James Taylor made an album.
Covers is the sixteenth studio album and the first `` covers '' album by singer-songwriter James Taylor , released on September 30 , 2008 . Fire and Rain (song) . Records as a single from his second album , Sweet Baby James , in February 1970 , the song follows Taylor 's reaction to the suicide of Suzanne Schnerr , a childhood friend , and his experiences with drug addiction and fame . James Taylor . Taylor achieved his breakthrough in 1970 with the No. 3 single `` Fire and Rain '' and had his first No. 1 hit the following year with `` You 've Got a Friend '' , a recording of Carole King 's classic song . Every album that he released from 1977 to 2007 sold over a million copies . He achieved his first number one album in the US in 2015 with his recording Before This World .