Between 1970 and 1976, James Taylor released six albums that became the foundation for his unparalleled career that includes five Grammy Awards, induction into the Songwriters and Rock and Roll Halls of Fame, and more than 100 million records sold worldwide.
A new collection has been announced, The Complete Warner Bros. Albums: 1970-1976 introduces newly remastered versions of all his Warner Bros. albums. It will be available on July 19 as both 6-CD and 180-gram, 6-LP sets as well as digitally. This collection brings several albums back into print on vinyl for the first time in many years. You can pre-order it here.
The newly remastered version of “Fire And Rain” is available now on all digital download and streaming services.
Each album in the set has been remastered, a process overseen by Peter Asher, who signed Taylor to the Beatles’ Apple Records label in 1968, worked as his manager for 25 years, and originally produced several of these albums.
In the collection’s liner notes Asher writes: “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.”
The collection is filled with some of Taylor’s most iconic and beloved songs like “Sweet Baby James,” “Fire And Rain,” “Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight,” “Walking Man,” “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You),” “Mexico,” “Shower The People” and Carole King’s “You’ve Got A Friend,” the later which was Taylor’s first #1 hit and earned him his first Grammy Award (Best Male Pop Vocal) in 1971.
The collection also offers up some spectacular deep cuts like his acoustic lullaby “You Can Close Your Eyes” from Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon; the 10-minute song cycle that closes One Dog Man; “Rock ’n’ Roll Music Is Now” from Walking Man, which features backing vocals by Paul and Linda McCartney; and “Don’t Be Sad ’Cause Your Sun Is Down” from In the Pocket, a song Taylor wrote and recorded with Stevie Wonder.
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