James Taylor - Gorilla (1975/2013) [Official Digital Download 24-bit/192kHz]

1975's, "Gorilla" is James Taylor's sixth album and in many ways it showcases his electric, lighter side. Taylor's unique blend of well-crafted songs, meticulous production and heartfelt singing are all in abundance here on "Gorilla". Several chart-topping singles came out of the album including 'Mexico' and Taylor's take on Motown's 'How Sweet It Is (to be loved by you)' thrust the introspective balladeer into the role of hit-making cover artist.

In this period of JT's creativity he was surrounded by a busy and fulfilling musical landscape where Philly Soul, Motown, funk and country rock were all over the charts and radio stations across the nation and he was more then willing to harness all of this into his own signature sound. Gorilla is a beautiful mature album that contains some very good easy listening soft rock music and Taylor is backed up by some of the greatest musicians around, like Graham Nash, David Crosby, Carly Simon, Randy Newman, David Sanborn, David Grisman, Lowell George and Linda Ronstadt.

The two big Billboard hits from this album shouldn't overshadow some other true classic James Taylor performances and compositions on Gorilla, such as 'Music,' 'Fool to Care,' 'Lighthouse' and 'Wandering' may very well be the most beautiful song ever created. The lush mini-suite 'Love Songs' opens with a guitar and clarinet duet and finds James moving ever so discreetly into Gershwin territory.

Gorilla served notice to anyone expecting James Taylor to continue on in the personal, confessional vein of his first few albums that he did not intend to do so. Recording in Burbank with Warners staff producers Lenny Waronker and Russ Titelman, Taylor used a stellar backup band augmented by such guests as Graham Nash and David Crosby (who harmonized on the chart single "Mexico"), his wife Carly Simon, mandolinist David Grisman, saxophone player David Sanborn, Randy Newman on "hornorgan," and Little Feat slide guitarist Lowell George. This team worked on a set of light, pleasant songs that bordered on the generic – one was called "Music," another "Love Songs" – but were performed and sung with taste and care. Taylor was relentlessly upbeat; even "Angry Blues," which confessed, "I can't help it if I don't feel so good," didn't sound like things were that bad. But then, these songs didn't seem to be about Taylor, or if they were, as in the extended metaphor of the title track, the connection was so oblique that it was hard to say what the point was. Still, one could glide on Taylor's easy vocals and the band's competence, and Gorilla was an enjoyable listening experience. "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)," the first of a series of bleached R&B covers, became a Top Ten hit, and the album restored Taylor's commercial fortunes, setting him on the steady path he would follow for decades after. But who would have thought only a few years before that the king of the confessional song poets would turn into such a lightweight?

Tracklist:

01 - Mexico
02 - Music
03 - How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)
04 - Wandering
05 - Gorilla
06 - You Make It Easy
07 - I Was A Fool To Care
08 - Lighthouse
09 - Angry Blues
10 - Love Songs
11 - Sarah Maria


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