Inside the Rock Era: Jackson Browne, The #83 Artist of the Rock Era, Part One

Tuesday, February 23, 2021

Jackson Browne, The #83 Artist of the Rock Era, Part One

"He is one of the finest singer/songwriters of his generation. His songs are deeply personal, and speak to everyone in a different way."

"He is a genius lyricist and a great talent."

"One of the best songwriters ever."

"Music for the soul. Comforting..."

"The world would be much less of a place without Jackson Browne's music to carry us through."

"A body of work with some of the greatest poetry and music you'll ever find."

"He wrote my life."

"Just the greatest collection of lyric, melody, harmony, rhythm and soul ever assembled."

"A truly authentic performer."

"His music is brilliant and timeless."

He may not have had as much success with hit singles as most in this elite special, but he's one of the best songwriters of the Rock Era, and several of his albums are a listener's delight.

Browne was born in Heidelberg, Germany on October 9, 1948, where his father was stationed. When Jackson was three, the family moved to his grandfather's house, Abbey San Encino in Highland Park, California. Jackson began singing Folk music in his teens and played at the famous Troubador Club in Hollywood.

After graduating from Sunny Hills High School in Fullerton, Browne joined the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band at the Golden Bear Club, where the group opened for Lovin' Spoonful. But Browne moved to Manhattan, New York, where he began writing for Nina Music, the publishing company for Elektra Records. Browne continued to follow the Folk circuit, backing Tim Buckley and Nico, singer for the Velvet Underground.

Browne and Nico became romantically involved and Jackson wrote and played on several of the songs for Nico's debut album. After the couple broke up, Browne moved back to Los Angeles and started a Folk group. Jackson's early songs were recorded by the Eagles ("Take It Easy", co-written with friend Glenn Frey), Linda Ronstadt, the Byrds, Joan Baez and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.

Browne's manager, David Geffen, who was an executive at Asylum Records, signed Browne and in 1972, Jackson released his self-titled album, which has since gone Platinum thanks to the hit single "Doctor My Eyes", which features backing vocals by David Crosby and Graham Nash. It peaked at #4 in Canada and #8 in the U.S.

Browne toured with Ronstadt and Joni Mitchell to promote the album. "Rock Me On The Water", which makes the point that there are not enough people doing things for themselves and instead have others do it for them, failed to make the Top 40 but is a worthy cut.

"Jamaica Say You Will" was a song Browne wrote which the Byrds recorded a year earlier. In an interview with Russ Paris, Browne revealed the inspiration for the song:

I thought I was kind of writing it for this girl I knew that

worked in a garden in Zuma Beach, across the street

from the Pacific Ocean, and she worked in this organic

food orchard," Browne said in an interview, "like the

Garden of Eden, and she was the kind of Eden-like

girl, too." He continues: "When I created the fable of

this girl who lived by the sea and whose father is a

captain, and eventually she would be taken away and

go sailing off, I wanted to hide in the relationship. I

wanted to sort of have the cocoon of this relationship

to just stay sort of insulated from the world. And she

was ready to move out into the world and was... you

know, the relationship had broken up. That's the ...

reality that was going on in my life. I just think it's odd

that that's exactly how songs come into being, but if

you feel it, it's about something.

The next year, Browne released the album For Everyman, another Platinum album. He first wrote "These Days" when he was just 16 years old, an incredible tale of reflection on love for someone of such a young age. He recorded it originally as a demo but re-recorded it for his second album.

The title song is another Browne song with deep meaning. It seems to be written in response to the Crosby, Stills & Nash song "Wooden Ships", which talks about leaving problems behind by sailing on the ocean. Browne counters that for every person, there is a struggle between avoiding the problems of life and confronting them head-on, about working for social change, fairness, and justice.

In 1974, Browne released the great album Late for the Sky. Like many of his deeper albums, it didn't contain a "hit" song, but features the gem "Fountain Of Sorrow". As Browne explains:

It acknowledges that people are always looking

for something in each other that they may not find,

and says that not only is that OK, but what's more

enduring is the goodwill and acceptance of each

others' right to be on this search and to make your

own choices, and that one's longing or sorrow is part

of your own search, not a byproduct of somebody

else's."

Late for the Sky became Jackson's third consecutive Platinum album. The title song is pure brilliance, with several juxtapositions and double meanings. One of the standout lines is: "In the bed where we both lie."

"For A Dancer" is a song Browne wrote about a friend who died in a fire while he was sitting in a sauna. He was a dancer in the Ice Follies, but in typical Browne style, he also made a metaphor about the dance as it relates to life, and each of us does one dance that we do alone.

"Before The Deluge" is one of the best of The Top Tracks* of the Rock Era. It is about Browne's generation, hoping they could change the world by protecting the natural world from corporate abuses but also acknowledging that as they got older, they lost their integrity and idealism.

Rocked by the suicide of his first wife, Phyllis, Browne released the dark album The Pretender. The single "Here Come These Tears Again" stalled at #15 in Canada and #23 in the United States.