Thursday 6/30/22 9am ET: Feature LP: James Taylor – JT (1977)

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.

The album spawned four singles: “Bartender’s Blues”, “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.

1. “Your Smiling Face” 2:50
2. “There We Are” 3:02
3. “Honey Don’t Leave L.A.” 3:05
4. “Another Grey Morning” 2:44
5. “Bartender’s Blues” 4:12
6. “Secret O’ Life” 3:34
7. “Handy Man” 3:17
8. “I Was Only Telling a Lie” 3:24
9. “Looking for Love on Broadway” 2:23
10. “Terra Nova” 4:32
11. “Traffic Jam” 1:58
12. “If I Keep My Heart Out of Sight” 3:01

James Taylor – lead and backing vocals, acoustic guitar
Danny Kortchmar – guitars
Dan Dugmore – steel guitar (tracks: 2, 5)
Dr. Clarence McDonald – keyboards
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), producer
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)

Friday 5/28/21 12am ET: Feature LP: James Taylor – Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon (1971)

Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter James Taylor, recorded and released in 1971.

1. “Love Has Brought Me Around” – 2:41
2. “You’ve Got a Friend” – 4:28
3. “Places in My Past” – 2:01
4. “Riding on a Railroad” – 2:41
5. “Soldiers” – 1:13
6. “Mud Slide Slim” – 5:20
7. “Hey Mister, That’s Me up on the Jukebox” – 3:46
8. “You Can Close Your Eyes” – 2:31
9. “Machine Gun Kelly” – 2:37
10. “Long Ago and Far Away” – 2:20
11. “Let Me Ride” – 2:42
12. “Highway Song” – 3:51
13. “Isn’t It Nice to Be Home Again” – 0:55

James Taylor – lead vocals, backing vocals (1, 2, 9-12), acoustic guitar (1, 2, 4-11, 13), piano (3, 12)
Danny Kortchmar – electric guitar (1, 6, 11), acoustic guitar (2, 9), guitar (3), congas (9, 10, 11)
John Hartford – banjo (4)
Carole King – piano (1, 4-7, 10, 12)
Kevin Kelly – accordion (3), piano (11)
Leland Sklar – bass guitar (1-7, 10, 11, 12)
Russ Kunkel – drums (1-7, 9-12), congas (1, 2, 6, 11), cowbell (1), cymbal (1), cabasa (2), tambourine (9)
Peter Asher – tambourine (1), backing vocals (9, 12)
Richard Greene – fiddle (4)
The Memphis Horns – horns and horn arrangements (1, 11)
Andrew Love – tenor saxophone
Wayne Jackson – trumpet
Joni Mitchell – backing vocals (1, 2, 10)
Kate Taylor – backing vocals (11, 12)

Wednesday 5/19/21 12pm ET: Artist Countdown: James Taylor Top 30 Hits

James Taylor, an American singer-songwriter, has released seventeen studio albums, six compilation albums, at least five live albums, one tribute album, nine video albums, one extended play, and forty singles.

Taylor signed his first recording contract with Apple Records, where he released his self-titled debut album in 1969. Prior to signing with Apple, Taylor released the single “Night Owl” with the group The Flying Machine. An album of their recordings, James Taylor and the Original Flying Machine was released in 1971 and reached No. 74 on the U. S. pop charts. Taylor released his second studio album Sweet Baby James on Warner Bros. Records in 1970. Its lead single “Fire and Rain” became a significant international hit and gained Taylor his first major exposure as an artist. In April 1971, Taylor released his third studio album Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon, which became his second album to certify multi-platinum in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America and featured his first number one single “You’ve Got a Friend”. In 1972 and 1973, he released his fourth studio album, One Man Dog and his fifth, Walking Man; both peaked within the Top 20 on the Billboard 200 albums list.

After releasing more albums between 1974 and 1976, Taylor signed with Columbia Records and issued JT in 1977, which peaked in the Top 5 and sold over two million copies in the United States, certifying two times multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. In 1979 and 1981, Taylor released Flag and Dad Loves His Work, respectively, which both certified platinum in the United States and produced Top 40 singles. Nearly four years later, Taylor’s next studio album That’s Why I’m Here was released and spawned a cover of Buddy Holly’s “Everyday”, which became a minor hit in the United States. This was followed by Never Die Young three years later and then by New Moon Shine in 1991, both of which sold over one million copies. After recording a two-disc live album in 1993, Taylor returned in 1997 with a fourteenth studio album titledHourglass. The album not only peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard 200, but also received a Grammy Award for Best Pop Album the following year. His fifteenth studio release October Road was issued on August 13, 2002, on Sony BMG and certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. After recording a limited release holiday album in 2004, Taylor released his first major-release holiday album, James Taylor at Christmas on October 10, 2006.

