Hourglass (1997)

Hourglass is the fourteenth studio album by singer-songwriter James Taylor released in 1997. It was his first studio album in six years since 1991's New Moon Shine. It was a huge commercial success, reaching No. 9 on the Billboard 200, his first Top 10 album in sixteen years and also provided a big adult contemporary hit, "Little More Time With You".

The album also gave Taylor his first Grammy since JT, when he was honored with Best Pop Album in 1998. The album also won producer/engineer Frank Filipetti a Grammy that year for Best Engineered Album. The majority of the album was recorded using a Yamaha O2R mixer and three Tascam DA-88 multitrack recorders, which were early digital devices not typically used by top level artists, as most major label records were still being recorded to analog tape at that time.

The album was dedicated to Don Grolnick who was a frequent collaborator with Taylor and who died during the Hourglass sessions in 1996 due to Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Background

Hourglass was an introspective album with lyrics that focused largely on Taylor's troubled past and family. "Jump Up Behind Me" paid tribute to his father's rescue of him after the Flying Machine days, and the long drive from New York City back to his home in Chapel Hill. "Enough to Be On Your Way" was inspired by the alcoholism-related death of his brother Alex earlier in the decade. The themes were also inspired by Taylor's divorce from actress Kathryn Walker, which took place in 1996. Rolling Stone found that "one of the themes of this record is disbelief", while Taylor told the magazine that it was "spirituals for agnostics."

Personnel

James Taylor – lead vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica (10)

• Clifford Carter – keyboards
• Bob Mann – guitars

Dan Dugmore – pedal steel guitar (10, 11)

Ross Traut – high-strung guitar (11)

Jimmy Johnson – bass guitar (1–3, 5–8, 10–12)

Edgar Meyer – cello arrangements (2, 7), acoustic bass (4, 9)

Carlos Vega – drums, percussion

Mark O'Connor – fiddle (2)

Yo-Yo Ma – cello (2, 7)

Stanley Silverman – cello arrangements (2, 7)

Edwin Rockett – penny whistle (2)

Stevie Wonder – harmonica (3)

Branford Marsalis – soprano saxophone (4), alto saxophone (9)

Michael Brecker – tenor saxophone (5), EWI (6)

Rob Mounsey – horn arrangements (5)

• Valerie Carter – backing vocals
• David Lasley – backing vocals
• Kate Markowitz – backing vocals
• Arnold McCuller – backing vocals

Sting – backing vocals (6)

Jill Dell'Abate – backing vocals (8)

Shawn Colvin – backing vocals (10)

Production

• Producers – Frank Filipetti and James Taylor
• Associate Producer – Jill Dell'Abate
• Production Assistant – Ted Cammann
• Engineered and Mixed by Frank Filipetti
• Assistant Engineers – Tim Gerron and Pete Karam
• Mix Assistant – Pete Karam
• Technical Support – John Morrison

Mastered by Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound (New York, NY).

• Art Direction – Stephanie Mauer
• Design – Chris Quinn
• Photography – Herb Ritts

Management – Cathy Kerr for PAM Artist Management.