1. Something In The Way She Moves
2. Sweet Baby James
3. Fire And Rain
4. Country Road
5. You've Got A Friend
6. You Can Close Your Eyes
7. Long Ago And Far Away
8. Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight
9. Walking Man
10. How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)
11. Mexico
12. Shower The People
13. Golden Moments
14. Steamroller (Live)
15. Carolina In My Mind
16. Handy Man
17. Your Smiling Face
18. Up On The Roof
19. Only A Dream In Rio
20. Bitter Sweet (Previously Unreleased)
Amazon.com
Any good singer can interpret a song, but it takes a stylist to make it his own. James Taylor is a stylist. This 20-track anthology obviously can't chronicle much more than the hits and high points of Taylor's career, but it nonetheless captures the artistic essence of a performer who's become a virtual synonym for "singer-songwriter" since his emergence in the late '60s. A lot of ink has been spilled ruminating about Taylor's role in soothing a '60s-burned generation, but given his own well-known demons (depression, addiction) his gentle voice often sounds like the physician wisely healing himself. His muse seems fully formed from the opening "Something in the Way She Moves," a track cut for the Beatles' Apple label in late `68 (and one that seems to share some symbiotic relationship with George Harrison's own classic "Something" from the period), its tone at once familiar and inviting--if ripe for a few decades of parody--as it wends its way from his seminal early '70s hits through a slate of later originals, R&B ("How Sweet It Is," "Handy Man") and pop ("Up On the Roof") covers. Tellingly, he delivers those chestnuts with an offhand confidence and illumination that makes them his own, a sense that informs even his jazz and Brazilian ("Only a Dream a Rio") flirtations. The set's newly recorded bonus cut, John Sheldon's "Bittersweet," is a pleasant pop confection that showcases Taylor's knack for being laconic and upbeat in the same breath. --Jerry McCulley
Album Description
20 of his greatest singles and most popular album tracks released on Apple, Warner Bros. and Columbia/Sony. Slipcase. 2003.
Album Details
Packaged with UK Only Slipcase Artwork.
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The Best of James Taylor
- Audio CD: 0 pages (2003-04-08)
- Publisher: Rhino / Wea
- Label: Rhino / Wea
- Studio: Rhino / Wea
- Average Customer Review:
 based on 79 reviews
- Sales Rank in Music: #201
Avg. Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Great Material Ruined by Excess Compression 2008-08-02
Comment: this cd has almost everything you could want from a J.T. best of, however the sound is extremely loud...almost unplayable, if you spin it for longer than 20 minutes, you will have a headache and frayed nerves....I had to get rid of mine for that reason; also, the swearing in "steamroller blues" is edited, what the hell for?
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Great CD 2008-07-27
Comment: The best of james Taylor makes me smile and think positive thoughts ! Great CD
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: James Taylor the Best 2008-06-09
Comment: Can't do better than Best of James, unless you see him live.
prefect for everyday misic in 50 something home!
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: The title says it all! 2008-03-12
Comment: First,I'd like to wish James Taylor happy 60th birthday. This is a very good collection consuming the contents of his GREATEST HITS package with a few others from his Columbia Records era(Taylor has recorded on the label since 1977). This disc could use HER TOWN TOO(duet with J.D. Souther on 1981's DAD LOVES HIS WORK).
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Discovery 2008-03-06
Comment: I have just discovered the many things James Taylor writes and sings about. I got this album to get a copy of "How Sweet It Is" and found several other songs I like almost as much.
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The Best of James Taylor
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