The Best of James Taylor

Rating:
Summary: Player and Fan
Review: I have been a JT fan since that day way back in the fall of 1970 when i purchased the original Apple album and Sweet Baby James at EJ Korvette in NYC - (for $2.69 each).

JT is a great player - his style is highlighted by a moving bass, unusual chords, and rhythmic syncopation - it's a difficult style to replicate. Not to mention those classic JT licks!

I've checked all the JT tab books out there. Both James Taylor Greatest Hits and James Taylor Classic Guitar Tab are accurate - but - they do something very strange. As many of you know, JT capos his guitar. These two volumes correctly identify the capo position but the tab reflects the actual fret rather than the relative fret. Now I read music and Tab well enough to figure out what's happening - but these two books just make you work far to hard. Thumbs down for those guys.

Anyway - this volume - The Best of James Taylor - does it correctly. Tab reflects the relative position. No matter where you capo, it's easy to figure out.

As for accuracy - the Tab is very accurate. For those wishing to truly get that JT sound - this is it (until Homespun Tapes finally gets JT to make an instructional DVD - what about it Happy?). This book really does a great job of getting the chords and picking style correct. Thank you.

Finally, song selection - there are so many great JT tunes - no single volume is going to make everyone happy. Personally, I wish this included Something in the Ways She Moves and You've Got a Friend - however, there are enough great tunes here to keep you busy.

Nice to have - it would have been nice if the publisher had included instructional CDs.

Thanks Colgan Bryan for doing such a great job!

Rating:
Summary: Good For Learning JT's Guitar Style
Review: I wish this book was available years ago. When I started playing guitar 20 years ago, my goal was to learn to play like JT. This book features guitar tablature arrangements that are very faithful to what you hear on JT's records. The only reason I don't give the book 5 stars is that it lacks some of the songs most of us would expect given the title. However, the book DOES contain the all-important "Fire and Rain", "Carolina in My Mind", "Sweet Baby James", and my personal favorite, "You Can Close Your Eyes"

Rating:
Summary: Good For Learning JT's Guitar Style
Review: I wish this book was available years ago. When I started playing guitar 20 years ago, my goal was to learn to play like JT. This book features guitar tablature arrangements that are very faithful to what you hear on JT's records. The only reason I don't give the book 5 stars is that it lacks some of the songs most of us would expect given the title. However, the book DOES contain the all-important "Fire and Rain", "Carolina in My Mind", "Sweet Baby James", and my personal favorite, "You Can Close Your Eyes"

Rating:
Summary: No "You've got a friend" in the best of James Taylor
Review: If you buy this book for the song "You've got a friend", don't buy it. The song is not in this book which they called the best of James Taylor. This title is incorrect because his greatest hit "You've got a friend" is not in it. I was very disappointed when I finally received this book.

The songs are ok but don't call a book the best of when the greatest hit is not in it.

Rating:
Summary: Who Is Kr Schonberg?
Review: The songs are by JT, the transcribing is by Colgan Bryan, and the book is a Hal Leonard. Can't find Kr Schonberg anywhere in the book. Anyway, whether these songs are JT's best is debateable, but they are good ones. Chords used in each song are diagrammed clearly, the tablature is found beneath the standard music notation, and each song is several pages. I am unable to read standard music notation. Unfortunately, there is nothing in the tablature to indicate beat/timing/rhythm of the songs: just numbers on lines. There's no CD with this book. The standard music notation probably shows how this song is supposed to be played, but again, unfortunately, I cannot read standard music notation.