James Taylor - Sweet Baby James

No. 103 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time

James Taylor's second album, Sweet Baby James, released in early 1970, is the album that secured his spot among the most important songwriters of the 70s. The sweet, bluesy acoustic guitar and vocals on this album are authentic and interesting - this is a record that has everything from a blues inspired jam, packed with a big band horn section "Steamroller Blues"; to a gospel revival-like track "Lo And Behold"; to a traditional nursery rhyme made into a folk ballad "Oh, Susannah". And, of course, the album featured "Fire and Rain," which reached No.3 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Country Road" was another Top 40 hit that struck a chord with music fans, especially because of its attractive mixture of folk, country, gospel, and blues elements, all of them carefully understated and distanced.