Album: James Taylor, Covers, (Hear Music)

What it says on the tin. JT singing other people's songs with the cream of America's studio muso caste, from Rodgers and Hammerstein via Smokey Robinson to Tom Waits.

An exercise in good taste. And if the polite good vibes implicit in the music don't get you, the nice smiles on the cover might. But "(I'm a) Road Runner", "Knock on Wood" and "Hound Dog"? Are we sure we have the right JT here? These are R&B grits and they require more than good manners to make 'em live. Nothing doing.

Pick of the album: 'On Broadway': unlike 'Road Runner', it suits him

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