In 1972 I bought the Eagles’ first album titled simply Eagles, and when I put it on my turntable, that first chord of Jackson Browne and Glenn Frey’s “Take It Easy” exploded into my brain, turning into a driving rhythm guitar opening before it segued into a song about a guy “standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona” hitching a ride with a “girl. my lord, in a flatbed Ford”. I was hooked in the first thirty seconds by a sound unlike any music I’d heard before. Other bands and singers had played something people called “country rock” before, including the Byrds, Linda Ronstadt, and the Dillards, but the Eagles were a lightning bolt out of the blue.
Well I'm a runnin' down the road
Tryin' to loosen my load
I've got seven women on my mind
Four that wanna own me
Two that wanna stone me
One says she's a friend of mine
Take it easy, take it easy
Don't let the sound of your own wheels
Drive you crazy
Lighten up while you still can
Don't even try to understand
Just find a place to make your stand
And take it easy
Well, I'm a standin' on a corner
In Winslow, Arizona
Such a fine sight to see
It's a girl my Lord in a flat-bed Ford
Slowin' down to take a look at me
Anchored by a solid rhythm guitar by Glenn Frey and drums by Don Henley, embellished with electric guitar and banjo by Bernie Leadon, it was fast-paced and laid back at the same time, rock and roll but with a definite country flavor. That would be a good description of a couple other songs on the album also, but the next song, “Witchy Woman”, dramatically shifted gears into something entirely different, a voodoo rock song with a theme like Santana’s “Black Magic Woman” but with a different sound and rhythm.
Raven hair and ruby lips
Sparks fly from her finger tips
Echoed voices in the night
She's a restless spirit on an endless flight
Woo hoo, witchy woman
See how high she flies
Woo hoo, witchy woman
She got the moon in her eyes
She held me spellbound in the night
Dancing shadows and firelight
Crazy laughter in another room
And she drove herself to madness with a silver spoon
Well, I know you want to love her
Let me tell your brother
She's been sleeping
In the devil's bed
It’s an uneven album with a couple forgettable songs, but Gene Clark and Bernie Leadon’s “Train Leaves Here This Morning” is a really nice ballad that’s a slow version of the country rock sound of “Take It Easy” with a soothing rhythm guitar that’s such a nice trait of so many Eagles songs, backed by laid back electric and acoustic guitar picking and beautiful harmony singing.
I lost ten points just for being in the right place
At exactly the wrong time
I looked right at the facts there, but I may as well
Have been completely blind
So, if you see me walking all alone
Don't look back, I'm just on my way back home
And there's a train leaves here this morning
I don't know, what I might be on
“Peaceful Easy Feeling” is another song in the same vein with a little more pace and a more upbeat theme. It’s such a pleasure to just let the rhythm of the acoustic guitar strumming, I think by Glenn Frey, carry you away with a tasty and mellow electric guitar fill toward the end by Leadon. I don’t know any band or musician that plays rhythm guitar so seductively, except maybe Steve Goodman.
I like the way your sparkling earrings lay,
Against your skin, it's so brown.
And I wanna sleep with you in the desert night
With a billion stars all around.
'Cause I got a peaceful easy feeling,
And I know you won't let me down
'Cause I'm already standing on the ground.
And I found out a long time ago
What a woman can do to your soul.
Oh, but she can't take you anyway,
You don't already know how to go.
The other highlight of the album is “Earlybird”, which is pretty much unclassifiable. It’s driven mainly by banjo and drumming by Henley, with some edgy electric guitar toward the end, plus something that sounds like a sort of frantic, high-pitched birdsong all the way through. It draws a contrast between the hectic money-driven world of Los Angeles and a more relaxed way of life.
Early in the morning
About the break of day
The earlybird is workin’
So his life don't fade away
He spends his life denyin’ that
He's got no time for flyin’
In the breeze
High up on his own, the eagle flies alone
He is free
The earlybird is scratchin’ though
The going's gettin’ tough
Time is passing by him and he just
Can't get enough
He'll tell you all is going well
You know that something’s wrong
The earlybird will wake one day
To find his life is gone . . .
You know i like to lay in bed
And sleep out in the sun
Reading books and playing crazy music
Just for fun
You know it makes feel so fine
And puts my mind at ease
To know that i don't harm a soul
In doing what I please
Their second album, Desperado, was a true concept album loosely based on the history of the Doolin-Dalton gang in the 1890s in Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. It produced the hits “Desperado” and “Tequila Sunrise”. The gang was called the Wild Bunch (no relation to the movie), and according to Wikipedia none were ever hanged, but all were hunted down and shot to death in the 1890s except for one member who was finally killed in 1924. I can’t find any mention of Bill Dalton having anything to do with the law, so I don’t know where the line ”Lay down your law books” comes from.
They were duelin', Doolin-Dalton
High or low, it was the same
Easy money and faithless women
Red-eye whiskey for the pain
Go down, Bill Dalton, it must be God's will,
Two brothers lyin' dead in Coffeyville
Two voices call to you from where they stood
Lay down your law books now
They're no damn good
Better keep on movin', Doolin-Dalton
'Til your shadow sets you free
If you're fast, and if you're lucky
You will never see that hangin' tree
The standout song on the album is “Desperado”, a popular song for the Eagles and a bigger hit for Linda Ronstadt. It’s sung by Henley accompanied by a simple piano at first, with strings and simple a drumbeat coming in on the second verse.
Desperado, why don't you come to your senses?
You been out ridin’ fences for so long now
Oh you're a hard one, but I know that you got your reasons
These things that are pleasin' you can hurt you somehow
Don't you draw the queen of diamonds boy
She'll beat you if she's able
The queen of hearts is always your best bet
Now it seems to me some fine things
Have been laid upon your table
But you only want the ones that you can't get
Desperado, oh you ain't getting’ no younger
Your pain and your hunger, they're drivin’ you home
And freedom, oh freedom, well that's just some people talkin’
Your prison is walkin' through this world all alone
The last line is the core of, and the best line of, the song. It ends with a gentle piano fadeout. “Twenty-One” is a fast banjo and guitar tune about a budding young gunslinger – “I’m young and fast as I can be.” It’s followed by a 48-second lickety-split banjo instrumental and an ominous “Outlaw Man” with a blistering electric guitar and relentless drumbeat. “Woman don’t try to love me/Don’t try to understand/A life upon the road is the life of an outlaw man”.
My favorite song on the album is “Saturday Night,” a waltz accompanied by mandolin and sung by Glenn Frey.
Seems like a dream now, it was so long ago
The moon burned so bright and the time went so slow
And I swore that I loved her and gave her a ring
The bluebird was high on the wing
Whatever happened to Saturday night
Finding a sweetheart and holding her tight?
She said, "Tell me, oh, tell me, was I alright?
