The next classic rock album to receive Audio Fidelity's 24 Karat Gold CD reissue will be James Taylor's 1970 commercial breakthrough Sweet Baby James, which will be in stores next week on August 23th.Here is what they have to say about it: One of the most acclaimed records in pop music history, Sweet Baby James remains James Taylor's most successful album.
His second solo LP and his first for Warner Bros. Records, it won a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year (1971), remained on Billboard's chart for just under two years and is widely credited as the record that ignited the singer-songwriter boom.
It contained two of Taylor's best known ballads, "Fire and Rain" and "Country Road," both of which became hit singles, and the tongue-in-cheek blues "Steamroller," which Elvis Presley turned into a Top-20 hit in 1973.
Sweet Baby James is also the album that commenced Taylor's continuing association with Carole King, who plays piano and sings on the album. Other support players include longtime Taylor accompanists Danny Kortchmar (guitar), Russ Kunkel (drums), Leland Sklar (bass), veteran pedal-steel player Red Rhodes and bassist Randy Meisner (of Poco and the Eagles).
The album's full track list, comprised entirely of Taylor originals except for Stephen Foster's "Oh! Susanna," includes the FM-radio favorites "Lo and Behold" and "Sweet Baby James," as well as "Sunny Skies," "Blossom," "Anywhere Like Heaven," "Oh Baby, Don't Loose Your Lip on Me" and "Suite 20G."
