James Taylor's greatest hits cds cover 40 years of songs from Grammy Award winning American vocalist and guitar player, James Taylor. James Taylor has become the folk and pop icon for at least one generation of popular music.

Taylor's journey was begun in the mid-1960s, but he found his most devoted audience in the early 1970s, his own and others' folk songs. His 1976 record James Taylor's Greatest Hits was certified diamond and has sold more than 11 million copies. His recently released cd, Covers, was just released in 2008.

James Taylor's Greatest Hits album contains a history of great music. Everyone should have one in their music library..

Here are the tracks in both of James Taylor's Greatest Hits albums.

1. Something In The Way She Moves

2. Carolina In My Mind

3. Fire And Rain

4. Sweet Baby James

5. Country Road

6. You've Got A Friend)

7. Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight

8. Walking Man

9. How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)

10. Mexico

11. Shower The People

12. Steamroller

13. Secret O' Life

14. Handy Man

15. Your Smiling Face

16. Up On The Roof

17. Her Town Too

18. That's Why I'm Here

19. Only A Dream In Rio

20. Everyday

21. Song For You Far Away

22. Never Die Young

23. (I've Got To) Stop Thinkin' 'Bout That

24. Copperline

25. Shed A Little Light

26. Another Day

27. Little More Time With You

28. Enough To Be On Your Way

James Taylor composed Fire and Rain in 1968 at 3 individual times. He started Fire and Rain in England, where he auditioned for The Beatles' Apple Records. He composed it another time in a Manhattan Hospital, and completed the song while in drug rehab at The Austin Riggs Center in Massachusetts.

Fire and Rain is about the high and low points of James Taylor's life. He was only in his 20's when he composed it, but was fighting depression and drug addiction.

This was James Taylor's second single and his first popular hit. His first single was "Sweet Baby James." The blunt lyrics about James Taylor's depression stand out on Sweet Baby James, which contains mostly lighter, uplifting songs. The first verse is James Taylor's overcoming a friend's death. The second verse is about traveling to America and fighting with depression, the third is about his stay at the rehab center. The line "Flying machines in pieces on the ground" points to a band James Taylor was in called The Flying Machine, which broke up due to his addiction to drugs.

This was one of the first big popular hits of the early '70s. Before this, most hits were either composed by a composer and , or created and sung by a group like The Beatles or Rolling Stones. Artists like Carly Simon, Billy Joel and Elton John followed the trend of writing and performing their own songs.

Something in the Way She Moves was the first single off of James Taylor's self-titled debut record, which George Harrison played on and was released by The Beatles' Apple Records. When Taylor started composing the melody and lyrics, it was titled "I Feel Fine." The title was later changed to "Something In The Way She Moves" after James Taylor saw that the Beatles already had a song with the similar title.

James Taylor composed and recorded this song in 1968 while staying in a flat in London. The album was recorded with an group of members from the London Philharmonic Orchestra. This was included on a Demo Tape of songs, which James Taylor sent to Paul McCartney, who with the help of Peter Asher, signed James to the Beatles' Record Company, Apple Records. Unfortunately for James Taylor, Apple Records was in hot water, and James Taylor's album suffered from poor promotion. His next release on Warner Brothers Records in 1970, Sweet Baby James, flew off the shelves.

A pop singer with a personal life full of struggle, upbeat sound and clear pop instincts, James Taylor was the poster boy for the '70s singer-songwriter movement. He had dealings to the majority of the time's pop stars}, especially Carole King, Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon -- his spouse of more than a 10 years -- and many of his songs, including "Fire and Rain" and his cover of King's "You've Got a Friend," are definitive. Taylor was raised in musical surroundings -- three siblings were professional musicians} -- and got his first break when Paul McCartney signed him to the Beatles' Apple Records in 1968. By then, he had already gone through a 10-month stay in a psychiatric hospital for depression and was dealing withheroin addiction. His struggles were peppered throughout} his music. The dichotomy of confessional songwriting and bright, catchy acoustic pop on Taylor's first recordings started a new fashion for future folk singers. He continued racking up hits throughout the '70s with a mix of breezy compositions and folksy covers. His style has barely changed over the years, though hints of jazz and the classic pop songbook shine through on later cds.