James Taylor/NY,USA 1970

James Taylor made a breakthrough in 1970 when his re-debut work from major Warner, “SWEET BABY JAMES,” reached number 3 in the United States. A masterpiece live album that conveys the scene is now available. This work includes “May 16, 1970 Port Chester Performance”. It is the super best audience recording. At the time, James was in the midst of a huge success that suddenly changed his fortunes. First, let’s look back at the schedule and check the show’s position. [February “SWEET BABY JAMES” released] ・February 5th – March 29th: North America #1 (15 performances) ・April 25th – June 12th: North America #2 (9 performances) ←★Here★・July 25th – August 15th: North America #3 (5 performances) ・October 16th – December 19th: North America #4 (9 performances) This is James Taylor in 1970. This work is the 6th performance of “North America #2”, which will be held approximately 3 months after the release of “SWEET BABY JAMES”. There will be two consecutive performances in Port Chester, and two performances on the 16th. This work was a concert that was the “second performance on the second day”. By the way, speaking of 1970, there is also a collaborative album “AMCHITKA” with Joni Mitchell, but that is “North America #4”. This work is a solo performance by James, with no guests or backing. This work, which recorded such a show, is truly a superb audience recording…I guess. I’m sorry for suddenly not being able to rely on you, but I honestly don’t want to say anything. There is no doubt that it has been known as a guest record for a long time, but what is flowing out is far from what is imagined from the word “audience”. The core is very thick and there is no sense of distance, the singing voice and guitar are right in front of you. If you listen carefully with headphones, you will notice a very slight hall noise, but it only adds to the richness of the singing and guitar, and there is no cloudiness or turbidity. For example, I add a little bit of echo to the soundboard to make it richer, and this work is at that level as well. The only reason is “because it is said to be an audience,” and you can’t tell the difference between line and space recording from the sound you hear. It is such a super superb sound. Such a sound depicts a show where a legendary career has just begun. Of course, we will also play the big hit “SWEET BABY JAMES” number, but overall it is broader and a little surprising. Now let’s organize the set. Original (12 songs) – Brighten Your Night With My Day / Rainy Day Man / Something In The Way She Moves / Carolina In My Mind – Sweet Baby James: Anywhere Like Heaven / Blossom / Sunny Skies / Country Road・Mad Slide Slim: Riding On A Railroad/Machine Gun Kelly/Isn’t It Nice To Be Home Again ・One Man Dog: Mescalito cover and others (5 songs + α) ・Cover: With A Little Help From My Friends (THE BEATLES) / Greensleeves (trad) / Okie From Muskogee (Merle Haggard) / Up On The Roof (THE DRIFTERS) / Hallelujah, I Love Her So (Ray Charles) and others: Tube Rose Snuff Commercial… It looks like this. “Carolina In My Mind” and “Country Road” were also played, and I thought it was the best selection of early songs, but that’s not the case. There were no breakthrough singles such as “Fire and Rain” or the title track “Sweet Baby James,” and if you think about it, “Country Road” wasn’t released as a single until the following year, 1971. . On the other hand, they played a large number of songs such as “MUD SLIDE SLIM AND THE BLUE HORIZON” and “Mescalito” which have not been officially recorded yet. Perhaps this set has something to do with the situation of “second performance on the second day of the same venue”. Although it is not directly related to this work, in the recording the day before (15th), on the contrary, there was no repertoire of “MUD SLIDE SLIM…” and he was playing “Fire And Rain”. This is all speculation, so I’m sorry if I’m wrong, but it’s possible that a big hit song was left out as the set was being replaced. And the show where such a set is spelled out is thoroughly comfortable with James’ beautiful voice and homely mood. The then 22-year-old’s singing voice had a youthful feel to it even though it was deep, and was both humorous and sincere. He speaks gently to the audience, who are listening carefully and quietly, and the audience warmly welcomes him. I mentioned earlier that there was a lack of hit songs, but even so, the venue gradually got heated with each song, and it exploded with “Carolina In My Mind”! The last song, “Mescalito,” is also a “ONE MAN DOG” number, so the audience should not know it, but with James leading the song, it gets very excited with the clapping of hands. In any case, it can be seen on the scene where it is making a big splash with its super high quality. That’s all. This is a masterpiece of a live performance album featuring famous songs with a sound that makes it meaningless to distinguish between sound board and audience. Capital Theater, Port Chester, NY, USA 16th May 1970 (Late Show) ULTIMATE SOUND (61:16) 1. Intro 2. With A Little Help From My Friends 3. Anywhere Like Heaven 4. Greensleeves 5. Okie From Muskogee 6. Blossom 7. Sunny Skies 8. Up On The Roof 9. Brighten Your Night With My Day 10. Tube Rose Snuff Commercial 11. Hallelujah, I Love Her So 12. Rainy Day Man 13. Something In The Way She Moves 14. Riding On A Railroad 15. Country Road 16. Carolina In My Mind 17. Machine Gun Kelly 18. Isn’t It Nice To Be Home Again? 19. Mescalito