Customer Reviews

The Best of James Taylor

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I was lucky enough to first see James Taylor live in a small outdoor venue called Avaloch in rural Lenox, Massachusetts in the summer of 1970, after this first album recorded by the Beatles in London had been released and just before the release of the fabulously successful "Sweet Baby James" album by Warner Brothers. He appeared alone on-stage with a full head of long, long hair in a simple denim shirt and cut-up jeans with his four or five acoustic guitars, and for two and a half hours proceeded to absolutely enchant the sprawling lawn-full of hundreds of audience members with a spellbinding performance of all of the work from both of those albums. Although virtually unknown at the time, word of mouth had spread so quickly in the Berkshires area (who still considers him one of their own) that many of us went out to get this album to play before he appeared. The rest, as they say, is history.

This is a fantastic collection of his greatest hits garnered from both of his greatest hits collections, and so represents some twenty gems on an incredible collection of wonderful selections, and is therefore a terrific summary of that work. Many of my favorites are here, including "Something In The Way She Moves", "Carolina In My Mind", and "You Can Close Your Eyes". Of course, so is "Fire And Rain", "You've Got A Friend", "Steamroller Blues", and "Country Road", all now Taylor standards. My all time favorite song from this album is "Sweet Baby James", which is sung about the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts where I grew up, so I have always considered this a special song, with its evocation of a snow-driven drive along the turnpike just as winter's first snow hits the Berkshires. His performance on it is a brilliant early indication of just how incredibly talented an interpretive artist Taylor really is. He always pleases with songs like "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight", "Mexico", and "Walking Man", and this album is sure to please even the most cautious music fan. It is certainly a terrific showcase for how well Taylor can deliver on a variety of original works and covers of traditional folk songs. Enjoy!

There is very little on this album that couldn't have been released on a James Taylor "best-of" in 1978. Up On The Roof appears to be the most recent track, if you can call 1979 recent.

Unfortunately, this was about the time that Ol' JT switched record labels (Columbia to WEA) and so it was not possible to get a Greatest Hits package that actually contained all his greatest hits.

It still isn't. Not quite. Missing in action are his duets with his ex, Carly Simon (Mockingbird & Devoted To You), his duet with JD Souther (Her Town Too), What A Wonderful World (recorded with Art Garfunkel & Paul Simon) and the lovely remake of Buddy Holly's "Everyday". Or anything he's recorded during, say, Britney Spears' lifetime.

But what is here more than makes up for what's missing. Classic gentle songs, that warm you like brandy on a winter's night. And like brandy, age does not harm the contents.

At this year's Grammies, James was part of a singer-songwriter performance. Alongside "young whipper-snappers" like John Mayer and Vanessa Carleton, JT performed the 30-year old "Sweet Baby James", a track than never even sniffed at the charts.

One has to question whether Mayer or Carleton will be able to strike similar memory chords in 2038.

Growing up in the 60s, James Taylor was a big part of my life. The man was not only a fantastic singer...but a terrific songwriter.

I am not a knowledgeable fan of JT. So I decided to plunge and give it a try. What better than a compilation? A the end I will remain not a fan. 4-5 fairly good tunes on 20 on this album. In this field I would prefer Jack Johnson. Personnal taste I know.

This is the collection to own of JT's work. All the hits are here, including the entire old Warner Bros. Greatest Hits album and then the Columbia hit material. However 2 or 3 songs are included on this great set that really are not needed such as " You Can Close your Eyes" or Golden Moments, and "Long Ago and Far Away. These 3 songs are good songs but they do not add any flavor to the collection. What about the old tune "Rainy Day Man, which dates back to the "Flying Machine" days and then was re-recorded for his debut album, "James Taylor" on Apple records back in 1969. There has to be a way Warner Bros could have got the rights to this classic. Also what about Copperline, it could have fit in nicely after "Only A Dream in Rio", in the time frame of things. This collection also features a new track, "Bittersweet" which is absolutely top notch and should turn out to be a JT classic, the best JT song in years!!!!! This collection is a MUST BUY!!!!!

The Cd was great and it has all the songs i like although it would have been a better cd if it was a double because he's missing a lot of songs that should have been on the cd other than that it was a great cd

This CD has all my favorite James Taylor songs all in one high-quality compilation. What a great addition to any music collection! My entire family enjoys James Taylor and it is wonderful to take on roadtrips. I highly recommend this CD!

It seems to me nearly impossible for someone not to like "James Taylor". His songwriting and delivery are so wonderful and pleasing. This "Best Of" is an improvement over the "Greatest Hits", as it includes all those tracks, and is 8 songs longer. Included are the classics "Fire And Rain", "You've Got A Friend", "Shower The People", and "Carolina In My Mind", among others. There's also the unreleased "Bitter Sweet". This collection is a must for any fan, especially if you don't own his previous one. It will go great with your "Jim Croce" and "John Denver" albums.

A mellow, timeless collection of some of my favorite James Taylor songs and a few I never heard before...this was my first time purchasing a James Taylor CD (album in my day) and this CD has a nice collection of songs from folk to blues to "folksey" R&B.

James Taylor, like so many artists that have been around for 30+ years, has had lots of hits and memorable songs. However, there is simply NO WAY to put his best work on one CD. If you want to know who James Taylor is (even if you are a casual fan), then you will need to buy his two hit volumes which has a lot more songs and gives you a more complete recap of his music life. I enjoyed those two volumes more than this single-disc collection.