''Gorilla'' is the sixth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by American singer-songwriter

James Taylor James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-sell ...

. Released in May 1975, it was more successful than '' Walking Man'', his previous release. Two album tracks released as singles, "

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Gua ...

" and " How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)", rose to the top five on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' charts. This would be Taylor's second-to-last album of new material for

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of ...

, his last being '' In the Pocket''. In many ways, ''Gorilla'' showcased Taylor's electric, lighter side that became evident on ''Walking Man''. The song "Sarah Maria" is about his daughter Sally (born Sarah Maria Taylor on January 7, 1974). His then-wife

Carly Simon Carly Elisabeth Simon (born June 25, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter, memoirist, and children's author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records; her 13 Top 40 U.S. hits include " Anticipation" (No. 13), " The Right Thi ...

was featured on "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)", originally recorded by

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo a ...

. Jimmy Buffett recorded "Mexico" on his 1995 album ''

Barometer Soup ''Barometer Soup'' is the nineteenth studio album by American popular music singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett. The album was released on MCA and Margaritaville Records on August 1, 1995. History and reception Following the release of ''Fruitcak ...

'' and performed "Lighthouse" during his Salty Piece of Land tour of 2005.Song & Lyrics Database – BuffettNews.com
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Track listing

All songs by

unless otherwise noted. ;Side one #"

" – 2:57 #"Music" – 3:46 #" How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)" ( Holland-Dozier-Holland) – 3:33 #"Wandering" (Traditional; arrangement and additional lyrics: James Taylor) – 2:40 #"Gorilla" – 3:10 #"You Make It Easy" – 4:10 ;Side two #”

I Was a Fool to Care "I Was a Fool to Care" is a song written by James Taylor that was first released on his 1975 album ''Gorilla''. It has also been covered by artists such as Mac DeMarco. Music and lyrics The music to "I Was a Fool to Care" contains soul music an ...

" – 3:19 #"Lighthouse" – 3:15 #"Angry Blues" – 3:25 #"Love Songs" – 5:45 #"Sarah Maria" – 2:46

Personnel

* James Taylor – lead vocals, acoustic guitar (1, 2, 4, 5, 7-11), electric guitar (1), harmony vocals (2, 4, 5, 10, 11), arrangements (4),

ukulele The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings. The tone and volume of the instrumen ...

(5), high-string acoustic guitar (10) * Clarence McDonald – Fender Rhodes (2, 3, 6, 7), acoustic piano (3, 6) * Nick DeCaro –

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a re ...

(4, 7, 11), string arrangements *

Randy Newman Randall Stuart Newman (born November 28, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist known for his Southern-accented singing style, early Americana-influenced songs (often with mordant or satirical lyrics), and vari ...

– hornorgan (8) *

Danny Kortchmar Daniel "Danny Kootch" Kortchmar (born April 6, 1946) is an American guitarist, session musician, producer and songwriter. Kortchmar's work with singer-songwriters such as Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, David Crosby, Carole King, David Cassidy, ...

– electric guitar (1, 3, 6) * Al Perkins –

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all steel guitars, it can ...

(2, 10) *

David Grisman David Grisman (born March 23, 1945) is an American mandolinist. His music combines bluegrass, folk, and jazz in a genre he calls "Dawg music". He founded the record label Acoustic Disc, which issues his recordings and those of other acoustic mu ...

–

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of ...

(5, 11) * Arthur Adams – electric guitar (7) *

Lowell George Lowell Thomas George (April 13, 1945 – June 29, 1979) was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer, who was the primary guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and founder/leader for the rock band Little Feat. Earl ...

– electric guitar (9), harmony vocals (9) * Leland Sklar – bass (1, 3, 7, 8, 11) *

Willie Weeks Willie Weeks (born August 5, 1947) is an American bass guitarist. He has gained fame performing with famous musicians in a wide variety of genres. He has been one of the most in-demand session musicians throughout his career. Weeks has also gai ...

