Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Any good singer can interpret a song, but it takes a stylist to make it his own. James Taylor is a stylist. This 20-track anthology obviously can't chronicle much more than the hits and high points of Taylor's career, but it nonetheless captures the artistic essence of a performer who's become a virtual synonym for "singer-songwriter" since his emergence in the late '60s. A lot of ink has been spilled ruminating about Taylor's role in soothing a '60s-burned generation, but given his own well-known demons (depression, addiction) his gentle voice often sounds like the physician wisely healing himself. His muse seems fully formed from the opening "Something in the Way She Moves," a track cut for the Beatles' Apple label in late `68 (and one that seems to share some symbiotic relationship with George Harrison's own classic "Something" from the period), its tone at once familiar and inviting--if ripe for a few decades of parody--as it wends its way from his seminal early '70s hits through a slate of later originals, R&B ("How Sweet It Is," "Handy Man") and pop ("Up On the Roof") covers. Tellingly, he delivers those chestnuts with an offhand confidence and illumination that makes them his own, a sense that informs even his jazz and Brazilian ("Only a Dream a Rio") flirtations. The set's newly recorded bonus cut, John Sheldon's "Bittersweet," is a pleasant pop confection that showcases Taylor's knack for being laconic and upbeat in the same breath. --Jerry McCulley
Album Description
20 of his greatest singles and most popular album tracks released on Apple, Warner Bros. and Columbia/Sony. Slipcase. 2003.
Album Details
Packaged with UK Only Slipcase Artwork.
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Customer Reviews Read 76 more reviews...
By James Taylor but Not Original November 1, 2008
T. Good (Lansing, Mi.)
I bought this as a replacement to my original. I was so disappointed that after the 3rd time trying to get used to it I threw it into the back seat.
Don't get me wrong, I really like his music. But I'm really stuck on the original versions and I believe I'm getting ripped off when what's on the disk isn't what I expected. They should have put on the cover that the songs were all remakes or refected tracks or whatever.
What were you doing when you first heard his songs? October 12, 2008
Jessica Anya Blau, author, The Summer of Naked Swim Parties (Maryland)
They were my parents albums and my girlfriends and I would put them on when we got home from school. It was always sunny out--this was Southern California, the years of endless draught. We'd take off our flip flops and sing along word for word. My parents had these wooden sticks that you'd clack together to make "music." We used them for microphones, belting it out as loudly as we could.
Sometimes we'd do homework, our books spread about the floor in front of the fireplace. We'd sing quietly, working on math, then belt it out again at the chorus. When my parents came home, they'd come in the living room and my mother would sing harmony. My dad couldn't sing. But he'd take our "microphones" away and clack them together keeping the beat and bouncing his head like a bobble-head toy.
These songs make me feel all that again. The security of people you love, the warmth of friendship. The joy of singing as loudly as you can.
Great Material Ruined by Excess Compression August 2, 2008
Ho Chi Minh (Texas)
this cd has almost everything you could want from a J.T. best of, however the sound is extremely loud...almost unplayable, if you spin it for longer than 20 minutes, you will have a headache and frayed nerves....I had to get rid of mine for that reason; also, the swearing in "steamroller blues" is edited, what the hell for? You may be best served by the original greatest hits cd, while that one cuts off at 1976, thus omitting the Columbia hits, the sound is fantastic, and "steamroller" is unedited...that's, in fact, what I did
Great CD July 27, 2008
K. A. Knapp (Northwest Arkansas)
The best of james Taylor makes me smile and think positive thoughts ! Great CD
James Taylor the Best June 9, 2008
J. McDonald
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Can't do better than Best of James, unless you see him live.
prefect for everyday misic in 50 something home!
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