Flag (James Taylor album)

Flag is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter James Taylor released on May 1, 1979. The album included songs ("Millworker", "Brother Trucker") from Taylor's music score to Stephen Schwartz's Broadway musical, Working, based on the book by Studs Terkel.

Flag
Studio album by
ReleasedMay 1, 1979 (1979-05-01)[1]
RecordedJanuary 4 – March 25, 1979 (1979-01-04 1979-03-25)
StudioSound Factory (Hollywood)
GenreRock
Length42:52
LabelColumbia/Legacy
ProducerPeter Asher
James Taylor chronology
JT
(1977)
Flag
(1979)
Dad Loves His Work
(1981)
Singles from Flag
  1. "Up on the Roof"
    Released: 1979
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Christgau's Record GuideC+[3]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[4]
MusicHound3.5/5[5]
Rolling Stone(favorable)[6]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[7]

The album was not well received, but it did provide a hit in Taylor's cover version of the Gerry GoffinCarole King composition "Up on the Roof" (Taylor's final top 40 hit as a solo artist).

"Rainy Day Man", which was originally featured on Taylor's self-titled debut album, was re-recorded.

The signal flag that makes up the cover of the album is "O (Oscar)", standing for man overboard.

On the 12 May 1979 episode of Saturday Night Live, Taylor was the musical guest, and performed three songs from the album, "Up on the Roof", "Millworker", and "Johnnie Comes Back".[8]

Track listing

All songs by James Taylor unless otherwise noted.

Side one

  1. "Company Man" – 3:47
  2. "Johnnie Comes Back" – 3:55
  3. "Day Tripper" (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) – 4:25
  4. "I Will Not Lie for You" – 3:16
  5. "Brother Trucker" – 4:01
  6. "Is That the Way You Look?" – 1:59

Side two

  1. "B.S.U.R. (S.U.C.S.I.M.I.M.)" – 3:23
  2. "Rainy Day Man" (Taylor, Zach Wiesner) – 3:02
  3. "Millworker" – 3:52
  4. "Up on the Roof" (Gerry Goffin, Carole King) – 4:21
  5. "Chanson Française" – 2:05
  6. "Sleep Come Free Me" – 4:43

Personnel

Production

  • Producer – Peter Asher
  • Engineer – Val Garay
  • Assistant Engineers – Lincoln Clapp and George Ybarra
  • Recorded and Mixed at The Sound Factory (Hollywood, California).
  • Mastered by Doug Sax at The Mastering Lab (Hollywood, California).
  • Art Direction and Design – John Kosh
  • Photography – Mark Hanauer

Charts

References

  1. "James Taylor - Flag".
  2. Ruhlmann, William. "Allmusic review". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-06-30.
  3. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: T". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 15, 2019 via robertchristgau.com.
  4. Larkin, Colin (2007). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
  5. Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel, eds. (1999). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Farmington Hills, MI: Visible Ink Press. p. 1125. ISBN 1-57859-061-2.
  6. "Rolling Stone review". RollingStone.com. March 29, 2010. Archived from the original on March 29, 2010. Retrieved June 30, 2012.
  7. "James Taylor: Album Guide". rollingstone.com. Archived from the original on January 5, 2013. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
  8. Saturday Night Live (1975) - Episodes - IMDb
  9. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 305. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  10. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 4500a". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved May 6, 2021.
  11. "Charts.nz – James Taylor – Flag". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 6, 2021.
  12. "Norwegiancharts.com – James Taylor – Flag". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 6, 2021.
  13. "James Taylor Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved May 6, 2021.
  14. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1979". Billboard. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.