One Man Dog

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

One Man Dog
Warner Bros.
ProducerPeter Asher
James Taylor chronology
Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon
(1971)
One Man Dog
(1972)
Walking Man
(1974)
Singles from One Man Dog
  1. "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight"
    Released: November 1972
  2. "One Man Parade"
    Released: February 1973
  3. "Hymn"
    Released: April 1973

One Man Dog is the fourth

studio album by singer-songwriter James Taylor. Released on November 1, 1972, it features the hit "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight", which peaked at number 14 on the Billboard charts on January 13, 1973. The follow-up single, "One Man Parade", also charted but less successfully, peaking at number 67 in the US and reaching number 55 on the Canadian Adult Contemporary chart.[1]
The basic tracks were primarily recorded in Taylor's home studio.

The album is made up of 18 short pieces strung together. It climbed to number 4 on the US Billboard Pop Albums chart. There was also a Quadraphonic mix of the album that included alternate vocal takes and elongated versions of some songs.[2]

Upon the album's release, Berwyn Life critic Steve Sparacio said that it "is certainly James Taylor's best album."[3] Sparacio noted that "Upon first listening, no song on One Man Dog stands out. But as an entity the album holds together extremely well. It may be paradoxical but only after you're able to view One Man Dog as a whole entity do you realize that some of the songs individually are very good."[3] Sparacio identified the theme of the album to be an "affirmation" of Taylor's life at the time, being newly married to Carly Simon and off drugs, and a realization that if he was going to cope with his life he needed to turn inward.[3]

On the other hand,

Mud Slide Slim.[5] Record World said it "contains some interesting departures from his earlier work."[6]

Calgary Herald critic Jim Rennie felt that the best song on the album was the traditional folk song "One Morning in May," saying that "Taylor joins forces vocally with luscious Linda Ronstadt, and the result is so good I think the combination is worth an album of its own."[7]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Encyclopedia of Popular Music
[10]
MusicHound Rock2/5[11]
Rolling Stone(favorable)[12]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[13]

Track listing

All songs written by James Taylor, except where noted.

Side one
  1. "One Man Parade" - 3:10
  2. "Nobody But You" - 2:57
  3. "Chili Dog" - 1:35
  4. "Fool for You" - 1:42
  5. "Instrumental I" - 0:55
  6. "New Tune" - 1:35
  7. "Back on the Street Again" (Danny Kortchmar) - 3:00
  8. "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" - 2:34
Side two
  1. "Woh, Don't You Know" (Danny Kortchmar, Leland Sklar, James Taylor) - 2:10
  2. "One Morning in May" (traditional) - 2:54
  3. "Instrumental II" - 1:41
  4. "Someone" (John McLaughlin) - 3:36
  5. "Hymn" - 2:24
  6. "Fanfare" - 2:33
  7. "Little David" - 1:00
  8. "Mescalito" - 0:29
  9. "Dance" - 2:07
  10. "Jig" - 1:13

Personnel

Production

  • Producer – Peter Asher
  • Engineers – Peter Asher (Tracks 1, 3, 6, 8, 9, 11, 15 & 16); Robert Appère (Tracks 2, 4, 5, 10 & 12); Phil Ramone (Tracks 7, 13, 14, 17 & 18).
  • Tenor sax solo on Track 8 recorded by Phil Ramone.
  • Mixed by Robert Appère
  • Mastered by
    A&M Studios
    (Hollywood, CA).
  • Art Direction – Ed Thrasher
  • Photography – Peter Simon

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification
United States (RIAA)[19] Gold

References

  1. ^ "RPM Adult Contemporary". Library and Archives Canada. April 28, 1973. Archived from the original on November 1, 2014. Retrieved June 24, 2014.
  2. ^ "James Taylor Rarities". Retrieved April 11, 2016.
  3. ^ a b c Sparacio, Steve (January 17, 1973). "Newlyweds record hits". Berwyn Life. p. 12. Retrieved March 24, 2023 – via newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Ruhlmann, William. "One Man Dog". Allmusic. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  5. ^ Griffin, John (January 3, 1973). "New Morning". Forest Park Review. p. 8. Retrieved March 24, 2023 – via newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. November 25, 1972. p. 1. Retrieved March 28, 2023.
  7. ^ Rennie, Jim (January 12, 1973). "Records". Calgary Herald. p. 5. Retrieved March 24, 2023 – via newspapers.com.
  8. AllMusic
    . Retrieved 2 October 2004.
  9. . Retrieved March 15, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  10. .
  11. .
  12. ^ Landau, Jon (January 18, 1973). "James Taylor One Man Dog > Album Review". Rolling Stone. No. 126. Archived from the original on October 2, 2007. Retrieved June 15, 2006.
  13. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8. Portions posted at "James Taylor > Album Guide". rollingstone.com. Archived from the original
    on January 5, 2013. Retrieved November 6, 2011.
  14. .
  15. ^ "Top Albums/CDs - Volume 18, No. 24". RPM. January 27, 1973. Archived from the original (PHP) on August 2, 2017. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
  16. ^ "James Taylor > Artists > Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved April 28, 2014.
  17. ^ "Allmusic: One Man Dog: Charts & Awards: Billboard Albums". allmusic.com. Retrieved April 29, 2014.
  18. ^ "Billboard.BIZ Top Pop Albums of 1973". billboard.biz. Archived from the original on December 4, 2012. Retrieved April 28, 2014.
  19. ^ "American album certifications – James Taylor – One Man Dog". Recording Industry Association of America.