Music : James Taylor 'Covers'

Album Info :

Artist : James Taylor
Album : Covers
Release Date: September 30, 2008
Number of Discs: 1
Label: Hear Music
ASIN: B001D5DQCU
Genre : Pop / Soft Rock / Singer-Songwriters

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.

Reviews :

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.

Album Review :

By. ANTHONY DECURTIS

On hits like "Handy Man," "Up on the Roof" and "How Sweet It Is (to be Loved by You)," James Taylor's way of interpreting other songwriters' hits has been to turn them into James Taylor songs. His honeyed drawl is supple enough to accommodate R&B and country standards, sweetening the savory tang of their rural sources. That approach guides Covers, where Taylor assays the likes of the Drifters' "On Broadway," Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away" and Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne." He softens the arrangements — guitar, bass, keyboards, drums, with horn and string embellishments — and brings the lyrics to the fore, emphasizing the songs as stories. Taylor doesn't compete with his sources, he defers to them — a strategy that's gracious and wise. His sly reading of "(I'm a) Road Runner" can't touch Jr. Walker's garage-soul masterpiece, but it's joyous nonetheless. His glee in rendering "Why Baby Why," George Jones' chronicle of obsessive love, is palpable, and he brings a similar celebratory energy to Eddie Cochran's classic "Summertime Blues." Covers, then, is a fan's notes: a great singer-songwriter playing DJ, showcasing songs he loves for listeners who love him.

Taken From : http://www.amazon.com : http://www.rollingstone.com



Track Listing:

1. It's Growing (William Robinson, Jr.-Warren Moore) - made popular by The Temptations

2. (I'm A) Road Runner (Edward Holland Jr.-Lamont Dozier-Brian Holland) made popular by Jr. Walker & the All Stars

3. Wichita Lineman (Jimmy Webb) made popular by Glen Campbell

4. Why Baby Why (Darrell Edwards-George Jones)

5. Some Days You Gotta Dance (Troy Johnson-Marshall Morgan) made popular by the Dixie Chicks

6. Seminole Wind (John Anderson)

7. Suzanne (Leonard Cohen)

8. Hound Dog (Jerry Leiber-Mike Stoller) Big Mama Thornton inspired arrangement

9. Sadie (Joseph Jefferson-Charles Simmons-Bruce Hawes) made popular by The Spinners

10. On Broadway (Jerry Leiber-Mike Stoller-Cynthia Weil-Barry Mann) made popular by The Drifters

11. Summertime Blues (Eddie Cochran-Jerry Capehart)

12. Not Fade Away (Norman Petty-Buddy Holly)

James Taylor on New Album 'Covers'