Catching up with Jackson Browne
I guess I am going through a musical trip down memory lane lately.
It all started, without any conscious provocation, with one of my latest obsessions, creating music mixes on youtube. I find that the commercial interruptions are brief and minimal on youtube and it is a great way to make music I enjoy more accessible from any location. Plus, I love mixing music myself. It is fun.
Anyway, I started off simply with distilling down my favorite tunes by Neil Young in the 21st century (see previous post). One thing led to another, as it always does, of course, and I ended up reacquainting myself with music from the 1970's that listened to in my high school and college days, much of it before I became a hardcore Neil fan. It is a work in progress, I haven't mixed music by everyone I was in to back then yet.
Randomly, I created a Jackson Browne mix. This was more than just collecting tunes I used to play a lot. This was also an opportunity for me to listen to albums by him that I had only heard in fragments or had not heard at all yet. The result was a robust collection by the superb singer/songwriter, incorporating the classic with the (for me) new-ish material.
Jackson Browne was a natural part of the Southern California rock phase I enjoyed during my teens and into my early 20's. I played the heck out of Late for the Sky, The Pretender, and Running On Empty when they came out. Jackson's talent became less consistent after that, though each album offers a few great tunes.
Though he rarely matched the creative height he reached on his earlier albums, the post-Hold Out releases offer some worthy songs. 2008's Time the Conqueror and 2014's Standing in the Breach are particularly noteworthy, very strong, mature efforts.
Musically, his chord progressions are more complicated than they may seem. Lyrically, he is a master of blending the melancholy with the sublime, the silly with the serious, the political with the emotional, giving him a distinctive philosophical sound that remains heart-felt and thought-provoking today.
Here are some songs I discovered in my Jackson Browne mix.
Many of these songs have not aged at all. "Information Wars" is from 1996's Looking East, a rather mediocre album overall. This song still sounds truly fresh, as if it were written for our present circumstances. I really enjoy the hearty mix and variety of layered instruments in this one - especially the stratocaster guitar at the end.
In 1997, he released his first "greatest hits" collection which was far from complete and was superseded a couple of years later by a more comprehensive assemblage. A couple of new tunes were recorded for this album. "The Next Voice You Hear..." was a really excellent addition to his oeuvre.
His first venture in the 21st century was 2002's The Naked Ride Home. Again, I am nonplussed by most of the music on this record, but "The Night Inside Me" is a solid, medium rocker, reflecting the unique casual intensity that flows through most of Jackson's music and is one factor in making his sophisticated lyrics so accessible.
In 2005 and 2008 Jackson produced two live solo albums. To be honest, he is a better piano player than a guitarist and his solo performances are not all that instrumentally empowered. But the songs themselves are fairly strong, again thanks to his propensity for poetic, emotional, and politically charged lyrics. "Your Bright Baby Blues" is from The Pretender. But this stripped-down version is definitely worth repeating.
Ditto "My Stunning Mystery Companion." This is another tune from The Naked Ride Home, but I prefer this version to the earlier studio rendition. Simply a beautiful song.
In comparison with most of his later work, 2008's Time the Conqueror is a masterpiece of mature rock. Jackson has always worked with great producers and his albums are often multi-layer soundscapes. There is no better example of that than this record. So easy to listen to, yet so sharp and edgy in terms of its content. Every track on this album is strong but here are my favorites beginning with "Where Were You?" - probably the best song presented in this post.
Jackson will turn 70 in October this year. He has slowed down a bit without compromising at all on the intensity of his music. Six years passed before he put out his next and latest studio album, Standing in the Breach, another wonderful effort with multiple, excellent tracks. Stuff like this makes me hopeful for my own energy and creativity when I reach his age in another 11 years or so. Here are the tracks that stood out the most in my mind's ear.
A special shout-out on "The Birds of St. Mark." The guitar on this song reminds me of music by The Byrds. Well, there's a reason for that. Jackson wrote this song back at the beginning of his career, partly as a homage to guitarist Jim McGuinn, but never recorded it. He says he thought it was unfinished at the time. As one thing leads to another for all of us (karma-wise), he revisited the song over four decades after he wrote it, recording it without changing much of anything. His decision to feature it on his 2014 album takes his career full-circle, back to his beginnings. I can only hope there is another album (or two) in his future. This time, I'll definitely be watching for whatever might come from him next. I really love this slow rocker and am so grateful it saw the light of day.