Whatever happened to Saturday night?"
The years brought the railroad, it ran by my door
Now there's boards on the windows and dust on the floor
And she passes the time at another man's side
And I pass the time with my pride
What a tangled web we weave
Go 'round with circumstance
Someone show me how to tell the dancer
From the dance
What ever happened to Saturday night?
Choosin' a friend and losin' a fight
She said, "Tell me, oh, tell me, are you alright?
Whatever happened to Saturday night?
I love the lines “Someone show me how to tell/The dancer from the dance.” There’s a lot of fine poetry in Eagles’ songs. They had a hit with “Tequila Sunrise,” a lament about an unfaithful lover with a nice melody and a characteristic rhythm guitar so smooth it gets under your skin.
It's another tequila sunrise
Starin' slowly 'cross the sky
Said goodbye
He was just a hired hand
Workin' on the dreams he planned to try
The days go by
Every night when the sun goes down
Just another lonely boy in town
And she's out runnin' 'round
On the moody side there’s “Bitter Creek” – “Son don’t wade too deep – in Bitter Creek.” There’s no romanticizing the outlaw on this album, unlike Woody Guthrie’s “Pretty Boy Floyd” or Dylan’s “John Wesley Harding”. The album ends with “Doolin-Dalton/Desperado (Reprise)”, their fictional description of a shootout between the Doolin-Dalton Gang and lawmen in the middle of town with “All you bloodthirsty bystanders/Try to find your seats” and additional lyrics with memorable poetry. ’’It stole your dreams and paid you with regret’’ is a great line.
Go down Bill Doolin, don’t you wonder why
Sooner or later we all have to die
Sooner or later, that’s a stone cold fact
Four men ride out and only three ride back . . .
The queen of diamonds let you down
She was just an empty fable
The queen of hearts you say you’ve never met
Your twisted fate has found you out
And it’s finally turned the tables
It stole your dreams and paid you with regret
Desperado, is there gonna be anything left . . .
Ain’t it hard when you’re all alone in the center ring
Their third album, On the Border, is chock full of consistently good songs. It kicks off with “Already Gone,” a fast rocker accompanied by a blistering electric guitar from new member Don Felder, added for two songs because they wanted more of a “hard rock sound”. It’s followed by the superb “You Never Cry Like a Lover” by John David Souther and Don Henley.
You never cry like a lover should
Sigh when it feels real good
Or see the sky through the stone and wood
You never cry like a lover
I thought I saw somebody I loved
Sleeping deep inside you
If I could catch you in an unguarded moment
I'd stay right here beside you
I was hopin’ you were the one . . .
You never move like you used to do
Pour it out when you're feelin' blue
Somebody must have put some pain on you
You never cry like a lover
(You never cry like a lover)
“Midnight Flyer”, by Paul Craft, is a high-speed electric guitar-and banjo-driven song that’s exhilarating to listen to, with Randy Meisner on an excellent vocal. The guitar is great, especially on the fadeout, and I love the banjo playing by Leadon.
Ooohh, Midnight Flyer,
engineer, won't you let your whistle moan.
Ooohh, Midnight Flyer,
I paid my dues and I feel like travelin' on.
A runaway team of horses ain't enough to make me stay,
so throw your rope on another man and pull him down your way.
Make him into someone to take the place of me,
make him every kind of fool you wanted me to be.
“My Man” by Bernie Leadon, is my favorite song on the album, a touching and deeply felt quiet tribute to Gram Parsons, the driving force behind the Byrds’ Sweetheart of the Rodeo album and the famed Flying Burrito Brothers. He made two stellar solo albums before he died in the desert from an overdose of alcohol and morphine at the Joshua Tree Inn. He drank six double tequilas after two friends declined to drink tequila with him, then persuaded an unknown woman to shoot him up with morphine. He was an out-of-control addict-alcoholic but had been moderating his alcohol and opiate use while recording his last album, Grievous Angel. It was a sad end to an almost mythic figure in the meld between country music and rock influences. “My Man” references “Hickory Wind,” Parsons’ most iconic song.
Tell me the truth, how do you feel?
Like you're rollin' so fast that you're spinnin' your wheels.
Don't feel too bad, you're not all alone,
we're all tryin' to get along.
With everybody else tryin' to go their way
You're bound to get tripped and what can you say?
Just go along till they turn out the lights,
There's nothing we can do to fight it.
No man's got it made till he's far beyond the pain
And we who must remain go on living just the same.
I once knew a man, very talented guy.
He'd sing for the people and people would cry.
They knew that his song came from deep down inside,
You could hear it in his voice and see it in his eyes.
And so he traveled alone,
Touch your heart, then be gone.
Like a flower he bloomed till that old
Hickory wind called him home . . .
We who must remain go on laughing just the same.
It's a beautiful song with a melancholy but lovely melody accompanied by simple acoustic rhythm guitar and a superbly restrained steel guitar by Leadon along with his gorgeous vocal. It’s a song in the time-honored life-as-pain tradition. "My Man” and Tom Waits’ “Ol’ 55” are a large part of why I like On the Border so much. Waits’ song is a spiritual uplift, describing how he feels driving home in the early morning after a night with the woman he loves. It’s driven by Frey’s excellent piano and embellished by a wonderful steel guitar by the Burritos’ Al Perkins, played like a different instrument than on traditional Nashville country music, like Sneaky Pete and Buddy Emmons on Linda Ronstadt’s early albums and Leadon on “My Man.”
Well, my time went too quickly
I went lickety-splitly out to my old fifty-five
As I pulled away slowly, feelin' so holy,
God knows I was feelin' alive
And now the sun's comin' up
I'm ridin' with Lady Luck
Freeway cars and trucks
Stars beginning to fade, and I lead the parade
Just a wishin' I'd stayed a little longer
Lord, don't you know the feelin's gettin' stronger
Six in the morning, gave me no warnin'
I had to be on my way
Now the cars are all passin' me,
Trucks are all flashin' me
I'm headed home from your place
“James Dean” is a breakneck rock and roll tribute to the iconic actor with a fantastic guitar by Leadon and a relentless drumbeat by Henley, plus accelerating sports car sound effects.
James Dean, James Dean
I know just what you mean
James Dean, you said it all so clean
And I know my life would look all right
If I could see it on the silver screen
You were a low-down rebel if there ever was
Even if you had no cause
James Dean, you said it all so clean
And I know my life would look all right
If I could see it on the silver screen
Well, talk about a low-down bad refrigerator
You were just too cool for school
Sock hop, soda pop, basketball and auto shop
The only thing that got you off was breakin' all the rules . . .
You were too fast to live, too young to die, bye bye
You were too fast to live, too young to die, bye bye. Bye bye.
