Boston-born James Taylor was in London in late 1967, seeking a change after spending six months recovering from a heroin addiction, when guitarist Danny Kortchmar, a friend from his teenage years, introduced Taylor to Beatles associate Peter Asher.

It wasn’t long before Asher handed over Taylor’s demo tape to George Harrison and Paul McCartney, who quickly signed the singer-songwriter to their fledgling Apple Records as the first non-British artist on the label. The pair was so taken with the 20-year-old singer that they played on his album.

Taylor’s self-titled debut didn’t sell well in 1968, and the company’s financial problems, coupled with Taylor’s relapse into substance abuse, led to his return to the States. Asher returned as his producer when Taylor joined Warner Bros. for Sweet Baby James in 1970. This time, the record found an audience.

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For the rest of the decade, Taylor was one of music’s biggest artists, racking up six Top 10 albums before the ’70s ended. Along with friends Carole King and Joni Mitchell, he also helped define the era’s singer-songwriter movement, as outlined in the list below of James Taylor Albums Ranked.

Through ups and downs, kicking his addiction and weathering a high-profile marriage to fellow singer-songwriter icon Carly Simon for more than a decade, Taylor and his music have persevered. (He even scored his first No. 1 LP in 2015, 47 years after his debut.) “Fire and Rain” and his cover of King’s “You’ve Got a Friend” long ago established themselves as classics of any period or genre; multiple Grammy wins and induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000 have guaranteed his place in history.