One Man Band was released in 2007 and certified gold in the United States. This was followed by Taylor’s first cover album in 2008 on the Hear Music label. There was also an extended play sequel, Other Covers in 2009. In 2015, Taylor released another live album, Georgia on My Mind: Live in Atlanta, 1981, and another studio album, Before This World.

1	You’ve Got a Friend
2	Handy Man
3	How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)
4	Fire and Rain
5	Her Town Too (with J.D. Souther)
6	Devoted to You with Carly Simon
7	Mockingbird with Carly Simon
8	(What a) Wonderful World
9	Country Road
10	Your Smiling Face
11	Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight
12	Everyday
13	Shower the People
14	Up on the Roof
15	Mexico
16	Only One
17	Long Ago and Far Away
18	Baby Boom Baby
19	Copperline
20	Little More Time with You
21	Never Die Young
22	(I’ve Got To) Stop Thinkin’ ‘Bout That
23	That’s Why I’m Here
24	Bartender’s Blues
25	Woman’s Gotta Have It
26	Summer’s Here
27	Everybody Loves to Cha Cha Cha
28	Hard Times
29	One Man Parade
30	Carolina in My Mind

Tuesday 4pm ET: Feature Artist – James Taylor

James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold more than 100 million records worldwide.

Taylor achieved his breakthrough in 1970 with the No. 3 single “Fire and Rain” and had his first No. 1 hit in 1971 with his recording of “You’ve Got a Friend”, written by Carole King in the same year. His 1976 Greatest Hits album was certified Diamond and has sold 12 million US copies. Following his 1977 album, JT, he has retained a large audience over the decades. Every album that he released from 1977 to 2007 sold over 1 million copies. He enjoyed a resurgence in chart performance during the late 1990s and 2000s, when he recorded some of his most-awarded work (including Hourglass, October Road, and Covers). He achieved his first number-one album in the US in 2015 with his recording Before This World.

He is known for his covers, such as “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)” and “Handy Man”, as well as originals such as “Sweet Baby James”.

American Standard is his twentieth studio album and was released on February 28, 2020, by Fantasy Records.

Monday 1am ET: Feature LP II: James Taylor – American Standard (2020)

American Standard is the twentieth studio album by American singer-songwriter James Taylor. The album was released on February 28, 2020, by Fantasy Records.

American Standard received generally positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 62, which indicates “generally favorable reviews”, based on 6 reviews.

1. “My Blue Heaven” 2:43
2. “Moon River” 3:13
3. “Teach Me Tonight” 2:58
4. “As Easy as Rolling Off a Log” 2:50
5. “Almost Like Being in Love” 3:42
6. “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat” 4:11
7. “The Nearness of You” 3:52
8. “You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught” 2:26
9. “God Bless the Child” 3:21
10. “Pennies from Heaven” 2:52
11. “My Heart Stood Still” 3:27
12. “Ol’ Man River” 2:53
13. “It’s Only a Paper Moon” 3:11
14. “The Surrey with the Fringe on Top” 3:20

Wednesday 4pm: Sounds of The 70s

This week on the Sounds of The 70s we feature:  James Taylor, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Grass Roots, Elton John, Bill Withers, Steely Dan, Cliff Richard, Narvel Felts, Gary Glitter, David Bowie, Sylvia, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers and more . . . 

Thursday 6pm: Across The Tracks: Featuring – One (Part 3)

This installment of Across The Tracks feature tune with “ONE” in the title.  We’ll feature music from James Taylor, Laura Branigan, Queen, Ronnie Dyson, Deep Purple, Tommy Cash, Murray Head, Wallflowers, Jethro Tull and much more across the tracks and genres.  

Monday 2pm: The Chain with Ron Kovacs

Today we chain song titles with artists, James Taylor, Gladys Knight, Little Big Town, Belly, Alan Parsons Project, Ohio Players, Script, Esquires and many many more.  2pm on RadioMaxMusic 1.

Sunday with Ron Kovacs 9am ET

This week on your Sunday morning program:  Zac Brown Band, Train, Restless Heart, X-Ambassadors, Boz Scaggs, Gerry Rafferty, James Taylor, Kim Ritchey, Bob Dylan and lots more.  Join Ron Kovacs Live at 9am ET on Radio MaxMusic.

RadioMax Rewind: Carole King & James Taylor Live 9am ET

Live collaboration between Carole King and James Taylor and their original band rejoined for 6 shows at the famed Troubadour Club in L.A.  Recorded live at the legendary Los Angeles Troubadour club in November 2007.