“Is It True?” is Randy Meisner’s best song, accompanied by an aching electric slide guitar by Glenn Frey. It’s a reverse of “Already Gone” where the woman leaves the man.
How come you love him when he
Takes you for a fool
He's only lookin' for a good time
How can he love you when he
Treats you mean and cruel
He's not the best thing that you could find
Is it true?
I can't believe it
Is it true?
I just can't see it
Is it true?
Is that you?
When we were young, we didn't really have a care
You were hung up, I had a good line
I never knew it then but, man, I was in love
How could I know it was the right time?
Is it true?
You've lost that feelin'?
Is is true?
You might be leavin'?
Is it true?
Don't wanna find out
On the Border ends with Henley-Frey’s "The Best of My Love", a medium-tempo ballad with the characteristic rhythm acoustic guitar and light-touch pedal steel by Bernie Leadon.
Every night I'm lyin' in bed
Holdin' you close in my dreams
Thinkin' about all the things that we said
And comin' apart at the seams
We try to talk it over
But the words come out too rough
I know you were tryin'
to give me the best of your love
Beautiful faces and loud, empty places
Look at the way that we live
Wastin' our time on cheap talk and wine
Left us so little to give
That same old crowd
Was like a cold dark cloud
That we could never rise above
But here in my heart I give you the best of my love
Oh sweet darlin' you get the best of my love . . .
You see it your way
And I see it mine
But we both see it slippin' away
Their next album was One of These Nights, with the title song, an infectious rocker that leads off the album with Henley singing lead but what sounds like at least two other voices singing harmony with one in falsetto, reminiscent of the Byrds and Crosby, stills, and Nash.
Oh, someone to be kind to
In between the dark and the light
Oh, comin’ right behind you
Swear I'm gonna find you
One of these nights . . .
I've been searchin’ for the daughter
Of the devil himself
I've been searchin’ for an angel in white
I've been waitin’ for a woman who's a little
Of both
And I can feel her but she's nowhere
In sight
“Hollywood Waltz” is a lovely song about a woman who’s got the short end of the stick in relationships. It’s a slow ballad with a wonderful melody sung tenderly by Henley with a beautiful falsetto harmony on the last verse. Bernie Leadon plays steel guitar and mandolin, and harmonium by Frey and synthesizer by Ahlby Galuten give it an almost orchestral sound without strings. It repeatedly drops four times in pitch in a way that gives it a compassionate tenderness, one of the emotional highlights of the album.
She looks another year older,
From too many lovers who used her and ran
But some nights, oh, she looks like an angel
And she's always willing to hold you again
So give her this dance,
She can't be forsaken
Learn how to love her with all of her faults
She gave more than she's taken,
Now go down doing the Hollywood Waltz
Springtime and the lady is grieving
The lovers just stand there with nothing to say
They got what they wanted,
They're packing and leaving
To look for another to love the same way
So give her this dance,
She can't be forsaken
Learn how to love her
With all of her faults
She gave more than she's taken
Now go down doing the Hollywood Waltz
The highlight of the album is the megahit “Lyin’ Eyes”, with the classic Eagles irresistible rhythm guitar and a melodic electric guitar by Leadon. It’s about a woman who’s compromised her life by marrying a “rich old man with hands as cold as ice” but steals away to see “a boy she knew in school”. Music by rock musicians rarely portrays women in a very favorably light, though this has an air of sympathy for her situation. The song bathes your ears with a melody and rhythm that are enormously seductive – it’s sad but still just a pleasure to listen to, no matter how many times I’ve heard it. And over six minutes it tells a story almost novelistic about a woman who had the capacity to have chosen differently.
. . . Late at night a big old house gets lonely
I guess every port of refuge has its price
And it breaks her heart to think her love is only
Given to a man with hands as cold as ice
So she tells him she must go out for the evening
To comfort an old friend who's feelin' down
But he knows where she's goin' as she's leavin'
She is headed for the cheatin' side of town
You can't hide your lyin' eyes
And your smile is a thin disguise
I thought by now you'd realize
There ain't no way to hide your lying eyes . . .
She gets up and pours herself a strong one
And stares out at the stars up in the sky
Another night, it's gonna be a long one
She draws the shade and hangs her head and cries
She wonders how it ever got this crazy
She thinks about a boy she knew in school
Did she get tired or did she just get lazy?
She's so far gone she feels just like a fool
My, oh my, you sure know how to arrange things
You set it up so well, so carefully
Ain't it funny how your new life didn't change things
You're still the same old girl you used to be . . .
It's followed by another good Randy Meisner song, “Take It to the Limit,” cowritten with Henley and Frey but sung by Meisner with Henley and Frey on harmony. Someone adds falsetto, probably Meisner overdubbing, and Jim Ed Norman plays piano, with added strings. “You can spend all your time makin’ money/You can spend all your love makin’ time” are lines worthy of country music songwriters.
All alone at the end of the evening
When the bright lights have faded to blue
I was thinking 'bout a woman who might have
Loved me and I never knew
. . .You can spend all your time making money
You can spend all your love making time
If it all fell to pieces tomorrow
Would you still be mine?
And when you're looking for your freedom
(Nobody seems to care)
And you can't find the door
(Can't find it anywhere)
When there's nothing to believe in
Still you're coming back, you're running back
You're coming back for more
So put me on a highway
And show me a sign
And take it to the limit one more time
Take it to the limit
Take it to the limit
Take it to the limit one more time (Repeat . . . )
“After the Thrill Is Gone” is a Henley-Frey ballad with the perceptive line “You’re not quite lovers/And you’re not quite friends/After the thrill is gone”.
Hotel California is an uneven album with several hit songs, among them some of their best, including the title song, which is the pinnacle of their songwriting. Apparently it’s stimulated much speculation about its meaning ever since. I just recently read an online item claiming to reveal the true meaning of the song, but I wasn’t any clearer about it after reading than I was before. The lines that always stuck in my mind were “You can check out any time you like/But you can never leave”, which sound like Rod Serling on an episode of Twilight Zone. What the article seemed to be saying is that once someone gets involved in the music/movie/Hollywood arenas around Los Angeles, the money-fame trap is so seductive they can never, or rarely, pry themselves loose from it – and yet some have, like Paul Newman. Others never got sucked in.
“Check out” is a term for stepping away from reality with alcohol or drugs or any other distraction. But the song retains an aura of mystery. Don Henley, who sings the song, said “It's our interpretation of the high life in Los Angeles. It's basically a song about the dark underbelly of the American dream and about excess in America, which is something we knew a lot about.” I always felt like it was about the decadence of Los Angeles. If Raymond Chandler had still been alive he could have written a great Phillip Marlowe novel out of it. I’ll print the full lyrics here as written in the liner notes – it’s a masterpiece of writing, and I don’t know what to leave out.
