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mahatmakanejeeves

(57,513 posts)
Tue Oct 9, 2018, 10:31 AM Oct 2018

Turning the big 7-0, Jackson Browne

Last edited Tue Oct 9, 2018, 02:44 PM - Edit history (2)

Jackson Browne



Browne in 1980

Website jacksonbrowne.com

Clyde Jackson Browne (born October 9, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and musician who has sold over 18 million albums in the United States. Coming to prominence in the 1970s, Browne has written and recorded songs such as "These Days", "The Pretender", "Running on Empty", "Lawyers in Love", "Doctor My Eyes", "Take It Easy", "For a Rocker", and "Somebody's Baby". In 2004, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, and given an honorary doctorate of music by Occidental College in Los Angeles, California. In 2015, Rolling Stone listed him as the 37th greatest songwriter of all time in its list of "100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time".

Biography

Early life

Browne was born October 9, 1948, in Heidelberg, Germany, where his father Clyde Jack Browne, an American serviceman, was stationed for his job assignment with the Stars and Stripes newspaper. ... At the age of three, Browne and his family moved to his grandfather's house, Abbey San Encino, in the Highland Park district of Los Angeles. In his teens, he began singing folk songs in local venues such as the Ash Grove and The Troubador Club. He attended Sunny Hills High School in Fullerton, California, graduating in 1966.

Songwriter for others

After graduating in 1966, Browne joined the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, performing at the Golden Bear (Huntington Beach, California) where they opened for The Lovin' Spoonful. ... Browne left the Dirt Band after a few months and moved to Greenwich Village, New York, where he became a staff writer for Elektra Records' publishing company, Nina Music before his eighteenth birthday. He reported on musical events in New York City with his friends Greg Copeland and Adam Saylor. He spent the remainder of 1967 and 1968 in Greenwich Village, where he backed Tim Buckley and singer Nico of the Velvet Underground. In 1967, Browne and Nico were romantically linked and he became a significant contributor to her debut album, Chelsea Girl, writing and playing guitar on several of the songs ( including "These Days" ). In 1968, following his breakup with Nico, Browne returned to Los Angeles, where he formed a folk band with Ned Doheny and Jack Wilce, and first met Glenn Frey.

Browne's first songs, such as "Shadow Dream Song" and "These Days", were recorded by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Tom Rush, Nico, Steve Noonan, Gregg Allman, Joan Baez, Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, the Byrds, and others. Browne did not release his own versions of these early songs until years later. Soon after this, Rolling Stone mentioned Browne as a "new face to look for" and praised his "mind-boggling melodies".

Classic period

In 1971, Browne signed with his manager David Geffen's Asylum Records and released Jackson Browne (1972) produced and engineered by Richard Orshoff, which included the piano-driven "Doctor My Eyes", which entered the Top Ten in the US singles chart. "Rock Me on the Water", from the same album, also gained considerable radio airplay, while "Jamaica Say You Will" and "Song for Adam" (written about his friend Adam Saylor's death) helped establish Browne's reputation. Touring to promote the album, he shared the bill with Linda Ronstadt and Joni Mitchell.

His next album, For Everyman (1973) – while considered of high quality – was less successful than his debut album, although it still sold a million copies. The upbeat "Take It Easy", cowritten with Eagles' Glenn Frey, had already been a major success for that group, while his own recording of "These Days" reflected a sound representing Browne's angst.

Late for the Sky (1974) consolidated Browne's fan base, and the album peaked at #14 on the Billboard album chart, the 84th-best-selling album of 1974. Browne's work began to demonstrate a reputation for memorable melody, insightful, often very personal lyrics, and a talent for his arrangements in composition. It featured a Magritte-inspired cover.
....

Running on Empty (1977), recorded entirely on tour, became his biggest commercial success. Breaking the usual conventions for a live album, Browne used only new material and combined live concert performances with recordings made on buses, in hotel rooms, and back stage. Running on Empty contains some of his most popular songs, such as the title track, "Rosie", and "The Load-Out/Stay" (Browne's send-off to his concert audiences and roadies).

I'm looking for a video of my favorite Jackson Browne song, being performed where the recording on the album was made. So far, no dice.
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Turning the big 7-0, Jackson Browne (Original Post) mahatmakanejeeves Oct 2018 OP
One of my old time favorite song writers and performers! democratisphere Oct 2018 #1
His first album came out my freshman year in college Bradshaw3 Oct 2018 #2
So many poetic-melodic tracks... several great albums. JudyM Oct 2018 #3
Loved The Man RobinA Oct 2018 #4
Interesting article! hibbing Oct 2018 #5

Bradshaw3

(7,522 posts)
2. His first album came out my freshman year in college
Tue Oct 9, 2018, 11:05 AM
Oct 2018

Saturate Before Using (1972) was a great album. I must have listened to it a thousand times. It was obvious even with that first effort was an incredible songwriter he was. It was more raw than his later albums but still great production values. I got his greatest hits album and it is amazing how man truly great songs he has written over the years. I think Rolling Stone should have rated him higher.

RobinA

(9,894 posts)
4. Loved The Man
Wed Oct 10, 2018, 12:28 PM
Oct 2018

He was big when I was in college. He wasn't my type of music at all, but the voice, the songs, the hair!

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