- Source: JT (album)
- Source: J.T. (album)
JT is the eighth studio album by American singer-songwriter James Taylor. It was released on June 22, 1977, via Columbia Records, making it his first album released for the label. Recording session took place from March 15 to April 24, 1977, at The Sound Factory in Los Angeles with Val Garay. Production was handled by Peter Asher.
The album peaked at number 4 on the Billboard 200 albums chart in the United States and was Taylor's highest-charting album since Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon. By January 31, 1997, it was certified 3 times Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. At the 20th Annual Grammy Awards, it was also nominated for Grammy Award for Album of the Year, but lost to Rumours by Fleetwood Mac. In The Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop critics poll for the year's best albums, JT finished at No. 23. It would be the first and only time James Taylor would place an album in the poll's top 30 during its entire existence.
The album spawned three singles: "Handy Man" (Taylor's final top 10 hit), "Your Smiling Face" and "Honey Don't Leave L.A." "Handy Man", a Jimmy Jones cover, peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Adult Contemporary and won the Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. "Your Smiling Face", the other big hit, peaked at #20 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #6 on the Adult Contemporary chart. The record also contains other Taylor classics such as "Secret O' Life" and "Terra Nova", with the participation of Taylor's then-wife Carly Simon.
Critical reception
Robert Christgau, who had been skeptical of Taylor's previous work, expressed surprise when the album exceeded his expectations, writing that "James sounds both awake and in touch...'Handy Man' is a transcendent sex ballad, while 'I Was Only Telling a Lie' and 'Secret 'o Life' evoke comparisons with betters on the order of the Stones and Randy Newman, so that the wimpy stuff — which still predominates — sounds merely laid-back in contrast. Best since Sweet Baby James...some of this is so wry and lively and committed his real fans may find it obtrusive."
Peter Herbst in Rolling Stone wrote that "JT is the least stiff and by far the most various album Taylor has done. That's not meant to criticize Taylor's earlier efforts...but it's nice to hear him sounding so healthy."
John Rockwell in The New York Times complimented JT as "one of [Taylor's] stronger efforts in recent years" writing that Taylor "is at his most overtly effective on the single, 'Handy Man.' This old Otis Blackwell song was probably not designed for Mr. Taylor's sexily intimate way of singing it, but the decision to do it that way was an inspired one, and the arrangement is really quite wonderful. Nothing else on the record seems quite so good, but the level is pleasingly high." Rockwell also argues that Taylor "has never quite recaptured the inspiration of his early Sweet Baby James album, and JT doesn't do it, either. Perhaps the most obvious way that the new songs don't equal the old is their relative lack of memorable melody. Mr. Taylor's songs sound more like conversational recitations than tunes. They're still interesting, though, and some of the accompaniments are really delightful."
Track listing
All songs written by James Taylor, except where noted.
Personnel
James Taylor – lead and backing vocals, acoustic guitar
Clarence McDonald – keyboards
Danny Kortchmar – guitar
Dan Dugmore – steel guitar (tracks: 2, 5)
Leland Sklar – bass guitar
Russ Kunkel – drums, castanets (track 7), wood block (track 9), tambourine and handclaps (track 10)
Peter Asher – cowbell (track 3), castanets (track 7), cabasa (tracks: 7, 9), wood block (track 9), tambourine and handclaps (track 10)
David Sanborn – saxophone (track 3)
Red Callender – tuba (track 10)
David Campbell – string arrangements and conductor (tracks: 1, 5), viola (track 2)
Linda Ronstadt – harmony vocals (track 5)
Leah Kunkel – backing vocals (track 7)
Carly Simon – harmony vocals (track 10)
= Production
=Peter Asher – producer
Val Garay – recording, mixing
Doug Sax – mastering at The Mastering Lab (Hollywood, California)
John Kosh – art direction, design
David Alexander – front cover, sleeve photos
Jim Shea – back cover, inside photos
Charts
Certifications
References
External links
James Taylor – JT at Discogs (list of releases)
J.T. is a studio album by American rock band Steve Earle & The Dukes. The album is a tribute to Earle's oldest son, Justin Townes Earle, who died of an accidental drug overdose on August 20, 2020. It was released by New West Records on January 4, 2021, on what would have been Justin's 39th birthday. Recording sessions took place at Electric Lady Studios in New York City with Ray Kennedy as audio engineer. Production was handled by Steve Earle himself. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 82 based on eleven reviews.
The album's genesis
Justin Townes Earle released eight albums and an EP over a span of 13 years. Like his father, he struggled with addiction, beginning with heroin use before turning 13. While problems with substance abuse strained their relationship, the father and son appeared to have reconciled more recently, and they spoke on the phone the night Justin died in his Nashville apartment. The cause of death was ruled an accidental overdose of cocaine and the opium derivative fentanyl.
Shortly after Justin's death, Steve Earle began working on an album in his memory. With the help of his 33-year-old son Ian, Earle selected 10 songs from six of Justin's albums. He then booked a week at Jimi Hendrix's Electric Lady Studios in New York City, where he recorded 2020's Ghosts of West Virginia.
Regarding his motivation for recording J.T., Earle wrote in the liner notes, "For better or worse, right or wrong, I loved Justin Townes Earle more than anything else on this earth. That being said, I made this record, like every other record I’ve ever made...for me. It was the only way I knew to say goodbye."
The songs
All of the songs on J.T., except one, were either written or co-written by Justin Townes Earle. Together, they provide an overview of the songwriter's career, featuring both fan favorites and deep cuts.
The opening track, "I Don't Care", is a rocking bluegrass tune that appeared on Justin's EP Yuma in 2007. Four of the songs are taken from his first album, 2008's The Good Life: "Ain't Glad I'm Leaving", "Far Away in Another Town", "Turn Out My Lights", and "Lone Pine Hill". Interspersed between these songs are selections from five subsequent albums: "They Killed John Henry", Midnight at the Movies, 2009; "Harlem River Blues", the title track of his second album, 2010; "Maria", Nothing's Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now, 2012; "Champagne Corolla", Kids in the Street, 2017; and "The Saint of Lost Causes", the title track of his final release, 2019.
"Last Words," the closing track, is the album's only original. Composed by Steve Earle in the weeks following Justin's death, it recounts the last conversation between the two, in the phone call the night he died. The song also reflects on their rocky relationship during times spent together and apart. It closes with their final words to each other: "I love you" and "I love you, too".
Track listing
All songs written by Justin Townes Earle, except where noted.
Personnel
= Steve Earle & The Dukes
=Steve Earle – guitar, mandolin, octave mandolin, harmonica, vocals, producer
Chris Masterson – guitar, mandolin, one finger piano, vocals
Eleanor Whitmore – fiddle, mandolin, organ, vocals
Ricky Ray Jackson – pedal steel guitar, dobro, vocals
Jeff Hill – acoustic and electric bass, cello, vocals
Brad Pemberton – drums, percussion, vocals
Source:
= Additional personnel
=Ian Dublin Earle - associate producer
Ray Kennedy – recording, mixing, mastering
John Rooney – assistant recording
Laurence Kern – guitar tech
Tom Bejgrowicz – package design & layout
Tony Fitzpatrick – cover art
Danny Clinch – photography
Shervin Lainez - photography
Sara Sharpe – photography
Source:
Charts
References
External links
Steve Earle & The Dukes – J.T. at Discogs (list of releases)