On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair
Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air
Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light
My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim
I had to stop for the night
There she stood in the doorway
I heard the mission bell
And I was thinking to myself
"This could be Heaven or this could be Hell"
Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way
There were voices down the corridor
I thought I heard them say
Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place (such a lovely place)
Such a lovely face
Plenty of room at the Hotel California
Any time of year (Any time of year)
You can find it here
Her mind is Tiffany-twisted, she got the Mercedes bends
She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys that she calls friends
How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat
Some dance to remember, some dance to forget
So I called up the Captain
"Please bring me my wine."
He said, "We haven't had that spirit here since
Nineteen sixty nine."
And still those voices are calling from far away,
Wake you up in the middle of the night
Just to hear them say
Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place (Such a lovely place)
Such a lovely face
They livin' it up at the Hotel California
What a nice surprise (What a nice surprise)
Bring your alibis
Mirrors on the ceiling
The pink champagne on ice
And she said "We are all just prisoners here, of our own device"
And in the master's chambers
They gathered for the feast
They stab it with their steely knives
But they just can't kill the beast
Last thing I remember,
I was running for the door . . .
"Relax," said the night man
"We are programmed to receive
You can check-out any time you like,
But you can never leave!"
Along with an insistent, heavy drumbeat, there are two guitars that accompany the song in different places – first a mellow electric guitar that drops in pitch several times in each verse for most of the song, underscoring the ominous mood of the tune. It ends with a hard rock solo that repeats its theme at the end in successively lower pitch. The music itself matches the power of the lyrics to create a masterpiece of a song. What “the beast” might be is an uneasy mystery.
“Wasted Time” is also sung by Henley, chronicling the failure of a relationship but coming ultimately to a wise and hopeful conclusion, that experience is never really wasted.
Well baby, there you stand
With your little head down in your hands
Oh, my God, you can’t believe
It’s happening again
Your baby’s gone, and your all alone
And it looks like the end . . .
You don’t care much for a stranger’s touch
But you can’t hold your man
You never thought you’d be alone
This far down the line
And I know what’s been on your mind
You’re afraid it’s all been wasted time
The autumn leaves have got you thinking
About the first time that you fell
You didn’t love the boy too much
No, you just loved the boy too well
So you live from day to day . . .
And I could have done so many things, baby
If I could only stop my mind
From wondering what I left behind
And from worrying about this wasted time . . .
So you can get on with your search, baby
And I can get on with mine
And maybe someday we will find
That it wasn’t really wasted time
The other great song is “The Last Resort,” again sung by Henley, turning Joni Mitchell’s “They paved paradise/And put up a parking lot” into a history of western migration that ultimately ends in California. It’s an excellent lyric, but the song’s heavy piano backing and strings spoil it. A live version would be good to hear. I love the poetry in the first and fourth stanzas.
She came from Providence, the one in Rhode Island
Where the Old World shadows hang heavy in the air
She packed her hopes and dreams like a refugee
Just as her father came across the sea
She heard about a place, people were smilin’
They spoke about the red man’s way,
How they loved the land
They came from everywhere to the Great Divide
Seeking a place to stand or a place to hide
Down in the crowded bars, out for a good time
Can’t wait to tell you all what it’s like up there
They called it Paradise, I don’t know why
Somebody laid the mountains low
While the town got high . . .
Who will provide the grand design,
What is yours and what is mine?
There is no more New Frontier
We have got to make it here
We satisfy our endless needs
And justify our bloody deeds
In the name of destiny, and in the name of God
And you can see them there on Sunday morning
Stand up and sing about what it’s like up there
They called it Paradise, I don’t know why
Call some place Paradise, kiss it goodbye
For me, the Eagles defined what the meld of country and rock could be at its best in these five albums. After the sixth album, The Long Run, they broke up and devolved into solo work, though Frey claimed they never broke up but just took a “14-year hiatus”. They reunited in the 90s for a double album, Hell Freezes Over, which was a commercial success but didn’t inspire me. Ultimately they left a legacy of five great albums that defined a new genre of music.
Brett Nelson
Linda Ronstadt – Rock Me on the Water
In writing this article I realized that Linda Ronstadt has arguably recorded the most wide-ranging and accomplished body of popular (in the broadest sense – as opposed to classical) music of any singer I know of in the last 100 years. I’ve listened to her about as much as Dylan, The Band, Van Morrison, Joan Baez, Paul Simon, Steve Goodman, and Leonard Cohen. In my book that’s the company she belongs with. I tried to start writing about her many months ago but seemed to have some kind of writer’s block and couldn’t get started. This article, long enough as it is, will focus mainly on four early albums, since listening to and covering her all her recordings would require a small book.
My first exposure to Ronstadt was I think at 22 watching the Johnny Carson Show, in 1969. I don’t think I’d even heard her name at that point. but I’m sure I’d heard the Stone Poneys’ hit “Different Drum” on the radio. As I recall she was this dark-haired, down-to-earth woman with an engaging personality who answered questions very frankly and had a sense of humor. I think she was promoting her first solo album titled Silk Purse that portrayed her on the cover looking like Daisy Mae sitting in a pigpen keeping company with two large white pigs, which is funny because she wasn’t exactly a farm girl. I’m sure she sang her hit song of the time, “Long, Long, Time,” and I remember being impressed with her vocal power emotional depth.
‘Cause I've done everything I know to try and make you mine
And I think it's gonna hurt me for a long long time
I didn’t buy the album at the time, but a couple years later I spotted her self-titled album Linda Ronstadt in a record bin and saw her dark wide-open eyes staring out with a piercing look. The sepia-toned cover shows a closeup face shot with piercingly direct eyes, as if she’s seeing into your soul, not aggressive or judging, but as if you have her complete attention. I took it home and opened it to find songs by Jackson Browne, Johnny Cash, Neil Young, Woody Guthrie/ Leadbelly, Eric Kaz, and Eric Anderson. “Rock Me on the Water” was a heartfelt anthem of someone searching for comfort.
Oh, people look around you
The signs are everywhere
You left it for somebody other than you
To be the one to care
You're lost inside your houses
There's no time to find you now
Oh, your walls are burnin’
And your towers are turnin’
I've gotta leave you here
And try to get down to the sea somehow
Rock me on the water
Sister, won't you soothe my fevered brow
Oo-oh-oh, rock me on the water
Gotta get down to the sea somehow
The road is filled with homeless souls
Every woman child and man
Who have no idea where they will go
But they'll help you if they can
Now everyone must have some thought
That's gonna pull them through somehow
Oh, the fires are raging hotter and hotter
But the sisters of the sun
Are gonna rock me on the water now
It's accompanied by a guitarist and a drummer named Glenn Frey and Don Henley who would soon start a band called the Eagles, plus the famed Sneaky Pete Kleinow on a sensitive steel guitar. Ronstadt’s powerful voice and expressive singing captured me from the first song. Christopher Loudon of Jazz Times wrote in 2004 that Ronstadt is "blessed with arguably the most sterling set of pipes of her generation."
