Clyde Jackson Browne
(born October 9, 1948) is an American rock singer-songwriter and musician. His political interest and personal angst have been central to his career, resulting in popular songs such as "Somebody's Baby", "These Days", "The Pretender" and "Running On Empty". In 2004, Browne was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by fellow American musical artist and good friend, Bruce Springsteen. During the same year, Browne received an honorary Doctorate of Music from Los Angeles' Occidental College for "a remarkable musical career that has successfully combined an intensely personal artistry with a broader vision of social change and justice". [1]
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JACKSON BROWNE TICKETS
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Biography
Early life and songwriter for others
Browne was born in
Heidelberg, Germany, where his father, an American serviceman, was stationed. Browne's mother, Beatrice Amanda (
née Dahl), was a Minnesota native of Norwegian ancestry.
[2] Browne has three siblings: Roberta "Berbie" Browne who was born during 1946 in
Nuremberg, Germany (Nuernberg) and Edward Severin Browne who was born during 1949 in
Frankfurt am Main, Germany. His younger sister, Gracie Browne, was born a number of years later.
Browne moved to the
Highland Park district of
Los Angeles, California, at the age of 3 and in his
teens began singing
folk music in local venues like the
Ash Grove. In 1966, he joined the
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. He had attended
Sunny Hills High School in
Fullerton, California.
A precociously gifted songwriter, Browne signed a publishing contract with Nina Music, and his songs were performed by
Joan Baez,
Tom Rush, the
Eagles,
Linda Ronstadt,
the Byrds and Steve Noonan, among others. After moving to
Greenwich Village, New York, Browne was briefly in
Tim Buckley's back-up band. He also worked on
Nico's
Chelsea Girl
, playing guitar on Nico's version of Browne's classic song "
These Days". After leaving New York City, Browne formed a folk band with Ned Doheny and Jack Wilce. After leaving New York, Browne settled in
Southern California.
Classic personal period
In 1971, Browne signed with
Asylum Records and released
Jackson Browne
(1972), which included the piano-driven "
Doctor My Eyes", a Top 10 success in the
US singles chart. "Rock Me on the Water", from the same album, also gained considerable
radio airplay, while "Jamaica Say You Will" and "
Song for Adam" helped establish Browne's reputation. During this period, he also toured with
Linda Ronstadt.
His next album,
For Everyman
(1973) — while considered of high quality — was less successful than his debut album, although it still sold a million copies. The upbeat "
Take It Easy," co-written with The
Eagles'
Glenn Frey, had already been a major success for that group, while "
These Days" (actually written by Browne and first recorded by Nico in 1967) represented Browne's angst.
Late for the Sky
(1974) consolidated Browne's following, with some fans drawn in purely by the record's
Magritte-inspired cover. Highlights included the title song, the
elegiac "For a Dancer" and "Before the Deluge". The arrangements featured the
violin and
guitar of
David Lindley, Jai Winding's piano, and the harmonies of Doug Haywood. The title track was also featured in
Martin Scorsese's film
Taxi Driver
. Around this time, Browne began his fractious but lifelong professional relationship with singer/songwriter
Warren Zevon, mentoring Zevon's first two Asylum albums through the studio as a producer after browbeating Asylum head
David Geffen into giving Zevon a recording contract.
Browne's character was even more apparent in his next album,
The Pretender
. It was released during 1976, after the suicide of his first wife, Phyllis Major. The album features production by
Jon Landau and a mixture of styles, ranging from the
Mariachi-inspired "Linda Paloma" to the
country-driven "Your Bright Baby Blues" to the downbeat "Sleep's Dark and Silent Gate". "Here Come Those Tears Again" was cowritten with Nancy Farnsworth, the mother of Browne's wife, after the untimely death of her daughter.
By then, Browne's work had gained a reputation for its compelling melodies, insightful lyrics, and a flair for composition.
Browne began recording his next LP while on tour, and
Running on Empty
(1977) became his biggest commercial success. Breaking the usual conventions for a
live album, Browne used all new material and combined live concert performances with recordings made on buses, in hotel rooms, and back stage.
Running on Empty
contains many of his most popular songs, such as the title track, "
Running on Empty", "The Road" (written and recorded in 1972 by
Danny O'Keefe), "Rosie", and "
The Load-Out/
Stay" (Browne's send-off to his concert audiences and roadies).
