| Classic Songs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Compilation album by | ||||
| Released | 1987 | |||
| Genre | Pop rock, folk rock | |||
| Length | 58:12 | |||
| Label | CBS/WEA | |||
| James Taylor chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic.com |   [1] |
| Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [2] |
Classic Songs is the second compilation album by James Taylor. Only available in Europe it was, for a long time, the only compilation album to feature original versions of Taylor's classics. It spanned from his original work to his That's Why I'm Here album from 1985. [3]
All songs by James Taylor except where indicated.
Side 1
Side 2
| Chart (1987–1989) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA) [4] | 48 |
| UK Albums (OCC) [5] | 53 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI) [6] | Silver | 60,000* |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. | ||
James Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold more than 100 million records worldwide.
Lost Dogs is a two-disc compilation album by the American alternative rock band Pearl Jam, released on November 11, 2003 through Epic Records. The album has been certified gold by the RIAA in the United States.
"Sweet Child o' Mine" is a song by American rock band Guns N' Roses. It appears on their debut album, Appetite for Destruction. In the United States, the song was released in June 1988 as the album's third single, topping the Billboard Hot 100 chart and becoming the band's only US number-one single. In the United Kingdom, the song was released in August 1988, reaching number 24 on the UK Singles Chart the same month. Re-released there in May 1989, it peaked at number six.
Sweet Baby James is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter James Taylor and his first release on Warner Bros. Records. Released in February 1970, the album includes one of Taylor's earliest successful singles: "Fire and Rain", which reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100. The album itself reached number three on the Billboard Top LPs & Tapes chart. Sweet Baby James made Taylor one of the main forces of the ascendant singer-songwriter movement. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Album of the Year, in 1971. The album was listed at number 104 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. In 2000 it was voted number 228 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.
Tapestry is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Carole King, released in 1971 on Ode Records and produced by Lou Adler. It received four Grammy Awards in 1972, including Album of the Year. The lead singles from the album—"It's Too Late" and "I Feel the Earth Move"—spent five weeks at number one on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Easy Listening charts.
"Fire and Rain" is a song written and performed by James Taylor and released in August 1970 on Warner Bros. Records as a single from his second album, Sweet Baby James. The song follows Taylor's reaction to the suicide of Suzanne Schnerr, a childhood friend, and his experiences with drug addiction and fame. After its release, "Fire and Rain" peaked at number two on RPM's Canada Top Singles chart and at number three on the Billboard Hot 100.
"You've Got a Friend" is a 1971 song written by American singer, songwriter, and musician Carole King. It was first recorded by King and included on her second studio album, Tapestry (1971). Another well-known version is by James Taylor from his album Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon. His was released as a single in 1971, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and number four on the UK Singles Chart. The two versions were recorded simultaneously in 1971 with shared musicians.
Greatest Hits is the first compilation album by American singer-songwriter James Taylor. Released in November 1976. To this day, it is the best-selling album of his career.
Live is the first live album by singer-songwriter James Taylor released on August 10, 1993 by Columbia Records. The double album presents selections from 14 shows during a November 1992 tour. In the US, Live peaked at number 20 on the Billboard 200 chart and has sold more than one million copies, being certified 2× platinum by the RIAA.
The Best of James Taylor is the fourth compilation album by American singer-songwriter James Taylor released by Warner Bros. Records in 2003. The same album was released in Europe as You've Got a Friend: The Best of James Taylor.
And Love Said No: The Greatest Hits 1997–2004 is a greatest hits compilation by Finnish rock band HIM. It contains two new Tim Palmer produced songs, "And Love Said No" and "Solitary Man", the latter of which is a Neil Diamond cover. The British version also has a re-recorded version of "It's All Tears ". The digipak version of this album comes with a DVD with six songs live at Semifinal Club in Helsinki.
"Everlasting Love" is a song written by Buzz Cason and Mac Gayden, originally a 1967 hit for Robert Knight and since remade numerous times, most successfully by Love Affair, as well as Town Criers, Carl Carlton, Sandra Cretu, and Gloria Estefan. The original version of "Everlasting Love" was recorded by Knight in Nashville, with Cason and Gayden aiming to produce it in a Motown style reminiscent of the Four Tops and the Temptations. When released as a single, the song reached No. 13 on the US chart in 1967. Subsequently, the song has reached the US Top 40 three times, most successfully as performed by Carl Carlton, peaking at No. 6 in 1974, with more moderate success by the duo Rex Smith and Rachel Sweet and Gloria Estefan.
"Walk of Life" is a song by the British rock band Dire Straits, the third track on their fifth studio album Brothers in Arms (1985). It subsequently appeared on their live album On the Night (1993). It was released as a single October 1985 but had first been available as the B-side of "So Far Away" released in advance of Brothers in Arms.
Yesterday Once More is a 2-disc compilation album by US pop group The Carpenters. It was released in 1985 and has been certified platinum in both the US and UK. The album was re-released in 1987 as Classics Volume 2 in the A&M 25th Anniversary Classics series. It was a simple repackage, reusing the 1985 glass CD masters, but with different artwork. It was re-released in 1998 with the addition of an extra track, "I Just Fall in Love Again," a revised track order, and remastered in 24-bit sound with new notes by Paul Grein.
Anthology, also known as Anthology: The Best of The Supremes, first released in May 1974, is a series of same or similarly titled compilation albums by The Supremes. Motown released revised versions in 1986, 1995 and 2001. In its initial version, a 35-track triple record collection of hits and rare material, the album charted at #24 on Billboard's "Black Albums" and #66 on "Pop Albums".
The discography of James Taylor, an American singer-songwriter, consists of 20 studio albums, six compilation albums, at least five live albums, one tribute album, nine video albums, one extended play, and 40 singles.
The discography of Carole King, an American singer-songwriter and musician, consists of 17 studio albums, four live albums, seven compilation albums, one soundtrack album and 33 singles as a lead artist.
"Easy Livin'" is a song by the British rock band Uriah Heep, released as the second single from their 1972 album Demons and Wizards. The band also shot a basic music video for the song in 1972. It was the band's first hit in the United States and the only top 40 hit there, peaking at No. 39 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September 1972. The song's greatest success came in the Netherlands, where it reached No. 5, as well as reaching the Top 20 charts in Norway, Denmark, Finland and Germany. The song also peaked at No. 25 in Canada. In 1988, the band released a live version of the song, with new vocalist Bernie Shaw, as a UK single from the album Live in Moscow.
Queen Forever is a compilation album by the British rock band Queen. Released on 10 November 2014, it features tracks the band had "forgotten about" with vocals from original lead singer Freddie Mercury. Queen's bassist John Deacon is also on the tracks.
"How Sweet It Is " is a song recorded by American soul singer Marvin Gaye from his fifth studio album of the same name (1965). It was written in 1964 by the Motown songwriting team of Holland–Dozier–Holland, and produced by Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier. The song title was inspired by one of the actor and comedian Jackie Gleason's signature phrases, "How Sweet It Is!"
