How Sweet James Taylor Is Trivia Quiz

Answer: Fire and Rain

"Fire and Rain" was composed by James Taylor and appeared on 1970's "Sweet Baby James", Taylor's second studio album. It peaked at position number three on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 chart and at position number two on the Canada Top Singles chart.

Taylor had composed the song earlier for his first studio album, produced by Apple Records in England, but Peter Asher, the album's producer, rejected it. Peter Asher is famous, of course, for his duo Peter and Gordon and for his work at Apple Records. He signed James Taylor to Apple and played a very important role in helping Taylor launch his career.

"Fire and Rain" is about Taylor's struggle with drug addiction and severe depression, suffered after the failures of his earlier band The Flying Machine, a name he refers to in his song. He also had recently learned of the suicide of a childhood friend Suzanne Schnerr. He refers to her, her suicide, and his attempts to understand it with words like "But I always thought that I'd see you again". Taylor has also explained that "the plans they made" about Suzanne refers to the plans the fates made concerning her life.

Carole King plays piano on the album version of the song, and she claims Taylor's experience with suicide and his line "I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend" inspired her to write "You've Got a Friend", which not only became a hit for her on her "Tapestry" album but an even bigger one for James Taylor when he covered it on his next album.

Answer: How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)

James Taylor covered the song "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)" for his 1975 album "Gorilla". He had much more success with it than Marvin Gaye, who released the song in 1964, and Junior Walker and the All Stars, who released the song in 1966. Taylor's version climbed to position number one on both the US "Billboard" Adult Contemporary chart and number five on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 chart. It peaked at number one on Canada's "RPM" Top Singles and Adult Contemporary charts.

The song was written in 1964 by Holland-Dozier-Holland, the Motown songwriting team. This team is responsible for a great number of hits, such as "Stop, in the Name of Love" and "Baby Love".

Answer: Country Road

"Country Road" also appears on James Taylor's second studio album "Sweet Baby James", released in 1970. The song was not a top ten hit for Taylor as it peaked at number 37 on the US "Billboard" Pop Singles chart and number 9 on the US "Billboard" Easy Listening chart. However, it is frequently played at Taylor's concerts, and it is lauded as part of the trailblazing songs that ushered in the rural mood and search for the peacefulness of solitude that gained momentum in the 1970s after the social unrest of the 1960s.

The song is supposed to have been inspired by Taylor's driving down a road through the woods on the land nearby McLean Hospital in Massachusetts, where Taylor stayed in 1965 to recuperate from severe depression.

Answer: Your Smiling Face

James Taylor's song "Your Smiling Face" appears on his 1977 album "JT" and was released as the second single from that album in September of that year. It climbed to number twenty on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 chart and to number eleven on Canada's "RPM" Top Singles chart.

"Rolling Stone" critic Peter Herbst described "Your Smiling Face" as an "unabashedly happy" love song. The words, melody, voice, and instrumentation all are characterized by great joy. Taylor wrote the song about his surprise at finding happiness again, and critics are divided between whether the source of this joy was his relationship with Carly Simon (with whom he was married from 1972 to 1983) or his relationship with his then three-year-old daughter Sally. Perhaps, it was both.

Answer: Something in the Way She Moves

"Something in the Way She Moves" is one of James Taylor's songs appearing on his eponymous debut album "James Taylor", which was released in 1968. This song holds a remarkable place in twentieth-century music history. Peter Asher, who was a representative of Apple Records at the time, had listened to a demo tape of James Taylor's and invited him to England to record an album. Asher was looking for a simpler, more laid-back sound for The Beatles record label, and he felt Taylor was perfect for that purpose. Asher had to get The Beatles' approval first, of course, so Taylor auditioned before Paul McCartney and George Harrison. "Something in the Way She Moves" was one of the songs Taylor played for them. Harrison was so smitten with the song that he borrowed the first line of Taylor's song to create the first line of his own song "Something", which appears on the "Abbey Road" album and is one of The Beatles' number one hits.

Interestingly, Taylor had sampled The Beatles song "I Feel Fine", and those three words appear frequently throughout "Something in the Way She Moves".

Answer: Handy Man

James Taylor covered "Handy Man" to include it as one of the tracks on his 1977 album "JT", and his version ranks as the most successful. In fact, it is responsible for his winning his second Grammy Award, one for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, Male. It peaked at number four on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 chart and number one on the "Billboard" Adult Contemporary chart.

"Handy Man" was written in 1959 by Jimmy Jones and Otis Blackwell. It was released that same year by The Sparks of Rhythm, again in 1960 by Conway Twitty, and then one more time in 1964 by Del Shannon. These earlier versions are faster paced while Taylor's version is much slower.

Answer: Mexico

James Taylor's "Mexico" appears on his 1975 album "Gorilla". As a single, it did not fare as well as some of the others in this quiz. It peaked at only number forty-nine on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 chart and number five on the "Billboard" Adult Contemporary chart.

The song is one of Taylor's happier and more playful ones, and because of its country rock sound, it's perfectly understandable that Jimmy Buffet covered the song in 1995.

Graham Nash and David Crosby provide harmonic backing vocals for Taylor's album version.

Answer: Carolina in My Mind

"Carolina in My Mind", written by James Taylor, appears on his 1968 debut album "James Taylor". Taylor wrote the song while in England. He had been invited by Peter Asher, who at that time was a producer for Apple Records, to come to England to record an album. Asher was looking for a softer, simpler sound for The Beatles' record label and believed Taylor to be the musician he was looking for. While there, he began feeling homesick and thought about North Carolina, where he had spent time growing up. The song never broke into the top 100, reaching only position 118 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100. Nevertheless, Taylor includes the song on most of his hits collections, and it is considered one of his greatest songs according to music critics and scholars.

The recording of "Carolina in My Mind" on the "James Taylor" album includes Paul McCartney on bass and George Harrison providing backing vocals.

The song is considered an unofficial school song for the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Answer: You Can Close Your Eyes

James Taylor's "You Can Close Your Eyes" is a lullaby that appears on his 1971 album "Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon". It was released as the "B Side" for the single "You've Got a Friend". However, it is significant and beautiful enough to serve as a single in its own right and has been covered by a number of artists, including Sting, Sheryl Crow, Eddie Vedder, Carly Simon, and Linda Ronstadt.

Answer: Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight

"Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" by James Taylor appears on his 1972 album "One Man Dog". As a single, it climbed as high as position fourteen on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 chart and position number three on the "Billboard" Easy Listening chart. Taylor has claimed that the song's roots lie somewhat in the loneliness that sometimes accompanies fame.

The blues and jazz sound of the song fits superbly with its theme. This song has been covered by a number of artists, including Eric Clapton, Joe Cocker, Garth Brooks, David Sanborn, Oleta Davis, Isaac Hayes, Nancy Wilson, Liza Minelli, Johnny Mathis, and the Isley Brothers.