1975 · Behind the Songs
A Motown cover that lets the sunshine in.
The recording in context
By 1975, James Taylor’s reputation was built on introspection — the whisperer of “Fire and Rain.” So his decision to cover Marvin Gaye’s exuberant “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)” was a small act of liberation. Released on the Gorilla album, Taylor’s version climbed to number five on the Hot 100, proving that the gentlest voice in rock could also throw a party. The Holland-Dozier-Holland classic, a 1964 Motown hit, got a second life in flannel.
Listen closely
The first surprise is the groove — this is a James Taylor record you can move to. Listen to how the rhythm section pushes where his records usually breathe; the bass walks with a Motown bounce, and Taylor rides it with an ease that suggests he’d been waiting years to cut loose. His vocal, usually so careful, gets a little rough around the edges here, and the roughness is the point: joy, finally allowed to be loud.
Then there’s the matter of Carly Simon’s backing vocal, floating through the choruses. The couple were folk-rock royalty at the time, and hearing them sing together — two voices in obvious delight — turns the song into a document of a marriage at its happiest. Listen to the call-and-response in the final choruses: it’s flirtation set to music.
The cover worked because Taylor didn’t try to out-sing Marvin Gaye — he simply let the song’s joy do what his own songs rarely allowed: exist without a shadow. It remains the sunniest entry in his catalogue, and a reminder that even the most serious artists need a day at the beach.