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Raised On Radio #3: Jackson Browne
May. 4th, 2012 07:31 amI have someone (or used to) frequent here who is a big Jackson Browne fan, so I apologize in advance for any unintended offense,
I won't suggest Jackson Browne is forgotten, but I would like to point out it's only his 1970s work that you ever hear nowadays.
Turn on the radio, and I would assume you will hear "Doctor My Eyes" or "Running on Empty" before the day is done.
However, Browne was big in the 1980s, and that string of hits (with the possible exception of "Somebody's Baby") - "Tender is the Night", "Lawyers in Love" and "For a Rocker" are songs I never ever hear anymore. The same goes for his duet with Clarence Clemons "You're a Friend of Mine" (The male "buddy" song does seems to be a relic. A phenomenon that topped out in the 70s and 80s killed by misdirected homophobia and personified at its worse by that silly Jagger/Bowie remake of "Dancing in the Streets". Still, maybe Kanye and Jay-Z can get away with it).
I thought Lawyers in Love was awesome, and placed Browne at a spot where he was bound to break out as a rocker who could work political satire into the mix and was an album away from being as big as Springsteen. I thought the title single just might be the best song ever, and it went to #13 on the charts. (The album went to #8, and "Tender" went to #35 but I remember a lot of airplay).
Browne was a big star, and even into end of the 80s, he was involved in all of the big rock moments- the Greenpeace and Amnesty International albums and concerts, Roy Orbison's Black and White Night. He was on that pantheon with Springsteen, Sting, Knoplfer, Mellencamp, and Dylan, or at least in close range.
Still, like Mario Cuomo, although he seemed to be everyone's prime pick, he never quite made it.
Two years later, Lives in the Balance lacked that immediate single, and Browne's music was moving to a more serious territory. He lost my ear though, and with each album he was losing the ears of critics and of the masses.
I know as each Browne album comes out every few years, at least some people still get excited; and certain credit to Browne- I think he is still important. He also could have moved to a more pop sound (in the vein of "Lawyers" maybe) and like Billy Joel, made millions, but didn't.
In any case, although I like the early stuff and appreciate the later stuff, it is when those two phases of his career intersect, that I like him best. Perhaps, because it's the first time I heard him, but I still stand by it, and I wish they would play these songs more.
I won't suggest Jackson Browne is forgotten, but I would like to point out it's only his 1970s work that you ever hear nowadays.
Turn on the radio, and I would assume you will hear "Doctor My Eyes" or "Running on Empty" before the day is done.
However, Browne was big in the 1980s, and that string of hits (with the possible exception of "Somebody's Baby") - "Tender is the Night", "Lawyers in Love" and "For a Rocker" are songs I never ever hear anymore. The same goes for his duet with Clarence Clemons "You're a Friend of Mine" (The male "buddy" song does seems to be a relic. A phenomenon that topped out in the 70s and 80s killed by misdirected homophobia and personified at its worse by that silly Jagger/Bowie remake of "Dancing in the Streets". Still, maybe Kanye and Jay-Z can get away with it).
I thought Lawyers in Love was awesome, and placed Browne at a spot where he was bound to break out as a rocker who could work political satire into the mix and was an album away from being as big as Springsteen. I thought the title single just might be the best song ever, and it went to #13 on the charts. (The album went to #8, and "Tender" went to #35 but I remember a lot of airplay).
Browne was a big star, and even into end of the 80s, he was involved in all of the big rock moments- the Greenpeace and Amnesty International albums and concerts, Roy Orbison's Black and White Night. He was on that pantheon with Springsteen, Sting, Knoplfer, Mellencamp, and Dylan, or at least in close range.
Still, like Mario Cuomo, although he seemed to be everyone's prime pick, he never quite made it.
Two years later, Lives in the Balance lacked that immediate single, and Browne's music was moving to a more serious territory. He lost my ear though, and with each album he was losing the ears of critics and of the masses.
I know as each Browne album comes out every few years, at least some people still get excited; and certain credit to Browne- I think he is still important. He also could have moved to a more pop sound (in the vein of "Lawyers" maybe) and like Billy Joel, made millions, but didn't.
In any case, although I like the early stuff and appreciate the later stuff, it is when those two phases of his career intersect, that I like him best. Perhaps, because it's the first time I heard him, but I still stand by it, and I wish they would play these songs more.