If you like, you can enjoy my entire Jackson Browne youtube mix here.
It all started, without any conscious provocation, with one of my latest obsessions, creating music mixes on youtube. I find that the commercial interruptions are brief and minimal on youtube and it is a great way to make music I enjoy more accessible from any location. Plus, I love mixing music myself. It is fun.
Anyway, I started off simply with distilling down my favorite tunes by Neil Young in the 21st century (see previous post). One thing led to another, as it always does, of course, and I ended up reacquainting myself with music from the 1970's that listened to in my high school and college days, much of it before I became a hardcore Neil fan. It is a work in progress, I haven't mixed music by everyone I was in to back then yet.
Randomly, I created a Jackson Browne mix. This was more than just collecting tunes I used to play a lot. This was also an opportunity for me to listen to albums by him that I had only heard in fragments or had not heard at all yet. The result was a robust collection by the superb singer/songwriter, incorporating the classic with the (for me) new-ish material.
Jackson Browne was a natural part of the Southern California rock phase I enjoyed during my teens and into my early 20's. I played the heck out of Late for the Sky, The Pretender, and Running On Empty when they came out. Jackson's talent became less consistent after that, though each album offers a few great tunes.
Though he rarely matched the creative height he reached on his earlier albums, the post-Hold Out releases offer some worthy songs. 2008's Time the Conqueror and 2014's Standing in the Breach are particularly noteworthy, very strong, mature efforts.
Musically, his chord progressions are more complicated than they may seem. Lyrically, he is a master of blending the melancholy with the sublime, the silly with the serious, the political with the emotional, giving him a distinctive philosophical sound that remains heart-felt and thought-provoking today.
Here are some songs I discovered in my Jackson Browne mix.
Many of these songs have not aged at all. "Information Wars" is from 1996's Looking East, a rather mediocre album overall. This song still sounds truly fresh, as if it were written for our present circumstances. I really enjoy the hearty mix and variety of layered instruments in this one - especially the stratocaster guitar at the end.
In 1997, he released his first "greatest hits" collection which was far from complete and was superseded a couple of years later by a more comprehensive assemblage. A couple of new tunes were recorded for this album. "The Next Voice You Hear..." was a really excellent addition to his oeuvre.
His first venture in the 21st century was 2002's The Naked Ride Home. Again, I am nonplussed by most of the music on this record, but "The Night Inside Me" is a solid, medium rocker, reflecting the unique casual intensity that flows through most of Jackson's music and is one factor in making his sophisticated lyrics so accessible.
In 2005 and 2008 Jackson produced two live solo albums. To be honest, he is a better piano player than a guitarist and his solo performances are not all that instrumentally empowered. But the songs themselves are fairly strong, again thanks to his propensity for poetic, emotional, and politically charged lyrics. "Your Bright Baby Blues" is from The Pretender. But this stripped-down version is definitely worth repeating.
Ditto "My Stunning Mystery Companion." This is another tune from The Naked Ride Home, but I prefer this version to the earlier studio rendition. Simply a beautiful song.
In comparison with most of his later work, 2008's Time the Conqueror is a masterpiece of mature rock. Jackson has always worked with great producers and his albums are often multi-layer soundscapes. There is no better example of that than this record. So easy to listen to, yet so sharp and edgy in terms of its content. Every track on this album is strong but here are my favorites beginning with "Where Were You?" - probably the best song presented in this post.
Jackson will turn 70 in October this year. He has slowed down a bit without compromising at all on the intensity of his music. Six years passed before he put out his next and latest studio album, Standing in the Breach, another wonderful effort with multiple, excellent tracks. Stuff like this makes me hopeful for my own energy and creativity when I reach his age in another 11 years or so. Here are the tracks that stood out the most in my mind's ear.
A special shout-out on "The Birds of St. Mark." The guitar on this song reminds me of music by The Byrds. Well, there's a reason for that. Jackson wrote this song back at the beginning of his career, partly as a homage to guitarist Jim McGuinn, but never recorded it. He says he thought it was unfinished at the time. As one thing leads to another for all of us (karma-wise), he revisited the song over four decades after he wrote it, recording it without changing much of anything. His decision to feature it on his 2014 album takes his career full-circle, back to his beginnings. I can only hope there is another album (or two) in his future. This time, I'll definitely be watching for whatever might come from him next. I really love this slow rocker and am so grateful it saw the light of day.
If you like, you can enjoy my entire Jackson Browne youtube mix here.
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