JAMES TAYLOR – SWEET BABY JAMES LP – Nr MINT A2/B2 UK 1970 ORIG

James Taylor – Sweet Baby James
(Warner Bros Records  1970  WS1843  Orange Warners Labels)
Matrix No’s: A2/B2 – UK Pressing

Vinyl in Nr MINT condition
(there are some surface marks visible on the vinyl when held up to the light but they don’t affect the sound quality apart from the odd light pop/crackle)

Sleeve in Excellent condition
– some ringwear and some light creasing

James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.

Taylor achieved his breakthrough in 1970 with the No. 3 single “Fire and Rain” and had his first No. 1 hit the following year with “You’ve Got a Friend”, a recording of Carole King’s classic song. His 1976 Greatest Hits album was certified Diamond and has sold 12 million US copies. Following his 1977 album, JT, he has retained a large audience over the decades. His commercial achievements declined slightly until a resurgence during the late 1990s and 2000s, when he recorded some of his best-selling and most-awarded work (including Hourglass, October Road and Covers).

Sweet Baby James is the second studio album, by American singer-songwriter James Taylor, and his first release on Warner Bros. Records. Released in February 1970, it showcased Taylor’s talents and showed the direction he would take in the early 1970s with the expansion of his career. The album featured one of Taylor’s earliest single successes: “Fire and Rain (song)”, which reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album itself also managed to reach #3 on the Billboard Album Charts. Sweet Baby James made Taylor one of the main forces of the ascendent folk movement. The album was nominated to a Grammy Award for Album of the Year, in 1971. The album was listed at #103 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

The album, produced by Peter Asher, was recorded between 8 and 17 December 1969 at a cost of only $7,600 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 crashing 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 once the album was delivered. With one more song needed, he strung together three unfinished songs into a “suite”, and completed the album.

Track listing

All songs by James Taylor unless otherwise noted.

Side one

1. “Sweet Baby James” – 2:54
2. “Lo and Behold” – 2:37
3. “Sunny Skies” – 2:21
4. “Steamroller” – 2:57
5. “Country Road” – 3:22
6. “Oh, Susanna” (Stephen Foster) – 1:58

Side two

1. “Fire and Rain” – 3:20
2. “Blossom” – 2:14
3. “Anywhere Like Heaven” – 3:23
4. “Oh Baby, Don’t You Loose Your Lip on Me” – 1:46
5. “Suite for 20 G” – 4:41

Personnel

• James Taylor — guitar, vocals
• Jack Bielan — brass
• Chris Darrow — fiddle, violin.
• Carole King — piano, vocals
• Danny Kortchmar — guitar
• Russ Kunkel — drums
• John London — bass
• Randy Meisner — bass
• Red Rhodes — steel guitar
• Bobby West — double bass

The horn players are uncredited.