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The Best of James Taylor | 
| Artist: James Taylor
Label: Rhino / Wea
Category: Music
List Price: $18.98
Buy New: $5.95
as of 9/4/2010 00:11 UTC details
You Save: $13.03 (69%)
New (50) Used (23) from $4.94
Rating:  94 reviews
Sales Rank: 516
Media: Audio CD
Autographed: No
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
MPN: 42253
UPC: 081227383725
EAN: 0081227383725
ASIN: B00007IT8S
Release Date: April 8, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | James Taylor - The Best Of Brazil Import |
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| Tracks:
| • | Something In The Way She Moves | | • | Sweet Baby James | | • | Fire And Rain | | • | Country Road | | • | You've Got A Friend | | • | You Can Close Your Eyes | | • | Long Ago And Far Away | | • | Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight | | • | Walking Man | | • | How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) | | • | Mexico | | • | Shower The People | | • | Golden Moments | | • | Steamroller (Live) | | • | Carolina In My Mind | | • | Handy Man | | • | Your Smiling Face | | • | Up On The Roof | | • | Only A Dream In Rio | | • | Bitter Sweet (Previously Unreleased) |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
CD includes: Something in the Way She Moves Sweet Baby James Fire and Rain Country Road You ve Got a Friend You Can Close Your Eyes Long Ago and Far Away Don t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight Walking Man How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) Mexico Shower the People Golden Moments Steamroller (Live) Carolina in My Mind Handy Man Your Smiling Face Up on the Roof Only a Dream in Rio Bittersweet
Amazon.com
Any good singer can interpret a song, but it takes a stylist to make it his own. James Taylor is a stylist. This 20-track anthology obviously can't chronicle much more than the hits and high points of Taylor's career, but it nonetheless captures the artistic essence of a performer who's become a virtual synonym for "singer-songwriter" since his emergence in the late '60s. A lot of ink has been spilled ruminating about Taylor's role in soothing a '60s-burned generation, but given his own well-known demons (depression, addiction) his gentle voice often sounds like the physician wisely healing himself. His muse seems fully formed from the opening "Something in the Way She Moves," a track cut for the Beatles' Apple label in late `68 (and one that seems to share some symbiotic relationship with George Harrison's own classic "Something" from the period), its tone at once familiar and inviting--if ripe for a few decades of parody--as it wends its way from his seminal early '70s hits through a slate of later originals, R&B ("How Sweet It Is," "Handy Man") and pop ("Up On the Roof") covers. Tellingly, he delivers those chestnuts with an offhand confidence and illumination that makes them his own, a sense that informs even his jazz and Brazilian ("Only a Dream a Rio") flirtations. The set's newly recorded bonus cut, John Sheldon's "Bittersweet," is a pleasant pop confection that showcases Taylor's knack for being laconic and upbeat in the same breath. --Jerry McCulley
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 94
 edited for 16 and under August 30, 2010
JVB
Steam roller blues not the original version.
Warning for music purists this has been edited I would assume so no warning lable has to be put on it.
Chicken choking, Mother ???ing.
The big finish of this song now ends with a wimper.
 The Good Old Days July 15, 2010
Cheryl J. Cox (Florissant, MO United States)
This music takes me back to my high school days, when I listened to James Taylor all the time! It all comes back to me. Now, with technology what it is today, my memories of my old records can be put on my ipod!
 The next best JT collection June 14, 2010
G. L. M. Besseling (The Netherlands)
For a dreamer and big James Taylor as me, it's hard to say a bad thing about a JT release. I love this man, his voice, his lyrics... I adore him. And I've loved this collection ever since I bought it a couple of years ago.
His best known songs are on it; Sweet Baby James, Fire and Rain, Carole King's You've Got a Friend and Up on the Roof, Carolina in my Mind. The lesser known songs are jewels as well. The live version of Steamroller is great and makes you wish you were right there in the audience that night.
But there's also a lot of material missing. Since this collection was released in 2003, it should have included from James' 80's and 90's albums. But it mainly focusses on his 70's period. And that's a real shame, especially since albums like Dad Loves His Work, Hourglass and October Road included some real gems. I mean, Her Town Too, James' last top 40 hit from 1981 should have been included on this one.
I can only hope that James will soon team up with a label like Rhino and release a box set with all the hits, but also b-sides, demo's and most of all some interesting unreleased songs. There must be a lot of them. And I can't wait for them to be released!
James Taylor is one of the best singer-songwriters of all time and this man deserves better collected material!
But for anyone who loves JT, this compilation is a good addition to his or her collection.
The sweet sounds of Sweet Baby James December 31, 2009
Jean E. Pouliot (Newburyport, MA United States)
Yes, Virginia, there was a time when quiet, reflective acoustic music was the rage. And not just in supermarkets and elevators, and not all that long ago. James Taylor's music exemplified the best of the folk and folk-rock traditions that grew out of the 1960s and early 70s. Some of his tunes are classics. "Fire and Rain," telling of the death of one of the singer's friends, perfectly captures the wistful reaction of youth when faced with untimely death. "Carolina on my Mind" is a soulful elegy to the peace and harmony of rural life. "Sweet Baby James" combines allusions to the lonely quiet of cowboy life and modern highway driving with marvelous poetry. The line, "Now the first of December was covered with snow; so were the Berkshires from Stockbridge to Boston" never fails to conjure an image of silent, snow-girt, ribbons of highway undulating over forested New England hills.
I confess that I am partial to Taylor's earlier work. Later works, like "Handyman" and "Shower the People," lack the subtlety, musicality and introspective charm of masterpieces like "Something in the Way She Walks." But that's me. "The Best of James Taylor" is worth listening to, by old fans but especially by younger listeners who hear so little serious reflective, unironic, lyrical music. Music that everyone needs to hear often, or at least once.
What a great album! August 18, 2009
Donald R. Leetz (Milwaukee, WI)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This album covers most of his earlier work. Songs like "Sweet Baby James" bring tears to my eyes. "Mexico" is another favorite. There isn't one dud on the album.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 94
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