American Standard is the twentieth studio album by American singer-songwriter James Taylor, released on February 28, 2020, by Fantasy Records. It consists of his interpretations of standard songs from the American canon. It won Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards.
This album was primarily recorded at his home in Massachusetts starting in late 2017 until 2019. It was produced, recorded and mixed by Dave O'Donnell and co-produced by John Pizzarelli and James Taylor. Mastered by Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound Nashville.
Critical reception
American Standard received generally positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 60, which indicates "generally favorable reviews", based on 8 reviews.
Track listing
Over the Rainbow: The American Standard EP
Album credits Musicians James Taylor – vocals, guitar Larry Goldings – keyboards, piano, Hammond B3 organ John Pizzarelli – guitars, 7-string nylon guitar Jerry Douglas – dobro Jimmy Johnson – bass Michael Landau – guitars Viktor Krauss – upright bass Steve Gadd – drums Luis Conte – percussion Lou Marini – saxophones, flute, clarinet Walt Fowler – trumpets, flugelhorn Stuart Duncan – violin Andrea Zonn – violin, vocals Dorian Holley – vocals Kate Markowitz – vocals Arnold McCuller – vocals Caroline Taylor – vocals (14)
Production James Taylor – producer John Pizzarelli – producer Dave O'Donnell – producer, engineer, mixing Sean Badum – assistant engineer Brandon Epps – assistant engineer Chandler Harrod – assistant engineer Tyler Hartman – assistant engineer Jimmy Johnson – assistant engineer Robbie Kapoor – assistant engineer Rick Kwan – assistant engineer Ted Jensen – mastering at Sterling Sound (Nashville, TN) Justin Shturtz – mastering assistant Ryan Smith – additional mastering for vinyl at Sterling Sound JoAnn Tominaga – production coordinator Norman Seeff – front cover photography Ellyn Kusmin – back cover and booklet photography, personal assistant, director of studio operations Carrie Smith – art direction, design
Charts
Weekly charts + Weekly chart performance for American Standard Chart (2020) Peakposition French Albums (SNEP) 195 Italian Albums (FIMI) 50 Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) 14 US Top Rock & Alternative Albums (Billboard) 1
Year-end charts +Year-end chart performance for American Standard Chart (2020) Position US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) 47
See also List of 2020 albums
References