“I’ve seen fire, I’ve seen rain…” so goes the classic line from probably the best known James Taylor song from the ’70s. And now Taylor can add another thing to the list of things he has seen – he becomes the first artist to have an album chart in the Top 10 on Billboard in each of the last six consecutive decades.
The album that did it this time around is American Standard, his latest. As the title says, it is comprised of Taylor’s versions of songs taken from the American Songbook. It will enter the charts at number 4. As Billboard reports, it enters the chart “with 82,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending March 5, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data. Of that sum, 81,000 is in album sales (boosted by a concert ticket/album sale redemption offer), making it the top-selling album of the week. The set was released via Fantasy Records/Concord, and also enters at No. 1 on the Top Album Sales, Top Rock Albums and Top Americana/Folk Albums charts.”
The album will be Taylor’s 13th top 10 effort on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart. It also gives Fantasy Records its highest-charting album since 1970, when Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Cosmo’s Factory spent nine weeks at No. 1.
As Billboard also mentions, only a few other acts could join Taylor in this elite club. These are the artists who have also charted in the previous five decades: Eric Clapton, Neil Diamond, Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney, Bette Midler, Tom Petty, The Rolling Stones, Santana, Bob Seger, Bruce Springsteen, Barbra Streisand, and Van Halen.
