James Taylor: CD & DVD Collection (1975 - 2007) [4 Japanese CD + 2 DVD]

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James Taylor: CD & DVD Collection (1975 - 2007) [4 Japanese CD + 2 DVD]

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James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold more than 100 million records worldwide.

Taylor achieved his breakthrough in 1970 with the No. 3 single "Fire and Rain" and had his first No. 1 hit the following year with "You've Got a Friend", a recording of Carole King's classic song. His 1976 Greatest Hits album was certified Diamond and has sold 12 million US copies. Following his 1977 album, JT, he has retained a large audience over the decades. Every album that he released from 1977 to 2007 sold over a million copies. He enjoyed a resurfence in chart performance during the late 1990s and 2000s, when he recorded some of his most-awarded work (including Hourglass, October Road, and Covers). He achieved his first number one album in the US in 2015 with his recording Before This World.

He is notable for his popular covers of other peoples' songs, such as "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)" and the aforementioned "You've Got A Friend", as well as originals such as "Fire and Rain".

~ wiki

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James Taylor: CD & DVD Collection (1975 - 2007) [4 Japanese CD + 2 DVD]

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Gorilla served notice to anyone expecting James Taylor to continue on in the personal, confessional vein of his first few albums that he did not intend to do so. Recording in Burbank with Warners staff producers Lenny Waronker and Russ Titelman, Taylor used a stellar backup band augmented by such guests as Graham Nash and David Crosby (who harmonized on the chart single "Mexico"), his wife Carly Simon, mandolinist David Grisman, saxophone player David Sanborn, Randy Newman on "hornorgan," and Little Feat slide guitarist Lowell George. This team worked on a set of light, pleasant songs that bordered on the generic – one was called "Music," another "Love Songs" – but were performed and sung with taste and care. Taylor was relentlessly upbeat; even "Angry Blues," which confessed, "I can't help it if I don't feel so good," didn't sound like things were that bad. But then, these songs didn't seem to be about Taylor, or if they were, as in the extended metaphor of the title track, the connection was so oblique that it was hard to say what the point was. Still, one could glide on Taylor's easy vocals and the band's competence, and Gorilla was an enjoyable listening experience. "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)," the first of a series of bleached R&B covers, became a Top Ten hit, and the album restored Taylor's commercial fortunes, setting him on the steady path he would follow for decades after. But who would have thought only a few years before that the king of the confessional song poets would turn into such a lightweight?

by William Ruhlmann, allmusic

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James Taylor: CD & DVD Collection (1975 - 2007) [4 Japanese CD + 2 DVD]

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James Taylor's seventh album and last new recording for Warner Bros. is notable for producing his biggest self-written hit in four years, "Shower the People" (number 22 pop, number one easy listening). Bobby Womack's "Woman's Gotta Have It" was the album's only cover, and elsewhere Taylor took on a surprisingly rough set of issues in his typically gentle style, including "A Junkie's Lament" and "Money Machine." There were also reflections on being a "Family Man" even if, due to his peripatetic touring life, "Daddy's All Gone." Guest stars included Art Garfunkel, who harmonized on "Captain Jim's Drunken Dream," and Stevie Wonder, who co-wrote and played harmonica on "Don't Be Sad 'Cause Your Sun Is Down." On the whole, a respectable effort for an artist who was evolving into more of a craftsman than a virtuoso.

by William Ruhlmann, allmusic

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James Taylor: CD & DVD Collection (1975 - 2007) [4 Japanese CD + 2 DVD]

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James Taylor followed his double-platinum Columbia Records label debut, JT, with this hodgepodge of a record. There are pointless covers of the Beatles' "Day Tripper" and the Drifters' "Up on the Roof," a remake of Taylor's own "Rainy Day Man," songs written for the failed Broadway musical Working, and a few inconsequential new Taylor compositions. The usual brain trust (producer Peter Asher), and the usual backup team (Danny "Kootch" Kortchmar, Dan Grolnick, Leland Sklar, Russ Kunkel) were on board, but the cruise was a snooze.

by William Ruhlmann, allmusic

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James Taylor: CD & DVD Collection (1975 - 2007) [4 Japanese CD + 2 DVD]

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James Taylor bounced back from the spotty Flag with this all-original album led by his collaboration with J.D. Souther on "Her Town Too," his biggest pop hit since "Handy Man," and his biggest non-cover hit since his first, "Fire and Rain," in 1970. Also included were "Hard Times" and "Summer's Here," not to mention the unusually impassioned "Stand and Fight." After simmering this long, there wasn't much hope Taylor would ever come to a boil, but that track indicated he could at least heat up now and then.

by William Ruhlmann, allmusic

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James Taylor: CD & DVD Collection (1975 - 2007) [4 Japanese CD + 2 DVD]

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James Taylor's second live dvd, 2002's "Pull Over," could very easily have been a gold standard for all future live dvds; unfortunately despite having a wonder performance and set list, the dvd itself falls a bit short in many aspects.

As others have pointed out, the picture is horribly matted and does not take advantage of the widescreen format, making for a very awkward viewing experience. The picture quality itself is very good, but the camerawork is subpar and contains many unnecessary cuts and edits that distract from the performance, which really represents Taylor at his best.

With all that said, "Pull Over" is first and foremost about the performance itself, which as I've already mentioned is fantastic. The sound quality is crystal clear, and the music is top notch. Taylor and his band are in perfect synch throughout, and the set list is a great mix of old favorites, then new recordings, and obscure fan favorites. Surrounding old favorites like "Fire and Rain," "Carolina in My Mind," and "Sweet Baby James" are a healthy dose of his underrated late 1980s'-1990s' material, including haunting renditions of "The Frozen Man," "Shed a Little Light," and "Copperline." The new material from the then unreleased "October Road" holds its own well, and the old favorites sound as lively as ever; Taylor is one artist who's never really phoned in a song no matter how many times he's performed it. Even though the picture quality leaves quite a bit to be desired, it is clear that Taylor and his band have a fondness and respect for each other both personally and professionally, and that chemistry comes through in these performances.

So while it may not be the best viewing experience technically, "Pull Over" is still a superb performance filled with energy and excitement. Throw it on a top notch soundtrack and just listen.

ByAnthony Nasti, amazon

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James Taylor: CD & DVD Collection (1975 - 2007) [4 Japanese CD + 2 DVD]

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James Taylor: CD & DVD Collection (1975 - 2007) [4 Japanese CD + 2 DVD]

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James Taylor: CD & DVD Collection (1975 - 2007) [4 Japanese CD + 2 DVD]

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James Taylor: CD & DVD Collection (1975 - 2007) [4 Japanese CD + 2 DVD]

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Don't take the title of James Taylor's One Man Band literally – this 2007 concert recording may be stripped-down but it's not just James and a guitar, he's supported by keyboardist Larry Goldings, whom Taylor dubs his "one-man band" in the liner notes, as that's all the backing band he has here. Fair enough. But this isn't just a question of clever semantics: as it turns out, Goldings has quite a presence on this intimate album, recorded at a three-night stint at the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield, MA, during July 2007. During this 19-song set, Taylor gives Goldings plenty of space to grace the songs with solos that show up his jazz chops. This freedom, coupled with Taylor's deceptively easy delivery – he has a casual authority that comes from touring the same songs steadily for years – gives this album a unique character among Taylor's catalog. This also makes for an album that relies heavily on standards. All the songs you'd expect are here, all the songs James always plays on tour, but there are also a couple of surprises, like "Chili Dog" from 1972's One Man Dog, which are quite engaging. Perhaps these tunes are a shade too familiar to sound fresh, but given such lovely readings they certainly sound as comforting as a reunion with an old friend for those listeners who haven't been keeping up with Taylor but might pick this up via its release on Starbucks' HearMusic label. So, this can rope in casual fans who will be quite pleased, but this is different enough from 1993's double-disc Live – as polished and professional as live albums come – to make this quite interesting for diehards, too. [One Man Band also contains a two-hour concert DVD.]

by Stephen Thomas Erlewin, allmusic

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James Taylor: CD & DVD Collection (1975 - 2007) [4 Japanese CD + 2 DVD]

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James Taylor: CD & DVD Collection (1975 - 2007) [4 Japanese CD + 2 DVD]

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James Taylor: CD & DVD Collection (1975 - 2007) [4 Japanese CD + 2 DVD]

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