The Best of James Taylor


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.
The album emphasizes Taylor's recordings for the label; fourteen of the twenty tracks on the album are from his time with Warner Bros. It contains one previously unreleased track, "Bittersweet", recorded for this release. It entered the Billboard 200 album chart on April 26, 2003, at number 11, with sales of approximately 73,500 copies. It remained on the chart for 42 weeks. It was awarded a certified gold record on December 17, 2003, and a platinum record on April 15, 2005, by the RIAA.

Track listing

All songs were written by James Taylor, except where noted.
  1. "Something in the Way She Moves" – 2:27
  2. "Sweet Baby James" – 2:53
  3. "Fire and Rain" – 3:25
  4. "Country Road" – 3:30
  5. * Single version, previously unreleased on any James Taylor album.
  6. "You've Got a Friend" – 4:30
  7. "You Can Close Your Eyes" – 2:32
  8. "Long Ago and Far Away" – 2:22
  9. "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" – 2:37
  10. "Walking Man" – 3:35
  11. "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)" – 3:37
  12. "Mexico" – 3:00
  13. "Shower the People" – 4:33
  14. "Golden Moments" – 3:32
  15. "Steamroller" – 5:06
  16. * 1975 live version.
  17. "Carolina in My Mind" – 4:00
  18. * 1976 version.
  19. "Handy Man" – 3:20
  20. "Your Smiling Face" – 2:48
  21. "Up on the Roof" – 4:22
  22. "Only a Dream in Rio" – 5:03
  23. "Bittersweet" – 3:44
  24. * ''A previously unreleased song, recorded specifically for this album in early 2003.''

Personnel

Musicians

Technical