November 5, 2021 —– Chart #116
Welcome to Friday, the 116th edition of Chart of the day. Two weeks ago I gave you a George Harrison Beatles masterpiece, “Something”. Today I go back to one of my favorite artists and the song that served as inspiration for Something. “Something in the Way She Moves” is a song written by James Taylor that appeared on his 1968 debut album for Apple Records, James Taylor. It has also been covered by other artists, including Tom Rush and Harry Belafonte. The opening line inspired George Harrison to write the No. 1 Beatles’ song “Something”. According to James Taylor’s stage banter at The Star in Frisco 31 July 2017, this was the song he played for Paul McCartney and George Harrison as an audition before signing with Apple Records.
“Something in the Way She Moves” is a romantic song. Rolling Stone critic Jon Landau regards the song as being about “transcendence of a sort.” Taylor plays the song accompanied only by acoustic guitar.
Allmusic critic Linsday Planer regards “Something in the Way She Moves” as one of the “notable inclusions” on the James Taylor album. Fellow Allmusic critic David R. Adler described it as “one of Taylor’s finest melodies”. Rolling Stone Album Guide critic Mark Coleman agrees that it is a “highlight” of James Taylor, describing the song as “winsome” and predicting the path Taylor would take in future recordings. Taylor biographer Timothy White describes it as being “unquestionably Taylor’s finest performance” on James Taylor. White described it as “spare in presentation” and “poignant on its own elegant terms.” Rolling Stone critic Jon Landau believes that the spare performance and Taylor’s “restrained delivery” add to the song’s power, as Taylor “lets the melody, lyric, guitar, and voice speak for themselves.” Martin Charles Strong describes it as being a “memorable original” and one that “marked Taylor out as a kind of male Joni Mitchell, if not quite as adventurous.”
Taylor included “Something in the Way She Moves” on his 1976 Greatest Hits but, as with “Carolina in My Mind,” also from James Taylor, he had to re-record the song due to rights issues. It was also included on the 2003 compilation album The Best of James Taylor. A live version was included on Taylor’s and Carole King’s live album Live at the Troubadour. A solo live version leads off Taylor’s album One Man Band.
George Harrison liked “Something in the Way She Moves” so much that he used the beginning as the first line of his 1969 song “Something” from the Beatles album Abbey Road, which was also released as a single and reached No. 1. Early in the development of “Something,” Harrison had expanded the opening of this song to “Something in the way she moves / Attracts me like a pomegranate,” using the word “pomegranate” simply as a place-holder until better words could be found.
Taylor has stated that “I never thought for a second that George intended to do that. I don’t think he intentionally ripped anything off, and all music is borrowed from other music. So completely I let it pass.” Taylor also acknowledged that the ending of “Something in the Way She Moves” was taken from the Beatles’ song “I Feel Fine” and so “what goes around comes around.”
Friends, this song brings back memories, the kind of song that just lifts you away to another place. Enjoy the videos and by all means for you musicians, play though this one a time or two and enjoy the feel.
Studio version:
Performed live on BBC in 1970: https://youtu.be/p0FJUVo-BaM
Live in 2007, a fabulous solo performance: https://youtu.be/79LcrP-EUYs
For our bass players here is Leland Sklar, a virtuoso on the bass and the guy behind most James Taylor recordings. Playing starts at the 5:30 mark: https://youtu.be/OIMaCdNS1-0
Keep rockin’ my friends,
Stan