One Man Dog

One Man Dog is the fourth studio album by singer-songwriter James Taylor. Released on November 1, 1972, it climbed to number 4 on the US Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart. The album features the hit single "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight", which peaked at number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on January 13, 1973. The follow-up single, "One Man Parade", also charted, but less successfully, peaking at number 67 in the US, and reaching number 55 on the Canadian Adult Contemporary chart.^[1]

The basic tracks for the album's 18 tracks, many of which are relatively short, were primarily recorded in Taylor's home studio. A Quadraphonic mix of the album was produced, which included alternate vocal takes and elongated versions of some songs, compared to the standard stereo release.^[2]

Upon the release of the album, Berwyn Life critic Steve Sparacio said that it "is certainly James Taylor's best album."^[3] He noted that, "Upon first listening, no song on One Man Dog stands out. But as an entity the album holds together extremely well. It may be paradoxical but only after you're able to view One Man Dog as a whole entity do you realize that some of the songs individually are very good."^[3] Sparacio identified the themes of the album to be an "affirmation" of Taylor's life at the time, being newly married to Carly Simon and off drugs, and a realization that, if he was going to cope with his life, he needed to turn inward.^[3]

Forest Park Review critic John Griffin praised the album's short songs for avoiding the monotony of similar slow melodies that he felt marred Taylor's previous album, Mud Slide Slim (1971).^[4]Record World said One Man Dog "contains some interesting departures from [Taylor's] earlier work."^[5]Calgary Herald critic Jim Rennie felt the best song on the album was the traditional folk song "One Morning in May", writing that "Taylor joins forces vocally with luscious Linda Ronstadt, and the result is so good I think the combination is worth an album of its own."^[6]

Por otro lado, el crítico de Allmusic, William Ruhlmann, consideró que el álbum era una "decepción", diciendo que "mucho de él era superficial y parecía inacabado, y ninguno tenía el impacto de las mejores canciones de los dos últimos álbumes". ^{[ 7 ]}

Todas las canciones fueron escritas por James Taylor , excepto donde se indique lo contrario.

Cara uno

1. " Desfile de un solo hombre " – 3:10
2. "Nadie más que tú" – 2:57
3. "Perrito caliente con chili" – 1:35
4. "Fool for You" – 1:42
5. "Instrumental I" – 0:55
6. "Nueva melodía" – 1:35
7. "De vuelta a la calle" ( Danny Kortchmar ) – 3:00
8. " No me dejes solo esta noche " – 2:34

Cara dos

1. "Woh, ¿no lo sabes?" (Taylor, Kortchmar, Leland Sklar ) – 2:10
2. " Una mañana de mayo " (tradicional) – 2:54
3. "Instrumental II" – 1:41
4. "Alguien" ( John McLaughlin ) – 3:36
5. " Himno " – 2:24
6. "Fanfarria" – 2:33
7. "El pequeño David" – 1:00
8. "Mescolito" – 0:29
9. "Baile" – 2:07
10. "Jig" – 1:13