The sound quality on his remastered hits CD is excellent. |
Rebbi writes: I am a huge James Taylor fan. My favorite albums, in no particular order:
"One Man Band" Do you mean "One Man Dog"? If so, I recommend the Audio Fidelity Gold AFZ 101 version of this disc. Regards, |
Metralla,
Hi. No. There's a fairly recent CD of his called "One Man Band," recorded live at an old theater in New England somewhere. Fine, if not spectacular sound, and some really wonderful performances. The remake of "My Traveling Star" from "October Road" is particularly good. I think I bought it in Starbucks, of all places. I believe it's on the Hear label. Well worth seeking out.
Sabai, can you describe the cover of the CD you're talking about so I'm sure we're talking about the same thing? I was browsing on Amazon last night and think I may have seen that CD you're talking about... |
Rebbi,
Sorry -- can't find it. |
"One Man Dog" is from 1990. The cover is James poling a small boat with a dog right at his feet.
I have the Audio Fidelity gold cd and regular cd of "Mud Slide Slim". The Audio Fidelity is an improvement. It sounds more vivid with better detail. |
I made a mistake there. "One Man Dog" is from 1972. The cd was reissued in 1990. |
You're a big JT fan and you don't list his 2 best efforts...Sweet Baby James and Mud Slide Slim? I understand you can't argue "taste" but I'm very surprised. Have you heard those? |
Lindisfarne,
I know many of the songs from those albums but have never owned them, no. I'll put them on my wish list. |
Lindisfarne is correct, and Rebbi is in for two very special treats. Those albums are damn near perfect. |
Hasn't been mentioned but it's a favorite of mine; 'Gorilla'! |
Rebbi-Just buy the first 3 JT albums and you can thank me later. I think you'll see how far he fell after you listen to those. It's like Cat Stevens...amazing early work, mediocre later output. |
Sweet Baby James and Mud Slide Slim are both available on Audio Fidelity gold cds and you should definitely get them if you like James.
I was listening to a live album by James and he told the story about how he wrote Sweet Baby James. When James came back from England he was driving to North Carolina to visit his brother Alex and his wife who had just had a baby boy whom Alex had named James after his brother. James decided to write a lullaby for the baby as a gift and wrote Sweet Baby James. I think the elder James kept the songwriter's royalties though.
James didn't want the album to be named Sweet Baby James because he didn't want people to think it referred to him. James was a really shy person at that time. The record company knew that the song would be a big hit and insisted the title be Sweet Baby James.
I don't know if that is all common knowledge, I just heard it recently so I thought I'd pass it along. |
Lindisfarne,
I will buy them! But I wouldn't characterize JT's later output as "mediocre" by any stretch. JT is a wonderful record. Secret O' Life and There We Are are amazing songs. And the arrangement of Oh What A Beautiful Morning from "Other Covers" is just glorious. |
Never die young and october road are a step down from That's why I'm. Here |
Audiotomb,
That's Why I'm Here is a great record, for sure. In fact, it was the album I took with me to dealers when I was auditioning equipment my first, modest high-end system in 1985. But Never Die Young and October Road have their great moments, too. "Mean Old Man," "Sun On The Moon" and "Letter In The Mail" are all great tunes. |
by step down I meant not quite as good but if you like That's Why I'm Here you will like these |