Personal life
Browne has been married twice and has two children. His first wife was actress/model
Phyllis Major (1946-1976). The two began their relationship around 1971, as was artistically memorialized in the song "Ready or Not". Their son, Ethan Zane, was born in 1973. Major and Browne married in late 1975. He was devastated when she committed suicide by consuming an overdose of sleeping pills just a few months later, in March 1976, at the age of 30.
Browne was married in January 1981 to Australian model,
Lynne Sweeney with whom he had a second son, Ryan Daniel, born in 1982. Browne and Sweeney were divorced in 1983, when he became involved with actress
Daryl Hannah. The relationship with Hannah continued until 1992. He has been in a relationship with artist
Dianna Cohen since the mid 1990s.
Turning political
Soon after the
Three Mile Island nuclear accident during March 1979, Browne joined with several musician-friends to found the
anti-nuclear organization,
Musicians United for Safe Energy. He was arrested protesting the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant near
San Luis Obispo. His next album,
Hold Out
(1980), was commercially successful — his only number 1 record on the
U.S. pop albums chart. The next year he released the single "
Somebody's Baby" from the
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
soundtrack, which became his biggest hit, peaking at #7 on the
Billboard Hot 100. The 1983
Lawyers in Love
followed, signaling a discernible change from the personal to the political in his lyrics.
Political protest came to the fore in Browne's music in the 1986 album,
Lives in the Balance
, an explicit condemnation of
Reaganism and U.S. policy in Central America. Flavored with new instrumental textures, it was a huge success with Browne fans, though not with mainstream audiences. The title track, "Lives in the Balance", with its
Andean pan pipes — and lines like, "There's a shadow on the faces / Of the men who fan the flames / Of the wars that are fought in places / Where we can't even say the names" — was an outcry against U.S.-backed wars in
Nicaragua,
El Salvador, and
Guatemala. The song was used at several points in the award-winning 1987
PBS documentary,
The Secret Government: The Constitution in Crisis,
by journalist
Bill Moyers, and was part of the soundtrack of
Stone's War
, a 1986
Miami Vice
episode focusing on American involvement in Central America.
During the 1980s, Browne performed frequently at benefit concerts for causes he believed in, including
Farm Aid;
Amnesty International (making several appearances on the 1986
A Conspiracy of Hope Tour); post-
Somoza,
revolutionary Nicaragua; and the
Christic Institute. The album,
World in Motion
, released during 1989 contains a remarkable cover of Steve Van Zandt's "I am a Patriot," a song which he has performed at numerous concerts.
During 1995, he performed in
The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True
a musical performance of the popular story at Lincoln Center to benefit the
Children's Defense Fund. The performance was originally broadcast on Turner Network Television (TNT), and issued on CD and video in 1996.
Living off the grid and environmental activism
{{#if:September 2008{{#ifexist:Category:Articles to be expanded since September 2008
According to eco-series,
Ed Begley, Jr., “He’s got this big wind turbine, and his ranch is completely off the [power] grid,” Begley said. “He’s done all of it himself.”.
[3] [4] [5]
From the 1990s - 2002
In 1993, four years after his previous album, Browne returned with
I'm Alive
, a critically acclaimed album with a more personal style that did not have any successes but still sold respectably — indeed, the ninth track from the album,
Sky Blue and Black
, was used during the
pilot episode of the
situation comedy Friends
.
He also sang a duet with
Jann Arden, "Unloved", on her 1995 album
Living Under June
. Browne's
Looking East
(1996) was released soon after, but was not as successful commercially.
2000 to the present
Browne released his album,
The Naked Ride Home
in 2002, with a performance on
Austin City Limits
, featuring the recording with older, familiar songs.
During 2003, Browne guest-starred as himself in
The Simpsons
episode "
Brake My Wife, Please", performing a parody of his song "
Rosie" with lyrics altered to reference the plot involving Homer and Marge.
In 2004, Browne was inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In his induction speech,
[6] Bruce Springsteen noted that while the
Eagles were inducted first, speaking of Jackson Browne, he said, "You wrote the songs they wished they had written", referring to the many songs penned by Browne that were covered by the Eagles, bringing them hit songs over the years. The previous year, three of Browne's albums —
For Everyman
,
Late for the Sky
, and
The Pretender
— had been selected by
Rolling Stone
magazine as among its choices for the 500 best albums of all time.
