April 16 – Wednesday – James Taylor – Sweet Baby James

This wasn’t James Taylor’s first album, but it certainly was the one that put him on the map, even though his “Carolina In My Mind” from his first and self-titled album is my favorite of his songs. I almost saw him in concert with my NYC/Miami concert friend, of course when we were 14. I did my first waiting in line from the crack of dawn sitting on a City street until the box office opened to buy tickets, only to find they sold out long before we could even spot the box office. But my friend’s mother got her a ticket and she went by herself. I was a bit disappointed, but she was the real fan. In fact, I’m not sure why I have this album. It’s good, nice clean folk-rock mellow music, and the song “Fire and Rain” made most girls wish their names were Suzanne. But I don’t see myself making this purchase and think that it’s possible my brother may have. There was this James Taylor/Carole King connection after he left Apple records and kind of became her protégé, and my brother loved her Tapestry album. In fact, he played it over and over again ad nauseam when he was home from college, so much that my mother said it drove her to drink. And she wasn’t making a joke.

Although this is not the best aerobic workout album, it did put me in a good frame of mind, and with a little help from Bette Midler, it was not a bad session, even though I pooped out in the end.