Jackson Browne Fans

[albertjohn]

I have to confess............

 

I have no Jackson Browne in my music collection, whatsoever.

 

One of his gigs was recently on TV and I really liked it. There's about 2 songs I can recognise on the radio.

 

So, any recommendations? (I note from his website he has a double cd "Best Of")

[E-minor7]

Have no records either, but regard the man as an absolute master musician. All I can do is to repeat my latest words on the 'Sad day for my J-45' thread. Others will guide you further up in his tower of albums.

[Guth]

I love all of his early stuff, however two of his more recent recordings have become the ones that I play the most: Solo Acoustic Vol. 1 & Vol. 2. A true delight for any J.B. fans who are also acoustic guitar fans.

 

All the best,

Guth

[albertjohn]

I love all of his early stuff, however two of his more recent recordings have become the ones that I play the most: Solo Acoustic Vol. 1 & Vol. 2. A true delight for any J.B. fans who are also acoustic guitar fans.

 

All the best,

Guth

 

Yes, I wondered about them when I looked at his website. I like the idea of learning some of his stuff so an acoustic album might be helpful.

 

Are the songs acoustic reworkings of existing material?

[E-minor7]

Yeah, heard some of those songs too. They show how far he has come. Isn't it a thrill when vintage heroes that used to be exuberant, suddenly puffs out a record which makes you celebrate like in the earlier phase. Remember having that experience when Joni released her Turbulent Indigo back in the, , , , , 90'ties.

[Buc McMaster]

His 1990 release, Jackson Browne (also known as Saturate Before Using) is a classic. With songs like Doctor My Eyes, Jamaica Say You Will, Rock Me On The Water......wow.....great stuff. Perhaps may fav on this album is Something Fine. He's done plenty of other great tracks....his For Everyman is stunning. I think I remember reading that he wrote These Days when he was 17 years old. Quite an old soul for such a young boy. Fountain of Sorrow from the Late For The Sky album is one of those tunes that makes me shiver. What a talent......git yerself sum Jackson Browne!

 

(ps....on another artist....if you want some acoustic tunes to learn, check out Dwight Yoakam's dwightyoakamacoustic.net.....solo acoustic versions of most of his tunes, performed as I imagine they were originally written with voice & guitar. Great stuff!)

[onewilyfool]

I'm working on "these days"....which he wrote when he was 16!!!???? I do "take it easy". Lots of stuff on Youtube, lessons originals....have fun!!!

[zombywoof]

I ain't a raging Jackson Browne fan. I find him OK and do like a few of his tunes quite a bit. But you throw David Lindley into the mix and I am there all the way. A tune like "Running on Empty" would not nearly as good without that incredible sound Lindley gets on that solo.

 

Browne and Lindley are currently touring together and unfortunately ain't coming anywhere near me. Drats, foiled again.

[nbtel]

Running on empty.

[onewilyfool]

I don't know if this is true, but I've heard.......When they asked Daryl Hannah why she dated Jackson Browne, she responded, "Beats me !?" Now, don't kill the messenger, I've just heard.......

[onewilyfool]

By the way, has anyone seen a list of which guitars Jackson owns and plays? I hear he has over 30 guitars on stage when he plays his solo concert!!!! And I thought I had GAS bad......lol

[Hall]

Same as you, aj. And I saw the show and share your thoughts.

 

 

Steve

[Rambler]

two of his more recent recordings .. that I play the most: Solo Acoustic Vol. 1 & Vol. 2. A true delight for J.B. fans who are also acoustic guitar fans. Guth

 

Those sets show JBs better material and his stunning collection of Gibsons: Roy Smekc's , LGs, CF100s

[rbpicker]

Ditto on the newer Live Acoustic CD's... pure JB. Also ditto on David Lindley as a sideman. Just great together.

RB

[suburude63]

I love all of his early stuff, however two of his more recent recordings have become the ones that I play the most: Solo Acoustic Vol. 1 & Vol. 2. A true delight for any J.B. fans who are also acoustic guitar fans.

 

All the best,

Guth

 

[E-minor7]

J.B. - in my opinion - made a wrong move when I saw him solo a couple of years ago. After mesmerizing the audience with intense and focused folk for approx 3 quarters, he declared himself an open jukebox and threw the oppotunity of choosing the next tune in our hands. All very nice and exiting, , , the problem though, was that he stayed in that zone far too long, which might have amused him, but at the same time undermined the character of his material. At some point he lost concentration and things got too 'flux'. This didn't serve his rather serious songs too good and within 25 minutes or so, it was like 'anything goes'. . . . Okay, eventually the swing door stopped, but i'm not sure he ever regained the magic.

 

A big trap for any performer/singersongwriter is to reach a state where you no longer are able to fill your own stuff. Even the best catalogue on earth will suffer when that happens and people out there notice. 2 solutions then : Either drop the warn titles or whip yourself back into the core of the music.

