James Taylor and the Original Flying Machine

James Taylor and the Original Flying Machine is an archival release of 1966 recordings of American singer-songwriter James Taylor's band The Flying Machine (not to be confused with The Flying Machine of "Smile a Little Smile for Me" fame from 1969), first released in February 1971.

James Taylor and the Original Flying Machine
Studio album by
James Taylor and the Original Flying Machine
ReleasedFebruary 1971 (1971-02)[1]
Recorded1966 (1966)
GenreRock
Length22:48
LabelEuphoria
Producer
James Taylor chronology
Sweet Baby James
(1970)		 James Taylor and the Original Flying Machine
(1971)		 Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon
(1971)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[3]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[4]

History

The songs on the album were recorded with Taylor's band The Flying Machine in a late 1966 three-hour session in New York City's Select Sound Studios.[5] They were produced by Chip Taylor, who had been involved in some recent pop hits, and Al Gorgoni, who also added harpsichord to the band's sound.[5] The group felt the resulting tracks were of only demo quality.[5] After "Night Owl" (b/w "Brighten Your Night with My Day") was released as an unsuccessful single by Jay Gee Records, a subsidiary of Jubilee Records, no work towards an album release went forward.[5]

Taylor subsequently signed with Apple Records, failed commercially again, but then became a huge success with Warner Bros. Records on Sweet Baby James in 1970 and Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon in 1971. Euphoria Records then released the sessions using the name "The Original Flying Machine", to distinguish the group from the UK outfit The Flying Machine who had emerged in 1969 with the hit song "Smile a Little Smile for Me". The released album had modest success capitalizing on Taylor's fame, reaching #74 on the U.S. pop albums chart. Flying Machine member Danny Kortchmar was not pleased, saying "The people involved wouldn't spring for the money for a whole album of James' songs [in 1967]. So it seemed terrible years later when the same people put out the Flying Machine album of those few sessions."

The sessions were re-released by Gadfly Records, with additional short intros and two remixes, in 1996.[6]

Track listing

All songs by James Taylor except where noted.

  1. "Night Owl" 2:29
  2. "Brighten Your Night With My Day" 2:45
  3. "Kootch's Song" (Danny Kortchmar) 3:13
  4. "Knocking 'Round the Zoo" (Danny Kortchmar Lead Vocal) 2:59
  5. "Rainy Day Man" (James Taylor, Zach Wiesner) 3:16
  6. "Knocking 'Round the Zoo" (James Taylor Lead Vocal) 3:10
  7. "Something's Wrong" (Instrumental Version) 3:07
  • 1996 Re-issue
  1. "Rainy Day Man" (James Taylor, Zach Wiesner) 3:16
  2. "Knocking 'Round the Zoo" (Intro) 0:53
  3. "Knocking 'Round the Zoo" (James Taylor Lead Vocal) 3:10
  4. "Something's Wrong" (Backing Track) 3:07
  5. "Night Owl" 2:29
  6. "Brighten Your Night With My Day" (Intro) 1:01
  7. "Brighten Your Night With My Day" 2:45
  8. "Kootch's Song" (Danny Kortchmar) 3:13
  9. "Knocking 'Round the Zoo" (Danny Kortchmar Lead Vocal) 2:59
  10. "Night Owl" (Remixed version)
  11. "Knocking 'Round the Zoo" (Remixed version)

Personnel
The Flying Machine
Additional recording musician
Production
  • Engineers: Wally Sheffey, Eddie Youngblood

Charts

Album

Year Chart Position
1971 Pop Albums 74

References
  1. "The Flying Machine". Softshoe's Music Matters Site. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  2. AllMusic review
  3. "James Taylor: Album Guide". rollingstone.com. Archived from the original on January 5, 2013. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
  4. Larkin, Colin (2007). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
  5. White, Timothy. James Taylor: Long Ago and Far Away, Omnibus Press, 2002, ISBN 0-7119-9193-6. p. 118.
  6. "James Taylor and the Original Flying Machine 1967". www.dannykortchmar.com. Archived from the original on 2008-02-06. Retrieved 2008-05-05.
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