– bass (2, 5, 6, 9) * Russ Kunkel – drums (1, 3, 7, 8, 10), shaker (1),

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called " zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though ...

(3), percussion (7), congas (10) * Andy Newmark – drums (2, 5, 6, 9) *

Jim Keltner James Lee Keltner (born April 27, 1942) is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session work. He was characterized by Bob Dylan biographer Howard Sounes as "the leading session drummer in America".Howard Sounes. ''Down ...

– drums (3) *

Milt Holland Milton Holland (born Milton Olshansky; February 7, 1917 – November 4, 2005) was an American drummer, percussionist, ethnomusicologist, and writer in the Los Angeles music scene. He pioneered the use of African, South American, and Indian percus ...

– percussion (1, 2, 9),

wind chime Wind chimes are a type of percussion instrument constructed from suspended tubes, rods, bells or other objects that are often made of metal or wood. The tubes or rods are suspended along with some type of weight or surface which the tubes or rod ...

s (10) *

Victor Feldman Victor Stanley Feldman (7 April 1934 – 12 May 1987) was an English jazz musician who played mainly piano, vibraphone, and percussion. He began performing professionally during childhood, eventually earning acclaim in the UK jazz scene as ...

– percussion (9, 10), marimba (11) * Gayle Levant –

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orch ...

(1, 2, 10) *

David Sanborn David William Sanborn (born July 30, 1945) is an American alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He released his first solo album ''Taking Off'' in 1 ...

– saxophone (3, 6) * Jules Jacob –

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches. ...

(5, 10),

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. ...

(10) *

George Bohanon George Roland Bohanon, Jr. (born August 7, 1937) is a jazz trombonist and session musician from Detroit, Michigan. In the early 1960s, he participated in Detroit's Workshop Jazz ensemble, with Johnny Griffith, Paula Greer, David Hamilton, Lefty ...

– trombone (7) *

Chuck Findley Charles B. Findley (born December 13, 1947 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania) is an American trumpet player known for his diverse work as a session musician. He also plays other brass instruments such as flugelhorn and trombone. His technical abiliti ...

– trumpet (7) *

David Crosby David Van Cortlandt Crosby (born August 14, 1941) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. In addition to his solo career, he was a founding member of both the Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash. Crosby joined the Byrds in 1964. They got ...

– harmony vocals (1, 8) *

Graham Nash Graham William Nash (born 2 February 1942) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, photographer, and activist. He is known for his light tenor voice and for his contributions as a member of the Hollies and the supergroups Crosby, Stills ...

– harmony vocals (1, 8) *

– harmony vocals (3) *

Valerie Carter Valerie Gail Zakian Carter (February 5, 1953 – March 4, 2017) was an American singer. Biography Carter began her career singing in coffeehouses as a teenager, and eventually became one-third of the country-folk band Howdy Moon. Though they d ...

– harmony vocals (9)

Production

* Producers – Russ Titelman and Lenny Waronker * Engineered, Mixed and Mastered by Lee Herschberg * Additional Engineer – Donn Landee * Assistant Engineer – Loyd Clifft * Recorded at

The Burbank Studios The Burbank Studios (formerly known as NBC Studios) is a television production facility located in Burbank, California. The studio is home to ''Days of Our Lives'', '' Extra'', the ''IHeartRadio Theater'', and was formerly home to the Blizzard ...

(Burbank, CA). * Mixed and Mastered at Warner Bros. Recording Studios (Hollywood, CA). * Cover and Design – Mike Salisbury * Photography –

Norman Seeff Norman Seeff (born March 5, 1939, in Johannesburg, South Africa) is a photographer and filmmaker. Since moving to the United States in 1969, his work has been focused on the exploration of human creativity and the inner dynamics of the creativ ...

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gorilla 1975 albums James Taylor albums Albums produced by Lenny Waronker Albums produced by Russ Titelman Warner Records albums