Covers - Harry Potter 6 Books

Track Listing

1. It's Growing
2. (I'm a) Road Runner
3. Wichita Lineman
4. Why Baby Why
5. Some Days You Gotta Dance
6. Seminole Wind
7. Suzanne
8. Hound Dog
9. Sadie
10. On Broadway
11. Summertime Blues
12. Not Fade Away

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #72 in Music
• Released on: 2008-09-30
• Number of discs: 1

Album Description
Covers is the cd that James Taylor fans have been anticipating for years. Recorded live with his full band in a barn in Massachusetts that was transformed into a studio, the album is a treasury of songs he has performed live over the years, but never recorded. It is an American songbook of tunes made famous by artists as varied Buddy Holly, The Dixie Chicks, The Temptations, Leonard Cohen, George Jones and Eddie Cochran, but embraced and interpreted by James Taylor in a way that makes each one his own. It is a significant work by one of the greatest artists of his generation, which pays tribute to classic American songs from Broadway to Nashville, Detroit to Memphis and across all boundaries. Covers is in itself a classic James Taylor recording.

From the Artist
I've done covers of other people's songs since the beginning. Looking over the various collections of my tunes a fair-sized portion of my "hits" have been covers: "You've Got a Friend", "How Sweet it Is", "Up On the Roof", "Handyman"...so this is not uncharted water for me. I've always thought that writing an original song and reinterpreting someone else's were similar processes; just as making music is a lot like listening to it.

What has been so memorable about this album were the sessions themselves: ten days in deep January in a converted barn in the woods of Western Massachusetts. It's remarkable and unusual today to put 12 musicians in the same place at the same time. It's a type of "live" recording sadly seldom seen in these days of the overdub. You get an immediate energy and it's a whole lot of fun. It sweeps you up and it carries you along and when it's done, it's done.

About the Artist
Over the course of his long career, James Taylor has earned 40 gold, platinum and multi-platinum awards and five GRAMMY® Awards for a catalog running from 1970's "Sweet Baby James" to his GRAMMY® Award-winning efforts "Hourglass" (1997) and "October Road" (2002). Taylor's first greatest hits album earned him the RIAA's elite Diamond Award, given for sales in excess of 10 million units in the United States. For his accomplishments, James was honored with the 1998 Century Award, Billboard magazine's highest accolade, bestowed for distinguished creative achievement. The year 2000 saw his induction into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the prestigious Songwriter's Hall of Fame. In February 2006, The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences selected James its MUSICARES Person of the Year.

Raised in North Carolina, Taylor now lives in The Berkshires with his wife, Caroline, and their sons Henry and Rufus. He has sold some 40 million albums throughout his career, which began back in 1968 when he was signed by Paul McCartney to the Beatles' Apple Records. The album "James Taylor" was his first and only solo effort for Apple. It was only a matter of time before he would make his mark, and what a mark he would make.

Customer Reviews

JT's Worst Album
JT has been one of my great musical heroes for over 30 years. There are plenty of JT songs and covers found elsewhere that are uniquely beautiful reflections of human emotion. Sadly, in this album, all cuts are vastly better in the original, even (and perhaps especially) Glen Campbell's yearning classic, Wichita Lineman. The album sounds like "The Musical Stylings of James Taylor: Tonight at the Holiday Inn Lounge". The concept probably sounded like a good idea when he thought it up, but unfortunately, it panned out more like a parody. It teaches us very little about JT, the songs he has chosen, or ourselves. It is therefore a very flat album. I give it two stars out of deference to his overall greatness. Get up bro', dust yourself off, and give us another great one!

Taylor "Rocks", America Shops!
Step 1: Put a guy with a great voice in a room full of top-notch musicians ranging from Larry Goldings to Yo-Yo Ma.
Step 2: Stuff them so full of Prozac that everyone is happy and mellow.
Step 3: Hand them a book full of standards and hit record.
Step 4: Profit!

I'm not sure this is exactly how it happened, but it's close enough for our purposes. Taylor has good, if uninspired, taste in songs. And it's downright supernatural that his voice sounds this great at age 60. But a style that suits "It's Growing" and "On Broadway" is dubious for "Not Fade Away" or "Summertime Blues" and just plain disturbing for "Hound Dog".

Taylor does get props in my book for covering Big Mama Thornton's original of "Hound Dog" rather than Elvis' version. But where Elvis had the good sense to change the words in a way that made the meaning suit him, Taylor does not. So what was sensual and saucy coming out of Thornton's mouth is, at best, nonsensical here.

In the end, Taylor only proves here that he's a one-trick pony. He can do mellow better than anyone. He can even handle wistful or sad. But most of these songs don't match the only style he seems capable of producing. In the end this album is a wasted opportunity.

But listen for this album in a shopping mall or Starbucks near you anyway.

Delicious!
Covers is such a "tasty" piece of music that is makes my ears water! James Taylor continues to get better and better the longer he goes. One doesn't have to be a JT fan to enjoy this CD, it's a pretty good time for all.