Flag (James Taylor album)

Flag
Studio album by James Taylor
Released	May 1979
Recorded	January 4–March 25, 1979
Genre	Rock
Length	42:49
Label	Columbia/Legacy
Producer	Peter Asher
James Taylor chronology
JT (1977) Flag (1979) Dad Loves His Work (1981)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Robert Christgau	C+[2]
MusicHound	3.5/5[3]
Rolling Stone	(favorable)[4]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[5]

Flag is singer-songwriter James Taylor's ninth studio album. Released in 1979, it included songs from Taylor's music score to Studs Terkel and Stephen Schwartz's Broadway musical, Working ("Millworker", "Brother Trucker").

The album was not particularly well received, but it did provide a hit in Taylor's cover version of the Gerry Goffin–Carole King composition "Up on the Roof".

The signal flag that makes up the cover of the album is "O (Oscar)", standing for "man overboard".

On the 12 May 1979 episode of Saturday Night Live, James Taylor was the musical guest, and performed three songs from the album, "Up on the Roof", "Millworker", and "Johnnie Comes Back".^[6]

Track listing

All songs by James Taylor unless otherwise noted.

Side One

1. "Company Man" – 3:47
2. "Johnnie Comes Back" – 3:55
3. "Day Tripper" (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) – 4:25
4. "I Will Not Lie for You" – 3:16
5. "Brother Trucker" – 4:01
6. "Is That the Way You Look?" – 1:59

Side Two

1. "B.S.U.R. (S.U.C.S.I.M.I.M.)" – 3:23
2. "Rainy Day Man" (Taylor, Zach Wiesner) – 3:02
3. "Millworker" – 3:52
4. "Up on the Roof" (Gerry Goffin, Carole King) – 4:21
5. "Chanson Française" – 2:05
6. "Sleep Come Free Me" – 4:43

Personnel

• James Taylor — guitar, vocals
• Peter Asher — timbales, vocals
• Dan Dugmore — pedal steel guitar
• Steve Forman — percussion
• Don Grolnick — keyboards
• Danny Kortchmar — guitar
• Russ Kunkel — drums, percussion
• David Lasley — backing vocals
• Jesse Levy — cello
• Arif Mardin — strings
• Arnold McCuller — backing vocals
• Graham Nash — vocals
• David Sanborn — saxophone
• Ralph Schuckett — keyboards
• Louise Schulmann — viola
• Carly Simon — vocals
• Leland Sklar — bass
• David Spinozza — guitar, strings
• Alex Taylor — backing vocals
• Waddy Wachtel — acoustic, electric and slide guitar

References and notes

1. Ruhlmann, William. "Allmusic review". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 2012-06-30.
2. "Robert Christgau review". Robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 2012-06-30.
3. Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel (eds) (1999). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Farmington Hills, MI: Visible Ink Press. p. 1125. ISBN 1-57859-061-2.
4. "Rolling Stone review". RollingStone.com. 2010-03-29. Archived from the original on 2010-03-29. Retrieved 2012-06-30.
5. "James Taylor: Album Guide". rollingstone.com. Archived from the original on January 5, 2013. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
6. Saturday Night Live (1975) - Episodes - IMDb