Before the Breakthrough: James Taylor’s First Fall and Rise
It’s 1968, and James Taylor is about to release his self-titled debut. He’s got a potential hit with Carolina In My Mind, and he’s surrounded by none other than The Beatles, being the first foreigner signed to their new label, Apple Records.
It seemed like everything had fallen into place—highly unlikely if you knew his background and how he got there.
Before recording in a London studio while The Beatles were simultaneously working on the White Album, Taylor had already crashed and burned back in the States.
Years with his first band, the Flying Machine, had come to an end, and with James spiralling into heroin addiction, it looked as though his career was over before it had begun.
It all culminated with his father picking him up and driving him to rehab. James returned to North Carolina—to his roots—to get grounded.
But now, here he was, refreshed and ready to record his first solo album. He landed the deal after playing members of The Beatles a demo of Something In The Way She Moves, which would go on to inspire Something by George Harrison.
Everything looked right for James—who, like many addicts, must have thought: I can probably start doing heroin again.
He did—and forgot about promoting the album. Unsurprisingly, it sold poorly. As if that wasn’t enough, he was in a motorcycle accident and broke both his hands and feet.
This was too much for Apple Records, who let him go. Warner Bros picked him up, and James went to work on what would become his breakthrough album.
James Taylor’s Breakthrough After The Beatles Era
James’s second album, Sweet Baby James (1970), was a huge success, with his own composition Fire and Rain reaching #3 on the charts and launching him onto the world stage.
Two other singles—Sweet Baby James (the title track) and Country Road—helped drive album sales, which eventually surpassed three million copies in the U.S.
The following year, he recorded You’ve Got a Friend, a cover of the Carole King tune from her legendary album Tapestry, also released in 1971.
What’s remarkable about You’ve Got a Friend is that both versions—Carole’s and James’s—were recorded at the same time, using the same group of musicians!
Perhaps James got the opportunity because Carole King was inspired to write the tune after hearing his song Fire and Rain.
You’ve Got a Friend would go on to win two Grammy Awards in 1972: Best Male Pop Vocal Performance and Song of the Year.
Since its release, many artists have recorded their own versions, including Michael Jackson, Dusty Springfield, and the incredible Donny Hathaway.
James Taylor Just Kept the Hits Coming!
James Taylor’s next album, One Man Dog (1972), gave us Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight—another timeless Taylor classic.
This was followed by Walking Man (1974), which may not have flopped but didn’t deliver any standout hits either.
Perhaps this inspired him to return to covers. On his next album, Gorilla (1975), James put his spin on Marvin Gaye’s How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You). He also added a new original gem with Mexico.
Then in 1976, In The Pocket arrived, featuring Shower the People, another fan favourite and now a staple in the James Taylor songbook.
That same year, he released Greatest Hits, and amusingly, every track I’ve mentioned so far is on it. I hadn’t checked the listing until now—it was just that obvious. One can only imagine how short the record label meeting must have been to decide on the track list!
Two years later came JT (1977), featuring Handy Man, which would become his final Top 10 hit.
Still, with his devoted fan base now firmly established, every album James released between 1977 and 2007 sold over a million copies.
In total, James Taylor has sold more than 100 million records—perhaps the Beatles regretted letting him go back in 1969 after all.
James Taylor Tunes | Related Pages
How Sweet It Is | Chords + Lyrics
Learn to play How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) by Marvin Gaye + James Taylor using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, and the original recordings.
| F | Dm7 G7 | C C6 | C (C7) |
How sweet it is to be loved by you, yes baby, oh, oh, oh, oh…
James Taylor on the web
