James Taylor Gorilla CD

Personnel: James Taylor (vocals, acoustic guitar); David Crosby, Carly Simon, Graham Nash (vocals); Lowell George, Arthur Adams (guitar); Al Perkins (steel guitar); David Grisman (mandolin); Gayle Levant (harp); Jules Jacob (clarinet, oboe); Nick DeCaro (accordion); David Sanborn (saxophone); George Bohanon, Chuck Findley (horns); Clarence MacDonald (keyboards); Randy Newman (hornorgan); Victor Feldman (marimba, percussion); Andy Newmark (bass, drums); Willie Weeks (bass); Jim Keltner (drums); Milt Holland (percussion, wind chimes); Valerie Carter (background vocals).

Recorded at Warner Bros. Recording Studios, North Hollywood, California from February to March, 1975.
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? ~ William Ruhlmann
James Taylor's unique blend of well-crafted songs, meticulous production and heartfelt singing are all in abundance here on GORILLA. Featured are the Taylor originals "Mexico" and "Lighthouse" (both aided and abetted vocally by David Crosby and Graham Nash) and the uplifting, reflective "Music," which delightfully interweaves an orchestral harp in and around the melodic web of Taylor's crystalline guitar patterns. The lush mini-suite "Love Songs" opens with a guitar and clarinet duet and finds James moving ever so discreetly into Gershwin territory. Taylor's take on the Motown chestnut "How Sweet It Is" minted chart-topping gold and thrust the introspective balladeer into the role of hit-making cover artist.