Sweet Baby James

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Song Origin

The first verse of the song came to JT while driving to North Carolina to visit his brother Alex’s new son, James. Nephew James was named after uncle JT, of course. The second verse was written two weeks later while driving home from visiting Arlo Guthrie in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

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"Sweet Baby James" is a song written and recorded by James Taylor that serves as the opening and title track from his 1970 breakthrough album Sweet Baby James. It was released as the first single from the album but did not chart.[2][3] Nonetheless, it is one of his best-known and most popular tunes.[4] Taylor considers it his best song.[5][6]

History

The song was written by Taylor for the son of his older brother Alex, who was also named James (and indeed was named after him).[5] Deliberately a cross between a cowboy song and a lullaby, it was first thought up by Taylor as he was driving through Carolina to meet his infant nephew for the first time.[7]

Taylor spent considerable effort on the lyrics, whose verses he later said used the most intricate rhyming pattern of his career. One of the most famous parts of the lyric is:[8][9]

Now the first of December was covered with snow
And so was the turnpike from Stockbridge to Boston
Lord, the Berkshires seemed dream-like on account of that frostin'
With ten miles behind me and ten thousand more to go [10]

The song is composed as a waltz, in 3/4 time.[11] The chorus echoes the lullaby sentiment, with a reference to "Rock-a-bye Baby".

According to Allmusic critic Bill Janovitz, the two verses contrast the new baby James, as a lonely cowboy, in the first verse with the lonely grown-up James singing in the second verse.[11] On the other hand, author James Perrone suggests that the young cowboy James in the first verse as well as the James traveling the Massachusetts Turnpike in the second verse are both the adult James who is singing the song.[12] Perrone notes that the two are linked near the end of the song when Taylor sings that the nighttime dreams of the first stanza cowboy and the dreams of the second stanza traveller "still inspire all who 'take to the highway.'"[12]

Reviewing the single, Record World called it "a beauty of a winner."[13] Billboard said that "Taylor has a strong and poignant piece of ballad material which he performs for all it's worth."[14] Cash Box said that it "has already received considerable FM exposure and could break into AM playlists in its pulled-single offering."[15]

"Sweet Baby James" was included on Taylor's diamond-selling Greatest Hits 1976 compilation.

Live performance history

The Massachusetts Turnpike and signs from Stockbridge to Boston.

"Sweet Baby James" has been played at almost every Taylor concert since its release. It is often saved for near or at the end of shows, where it serves as the emotional climax with Taylor performing it as the last encore coming back on stage without his band (as was the case for over a decade),[16] or perhaps with just a keyboard player accompanying his guitar.

Invariably, the second verse mentions of the Massachusetts Turnpike, Stockbridge, The Berkshires, and Boston bring cheers from people in the audience who had lived in Massachusetts.[16] And if the concert is in Tanglewood or Great Woods, the commotion is enough to pause the song.[8] Taylor was born in Boston, and although he moved to North Carolina when very young, he spent summers in Massachusetts and went to boarding school there.[4][17] This association has made Taylor a regional favorite in New England, including sell-outs at Tanglewood[9] and a record-setting concert stand at Great Woods.[4] Taylor, who underwent treatment at the Austen Riggs Center in Stockbridge in his younger years and later became a resident of the Berkshires, has spoken of the song's geographical reference points: "I really did drive the turnpike from Stockbridge to Boston. I have a real connection to this place."[8]

He performed the song as part of his set on the first episode of Saturday Night Live's second season, which aired September 18, 1976. 15 years later, Taylor performed the song again on the Christmas episode of Saturday Night Live's on December 14, 1991.

In the "Four Together" benefit concert arranged by Harry Chapin in 1977, John Denver sang the harmony part of the chorus on this song.

A concert performance from 1992 was included on his 1993 album Live.

