James Taylor

Boston-born and North Carolina-raised Singer-Songwriter James Taylor made his debut on the Beatles' Apple Records almost by accident. James's close friend Danny Kortchmar, his partner in a band known as the Flying Machine (later to be immortalized in Taylor's first big hit "Fire and Rain") had recently toured with Peter Asher, formerly of the duo Peter and Gordon and brother of Jane Asher, Paul McCartney's first wife. At the time, Asher was the newly appointed head of Artists & Repertoire for the Beatles' Apple Corps, charged with finding artists for Apple Records.

Now, most people who know Apple Records do so through the Beatles, as all their later albums were released with the familiar full green apple on side 1 and the halved apple on side 2. It was one of the first boutique labels for a rock group and the Beatles had high hopes that in forming Apple Records and the other parts of the Apple Corps, they would be creating a welcoming place for artists and musicians as well as extending their legacy.

At any rate, Kortchmar spoke highly of Taylor's talent to Asher, who suggested that James, who was living in London at the time, give him a call. Peter and James met and Peter was impressed enough to introduce James to the Beatles, auditioning him with Paul McCartney and George Harrison, who agreed to sign him to Apple Records.

Thus was born the first James Taylor album, not counting the EP from the Flying Machine, an amalgam of their locally produced (in Boston) single and several other pieces at various stages of completion, which was hurried to market without James's sanction when he hit big in 1970.

His eponymous debut for Apple recorded at Trident Studios from July to October 1968 certainly wasn't the platform that launched his stardom, at least not directly. Recorded at the same time the Beatles were recording their eponymous "White Album" at Trident, Taylor sessions were of course fit around the Beatle recording schedule. McCartney suggested bringing in arranger Richard Hewson to arrange orchestral "links" between the songs and Asher produced the album himself, certainly not the last time he'd be behind the console on a Taylor LP.

The album opens with the harpsichord and organ by Don Shinn introducing a fairly pedestrian Taylor song called "Don't Talk Now." In addition to being somewhat overladen by the keyboards, the track features handclaps and percussion from Asher and Taylor, and segues into Song Two with an instrumental take of the English folk song "Greensleeves," as the first of the "links" planned for the album.

"Something's Wrong" features a bassoon, Oboe and a string quartet conducted by Hewson. A string arrangement brings us into song three "Knocking Round the Zoo." Inspired by James time at McLean, a psychiatric hospital in Massachusetts that would also be the impetus for a much more famous Taylor song not too far down the road. The drums on this album are played by Joel "Bishop" O'Brien who was the drummer from the Flying Machine (which had performed this song as can be heard on the rough EP released and rereleased all through the 70s . O'Brien flew in from the States to play on the album; he is also notable for introducing James to the drug, heroin.

"Sunshine Sunshine" is sung against an instrumental bed of a string quartet and harp by noted British Harpist Skalia Kanga, who would later play on the eponymous Elton John album. It's an excellent song, though as with much of this album, the instrumentation is a bit too fussy. It was introduced to a substantial American audience in 1968 by popular (at the time) folk artist Tom Rush on his album The Circle Game.

"Taking It In" showcases the work of Shinn on harpsichord and Louis Cennamo on bass. Both were recruited by advertisements in local British Music tabloids New Musical Express and Melody Maker. It's another fairly pedestrian track with fussy instrumentation.

If not for the track that follows it, "Something In The Way She Moves" would be the centerpiece of the album. This was the first song James played to Asher, McCartney, and George Harrison in his Apple audition. It goes without saying that Harrison liked at least one aspect of the song--copping it's title for the first line of his song "Something." Taylor has said he didn't mind George using the line at all, stating that Harrison did a better job with it.

The Taylor song has its own charms though; the version here is solid and this song was also covered by Tom Rush on The Circle Game album. And when James re-recorded the song for inclusion on his best-selling Greatest Hits album for Warner Brothers in 1976, it became a vital part of his repertoire.

"Carolina In My Mind," though, was the song that really caught the attention of Asher and Paul McCartney and was released as a single on the album's release. A heartfelt song that expresses James homesickness for his North Carolina home, featuring the line "with a holy of others standing around me," which was a reference to his meeting and working with the Beatles, it is a nice performance--and it features McCartney himself on bass. Less known is that Harrison adds uncredited backing vocals. Like "Something In the Way She Moves," however, it would not gain full recognition as a Taylor classic until it was also re-recorded for the Greatest Hits LP.

The next two songs were the B and A sides of the completed Flying Machine single, in new performances of course. "Brighten Your Night With My Day," a highly underrated song that features brass arranged and conducted by Hewson. An extended brass interlude by Hewson leads into the song that was the Flying Machine single's A side: "Night Owl," named after the café where the Flying Machine had a residency in New York. It's likely the most up-tempo song on the album, filled with brass and electric guitar and bass fills. After this album, the most notable version of "Night Owl" was not by James but by his then-wife Carly Simon, who included it on her smash album No Secrets (which also included "You're So Vain"), which was recorded at the same Trident studios. And backing vocalists on the track included Paul and Linda McCartney.

Bishop O'Brien, James and Peter play a bit of percussion leading into "Rainy Day Man," a song that would soon become well-known via versions by Bonnie Raitt and Tom Rush (again). This version is relatively tentative despite some nice backing vocals from James and Peter. Taylor would eventually re-record this song as well, placing it on the Columbia LP Flag.

"Circle Round The Sun" features a full orchestra arranged and conducted by Richard Hewson. While not a particularly well known Taylor song, and a bit out of character on this fussy recording, it evidently impressed someone in Harry Belafonte's camp, as he would make a recording in 1971.

Finally is " The Blues is Just A Bad Dream," which is just James on Guitar and vocals with orchestral backing leading into a straight blues, not all that different from the song "Steamroller Blues." But that's the next album. Outside of a stray Christmas tune or song for a tribute album, Taylor didn't work with orchestral backing after this album.

The heavy use of orchestration was not universally praised. Longtime associate Danny "Kootch" Kortchmar said he thought the album was terrible, with too much production and window-dressing. And the sales were disappointing, something that happened all too frequently with projects associated with the Beatles' Apple enterprises.

Indeed hits for Apple Records that were not Beatles records were not very common, though they would have some success with a group called Badfinger and individual hits for people like Mary Hopkin. But the internal strife in the Beatle camp made Apple Corps an unfit place for a developing artist like James Taylor. There never was a second Apple album for Taylor, but on his leaving he took Peter Asher with him as manager and producer. Their next effort, for Warner Brothers records, proved pivotal.