Maps of Music

Never Die Young (1988)

Where the lyrics of Never Die Young take you, and where it was really made.

The title track reached only No. 80 on the Billboard Hot 100, yet the album itself climbed to No. 25 on the Billboard 200 and was eventually certified Platinum.

Key places

Recorded and mixed at The Power Station (1988)

Recording site Power Station Studio — The album was recorded and mixed at The Power Station in New York. The point uses the building coordinates from the candidate record. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Never Die Young: twelfth studio album by singer-songwriter James Taylor, per the English Wikipedia entry
• Released in January 1988, three years after That's Why I'm Here
• Reached No. 25 on the Billboard 200
• Eventually certified Platinum by the RIAA
• Title track peaked at No. 80 on the Billboard Hot 100, the only charting single from the album
• Disc copyright credited to CBS Records Inc. in 1987; back cover credits 1988

Background

• Taylor kept touring after the 1985 album, and the album followed about two years later
• Portuguese Wikipedia: the title single hardly entered the charts, while the album became a multi-million seller
• Taylor continued giving concerts around the world in the years after release

Recording

• Produced by Don Grolnick, who also played keyboards
• Recorded and mixed by James Farber, with Don Rodenbach as assistant engineer
• Recorded and mixed at The Power Station in New York
• Mastered by Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound in New York
• Production coordinator: Peter Stiglin

Cover

• Wolf photos by Jim Brandenburg, J.T. photos by Rudy Molacek
• Art direction by Marc Balet

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Early years

• Born March 12, 1948 in Boston, Massachusetts; raised in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
• Learned guitar in 1960, influenced by hymns, carols and Woody Guthrie.
• Spent time in a psychiatric hospital and struggled with heroin addiction in his youth.

Career

• Formed the Flying Machine in New York in 1966; the group broke up after a single.
• Signed to Apple Records in 1968 as the first non-British act on the label.
• Breakthrough with Sweet Baby James (1970) and the hit "Fire and Rain", both reaching No. 3.
• First No. 1 hit with "You've Got a Friend" (1971), written by Carole King.
• Greatest Hits (1976) is one of the best-selling albums in US history, certified Diamond.
• Won six Grammy Awards; inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.
• Reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with Before This World (2015) after a 45-year wait.
• Continues to tour actively as of 2026.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Cash Box said the title track's lyrics are a dazzling string of pearls, with a musical feel like a warm breeze
• Cash Box called "Baby Boom Baby" an agonizingly beautiful look at attaining everything and really nothing at all, life's passage and passing
• Cash Box described "Sweet Potato Pie" as smooth yet deceptively deep material

Records

• Billboard 200: No. 25
• RIAA: Platinum
• Hot 100: title track No. 80, the only charting single from the album
• Portuguese Wikipedia: the title single hardly entered the charts
• Portuguese Wikipedia: the album is described as a multi-million seller

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Taylor sings "Sweet Potato Pie" as a duet with Ray Charles on Charles' 2004 Grammy-winning album Genius Loves Company.
• Michael Brecker played tenor saxophone on "Baby Boom Baby" and "T-Bone".
• Discs are marked Made in Austria, and the back cover says Printed in Holland.
• The disc copyright reads 1987 and the back cover copyright reads 1988.
• Don Grolnick served as producer and played keyboards on the album.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com · it.wikipedia.org

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