 

This said, the show was worth the trip, and the chance to study all those guitars at close hand was great (between 15 and 18, many sloped Gibsons - flanked by an electric piano).

[vincentw]

"These Days" is in my top 5 all time favorite songs. And I'm in a punk band, people. Seriously amazing stuff here.

[nodehopper]

OK...huge JB fan here....well...until he hit the 80's.....but that is true for a lot of the artists during that time frame in music history.

 

Late for the Sky

 

 

He wrote a lot of this album after his then girl friend committed suicide .... a couple of the songs were too intense for him to perform in public until his latests Solo Acoustic album. It is a bit sad.....but the trueness of his feelings and the honesty of this album are what make it so strong.

 

For Everyman

 

 

This is just one of my all time favorite albums...not just JB, but of all time. The interplay between the lyrics and melody against the acoustic and lap steel of David Lindley are incredible .....You can see why they have developed a life long musical relationship. This album is just spectacular and the insight he brings to life are great.

 

Those are definitely my picks ....

[zombywoof]

J.B. - in my opinion - made a wrong move when I saw him solo a couple of years ago. After mesmerizing the audience with intense and focused folk for approx 3 quarters, he declared himself an open jukebox and threw the oppotunity of choosing the next tune in our hands. All very nice and exiting, , , the problem though, was that he stayed in that zone far too long, which might have amused him, but at the same time undermined the character of his material. At some point he lost concentration and things got too 'flux'. This didn't serve his rather serious songs too good and within 25 minutes or so, it was like 'anything goes'. . . . Okay, eventually the swing door stopped, but i'm not sure he ever regained the magic.

 

 

 

One of my favorite shows of all time was an Richard Thompson gig at the Bottom Line in which the whole show was nothing but requests from the audience. He could not get all the way through some of the requested songs and he even begged off on one or two but it was alot of fun. Takes alot of chutzpah though to get up there without knowing exactly what you will be playing.

[E-minor7]

I'm sure it can be fun, but goin' from temple to circus and back ain't easy.

[nid2007]

Albertjohn,

 

Another huge fan here..(as Homecoming attendees can attest from my toturous covers at open mic). Late for the Sky is a great place to start...and work back...then work forward. I think anything after I'm Alive is perfect as well.

 

I'm jealous. There is nothing better than discovering an artist you like that has a huge back catalog. I recently had that with a band, and it was great. FYI: Nick Hornby writes a great little piece on his mid-life discovery of Jackson Browne in his "Songbook" collection.

 

For great vintage acoustic solo stuff, JB's 2 recent "Solo Acoustic" cd's are a must.

[KL]

Late For The Sky, The Pretender, Running On Empty are all good places to start.

You won't go far wrong with any Jackson Browne albums, possibly with the exception of 'The Naked Ride Home" which I found a bit disappointing. When you get into the 80's the songs are still great, but some of the drum sounds etc are a bit dated now. I think he did what everyone did in the 80's and tried to move with the times and it didn't quite work.

Time The Conqueror was the last album and it's great.

I think I have all his albums. I'm a big fan.

 

It's also worth listening to Warren Zevon's stuff too. Especially his self titled album, Excitable Boy and Bad Luck Streak In Dancing School.

[Guth]

I ain't a raging Jackson Browne fan. I find him OK and do like a few of his tunes quite a bit. But you throw David Lindley into the mix and I am there all the way. A tune like "Running on Empty" would not nearly as good without that incredible sound Lindley gets on that solo.

 

Browne and Lindley are currently touring together and unfortunately ain't coming anywhere near me. Drats, foiled again.

 

I must admit that as excited as I was to see JB on this tour, one of the true highlights of the evening for was when DL held down the stage and performed "Cat Food Sandwiches". He really tore it up. The two of them together definitely make for a great show.

 

All the best,

Guth

[albertjohn]

Wow!

 

I never thought I'd get such a response from a thread which I posted almost as an after thought - saw his name mentioned in the tread about a dropped J45.

 

Thank you so much everyone for the responses. You go through life thinking that you have heard most artists and tunes and there is little to discover. How wrong I am!

 

Very much looking forward to getting some of his material and giving some a go. My playing partner has a great voice so hopefully I'll persaude him to have dabble too.

 

I listened to These Days - an acoustic version on YT - last night. What a truly beautiful song. When I hear Running On Empty and Doctor My Heart on the radio, life does not seem so bad after all.

 

Will probably get the greatest hits cd first and go from there - usually a safe strategy but I have been disappointed in the past doing this. I really like the sound of the 2 acoustic albums.

[KL]

Thinking about it . . . why not get the albums in the order they were released and follow the trail from there. That would be a really interesting journey. I heard each one as it first came out and then waited with excitement for the next. You could relive that journey, but without having to wait quite so long for the next installment, and I think listening to them in the order they were released is always really good as it puts everything in context.