skies"), which peaked at number 37 on March 20, 1971. An additional single, " Sweet Baby James" (b/w "Suite for 20 G"), did not chart.

Critical reception

Reviewing for ''

'' in 1970, Gary von Tersch observed in the music "echoes of

the Band The Band was a Canadian-American rock music, rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario, in 1957. It consisted of the Canadians Rick Danko (bass, guitar, vocals, fiddle), Garth Hudson (organ, keyboards, accordion, saxophone), Richard Manuel (piano, d ...

the Byrds The Byrds () were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) being the so ...

, country Dylan and folksified Dion", which Taylor manages to negotiate into a "very listenable record that is all his own". ''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Ma ...

'' critic

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

was harsher in his appraisal of the album, saying that "Taylor's vehement following bewilders me; as near as I can discern, he is just another poetizing simp. Even the production is conventional. For true believers only." In a retrospective review,

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

's William Ruhlmann was more receptive to "Taylor's sense of wounded hopelessness", believing it reflected "the pessimism and desperation of the 1960s hangover that was the early '70s" and "struck a chord with music fans, especially because of its attractive mixture of folk, country, gospel, and blues elements, all of them carefully understated and distanced."

Accolades

* In 2001, the TV network

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

named ''Sweet Baby James'' the 77th greatest album of all time. * In 2003, the album was ranked number 104 on ''

'' magazine's list "

", maintaining the position in the 2012 update to the list, and dropping to number 182 in the 2020 update.

Track listing

All songs by

unless otherwise noted. Side one #" Sweet Baby James" – 2:54 #"Lo and Behold" – 2:37 #" Sunny Skies" – 2:21 #"

Steamroller A steamroller (or steam roller) is a form of road roller – a type of heavy construction machinery used for leveling surfaces, such as roads or airfields – that is powered by a steam engine. The leveling/flattening action is achieved through ...

" – 2:57 #" Country Road" – 3:22 #" Oh, Susannah" (

Stephen Foster Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826January 13, 1864), known as "the father of American music", was an American composer known primarily for his parlour music, parlour and Folk music, folk music during the Romantic music, Romantic period. He wr ...

) – 1:58 Side two #" Fire and Rain" – 3:20 #"Blossom" – 2:14 #"Anywhere Like Heaven" – 3:23 #"Oh Baby, Don't You Loose Your Lip on Me" – 1:46 #"Suite for 20 G" – 4:41

Personnel

Musicians *James Taylor – vocals, guitar * Danny Kortchmar – guitar * Red Rhodes –

steel guitar A steel guitar () is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conventional guitar i ...

* John London – bass guitar (except “Country Road”, “Fire and Rain”, and “Blossom”) * Randy Meisner – bass guitar on "Country Road" and "Blossom" *Bobby West –

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

on "Fire and Rain" *

Carole King Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer-songwriter and musician renowned for her extensive contributions to popular music. She wrote or co-wrote 118 songs that charted on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billbo ...

– backing vocals, piano *

Russ 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, Jimmy Buffett, Harry Chapin, Rita Coolidge, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Cass Elliot, Dan Fo ...

– drums * Chris Darrow –

fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

The horn players are uncredited. Technical *Jack Bielan –

brass Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...

arrangements *Peter Asher – producer *Bill Lazerus – engineer *Darrell Johnson – mastering * Ed Thrasher – art direction * Henry Diltz – photography

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

Album online
on

Radio3Net Radio 3 net is the former ''Radio România Tineret'' (or Radio 3). More than 20,000 albums are stored on Radio 3 net. It is a radio station for young people, currently broadcasting as an online-only radio station. A few of the prominent features ...

a radio channel of

Romanian Radio Broadcasting Company The Romanian Radio Broadcasting Company (), informally referred to as Radio Romania (), is the public radio broadcaster in Romania. It operates FM broadcasting, FM and AM broadcasting, AM, and webcast, internet national and local radio channels. ...

{{Authority control 1970 albums James Taylor albums Albums produced by Peter Asher Warner Records albums Albums recorded at Sunset Sound Recorders