Sweet Baby James Pop-Up Book
Video Content from James Taylor Tour Inspires Production of "Sweet Baby James" Pop-up Lullaby Book
I’m really excited about it becoming a physical reality!
“Sweet Baby James” is a song James wrote as a tribute to the birth of his namesake and nephew, lil’ baby James. Taylor explains ” the idea came to me to write a cowboy lullaby” .
Mark Devlin was approached by veteran director, Marcia Kapustin, to create the video content for the song, for James Taylor 2014-15 Tour. Mark’s concept was to illustrate and then build an actual children’s pop-up book.
As the song progressed from verse to chorus to verse, pages would turn. Each turn would reveal something new and special that illustrated the lyrics of that part of the song. When the book was finally produced, it was videotaped, using slow turns, pans and tilts to explore the pop-ups from every possible angle.
Shortly after the tour began, viewers began to ask if they could purchase the book.
In December 2016, Mark Devlin Visual Design was approached by Penguin Random House Publishing to assist in making this idea into a reality.
The pop-up book was released, on November 14, 2017 and is available now for purchase.
“JT has announced Sweet Baby James, a new “pop-up lullaby” book billed as “a beautifully illustrated and stunningly produced pop-up book” that brings to life James Taylor’s enduring 1970 classic song ‘Sweet Baby James’ for music lovers of all ages.”
To view the original content produced by Mark Devlin Visual Design for the James Taylor 2014-15 World Tour