Blossom by jomel77

jomel77 - Blossom

jomel77

Jul 12, 2024 07:07pm

Sweet Baby James is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Taylor" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">James Taylor</a>, released on February 1, 1970, by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warner_Bros._Records" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Warner Bros. Records</a>.The album includes two of Taylor's earliest successful singles, "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_and_Rain_(song)" target="_blank">Fire and Rain</a>" and "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Country_Road_(song)" target="_blank">Country Road,</a>" which reached number three and thirty-seven on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Hot_100" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Billboard Hot 100</a>, respectively. The album reached number three on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_200" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Billboard</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_200" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Top LPs & Tapes chart</a>.Sweet Baby James made Taylor one of the leading forces of the ascendant singer-songwriter movement in the early 1970s and onward. The album was nominated for a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammy_Award_for_Album_of_the_Year" target="_blank">Grammy Award for Album of the Year</a> in 1971 and was listed at number 104 on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_Stone" target="_blank">Rolling Stone</a>'s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_Stone%27s_500_Greatest_Albums_of_All_Time" target="_blank">500 Greatest Albums of All Time</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_Baby_James#cite_note-RS500-2" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[2]</a> In 2000, it was voted number 228 in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Larkin" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Colin Larkin</a>'s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Time_Top_1000_Albums" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">All Time Top 1000 Albums</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_Baby_James#cite_note-Larkin-3" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[3]</a> In 2002, the album was inducted into the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammy_Hall_of_Fame" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Grammy Hall of Fame</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_Baby_James#cite_note-4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[4]</a>The album, produced by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Asher" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Peter Asher</a>, was recorded at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunset_Sound" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sunset Sound</a>, Los Angeles, California, between December 8 and 17, 1969, at a cost of only $7,600 (US$63,145 in 2023 dollars<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_Baby_James#cite_note-inflation-US-5" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[5]</a>) out of a budget of $20,000.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_Baby_James#cite_note-Browne-6" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[6]</a> Taylor was "essentially homeless" when the album was recorded, either staying in Asher's home or sleeping on a couch at the house of guitarist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Kortchmar" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Danny Kortchmar</a> or anyone else who would have him.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_Baby_James#cite_note-Browne-6" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[6]</a>The song "Suite for 20 G" was so named because Taylor was promised $20,000 (US$166,171 in 2023 dollars<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_Baby_James#cite_note-inflation-US-5" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[5]</a>) once the album was delivered. With one more song needed, he strung together three unfinished songs into a "suite", and completed the album.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_Baby_James#cite_note-7" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[7]</a>The album produced two charting singles: "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_and_Rain_(song)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Fire and Rain</a>", backed by "Anywhere Like Heaven," which peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 on October 31, 1970, and "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Country_Road_(song)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Country Road</a>," backed by "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunny_Skies_(song)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sunny Skies</a>," which peaked at number 37 on March 20, 1971. An additional single, "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_Baby_James_(song)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sweet Baby James</a>," backed by "Suite for 20 G", did not chart.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_Baby_James#cite_note-8" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[8]</a> (...and "Blossom" doesn't even get mentioned in Wiki ! 😔)