Notes & Personnel Info |  | Personnel: James Taylor (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, autoharp); Carole King, Carly Simon, Linda Ronstadt (vocals); John McLaughlin (guitar); Daniel Kortchmar (guitar, timbales); Michael Brecker (tenor saxophone); George Bohanon (trombone); Craig Doerge (keyboards); Leland Sklar (bass, guitarone); Russ Kunkel (drums, percussion); Ms. Bobbye Hall (percussion); Peter Asher (guiro); Alex Taylor, Hugh Taylor, Kate Taylor, Abigale Haness (background vocals). | | Personnel: James Taylor (vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, autoharp, harmonica, background vocals); Carole King (vocals, piano, background vocals); Peter Asher (vocals, guiro); Abigale Haness, Hugh Taylor, Kate Taylor, Alex Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, Carly Simon (vocals, background vocals); Danny Kortchmar (guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, timbales); John McLaughlin (guitar, acoustic guitar); Leland Sklar (guitar, guitarron); Red Rhodes (steel guitar); John Hartford (banjo, violin, fiddle); Dash Crofts (mandolin); Michael Brecker (flute, saxophone, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone); Randy Brecker (tenor saxophone, trumpet, piccolo trumpet, flugelhorn); George Bohannon, Art Baron, Barry Rogers (trombone); Art Baran (bass trombone); Craig Doerge (piano, electric piano, keyboards); Russ Kunkel (drums, congas, tambourine); Bobbye Hall (congas, bongos, shaker, tambourine, percussion, bells); Ms. Bobbye Hall (congas, tambourine); Mark Paletier (sound effects, musical saw). | | Audio Mixer: Robert Appere. | | Recording information: A&R Studios, New York, NY; Clover Recording Studios, Hollywood, CA; James Taylor's House. | | Photographer: Peter Simon. | | Unknown Contributor Role: Russ Kunkel. | | A lot was riding on One Man Dog, James Taylor's follow-up to his two big hits, Sweet Baby James and Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon; this was released 21 months after the latter, a long time between records in those days. And what a letdown. One Man Dog contained 18 tracks, some of them instrumentals, many of them running less than two minutes. A lot of it was sketchy and seemingly unfinished, and none of it had the impact of the best songs on the last two albums. One Man Dog spawned a Top 20 hit in "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight," and it made the Top Ten and went gold itself largely on the momentum of Taylor's career. But it disappointed fans, and in the 19 months it took him to record another album, Taylor was bypassed by the singer/songwriter movement. ~ William Ruhlmann | | A lot was riding on this album, James Taylor's followup to his two big hits, Sweet Baby James and Mud Slide Slim and The Blue Horizon, which was released 21 months after the latter, a long time between records in those days. And what a letdown. One Man Dog contained 18 tracks, some of them instrumentals, many of them running less than two minutes. A lot of it was sketchy and seemingly unfinished, and none of it had the impact of the best songs on the last two albums. One Man Dog spawned a Top 20 hit in "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight," and it made the Top 10 and went gold itself largely on the momentum of Taylor's career. But it disappointed fans, and in the 19 months it took him to record another album, Taylor was bypassed by the singer-songwriter movement, becoming more of an easy listening covers artist (his next hits were remakes of "Mockingbird" and "How Sweet It Is"). ~ William Ruhlmann | | Mostly recorded at Taylor's home studio, ONE MAN DOG is an atypical release for a man known for putting out straightforward sets of his distinctive brand of folk-rock. This release from 1972 came after Taylor had achieved a good measure of stardom, and was free to explore some untraditional approaches. After this record, he returned to a more straight-forward format, but ONE MAN DOG has a relaxed, pastoral vibe that makes for enjoyable listening. | | The record consists of 18 shortish pieces strung together: traditional pop/folk songs, like the graceful single "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight," as well as humorous, off-the-cuff gems like the ode to a favorite food "Chili Dog," a jig, a drug song ("Mescalito"), and several gentle instrumentals. The production is more low-key than usual, and even though the atmosphere is relaxed, the playing is top-notch thanks to Taylor stalwarts Danny Kortchmar, Russ Kunkel and Leland Sklar. Taylor covers John McLaughlin's "Someone, " with McLaughlin providing a scintillating lead, and elsewhere, Linda Ronstadt, Carole King and Taylor's future wife Carly Simon supply backup vocals. |
Producer: Peter Asher |
Engineer: Peter Asher; Phil Ramone; Robert Appere |
Musical Guests | | Carole King | | Carly Simon | | Michael Brecker | | Linda Ronstadt | | John McLaughlin |
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