American Standard (James Taylor album)

American Standard
Studio album by James Taylor
Released	February 28, 2020 (2020-02-28)
Studio	The Barn (Washington, MA) United Recording Studios and Capitol Studios (Hollywood, CA) Treasure Isle Studios and Blackbird Studios (Nashville, TN) Studio D (New York City, New York)
Length	44:59
Label	Fantasy
Producer	Dave O'Donnell John Pizzarelli James Taylor
James Taylor chronology
Before This World (2015) American Standard (2020)

American Standard is the twentieth studio album by American singer-songwriter James Taylor, released on February 28, 2020, by Fantasy Records. ^[1] It consists of his interpretations of standard songs from the American canon. It won Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. ^[2]

This album was produced, recorded and mixed by Dave O'Donnell and co-produced by John Pizzarelli and James Taylor. Mastered by Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound Nashville.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	60/100 [3]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
The Independent	[5]
Mojo	[6]
PopMatters	[7]
Uncut	[8]

American Standard received generally positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 60, which indicates "generally favorable reviews", based on 8 reviews. ^[3]

Track listing

American Standard track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"My Blue Heaven"	Walter Donaldson, George A. Whiting	2:43
2.	"Moon River"	Henry Mancini, Johnny Mercer	3:13
3.	"Teach Me Tonight"	Gene de Paul, Sammy Cahn	2:58
4.	"As Easy as Rolling Off a Log"	M.K. Jerome, Jack Scholl	2:50
5.	"Almost Like Being in Love"	Frederick Loewe, Alan Jay Lerner	3:42
6.	"Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat"	Frank Loesser	4:11
7.	"The Nearness of You"	Hoagy Carmichael, Ned Washington	3:52
8.	"You've Got to Be Carefully Taught"	Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II	2:26
9.	"God Bless the Child"	Billie Holiday, Arthur Herzog Jr.	3:21
10.	"Pennies from Heaven"	Arthur Johnston, Johnny Burke	2:52
11.	"My Heart Stood Still"	Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart	3:27
12.	"Ol' Man River"	Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II	2:53
13.	"It's Only a Paper Moon"	Harold Arlen, Yip Harburg, Billy Rose	3:11
14.	"The Surrey with the Fringe on Top"	Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II	3:20
Total length:			44:59

Target edition bonus tracks & Japan bonus tracks ^[9]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
15.	"I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face"	Loewe, Lerner	2:15
16.	"Never Never Land"	Jule Styne, Betty Comden, Adolph Green	3:22
Total length:			50:42

Over the Rainbow: The American Standard EP

Track listing ^[10]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face"	Loewe, Lerner	2:15
2.	"Never Never Land"	Styne, Comden, Green	3:22
3.	"Over the Rainbow"	Harold Arlen, Yip Harburg	3:07
Total length:			8:45

Album credits

Musicians

• James Taylor – vocals, guitar
• Larry Goldings – keyboards, piano, Hammond B3 organ
• John Pizzarelli – guitars, 7-string nylon guitar
• Jerry Douglas – dobro
• Jimmy Johnson – bass
• Michael Landau – guitars
• Viktor Krauss – upright bass
• Steve Gadd – drums ^[11]
• Luis Conte – percussion
• Lou Marini – saxophones, flute, clarinet
• Walt Fowler – trumpets, flugelhorn
• Stuart Duncan – violin
• Andrea Zonn – violin, vocals
• Dorian Holley – vocals
• Kate Markowitz – vocals
• Arnold McCuller – vocals
• Caroline Taylor – vocals (14)

Production

• James Taylor – producer
• John Pizzarelli – producer
• Dave O'Donnell – producer, engineer, mixing
• Sean Badum – assistant engineer
• Brandon Epps – assistant engineer
• Chandler Harrod – assistant engineer
• Tyler Hartman – assistant engineer
• Jimmy Johnson – assistant engineer
• Robbie Kapoor – assistant engineer
• Rick Kwan – assistant engineer
• Ted Jensen – mastering at Sterling Sound (Nashville, TN)
• Justin Shturtz – mastering assistant
• Ryan Smith – additional mastering for vinyl at Sterling Sound
• JoAnn Tominaga – production coordinator
• Norman Seeff – front cover photography
• Ellyn Kusmin – back cover and booklet photography, personal assistant, director of studio operations
• Carrie Smith – art direction, design

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for American Standard Chart (2020) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA) [12] 23 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [13] 161 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [14] 96 Canadian Albums (Billboard) [15] 1 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [16] 55 French Albums (SNEP) [17] 195 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [18] 24 Irish Albums (IRMA) [19] 55 Italian Albums (FIMI) [20] 50 Portuguese Albums (AFP) [21] 37 Scottish Albums (OCC) [22] 2 Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) [23] 14 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [24] 66 UK Albums (OCC) [25] 11 US Billboard 200 [26] 4 US Top Rock & Alternative Albums ( Billboard ) [27] 1

Year-end charts Year-end chart performance for American Standard Chart (2020) Position US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) [28] 47

See also

• List of 2020 albums

References

1. Kreps, Daniel (January 23, 2020). "James Taylor Details New Album, Hits Road With Jackson Browne". Rolling Stone . Retrieved March 3, 2020.
2. "63rd Annual Grammy Awards" . Retrieved November 27, 2020.
3. "American Standard by James Taylor – Critic Reviews". Metacritic . Retrieved March 3, 2020.
4. Monger, Timothy. "James Taylor – American Standard". AllMusic .
5. Beaumont, Mark (February 27, 2020). "James Taylor review, American Standard: Expect reassurance rather than revelation" . The Independent . Archived from the original on February 28, 2020. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
6. "James Taylor – American Standard". Mojo . March 2020. p. 94.
7. Elliott, Michael (February 28, 2020). "James Taylor's Standards Album Sounds Exactly Like You Imagine It Does". PopMatters . Retrieved March 3, 2020.
8. "James Taylor – American Standard". Uncut . April 2020. p. 37.
9. "アメリカン・スタンダード[CD]" (in Japanese). Universal Music Japan. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
10. "Over the Rainbow - the American Standard EP".
11. "2021 James Taylor Official Site'". February 28, 2020. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
12. "Australiancharts.com – James Taylor – American Standard". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
13. "Ultratop.be – James Taylor – American Standard" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
14. "Ultratop.be – James Taylor – American Standard" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
15. "James Taylor Has This Week's No. 1 Album". FYIMusicNews. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
16. "Dutchcharts.nl – James Taylor – American Standard" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
17. "Top Albums (Week 10, 2020)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
18. "Offiziellecharts.de – James Taylor – American Standard" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
19. "Irish Albums Chart: 6 March 2020". Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
20. "Album – Classifica settimanale WK 10 (dal 28.2.2020 al 5.3.2020)" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana . Retrieved March 7, 2020.
21. "Portuguesecharts.com – James Taylor – American Standard". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
22. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
23. "Top 100 Albumes – Semana 10: del 28.2.2020 al 5.3.2020" (in Spanish). Productores de Música de España . Retrieved March 11, 2020.
24. "Swisscharts.com – James Taylor – American Standard". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 11, 2020.
25. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
26. "James Taylor Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved September 4, 2025.
27. "James Taylor Chart History (Top Rock & Alternative Albums)". Billboard . Retrieved September 4, 2025.
28. "Top Rock Albums – Year-End 2020". Billboard. Retrieved December 26, 2020.