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Music of Jackson Browne (36:51)

Jackson Browne has written and performed some of the most literate and moving songs in popular music
and has defined a genre of songwriting charged with honesty, emotion and personal politics. He's
been honored with inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (2004) and the Songwriter's Hall
of Fame (2007). At the latter ceremony, Jackson performed his song "Lives In The Balance," which
SHOF notes is, "a fitting example of how his social and political activism has influenced much of his work."

Jackson Browne, his debut album, came out on David Geffen's Asylum Records in 1972. Rolling Stone wrote in its
original review that, "Jackson Browne's sensibility is romantic in the best sense of the term: his songs are
capable of generating a highly charged, compelling atmosphere throughout, and - just as important - of sustaining
that pitch in the listener's mind long after they've ended." 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 (it 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," 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 Browne's masterpiece of lyrical introspection, with classic songs
including "Fountain Of Sorrow," "The Late Show" and the title track. 1976's The Pretender also made Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Albums Of All Time," and was Browne's first to chart in Billboard's Top 10, peaking at #5. On the
heels of that success came what stands as Jackson's top-selling album, 1977's 7X 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 board of MUSE, Jackson helped
edit and compile 1980's 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 others. The album, which includes Jackson's "Before The Deluge," climbed to #23 on Billboard's pop
chart, a major feat for a triple album. Currently, Browne, Raitt and Nash are mobilizing behind Nukefree.org, opposing
federal bail-out of the nuclear industry.

Jackson's studio discography 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 delivered several popular singles, including "Tender Is The Night" and "For
A Rocker."

As influential and enduring as his music is Browne's legacy as an advocate for social and environmental justice. In 2007,
he received the Chapin-World Hunger Year Harry Chapin Humanitarian Award. In 2004, Jackson was named an honorary
Doctorate of Music by 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." In 2002, he was the fourth recipient
of the John Steinbeck Award, given to artists whose works exemplify the environmental and social values that were
essential to the great California-born author.

• Aired: on Jul 1st at 8:54 am
• Views: 15 (10 while live)
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• Tags: Jackson, Browne

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