Browne appeared in several rallies for presidential candidate
Ralph Nader in 2000, singing "
I Am a Patriot" and other songs. He participated in the
Vote for Change tour during October 2004, playing a series of concerts in American
swing states. These concerts were organized by
MoveOn.org to mobilize people to vote for
John Kerry in the
presidential election. Browne appeared with
Bonnie Raitt and
Keb' Mo', and once with
Bruce Springsteen. During late 2006, Browne performed with
Michael Stanley and
J. D. Souther at a fundraiser for Democratic candidates in
Ohio. For the
2008 Presidential Election, he endorsed
John Edwards for the Democratic Presidential Nomination and performed at some of Edwards' appearances.
Solo Acoustic, Vol. 1
, was released in 2005 on
Inside Recordings. The album consists of live recordings of eleven previously released tracks and "
The Birds of St. Marks", a song that does not appear on any of Browne's studio albums. This album was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2007 in the category of Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album.
Browne is part of the
No Nukes group which is against the expansion of
nuclear power. During 2007, the group recorded a
music video of a new version of the
Buffalo Springfield song "
For What It's Worth".
[7] [8]
Browne's new live album,
Solo Acoustic, Vol. 2
, was released on March 4, 2008.
Browne acted in the 2007 film,
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story [9].
Browne's new studio album,
Time The Conqueror
, was released September 23, 2008 via
Inside Recordings, his first studio album with new songs in six years, all written by Browne, save three song co-written with several of his longtime band members since ending his relationship with longtime distributor
Elektra Records in 2003. The album reached The Billboard 200 album chart at #20, which was his first top 20 record since releasing
Lawyers in Love
in 1983. In addition, the album peaked at #2 on the Billboard Independent Album chart.
[10]
During August 2008, Browne sued
John McCain, the
Ohio Republican Party, and the
Republican National Committee for using his 1977 hit, "
Running on Empty", in an attack advertisement against
Barack Obama without his permission.
[11] In July 2009, the matter was settled under an undisclosed financial agreement with an apology from the McCain campaign and other parties.
[12]
During August 2008, he appeared on the
ALMA Awards in a taped interview honoring Trailblazer Award recipient and long time friend,
Linda Ronstadt.
Other charity
During 2008, Browne contributed to an album called
Songs for Tibet
, which is an initiative to support
Tibet,
Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso and to publicize the
human rights situation in Tibet. The album was issued on August 5 via
iTunes and on August 19 in music stores around the world.
[13]
Browne also covered
John Lennon's "Oh My Love" to benefit Amnesty International's campaign to alleviate the crisis in
Darfur. The song appears on the album
Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur, which was released on June 12, 2007 and features many other prominent artists performing other Lennon covers, such as
R.E.M.,
Jack Johnson,
U2,
Avril Lavigne,
Green Day, and the
Black Eyed Peas.
Awards
For "promoting peace and justice through his music and his unrelenting support for that which promotes nonviolent solutions to problems both nationally and internationally", Browne received the Courage of Conscience Awards from The Peace Abbey in Sherborn, Massachusetts.
[14]
Discography
See
Jackson Browne discography
References
- Jackson Browne :: Biography
- Jackson Browne — Biography
- Off-Grid - life unplugged: solar, wind, hydro, architecture, smallholdings, free stuff » Jackson Browne’s off-grid ranch
- Living with Ed - Hit TV Series
- Harvey Wasserman: No-Nukers Sing a New Green Tune
- Jackson Browne — Rock And Roll Hall of Fame
- “For What It’s Worth,” No Nukes Reunite After Thirty Years
- Support Musicians Acting to Stop New Reactors; New Info on Loan Guarantees/Energy Bill
- IMDB: Walk Hard - Cast list
- Jackson Browne- Time the Conqueror
- Cohen, Jonathan. Jackson Browne Sues McCain Over Song Usage. ''Billboard'', 2008-08-14.
- Jackson Browne, Republicans Settle Copyright Case
- E-Online (July 22, 2008) Sting, Matthews, Mayer Gamer for Tibet Than Beijing
- The Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Recipients List