From Rolling Stone, over the past 24 hours…
'Before This World' ends singer-songwriter's 47-year wait for a chart-topping album
By Daniel Kreps
Rolling Stone
June 24, 2015
Forty-seven years after his debut album, James Taylor has finally scored his first Number One record on the Billboard 200. The singer's latest, Before This World, sold 97,000 copies in its debut week, giving the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee his first ever chart-topping album. In addition to being Taylor's first collection of new music in 13 years, the surprise Number One was also aided by a vigorous promotional campaign by SiriusXM, who dedicated a channel to the singer and hosted a Town Hall with Taylor prior to Before This World's arrival.
Taylor had previously flirted with the Top Ten with nearly a dozen of his LPs, most notably 1970's Sweet Baby James (Number Three) and, more recently, 2002's October Road and 2008's Covers (both reached Number Four). However, Before This World hitting the top spot marks the second-longest wait between a Billboard 200 debut and a chart-topping album, Billboard reports. Only Tony Bennett, who waited 54 years – from 1957's Tony to the Number One album Duets II in 2011 – experienced a longer Number One holdout than Taylor. (Billboard doesn't acknowledge Taylor's 1968 self-titled debut in the equation since it never charted.)…
Time Magazine…
James Taylor Finally Scores His First No. 1 Album Almost Half a Century After His Debut
Rishi Iyengar
Time Magazine
June 24, 2015
This is the second longest an artist has ever had to wait for a chart-topping album
Forty-five years, five Grammy Awards and over a dozen albums after his Billboard debut, James Taylor finally has a chart-topping compilation. The iconic singer-songwriter’s latest album, Before This World, hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart dated July 4 after being released on June 16.
According to Billboard, the 67-year-old musician’s latest album sold 96,000 copies in its debut week — his best since his previous studio album, October Road, sold 154,000 copies in 2002 to reach No. 4 in the charts.
The almost half-century gap between Taylor’s latest album and his arrival on the list with Sweet Baby James in 1970 surpassed the 43-year wait endured by rock band Black Sabbath for the same milestone. Taylor’s ordeal is now second only to that of Tony Bennett, who got his first No. 1 album in 2011, 54 years after his debut…
This is his first album of original/new music in 13 years. Here are a bunch of the tracks from it, along with a few related recordings/videos. I forgot just how much Taylor loves to write about places. On this album: Afghanistan, Boston (Fenway Park), Chicago, Detroit, Montana, and Toronto, among others.
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Before This World EPK
Stretch Of The Highway
Before This World/Jolly Springtime (w/ Sting and Yo Yo Ma)
Angels Of Fenway
You and I Again
Shed A Little Light† and Today Today Today, Today Show (6/15/15)
Montana
Far Afghanistan
SnowTime
Wild Mountain Thyme
† Song isn't on the new album.
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