Love Has Brought Me Around/You've Got A Friend/Places In My Past/Riding On A Railroad/Soldiers/Mud Slide Slim/Hey Mister That's Me Up On The Jukebox/You Can Close Your Eyes/Machine Gun Kelly/Long Ago & Far Away/Let Me Ride/Highway Song/Isn't It Nice To Be Home Again
The second of singer-songwriter James Taylor’s pair of acclaimed albums Mud Slide Slim contains another set of excellent laid back songs. His cover of You’ve Got A Friend would top the US singles chart and reach No. 4 in the UK. (US:2 UK:4)
“Taylor gets into his stride and continues where its predecessor left off, but somehow goes deeper by being less diverse. The sound is richer, funkier and warmer, even on a ballad as slow as You've Got A Friend the bass moves against the beat and creates a soft syncopation that satisfies. Taylor's songs are not always as simple as he makes them sound and the smooth flow of the regularly changing chords give the musicians opportunities to show their skills.”
“Moving on from the simple production of Sweet Baby James, James Taylor introduces more complexity and instruments on this album. It's still mellow folk-rock, simply more interesting. The songs sing of life, with its ups and downs. Taylor's voice is superb and the backing musicians do a fine job. One of the best early seventies albums from this highly influential singer-songwriter.”
“It really doesn't matter what your musical preferences are, James Taylor is one of the most tasteful and influential artists of our time. Anyone who has ever listened to one of his recordings can feel his music and in my opinion Mud Slide Slim embodies his life's work, and I have listened to it literally at least a hundred times.”
“Mud Slide Slim was an album that shaped my teenage psyche. It expressed through songs the restlessness of looking for the soul's home. A haunting and delicate weaving of words and music in Long Ago & Far Away still sends chills down my spine, and reminds me how consoling Taylor's songs can be. No other James Taylor album touches my soul as much as this one, where he articulates a yearning for something not yet known. An absolute must for any music lover's library.”
“This is one of the finest albums I've ever heard by anyone. Taylor casts a slight overcast tinge throughout yet manages to inject pieces of humour and optimism, yet never sounds dated because the music is so strong and intelligent. It also shows that he has a wider selection of songs, ranging all the way from the sombre, reflective and overtly political to a lovely love song.”
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