1979 James Taylor – Up On The Roof (US:#28)

“Up on the Roof” is a song written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King and recorded in 1962 by The Drifters: released late that year, the disc became a major hit in early 1963, reaching number 5 on the U.S. pop singles chart and number 4 on the U.S. R&B singles chart. In the UK it was a top ten success for singer Kenny Lynch, whose version was also released in 1962.

James Taylor, who had played guitar on Carole King’s cover of “Up on the Roof” on her album Writer and who had dueted with King on the song at her Carnegie Hall concert of June 18, 1971, remade “Up on the Roof” for his 1979 album release Flag. Issued as the album’s lead single, Taylor’s version of “Up on the Roof” evidenced the eclipsing of Taylor’s impact as a mainstream hitmaker by peaking at number 28 in July 1979 (the lead single from Taylor’s precedent album JT, a remake of “Handy Man”, had peaked at number 4.) Although Taylor would reach number 11 in 1981 with his duet with J.D. Souther entitled “Her Town Too”, “Up on the Roof” would remain Taylor’s final Top 40 hit as a soloist. Rearranged around Taylor’s trademark acoustic guitar playing and vocal accents and interjections, his version of “Up on the Roof” became a concert staple, often with a star-lit urban dreamscape presented behind the stage halfway through the number as his band played unison ascending notes to echo the song’s theme.

Album

Flag is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter James Taylor, released in May 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 […]

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Musicians

Bass	Leland Sklar
Drums	Russ Kunkel
Guitar	Waddy Wachtel
Guitar	Danny Kortchmar
Acoustic Guitar	James Taylor
Vocals	James Taylor

Produced By

Peter Asher

Songwriters

Gerry Goffin
Carole King

Charts

US:#28
UK:# –