“I Won’t Be Hangin’ Round” is a blues, with a nice restrained electric guitar by someone named Tippy Armstrong and backup singers, recorded in Muscle Shoals, AL. You feel her sadness but also her determination to make her own way.
I won't be hangin’ round your door
Beggin’, beggin’
No I won't be hangin’ round
To feel the pain
And if you take my life in hand
Try and make me understand
It won't do no good
You'll just hurt my plan
And I won't be hangin. round your door
Beggin’, beggin’
No I won't be hangin’ rond
To feel the pain
Sometimes I think I can't go on
And every day I live
Well it seems like my life's unreal
Sometimes I think
I won't live too long
But I hope I'm wrong
That's the way I feel
“I Fall to Pieces” is a straight country tearjerker with a fine traditional steel guitar accompaniment plus fiddle. She does a moving version of Woody Guthrie’s “Ramblin Round” with banjo and fiddle. The album also includes a gorgeous live recording of Neil Young’s “Birds,” sung in a tender, restrained voice with Sneaky Pete on an expressive steel guitar, plus other guitars. Her voice is so powerful, but she can also sing soft beautifully, as on this song.
Lover, there will be another one
To hover over you beneath the sun
Tomorrow see the things
That never come today
When you see me fly away without you
Shadow on the things you know
Feathers fall around you
And show you the way to go
It's over, it's over
Next is a recording of Eric Anderson’s “Faithful” that won’t stop running through my head long after I’ve heard it – “Though I have not always been faithful/I always have been true.” She followed that album with Don’t Cry Now, which has my vote for her best, though Linda Ronstadt is still my sentimental favorite. Don’t Cry Now just makes my spirit soar. It was her first big seller, with 300,000 copies. The cover has a closeup with her arms crossed over her knees sitting like she knows who she is with the same intent look as on her eponymous album. It begins with John David Souther’s “I Can Almost See It,” a deeply soulful ballad that still makes my heart feel things I’d never felt before I heard it. The song selection and emotional power of her singing on Don’t Cry Now is superb. Linda Ronstadt’s got soul!
It hurts to say goodbye
And when the words are going by
The wind can blow them right back in your eye
You can almost see it
Time will let you know
And when you turn around to go
The aching in your heart begins to show
You can almost see it
You can almost see it
You can almost see it
You can almost see it going by
Sneaky Pete’s steel guitar plays lead on this song, with an expressiveness that makes it almost orchestral, as it is on a number of her songs. What he plays rarely sounds like the good-old-boy Nashville steel guitar you hear on most country music. It’s accompanied by electric guitar and a wonderfully soulful harmonica played by Jimmy Fadden of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. The song is followed by “Love Has No Pride,” sung with great feeling but not quite the quiet softness that Bonnie Raitt brings to it, although vulnerability flavors almost everything she sings. Her voice gives it more power, with a great electric guitar, but voice drops so softly through the last verse that the vulnerability of the song comes through.
I've had bad dreams too many times
To think that they don't mean much anymore
And fine times have gone and left my sad home
And the friends who once cared just walk out my door
But love has no pride when I call out your name
And love has no pride when there's no one to blame
I'd give anything to see you again
I've been alone too many nights
To think that you could come back again
I've heard you talk
She's crazy to stay
But this love hurts me so
I don't care what you say
Perhaps the best song on the album is her cover of the Eagles’ “Desperado.”
Desperado, why don't you come to your senses?
You been out ridin’ fences for so long now
Oh, you're a hard one but I know that you got your reasons
These things that are pleasin' you have hurt you somehow . . .
Well it seems to me, some fine things
Have been laid upon your table
But you only want the things that you can't get . . .
Your prison is walkin' through this world all alone
Don't your feet get cold in the winter time?
The sky won't snow and the sun won't shine
It's hard to tell the night time from the day
You're losin' all your highs and lows
Ain't it funny how the feelin' goes away?
Desperado, why don't you come to your senses?
Come down from your fences, open the gate
It may be rainin' but there's a rainbow above you
You better let somebody love you
Let somebody love you
You better let somebody love you before it's too late
The Eagles’ version is excellent, but the song seems more poignant sung by a woman, especially by Ronstadt. She belts out the stanza starting with “Don’t your feet get cold in the wintertime,” and “Let somebody love you” but sings others with a tender softness – like the first verse and the last line particularly, where “late” approaches a whisper. It has a nice piano accompaniment by Spooner Oldham and is enhanced with background singers Clydie King, Shirley Matthews, and Marti McCall in the last verse. The song stays with you long after it ends.
“Don’t Cry Now” is my favorite song on the album, a slow ballad that’s another J D Souther tune. The title seems to run counter to the spirit of much of what she sings, but there’s a lot of sensitivity and compassion with no judgment in the way she sings it.
If you've ever been taken for money
If you've ever gone down with your pride
If you've ever stood up for a good friend and lost
You know that the river is wide
Like a painter who waits for the sunrise
With a picture in both of his hands
It's like part of your life is already begun
With something that you don't understand
Don't cry now
Ohh, don't cry now
Don't cry now
No don't cry now
It feels like a hope rather than a prohibition. It’s accompanied by Spooner Oldham again on piano, the superb Larry Carlton on guitar, but Buddy Emmons on steel instead of Kleinow and Wendy Waldman singing nice harmony on the chorus.
Ronstadt favors songs full of heartbreak, but in interviews and in films about her she doesn’t come across as a sad-sack at all but rather as a frank straightshooter with a sharp sense of humor, something evident in her songs as well. Her humor and outspoken nature surface in the later “Poor, Poor Pitiful Me” and here in Randy Newman’s “Sail Away,” although it’s dark and satiric humor as Newman’s song has a slave trader trying to talk a young “little wog” African into going to America with transparently facetious promises of how good it will be. Ronstadt had done a Newman song on an earlier album, but it’s surprising to hear her take on such cutting satire. She’s backed by black backup singers King, Matthews, and McCall again.
In America you get food to eat
Don't have to run through the jungle and scuff up your feet
You just sing about Jesus and drink wine all day
It's great to be an American
Ain't no lions or tigers, ain't no mamba snake
Just a sweet watermelon and a buckwheat cake
Everybody is as happy as a man can be
So climb aboard little wog and sail away with me
Sail away (sail away), sail away (sail away)
We will cross the mighty ocean into Charleston Bay
Sail away (sail away), sail away (sail away)
We will cross the mighty ocean into Charleston Bay
In America every man is free
To take care of his home and his family
You'll be as happy as a monkey in a monkey tree
You're all gonna be an American (gonna be an American)
She does a great version of Rick Roberts’ “Colorado” (not to be confused with the Stephen Stills song of the same name) that aches with deeply felt regret and longing of someone who is deciding he made a mistake leaving for life on the road and wanting to go back home. It’s accompanied by nicely restrained electric guitar and equally gentle steel guitar by Kleinow that again sounds like a different instrument than a typical pedal steel guitar.
Hey, Colorado
It was not so long ago
I left your mountains
To try life on the road . . .
Colorado
Is it too late to change my mind
I've done some thinkin’
And I'm trying hard to find
A way to come back home
'Cause I've been so very long alone
Won't you take care of your own?
Colorado
I think I'm comin’ home
I also love the Booker T Jones and Bill Williams song “Everybody Loves a Winner,” another slow heartbreak song with nice horn accompaniment as well as electric and steel guitar by Richard Bowden and Ed Black. “Everybody loves a winner/But when you lose, you lose alone.” She finishes with Neil Young’s “I Believe in You,” with lyrics describing a puzzling relationship –
Now that you find yourself losing your mind
Are you here again?
Finding that what you once thought was real
Is gone and changing
Now that you made yourself love me
Do you think I can change it in a day?
How can I place you above me
Am I lying to you when I say
That I believe in you
Oh, oh, oh I believe in you
Don’t Cry Now was followed by Heart Like a Wheel, which Ronstadt said was the first album that was made the way she wanted, working with the first producer, Peter Asher, who she didn’t have a relationship with and the first she felt treated her like an equal. She was a singer with definite ideas about what she wanted and forceful about stating them, but it wasn’t until Heart Like a Wheel that she felt like she fully got what she wanted. It produced her biggest hit ever, “You’re No Good,” which rose to #1 on Billboard’s Top 100 Singles chart. It’s a statement song, giving notice that the singer is not just some chick hanging on to a bad relationship until the man leaves her heartbroken. The strident guitar solo is by Andrew Gold, a multi-instrumentalist who also plays piano, drums, and percussion on the song. He would go on to play extensively on two more of her albums.
Feeling better, now that we're through
Feeling better 'cause I'm over you
I learned my lesson, it left a scar
Now I see how you really are
You're no good
You're no good
You're no good
Baby, you're no good
The other hit from the album is Anna McGarrigle’s vulnerable “Heart Like a Wheel,” a perfect song for her expressive and powerful voice. But the volume on the piano and strings doesn’t let her voice really carry the song the way it should. Anna and Kate McGarrigle’s version on their eponymous first album is better, with a simple and slow banjo accompaniment and Anna’s singing is full of vulnerability. But Ronstadt’s singing is pure, backed by Maria Muldaur.
Some say the heart is just like a wheel
When you bend it you can't mend it
But my love for you is like a sinking ship
And my heart is on that ship out in mid-ocean
When harm is done no love can be won
I know it happens frequently
What I can't understand oh please God hold my hand
Why it had to happen to me
“Faithless Love” is another J D Souther song, accompanied by a simple banjo played by Herb Peterson, piano by Gold, and harmony by Souther on the chorus.
Faithless love like a river flows
Raindrops falling on a broken rose
Down in some valley where nobody goes
And the night blows in
Like the cold dark wind
Faithless love like a river flows
Faithless love where did I go wrong
Was it telling stories in a heartbreak song
Where nobody's right and nobody’s wrong
Faithless love will find you
And the misery entwine you
Faithless love where did I go wrong
The title is perplexing – if “nobody’s right and nobody’s wrong,” what does “faithless” mean? Maybe he’s saying that love is faithless rather than the lover. Ronstadt’s singing has the power and emotion of the best songs on Don’t Cry Now. “Dark End of the Street” has powerful singing as well, and an electric guitar sounding like it’s careening out of control, like the guitar itself is drunk – reminiscent of the Flying Burrito Brothers’ Gilded Palace of Sin album.
One of the treats of the album is her cover of the Everly Brothers’ “When Will I Be Loved,” with a driving drumbeat by Russ Kunkel and great guitar by Gold. It’s a fast-paced, infectious rocker that lingers in your head. She also does a surprisingly convincing job on Lowell George’s “Willin,” about a trucker hauling whatever back and forth from Mexico even though no one would imagine her in that role. She sings it with gusto and conviction.
I been warped by the rain, driven by the snow
I'm drunk and dirty, don't you know
But I'm still willin'
Out on the road late last night
I'd see my pretty Alice in every headlight
Alice, Dallas Alice
And I've been from Tucson to Tucumcari
Tehachapi to Tonopah
Driven every kind of rig that's ever been made
Driven the back roads so I wouldn't get weighed
And if you give me weed, whites and wine
And you show me a sign
And I'll be willin' to be movin'
Hank Williams’ “I Can’t Help It If I’m Still In Love with You” is done as pure country with traditional county steel guitar by Sneaky Pete and harmony by Emmylou Harris. She ends with James Taylor’s “You Can Close Your Eyes” and a mournful ballad by Paul Craft, “Keep Me from Blowing Away,” a tender and gentle plea backed by different musicians.
But soon all the good times, the gay times and play times
Like colors run together and fade
Oh Lord if you hear me, touch me and hold me
And keep me from blowing away
Well there's times when I trembled
When my mind remembered
The days that just crumbled away
With nothing to show but these lines that I know
Are beginning to show in my face
Oh Lord if you're listening, you know I'm no Christian
And I ain't got much coming to me
So send down some sunshine, throw out your lifeline
And keep me from blowing away
Oh lord if you hear me, touch me and hold me
And keep me from blowing away
Prisoner in Disguise is a beautiful album that starts off with Neil Young’s “Love Is a Rose,” a catchy tune and engaging piece of philosophy with banjo by Herb Peterson, David Lindley on fiddle, plus harmonica and hand claps. I always like hearing this upbeat song. It’s a country tune, but with a strong beat that makes it rock. Kenny Edwards, her old partner from the Stone Poneys, plays bass on most of the songs on Heart Like a Wheel and this album.
Love is a rose but you better not pick it
It only grows when it's on the vine
Handful of thorns and you'll know you've missed it
Lose your love when you say the word mine
I wanna see what's never been seen
I wanna live that age-old dream
Come on, boy, let's go together
Let's take the best right now
Take the best right now
It's followed by James Taylor’s “Hey Mister That’s Me Up on the Jukebox,” which is also a favorite for me, though any listener would have their own preferences.
Hey mister that's me up on the jukebox
I'm the one singing this sad song
And I cry every time that you slip in one more dime
And play me singing the sad one, one more time
Southern California, that's as blue as a girl can be
Blue as the deep blue sea, won't you listen to me now?
I need your golden gated cities like a hole in my head
Just like a hole in my head, I'm free
The album has a wonderful cover of Smokey Robinson’s “Tracks of My Tears,” sung with power and conviction about the heartbreak of a lover hiding under a smiling face.
People say I'm the life of the party
'Cause I tell a joke or two
Although I might be laughing loud and hearty
Deep inside I'm blue
So take a good look at my face
You know my smile looks out of place
If you look closer it's easy to trace
The tracks of my tears
The standout song on the album is the title song, “Prisoner in Disguise,” a slow ballad which rivals any of her best songs – “Desperado,” “Don’t Cry Now,” “I Can Almost See It,” “I Won’t Be Hangin’ Round,” “Keep Me from Blowing Away,” and “Birds.”
You think the love you never had might save you
But true love takes a little time
You can touch it with your fingers
And try to believe your eyes
Is it love or lies?
And so you're keeping your distance
A little bit of room around you
But if he doesn't return your call on time
Oh my my, you just act like a fool on a holiday
There's nothing that you wouldn't try
You must be a prisoner in disguise
Well this night life is my life
But there's no one else in it
And sometimes those lonesome breezes blow
But it's no show so you might as well go
If you think you could win it
Without losing and letting it show . . .
You must be a prisoner
You look just like a prisoner
Well you must be a prisoner in disguise
She sings it with a voice that absolutely soars but stays tender at the same time, especially on the last two lines, sung beautifully and quietly with J D Souther. The simple accompaniment includes piano, woodwinds, and strings. It’s as good as anything she’s done. It’s followed by the all-out Motown rocker “Heat Wave,” which she belts out at high speed that dispels any doubt about her ability to sing great rock and roll. Andrew Gold plays every instrument except bass.
“Many Rivers to Cross,” a slow reggae ballad by Jimmy Cliff, covered by many other musicians, is a big change of pace and genre shift, with Gold playing multiple instruments.
Many rivers to cross
But I can't seem to find my way over
Wandering I am lost
As I travel along white cliffs of Dover
And this loneliness won't leave me alone
It's such a drag to be on your own
My baby left me and he didn't say why
Well, I guess I'll have to try
She would go on to record three more good albums in much the same vein with a remarkable versatility and breadth of song selection: a big hit with Roy Orbison’s “Blue Bayou,” Willie Nelson’s “Crazy,” an excellent cover of my favorite Ry Cooder song “Tattler,” the Rolling Stones’ “Tumbling Dice,” Buddy Holly’s “That’ll Be the Day,” Warren Zevon’s comic “Poor Poor Pitiful Me,” the traditional cowboy song “Old Paint,” Oscar Hammerstein’s “When I Grow Too Old to Dream,” Chuck Berry’s “Back in the USA,” and even a 7 ½ minute version of Bob Dylan’s “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues.”
She took a huge risk with her career that she was advised against by her record company in enticing Frank Sinatra’s most successful bandleader Nelson Riddle out of retirement to record an “unorthodox and original” Great American Songbook album of songs from the 20s to 40s to much critical acclaim. What’s New was so successful she recorded two more, Lush Life, and For Sentimental Reasons. Time magazine called it "one of the gutsiest, most . . . unexpected albums of the year." As a result, she‘s been credited for reviving the Great American Songbook jazz tradition in American pop music, prompting similar albums by many, including Bob Dylan and Boz Scaggs. What’s New spent 81 weeks on the Billboard Album Chart and held the #3 spot for a month-and-a-half behind Michael Jackson’s Thriller and Lionel Ritchie’s Can’t Slow Down.
That was perhaps the most risky career move she’s made, but she also proceeded to record an album of Mexican corrido numbers (Canciones de Mi Padre – songs of my father) that became a huge bestseller in Spanish-speaking countries and the bestselling non-English language album in American history at two million copies, and a jazz bum titled Hummin’ to Myself that reached #2 on the Billboard’s Top Jazz Albums Chart and sold 75,000 copies, and forays into classical music, including La Boheme for Joseph Papp. And she played a lead role in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance opposite Kevin Kline on both Broadway and in the movie version, winning Tony and Golden Globe nominations for both. She was nominated for 28 Grammy Awards and won 12. Ronstadt's last known live Grammy Award appearance was in 1990 when she and Aaron Neville performed "Don't Know Much" together on the telecast. "Whenever I sing with a different artist, I can get things out of my voice that I can't do by myself.”
These unusual forays into types of music other than country rock were not out of the blue. She has said that she grew up listening to all these kinds of music in her home as a child, including her mother’s Gilbert and Sullivan records and her father’s singing Mexican corridos. She has been critically and commercially successful with everything she’s done except for opera. But opera has influenced her – “I learn more . . . about singing rock n roll from listening to Maria Callas records than I ever would from listening to pop music for a month of Sundays . . . She's the greatest [female] singer ever." She has also said all female singers “have to curtsy to Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday." She’s not a songwriter, having written only three songs, but the breadth of her repertoire and genre mastery surpasses even Dylan’s and anyone I know of in the last century – no one I can think of comes close.
I think I bought Jackson Browne’s self-titled first album on an endorsement I read from David Crosby. It had several good songs on it but I never played it very much. Later I came across his second album, For Everyman, with the Eagles hit song “Take It Easy” listed as the first song on the album and a lot of good musicians listed in the credits on the back cover. So I bought it and discovered what is one of my all-time favorite albums. I still love to hear it. I still like the Eagles version of “Take It Easy” a little better, but there’s not much difference between it and Browne’s version except for the Eagles’ stunning first chord. Browne’s has a great electric guitar by David Lindley, a multi-instrumentalist who plays guitar on every song except one where he plays electric fiddle. Sneaky Pete Kleinow plays a wonderful pedal steel accompaniment.
. . . It’s a girl, my lord, in a flatbed Ford
Slowin’ down to have a look at me . . .
We may lose, and we may win
But we will never be here again
So open up, I’m climbin’ in
To take it easy
The song winds down with a slower beat and segues into “Our Lady of the Well” without stopping, as if they recorded it that way, which they may have. It’s a soothing ballad, an ode to people living a bucolic life with nice acoustic guitars by Lindley and Browne and Kleinow’s pedal steel background that’s more like a restrained violin. Words flow out of Browne like the Mississippi in the summer sun as if they naturally fit together with no effort to twist a line to rhyme. I have no idea how songwriters do that, but Browne and Steve Goodman do it best.
It is a dance we do in silence
Far below this morning sun
You in your life, me in mine
We have begun
Here we stand and without speaking
Draw the water from the well
And stare beyond the plains
To where the mountains lie so still
But it's a long way that I have come
Across the sand to find this peace among your people in the sun
Where the families work the land as they have always done
Oh it's so far the other way my country's gone
Across my home has grown the shadow
Of a cruel and senseless hand
Though in some strong hearts
The love and truth remain
And it has taken me this distance
And a woman's smile to learn
That my heart remains among them
And to them I must return
If you come to me Maria
I will show you what I’ve done
It’s a picture for our lady of the well
“I Thought I Was a Child” is a wonderful song with intriguing lyrics describing an encounter with a woman who changes the singer’s awareness and perception of himself. It has a gorgeous piano accompaniment by Bill Payne from Little Feat.
