We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago…..
There is probably one side of a good LP among the ramblings of “One Man Dog”, the 4th Lp from James Taylor, released in late 1972.
This is no Mud Slide Slim or Sweet Baby James although there are echoes of those classics in some of these tracks. The problem is Taylor throws everything he was working on into the album. Snippets of unfinished songs, instrumental breaks and throw away tunes like “Chili Dog”.
There are moments though. The tasty hit ‘Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight (featuring that neat Mike Brecker sax solo) is here. So is a funky take on a Danny Kortchmar song “Back On The Street Again”, some more funk from Taylor and The Section (Kortchmar, Lee Sklar, Craig Doerge & Russ Kunkel…who would become his backing group throughout much of the 70’s) on “Woh, Don’t You Know”…. a pretty little duet with Linda Ronstadt on an old folk traditional “One Morning In May”….and a real eye-opener, “Someone” a tune written by jazz fusion guitarist John McLaughlin who wields his acoustic on the track. It sounds like a fusion track even when James gives us his vocal. Pretty cool.
A bunch of his friends have gathered for this one including both Carole King and Carly Simon singing on “One Man Parade”, a melody he would revisit years later for the title track from ‘Gorilla”.
18 short pieces strung together….I would have settled for half that many completed works.
Grade:Incomplete
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