Jackson Browne – Music New to You from the Past and Present

“Looking Into You: A Tribute to Jackson Browne” was released in April. The two disk set features a dazzling array of artists including the likes of Bonnie Raitt, Lyle Lovett, Keb’ Mo’ and Bruce Springsteen. But honestly, doing Jackson Browne songs anywhere near as well as Jackson Browne is tough even for these titans. So, covers of lesser known songs are among the most enjoyable. Two tracks from Browne’s fourth album “The Pretender” get that treatment: Sara and Sean Watkins of Nickel Creek covering “Your Bright Baby Blues”, and Springsteen accompanied by his wife, Patti Scialfa, covering “Linda Paloma”.

Just last week a 40th Anniversary Reissue of Browne’s third album “Late for the Sky” was released. We featured the title track from that album in an earlier post, so here’s “The Late Show” which provides the “early model Chevrolet” lyric that ties to the album’s cover art. The song has all the ingredients: deep lyrics, pure Jackson Browne voice, beautiful vocal harmonies and David Lindley steel guitar, found in so much of Browne’s work.

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Folk rock is getting plenty of attention these days. With Mumford & Sons taking Best Album honors at the 2013 Grammy Awards, and John Mayer recalling the influences of the Laurel Canyon artists of the late 60’s and 70’s in his 2012 release “Born and Raised” (see our post from January 27 John Mayer), acoustic music and heart-felt songwriting are back.

The Avett Brothers were 2013 Grammy nominees for their sixth album “The Carpenter”, a Rick Rubin production. We don’t know if the Avetts would claim him as an influence, but Jackson Browne’s 1974 classic album “Late for the Sky” shares some of the moods and breadth of “The Carpenter”, and Browne was among the central figures of that Laurel Canyon era. Enjoy listening to “Winter in My Heart” from the Avetts and the title track of “Late for the Sky”.