My 100 Favorite Charted Pop Songs: Your Smiling Face

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Another appropriate title! You’re probably smiling because this trip is OVER! One hundred different songs to make the pop charts: some R&B, a punk or two, some with a country flavor, some unabashedly pop, and some unabashedly rock. But they’re all part of my musical fabric. Here’s the song that closes us out because it comes last in the alphabetical list. Your Smiling Face - James Taylor What a love song, huh? The song wasn’t written for James Taylor’s then-wife Carly Simon, but for their three-year-old daughter. Aw, man, that’s cheating, hiding a lullaby to the kid behind the appearance of a love song to your wife. JT is a masterpiece of an album. That era (1974-77) turned out so many incredible albums, and this was one of them. I like this song so much more than the “big hit” from the album (“Handy Man,” where Taylor continued what became a disturbing trend of taking old R&B songs and making them pop ballads [he did that with “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)” as well]). The bass line that Leland Sklar puts in the bridge is fabulous, and Danny Kortchmar’s guitar carries the happiness throughout. Here’s to you, JT. And here’s to all of you who came along for the ride. Thank you so much for reading. Your Smiling Face Written by James Taylor Recorded by James Taylor From JT, 1977 Peak chart position: #20 Today’s country song: “You’re Free to Go” No one can tell me that I’m doing wrong today: