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Over the course of more than
three decades, Jackson Browne
has written and performed some
of the most literate and moving
songs in popular music. With
classic albums including Late
For The Sky, The Pretender,
Running On Empty, and For
Everyman, and songs like "Doctor
My Eyes," "Rock Me On The
Water," and "Lives In The
Balance," he has defined a genre
of songwriting that is charged
with honesty, emotion and
personal politics.
Jackson’s
artistry was recognized with his
2004 induction into the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame. He also
received in 2004 an honorary
Doctorate of Music from
Occidental College in Los
Angeles, for "a remarkable
musical career that has
successfully combined an
intensely personal artistry with
a broader vision of social
justice."
Browne’s last album release
was 2005’s GRAMMY®-nominated
Jackson Browne Solo Acoustic
Vol. 1, presenting twelve songs
culled from his acclaimed solo
acoustic concerts performed
worldwide. He is currently
working in the studio on a new
album.
Tracing the roots of Browne’s
career leads back to the
mid-‘60s and Los Angeles/Orange
County folk clubs, where he
played solo. Born in Germany to
American parents, Jackson moved
to Los Angeles at age 3, and,
except for a short period living
and working in New York City in
the late 1960s, has always lived
in Southern California.
His integral presence in the
coffeehouse scene there
ultimately led to his celebrated
1972 debut album, Jackson
Browne. The now-classic LP
introduced ten original songs,
including "Rock Me On The
Water," and "Jamaica Say You
Will," featuring David Crosby on
harmony vocals. Crosby and
Graham Nash sang on "Doctor My
Eyes," the album’s first single,
which became a #8 hit on
Billboard’s pop singles chart.
Browne’s 1973 follow-up, For
Everyman, included "These Days,"
and "Take It Easy," co-written
with Glenn Frey, which had been
The Eagles’ debut single and
breakthrough hit the year
before. 1974’s Late For The
Sky—cited by Rolling Stone that
year as one of the ‘100 Best
Albums,’ and again in 1997 as
one of the "200 Essential Rock
Collection Albums," and in 2003
as one of the ‘500 Greatest
Albums Of All Time’—was
Jackson’s confessional
masterpiece of lyrical
introspection. The Pretender,
following two years later, was a
breakthrough album—Jackson’s
first to chart in the Billboard
Top 10, peaking at #5. On the
heels of that success came what
stands as Jackson’s top-selling
album, 1977’s seven-times
platinum, life-on-the-road
concept opus Running On Empty.
Browne’s next project was the
all-star series of concerts
organized by Bonnie Raitt,
Graham Nash, John Hall and
Jackson in 1979 to benefit MUSE
(Musicians United for Safe
Energy). In addition to serving
on the MUSE Foundation Board,
Jackson helped edit and compile
the 1980 3-LP live album from
those shows. No Nukes/The MUSE
Concerts for a Non-Nuclear
Future featured a line-up
including Bruce Springsteen, The
Doobie Brothers, Carly Simon,
James Taylor, Ry Cooder, Chaka
Khan, Peter Tosh, and Tom Petty,
among many others. The album,
which includes Jackson’s "Before
The Deluge," climbed to #23 on
Billboard’s pop chart, a
considerable feat for a
triple-disc collection.
Jackson’s studio work
continued with 1980’s Hold Out,
a #1 album, featuring the hits
"Boulevard" and "That Girl Could
Sing." In 1982, Browne scored a
#7 hit with the single
"Somebody’s Baby," from the
soundtrack for Fast Times at
Ridgemont High. 1983’s Lawyers
In Love also spawned several
popular singles, including
"Tender Is The Night" and "For A
Rocker."
In 1986, Jackson continued to
develop his social focus with
Lives In The Balance. This
topical disc was included in
Rolling Stone’s 1986 ‘Best 100
Albums,’ and again in their 1990
special issue of ‘100 Greatest
Albums of the 1980s.’ 1989’s
World In Motion was a call to
action even more explicitly
political than its predecessor.
I’m Alive was a striking
return to the personal and
romantic subject matter that
characterized Jackson’s earlier
work. Released in 1993, and
widely considered a career
highlight, the disc found
Jackson revisiting matters of
the heart and soul on tracks
including "My Problem Is You"
and "Sky Blue and Black." On
1996’s Looking East, he
addresses various aspects of
personal growth and social
struggles, and their
interconnectedness in the world
around him.
2002 marked the release of
The Naked Ride Home, Jackson’s
first suite of all new songs
since Looking East, and one of
the most eclectic of his career,
exploring the human condition
with a grace and insight that
became his trademarks.
Jackson Browne’s overall body
of work was celebrated in 2004
with the release of
Elektra-Rhino’s 2CD compilation
The Very Best of Jackson Browne,
featuring 32 songs selected from
throughout his career. The one
earlier compilation of Jackson’s
work is Elektra’s 1997
single-disc overview The Next
Voice You Hear: The Best of
Jackson Browne.
In 2002, Jackson became the
fourth recipient of the John
Steinbeck Award, given to
artists whose works best
exemplify the environmental and
social values that were
essential to the great
California-born author. Browne
joins a group of honorees that
now includes filmmaker John
Sayles, playwrights Arthur
Miller and Lanford Wilson,
musician Bruce Springsteen,
authors Tom Wolfe and Kurt
Vonnegut, and Studs Terkel.
The search for truth and
one´s place in the world remain
central to Jackson Browne’s
songs. "Everything in life is
colored by your personality,"
Steinbeck once wrote, adding,
"but as you mature you become
more aware of outside things,
less concerned about yourself."
In that regard, Jackson has been
an ever evolving and maturing
creative voice, and a world
citizen, for most of his life.deed. |