Riding on a railroad (James Taylor) (LP 4083 - 4088)

James Taylor Carole King  In Intimate Performance (CD, Immortal Records, 2013) ****  

James Taylor  Feel the Moonshine (Vinyl, Let them eat vinyl, 2012) **  

James Taylor  13th May 1981 Atlanta Civic Hall CA (CD, Let them eat vinyl, 2010) ** 

James Taylor  Live (Vinyl, Let them eat vinyl, 2012) ***** 

James Taylor  Greatest Hits (Vinyl and CD, Warner Bros, 1976) ***** 

James Taylor  Greatest Hits 2 (CD, Columbia, 2000) ***** 

Genre: Soft rock, pop, folk rock

Places I remember: The Warehouse

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Up on the Roof (Live) 

Gear costume: Sun on the Moon (Live)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Active compensatory factors: The live albums are a crucial part of appreciating JT. He is relaxed and funny (pick it James!). He's also phenomenally talented.

James Taylor is joined by Carole King for In Intimate Performance. JT is recorded live and solo in London 1970 and then he joins Carole King in London 1971. Recording quality is superb, as are the performances. 

Feel the Moonshine is a 1976 FM radio broadcast from a concert in Pittsburgh. Although the packaging is pretty cool, the sound isn't brilliant, and the performance isn't one of JT's best. It's pretty much redundant given the quality of the next two albums in my list (actually nix that - it's especially so for Live).

James Taylor 13th May 1981 Atlanta Civic Hall CA is another FM broadcast. The problem is that they are not mixed well for CD - it's all a bit muddy - especially the vocals, although they sound fine on the radio, I'm picking.

Live is a double CD album and his first official live album. It's a compilation of the best versions from 14 shows during a 1992 tour but it plays like a continuous concert - just as I like it. 

Right from his self-effacing "Hi", you know you are in safe hands as he plays Sweet Baby James as the first song. From then on, it's a greatest hits live type of gig - so many great songs in his back pocket! The songs range from his debut album in 1968 (Something in the Way She Moves and Carolina in My Mind) to 1991. 

His inter-song introductions are great but sadly are edited on the Spotify version of this album - so do yourself a favour and go to the double album source (it was also released in a truncated one disc format as Best Live but the double is the superior format for once).

The two compilations reaffirm his genius for writing and/or performing hit singles. Most artists couldn't fill two albums with genuine hits but JT has no problem.

Volume 1 covers 1968 to 1976, although the two songs from James Taylor on Apple Records are re-recordings. It is JT's biggest selling record - a steady seller too. It's an excellent sampler of his work in the sixties and early seventies.

Volume 2 covers 1977 to the end of the nineties. - the Columbia years. There weren't as many hits as such in this period, but I know all of these songs and the inclusion of fan favourites through those years is a smart move. 

Both compilations provide an excellent picture of JT's talents.

Where do they all belong? I must remember not to be tempted by the sundry FM radio broadcasts albums again.