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James Taylor - Walking Man Audio CD

A fair review of the James Taylor "Walking Man" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all James Taylor reviews here, or go back to the James Taylor tabs.

James Taylor Band: James Taylor
Title: Walking Man
Rating:
Release Date: 1990-10-25
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Walking Man 2: Rock 'N' Roll Is Music Now 3: Let It All Fall Down 4: Me and My Guitar 5: Daddy's Baby 6: Ain't No Song 7: Hello Old Friend 8: Migration 9: Promised Land 10: Fading Away

Just Who Is The Walking Man?
releases. James Taylor was on a huge artistic pinnacle with his first two Warner Bros. As he approched mid decade some of that success had began to dimminish,at least commercially. This recording finds Taylor at kind of transitional period. On tunes like the title song,"Daddy's Baby","Hello Old Friend","Migration","Ain't No Song" and of course "Fading Away" he still has tons of that classic sound he'd developed back in the Sweet Baby James era and is delivering at full power overall. One thing that seems to have changed is the the "one man and his guitar" format seems to have given way to heavier orchestration and use of a horn secion. This does give the general sound more of a bite but even so "Rock 'N Roll Music Is Now" points toward a stronger element of horn heavy,Stevie Wonder-ish funky soul with a very assertive,bluesy lyric and musical base-it's one of my favorite songs here too. "Me And My Guitar" has a similar tone. On "Let Me Down Easy" Paul & Linda McCartney,not to mention Carly Simon show up on a great mellow pop tune,again forcasting the future for Taylor. A rocking update of Chuck Berry's "The Promised Land" up's the tempo again and turns out to be a fine choice of cover. This was never one of James Taylor's most popular albums and doesn't have the well known tunes and hits some of his albums possess. Even still it's a potent reminder that through this developmental stage James Taylor had a lot more to offer artistically even under such circumstances then some might imagine.


Not his best...but don't pass it up.
This would have to be one of James' weaker efforts (along with FLAG), but it would hardly deserve being tossed into the circular file. As someone who's been a JT fan since Day One, this must be said: Every artist that I love has put out at least one weak album in his/her/their career. As I stated when I reviewed this for iTunes, there are some real clunkers on this album, and it makes me wonder what made James include them on what is otherwise another great 70's JT release. For me, the gems on here are the title track (one he thankfully still performs in concert), Let It All Fall Down, Migration, Fade Away, and ESPECIALLY Daddy's Baby. Lord, what a beautiful piece of music that is. Every dad in the world who's a musician must have wished they could write a lullaby like that for their own children. Easily one of the most gorgeous, priceless acoustic guitar ballads James has EVER written. The Vox Humana (vocal synthesizer) coda at the end of the song will send pleasant chills down your spine and maybe bring a tear to your eye.

So here's the bottom line: James has never put out a terrible album--it's not in his nature to do that. There are just other records in his library that are better than this one. But DO NOT pass on this one; for the beautiful songs in here alone, it belongs in your JT library. .


Just What I Like
This is a perfect selection made. I do have a taste for James Taylor and it sounds terific. Amazon is good in selections. Thanks.
Donald Woodson.


Strong and Potent James Taylor Album
I believe this album contains James Taylor's strongest strains of DNA. . featuring Paul and Linda
McCartney, it has the glow of an established songwriter on par with The Beatles.
As another reviewer stated, James Taylor delivers a kind of intensity that offers no apologies to its fans. . .
at times it groves on things for a long period of time and uses
experimentally synthesized voices. .

One can also tell that this album is quite personal based on the poignant and direct lyrics. .
It also displays Taylor's quintessential compositional form. . he uses lots of overlaying textures with a
wide variety of tasteful light au naturale rock. . there's this strong jazzy feeling on the whole album
and sometimes, the jazz takes risky,
surprising and beautiful turns. . plus, there has been no other rock musician who harmonizes
with himself more tastefully than James Taylor and that is clearly evident on Walking Man. . . there are some stunning harmonies.


A more electric type of "sweet baby james"
It is not electric like "gorilla" or "In the pocket" which are good discs, but this is a more "tasteful electric". What I really love about this album is because it is electric taylor but it still truly maintains that awesome charm and beauty of Sweet baby James. Taylor alters between ballads with strings, ballads with horns and ballads with himself, as well as jazz and folk. Not bad James! Paul and Linda McCartney as well as Carly simon are featured on a lot of songs and it gives the album a great feel. The album has 10 songs which for this type of album is perfect. You will be hooked with the first 5 songs. However, song 4 "me and my guitar" has awful lyrics but still a nice hook. skip "ain't no song"-he didn't even write it and go onto the beautiful "Hello old friend". By then you have 3 songs left and they are all soothing. the album has a few loose ends but once it's over you'll be glad you've listened to it.


You can see a complete list of all James Taylor discography, or go back to the James Taylor tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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