Fire and Rain

Recorded in December 1969 at Sunset Sound in Los Angeles during the Sweet Baby James sessions. James Taylor recorded the song with producer Peter Asher and musicians including Carole King on piano, Russ Kunkel on drums, Bobby West on bass, and Red Rhodes on steel guitar. Released by Warner Bros. in 1970, Fire and Rain became Taylor's breakthrough single and reached number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. Its autobiographical writing helped establish him as a central figure in the early 1970s singer-songwriter movement. Fire and Rain remains James Taylor's signature song and one of the defining American singer-songwriter recordings of its era. Its plainspoken grief and recovery narrative has kept it prominent through covers, compilations, and Taylor's concert repertoire.