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Rhino is about to shower the people with the first-ever box set from James Taylor. Between 1970 and 1976, the quintessential troubadour released six albums on Warner Bros. Records that laid the groundwork for his remarkable career which continues to this day. At Warner Bros., Taylor introduced signature songs like “Fire and Rain,” “Sweet Baby James,” “Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight,” “Mexico,” and “You Can Close Your Eyes,” as well as classic interpretations of “You’ve Got a Friend” (his first No. 1 and a Grammy winner) and “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You).” Now, all six of his WB releases have been remastered for release on July 19 as The Warner Bros. Albums: 1970-1976 on 6 CDs, 6 LPs, or digital platforms.
The new box set includes:
- Sweet Baby James (1970)
- Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon (1971)
- One Man Dog (1972)
- Walking Man (1974)
- Gorilla (1975); and
- In the Pocket (1976).
Guests on these landmark LPs include David Crosby, Graham Nash, Stevie Wonder, Paul and Linda McCartney, Bonnie Raitt, Carly Simon, Linda Ronstadt, Randy Newman, Carole King, and The Brecker Brothers.
Each album in the box has been freshly remastered, as overseen by Peter Asher. Not only did Asher sign Taylor to the Beatles’ Apple Records label in 1968 (where he recorded his solo debut album), but he served as his manager for 25 years, and originally produced the first three of these albums. He writes in the collection’s liner notes, “Revisiting these albums several decades later has been revelatory, nostalgic, and exciting. I have heard bits and pieces frequently over the years, of course, but listening with concentration and in detail to each of the original tapes without interruption has been a thrilling luxury.”
Note that Taylor’s 1976 Greatest Hits album, which included re-recorded versions of his Apple Records cuts “Something in the Way She Moves” and “Carolina in My Mind” plus a live version of “Steamroller” is not included in this set.
Rhino.com will also offer exclusive bundles of The Warner Bros. Albums that pair both the CD and LP versions of the set with a 12″ x 12″ lithograph of a 1970 photo of the artist. Additionally, the first 350 pre-orders of the LP version from Rhino.com will come with a signed version of the lithograph.
The 2019 remastered version of “Fire and Rain” is available now at all digital services:
James Taylor followed his WB tenure with a long run at Columbia Records beginning with 1977’s smash JT, but these core albums established the heart and soul of his enduring sound. Look for James Taylor’s The Warner Bros. Albums: 1970-1976 on July 19 from Rhino. You’ll find the track listing below; we’ll add pre-order links as soon as they go live!
James Taylor, The Warner Bros. Albums: 1970-1976 (Rhino, 2019)
CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Sweet Baby James (1970)
- “Sweet Baby James”
- “Lo And Behold’
- “Sunny Skies”
- “Steamroller
- “Country Road”
- “Oh, Susannah”
- “Fire And Rain”
- “Blossom”
- “Anywhere Like Heaven”
- “Oh Baby, Don’t You Loose Your Lip On Me”
- “Suite For 20 G”
Mud Slide Slim And The Blue Horizon (1971)
- “Love Has Brought Me Around”
- “You’ve Got A Friend”
- “Places In My Past”
- “Riding On A Railroad”
- “Soldiers”
- “Mud Slide Slim”
- “Hey Mister, That’s Me Up On The Jukebox”
- “You Can Close Your Eyes”
- “Machine Gun Kelly”
- “Long Ago And Far Away”
- “Let Me Ride”
- “Highway Song”
- “Isn’t It Nice To Be Home Again”
One Man Dog (1972)
- “One Man Parade”
- “Nobody But You”
- “Chili Dog”
- “Fool For You”
- “Instrumental I”
- “New Tune”
- “Back On The Street Again”
- “Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight”
- “Woh, Don’t You Know”
- “One Morning In May”
- “Instrumental II”
- “Someone”
- “Hymn”
- “Fanfare”
- “Little David”
- “Mescalito”
- “Dance”
- “Jig”
Walking Man (1974)
- “Walking Man”
- “Rock ‘n’ Roll Is Music Now”
- “Let It All Fall Down”
- “Me And My Guitar”
- “Daddy’s Baby”
- “Ain’t No Song”
- “Hello Old Friend”
- “Migration”
- “The Promised Land”
- “Fading Away”
Gorilla (1975)
- “Mexico”
- “Music”
- “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)”
- “Wandering”
- “Gorilla”
- “You Make It Easy”
- “I Was A Fool To Care”
- “Lighthouse”
- “Angry Blues”
- “Love Songs”
- “Sarah Maria”
In The Pocket (1976)
- “Shower The People”
- “A Junkie’s Lament”
- “Money Machine”
- “Slow Burning Love”
- “Everybody Has The Blues”
- “Daddy’s All Gone”
- “Woman’s Gotta Have It”
- “Captain Jim’s Drunken Dream”
- “Don’t Be Sad ‘Cause Your Sun Is Down”
- “Nothing Like A Hundred Miles”
- “Family Man”
- “Golden Moments”
Review: James Taylor, “The Warner Bros. Albums 1970-1976”
Review: James Taylor, “One Man Band”
Release Round-Up: Week of June 7
It is sad that the re-recorded versions of “Something” and “Carolina” (as well as the live Steamroller) are not included. Strange that there are no bonus tracks though as Peter Asher long ago mentioned an alternate version of “Fire and Rain” with a choir that would have to wait “for another collection” and that was twenty years ago he said that!! Still these albums are in dire need of an upgrade. Certainly looking foward to it
I’ve pre-ordered as it’s an essential purchase for me but I too bemoan the lack of b-sides and alternate versions which I’m sure will surface on another release on the future. The Quad version of One Man Dog features different takes and I’d welcome a release of that.
The biggest question is where is Rhino’s continuation of reissuing the Quadraphonic versions of James Taylor’s albums as they did with the Chicago “Quadio” set?
Any idea if the CDs will be released individually?
There’s been no announcement of any individual releases yet.
A welcome set, certainly, but no bonus tracks? A missed opportunity, for sure.
Also missing is the single version of “Country Road”, which is different from the album track.
The single version of “Country Road” made it to CD a few years ago on a compilation called “The Best of James Taylor, ” which also recordings for both Warner Bros. and Columbia. It may be out of print now.
It is still in print.
I hope that Warner will release a vinyl box of Bonnie Raitt’s albums in the near future, too. Is there a chance?
Yes, Bonnie Raitt upgrades is a great idea as long as there is a CD version/release.
After waiting weeks for it after it was “shipped”, Amazon UK has informed me that it was returned by the shipper. Enquiries to Amazon provided vague answers. I’ve found a couple of other people online who received the same e-mail from Amazon UK who also ordered from the states. The current price is roughly double the price I locked in with the pre-order. I really doubt it travelled all the way to the US only to be returned.