Rolling Stone critic Bud Scoppa described Taylor's version as "a relaxed rendition" and considered it to be Taylor's way of acknowledging Gaye as a source of inspiration for Taylor's romantic point of view at the time. After his success with "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)," Taylor continued to record R&B hits applying his soft rock approach. It was produced by Lenny Waronker and Russ Titelman.
Author Ian Halperin believes that the song was included on Gorilla as a tribute to Simon, who was then his wife. In addition to James Taylor on lead vocals and guitar, other personnel include his then-wife Carly Simon on harmony vocals, Danny Kortchmar on guitar, David Sanborn on saxophone, Clarence McDonald on piano, Fender Rhodes electric piano and possibly ARP String Ensemble, Lee Sklar on bass guitar and both Jim Keltner and Russ Kunkel on drums with Kunkel doubling on tambourine. Taylor's 1975 single has been the most successful remake of the song to date, hitting number one on the Easy Listening chart and number five on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. James Taylor released his version of "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)" as the lead single from his album Gorilla (1975).
James Taylor version "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)" US Billboard Hot Rhythm and Blues Singles
Up to that point, it was Gaye's most successful single with record sales exceeding 900,000 copies. It peaked at number six on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in January 1965 and at number three on US Billboard's R&B Singles chart. Produced by Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier, the song was released as a single in September 1964.