Jay Leno requested Taylor's live performance of the song on his final The Tonight Show (first stint) on May 29, 2009. He said he had listened to it on the car radio as he left Boston for Los Angeles in the early 1970s and that the "ten miles behind, ten thousand more to go" line resonated deeply with him.[18]

Taylor performed the song when campaigning for Deval Patrick's re-election during the Massachusetts gubernatorial election, 2010, and the "Stockbridge to Boston" line drew a huge reaction in that context as well.[19]

Other versions

Tom Rush, who made a practice of recording material from the best new singer songwriters of the era, put it on his October 1970 album Wrong End of the Rainbow. The Seldom Scene added harmony on their bluegrass version, released on their debut album Act 1 in 1972. Highway 101 closed their 1989 album Paint the Town with it. Daniel Greaves of The Watchmen often performs it a cappella during concerts.

Taylor is often referred to in the press by the nickname "Sweet Baby James". On ABC's Good Morning America on September 15, 2008, Taylor acknowledged "there was that element" of being a "self lullaby" given the song's title and the "singing works just fine for me" lyric.[20]

The song is sung by Hank Heywood (Thomas F. Wilson) in the season four episode "Tender Is the Nate" of Legends of Tomorrow, to lull a minotaur to sleep.[21] It is later reprised in the season finale "Hey, World!" to inspire enough love to revive the deceased Nate Heywood.[22]

References

  1. ^ Dimery, Robert; Lydon, Michael (March 23, 2010). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die (Revised and Updated ed.). Universe. ISBN 978-0-7893-2074-2.
  2. ^ Browne, D. (2012). Fire and Rain. Da Capo. p. 302. ISBN 9780306822131.
  3. ^ White, T. (2009). Long Ago and Far Away. Omnibus Press. ISBN 9780857120069.
  4. ^ a b c Morse, Steve (August 23, 1992). "Sweet savvy James After 20 years, Taylor is still a New England favorite". Boston Globe. p. 81. Archived from the original on September 18, 2017. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  5. ^ a b Greene, Andy (August 13, 2015). "James Taylor: My Life in 15 Songs". Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 23, 2021 – via James Taylor Official Site.
  6. ^ White, T. (August 4, 2015). "James Taylor Looks Back on His Classics". Classic Oldies Wmid. Easy 93.1 FM. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
  7. ^ James Taylor talks about Sweet Baby James 2007. JamesTaylor.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved April 10, 2012.
  8. ^ a b c Edgers, Geoff (August 19, 2009). "Sweet benefactor James". Boston Globe.
  9. ^ a b Berger, Joseph (August 24, 1999). "When the Face in the Crowd Is Grandmotherly". The New York Times.
  10. ^ "James Taylor - Sweet Baby James Lyrics". musiXmatch. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
  11. ^ a b Janovitz, B. "Sweet Baby James". AllMusic. Retrieved May 8, 2014.
  12. ^ a b Perrone, J.E., ed. (2012). The Album: A Guide to Pop Music's Most Provocative, Influential, and Important Creations. ABC-CLIO. p. 70. ISBN 9780313379062.
  13. ^ "Single Picks of the Week" (PDF). Record World. May 9, 1970. p. 1. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  14. ^ "Spotlight Singles" (PDF). Cash Box. May 2, 1970. p. 86. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  15. ^ "CashBox Singles Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. May 2, 1970. p. 1. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  16. ^ a b Smith, Andy (August 27, 1992). "Sweet Baby James finds constituency". The Providence Journal. p. E3.
  17. ^ White, Timothy (2002). Long Ago and Far Away: James Taylor, His Life and Music. London: Omnibus Press. pp. 51, 68, 102, 103. ISBN 0-7119-9193-6.
  18. ^ Poniewozik, James (May 30, 2009). "Leno to America: Goodbye! I'm Not Going Anywhere!". Time.
  19. ^ Finucane, Martin (October 16, 2010). "Patrick finds he's got a friend in singer James Taylor". Boston Globe.
  20. ^ "Under the 'Covers' With James Taylor". Good Morning America. ABC. September 15, 2008.
  21. ^ Shoemaker, Allison (November 27, 2018). "The Heywoods meet Hemingway in a rambunctious, slightly scattered Legends Of Tomorrow". The A.V. Club. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
  22. ^ Mitovich, Matt Webb (May 20, 2019). "Legends of Tomorrow Boss Confirms [Spoiler]'s Exit, Breaks Down Crossover Tease and Season 5's Big Bad". TVLine. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
Wikipedia URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_Baby_James_(song)