By Jim Rowland
Having released new material with his original garage rock band The Prisoners earlier this year, the first in decades, Hammond legend James Taylor returns to his Quartet this month with a new album that again harks back to Taylor’s early days, and may surprise a few JTQ fans along the way.
I myself go back a long way with James Taylor, having seen The Prisoners support The Ramones back in 1986 at the Hammersmith Palais (the most violent gig I’ve ever been to thanks to a huge gang of unwelcome skinheads), and then numerous gigs of the James Taylor Quartet in their early days. ‘Hung Up On You’ harks back to those early days of The Prisoners and the first incarnation of the JTQ, and may surprise fans of the more acid jazz/funk/soul sound of the later incarnation.
‘Hung Up On You’ is the first album Taylor has released where he handles the lead vocals, and mixes up a fair few different flavours, utilizing some songs left over from the aforementioned recent Prisoners project.
‘Hung Up On You’, ‘Miss Your Life’ and the catchy ‘Put Your Hands Up’ have an up-tempo garage punk/new wave vibe, the 60s power-pop of ‘She Dreams In Crimson’, ‘My My My’ are very Who-esque and the organ-heavy ‘Feet On The Ground’ has a soulful 60s groove.
Elsewhere, the groovy Hammond instrumentals of ‘Chicken Leg’, ‘Small Thing’ and ‘The 4th Dimension’ hark back to the early recordings of JTQ on the excellent ‘Mission Impossible’, ‘The Money Spyder’ and ‘Wait A Minute’ albums, and ‘My Wife’ rounds things off in a chilled, dreamy and laid back style.
Perhaps more punk than funk, ‘Hung Up On You’ is a hugely enjoyable raw and gritty album that sees James Taylor firmly going back to his roots and coming up with some great results.
- ‘Hung Up On You’ will be released on Friday 25 October.
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