Track Listing

1. Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin'
2. It's Growing
3. (I'm a) Road Runner
4. Wichita Lineman
5. Why Baby Why
6. Some Days You Gotta Dance
7. Seminole Wind
8. Suzanne
9. Hound Dog
10. Sadie
11. On Broadway
12. Knock On Wood
13. Summertime Blues
14. Not Fade Away
15. Shiver Me Timbers

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2934 in Music
• Released on: 2009-02-02
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .23 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
Over his lengthy career, singer-songwriter James Taylor has proved himself more than adept at mastering other people’s songs. Previous hits such as "Handy Man", "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)" and "You’ve Got A Friend" have all been successfully transformed by Taylor’s mellow, flawless vocals and savvy arrangements--but it’s also true that some renditions have failed to ignite in quite the same way. Covers, Taylor’s first dedicated collection of covers, is similarly mixed. It’s an ambitious collection, covering everything from soul and country to good old-fashioned rock & roll. But while he manages to pull off convincing versions of soulful classics like The Drifters' "On Broadway", The Temptation’s “It’s Growing” and George Jones’ evergreen country shuffle "Why Baby Why", his takes on Jr. Walker’s "(I'm a) Road Runner", Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues” and "Hound Dog" are sadly lacklustre (though none are as bad as the particularly insipid reworking of Leonard Cohen’s “Suzanne”, which manages to lose all the emotional gravitas of the original). A hit and miss collection, but one that will doubtless still satisfy ardent JT fans. --Danny McKenna

CD Description

This is a collection of covers of notable tracks from the fifties, sixties and seventies aptly entitled Covers. The album has been nominated for two Grammy Awards; Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Male Pop Vocal for the cover of “Wichita Lineman”. The UK version contains three extra tracks – covers of Tom Waits’ “Shiver Me Timbers”, Eddie Floyd’s “Knock On Wood” and Rogers and Hammerstein’s “Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin’”. 

Customer Reviews

WYSIWYG
In addition to being an A-List songwriter for several decades, James Taylor has always been sought out by other singer-songwriters to cover their material. The reason for this is simple; Taylor always produces a crystal clear version of a song. This collection is "up there" with the best of them with songs for every taste. The "Band of Legends" (and they really are) ensure that this live-recorded album is a musicians delight.
Rumours that "JT" has not been writing his own material are without foundation - almost constant touring together with self-financed projects (An Evening with etc) has meant that new material is still at the skeleton stage but with his past record for perfection the wait will surely be worth it. Enjoy this top class musician in the company of his peers.

Give it a chance!
OK, so it's a covers album, not the first choice for James Taylor fans. However,the voice, musicianship, interpretive skills are all there in abundance.
JT has always done covers, most of them equal or better than the originals. This is obviously a labour of love, and the harmonies created both instrumentally and vocally are joyful. The album was created in real time so to speak with only one overdub (Yo-Yo Ma) so it has a "live" feel running through.
Some tracks work better than others its true; and we'd all prefer an album of new tracks, but that's coming in 2009 so in the mean time, relax, sit back with a loved one and let James and his band soothe your mind and cleanse your soul.

James Bland
Cosy, safe, bland, MOR, Radio 2 - get your pen out James you can do bettter than this.