I thought I was a child
Until you turned and smiled
I thought I knew where I was going
Until I heard your laughter flowing
And came upon the wisdom in your eyes
Surprise
I’ve spent my whole life running round
Chasing songs from town to town
Thinking I’d be free so long
As I never let love slow me down
So lonely and so wild
Until you turned and smiled
By now I should have long been gone
But here I am still looking on
As if I didn’t know which way to run . . .
I thought that I was free
But I’m just one more prisoner of time
Alone within the boundaries of my mind
The last three lines are such an arresting image. Yes, he’s free, but “Alone within the boundaries of my mind” feels like a humbling bit of truth as well. “These Days” is such a powerful song, also expressing humbling truths that Browne expresses so poignantly. It has a deeply soulful slide guitar by David Lindley that penetrates straight to your heart.
. . . These days I seem to think a lot
About the things that I forgot to do
For you
And all the times I had the chance to
Now if I seem to be afraid
To live the life I have made in song
Well it's just that I've been losing so long . . .
Don't confront me with my failures
I had not forgotten them
It captures regret and the fear of risk that are touchstones of human experience for many people. “Redneck Friend” is about risk as well, a speedy rocker with another great slide guitar by Lindley, but upbeat this time, in this case asking a young girl if she’s going to risk claiming her freedom. Well-known session drummer Jim Keltner provides a solid and energetic drumbeat.
. . . They’re teachin’ you how to walk
But you’re already on the run . . .
Little one, come on and take my hand
Well I may not have the answer
But I believe I got a plan
Honey you shake, I’ll rattle
And we can roll on down the line
See if we can’t get in touch
With a very close friend of mine . . .
It ain’t like him to argue or pretend
Honey let me introduce you
To my redneck friend
Well they got a little list of all the things
Of which they don’t approve
Well they gotta keep their eyes on you
You might make your move
Little one, I really wish you would
Little one, I think the damage’d do you good
“Ready or Not” tells a story about a man getting his live-in lover pregnant and both of them coming to terms with that. “The next thing I remember she was all moved in/And I was buyin’ her a washing machine” – what an image of everyday humanity that is!
. . . I punched that unemployed actor
Defending her dignity
He stood up and knocked me through that barroom door
And that girl came home with me
Now baby's feeling funny in the morning
She says she's got a lot on her mind
Nature didn't give her any warning
Now she's gonna have to leave her wild ways behind
She says she doesn't care if she never spends
Another night running loose on the town
She's gonna be a mother
Take a look in my eyes and tell me brother
If I look like I'm ready
“For Everyman” is the standout song on the album. The six-minute song segues seamlessly from “Sing My Songs to Me” with a somewhat muffled drum roll that catches your attention and heightens expectation. It chronicles the state of mind after the waning of flower power and the rise of the Watergate mess, with the hope of finding a better way of life. What Browne means by “waiting for Everyman” isn’t clear. According to Wikipedia, “The everyman is a stock character of fiction. An ordinary and humble character, the everyman is generally a protagonist whose benign conduct fosters the audience's identification with them.” My impression was that Browne’s waiting for Everyman was perhaps an expression of hope that his songs will touch on something universal in all of us, which most writers are trying to do.
Everybody I talk to is ready to leave
With the light of the morning
They've seen the end coming down long enough to believe
That they've heard their last warning
Standing alone, each has his own ticket in his hand
As the evening descends
I sit thinking about Everyman
Seems like I've always been looking for some other place
To get it together
Where with a few of my friends I could give up the race
And maybe find something better
But all my fine dreams
Well thought out schemes to gain the motherland
Have all eventually come down to waiting for Everyman
Waiting here for Everyman
Make it on your own if you think you can
If you see somewhere to go I understand
Waiting here for Everyman
Don't ask me if he'll show – baby I don't know
Make it on your own if you think you can
Somewhere later on you'll have to take a stand
Then you're going to need a hand
Everybody's just waiting to hear from the one
Who can give them the answer
And lead them back to that place in the warmth of the sun
Where sweet childhood still dances
Who'll come along
And hold out that strong and gentle father's hand? . . .
I'm not trying to tell you that I've seen the plan
Turn and walk away if you think I am
But don't think too badly of one who's left holding sand
He's just another dreamer, dreaming about Everyman
It’s not an optimistic view but one that’s ultimately hopeful. It’s a wonderful melody backed by Lindley’s mellow and expressive electric guitar and organ by Mike Utley. It expresses an outlook that always feels very comforting to me and embodies the way I’d like to approach life – skeptical and not naïve but hopeful. It ends with a quiet acoustic guitar leading into an extended drum roll that again stirs your blood, followed by a fadeout on electric guitar.
Browne’s followup album Late for the Sky is so good it’s hard to say whether it or For Everyman is better, although I play the latter more often. The title song describes the disintegration of a relationship with unsparing and realistic language. Browne’s songs about love always sound so personal, it’s hard to know how autobiographical they are. The song’s accompanied by David Lindley’s aching guitar that embodies the sadness of the song. There are so many good lines in the song. The poetry in “Looking hard into your eyes/There was nobody I'd ever known/Such an empty surprise to feel so alone” is deeply poignant and strikes your heart like an arrow. What a disorienting and unsettling shock that would be! I also love the lines ”You never knew what I loved in you/I don't know what you loved in me/Maybe the picture of somebody you were hoping I might be”. I suspect many of us fall in love with the person we hope our lover might be rather than seeing clearly who they are. His lyrics flow with such poetic grace. The last three lines describe how many people try to mold themselves into the person their lover wants instead of being true to themselves.
Now the words had all been spoken
And somehow the feeling still wasn't right
And still we continued on through the night
Tracing our steps from the beginning
Until they vanished into the air
Trying to understand how our lives has led us there
Looking hard into your eyes
There was nobody I'd ever known
Such an empty surprise to feel so alone . . .
You never knew what I loved in you
I don't know what you loved in me
Maybe the picture of somebody you were hoping I might be
Awake again I can't pretend and I know I'm alone
And close to the end of the feeling we've known
How long have I been sleeping
How long have I been drifting alone through the night
How long have I been dreaming I could make it right
If I closed my eyes and tried with all my might
To be the one you need
“Fountain of Sorrow” is the song on the album I most enjoy listening to, either Browne's version or Joan Baez's. Led by an infectious piano by Jai Winding and a pulsing drumbeat by Larry Zack, it’s an irresistible song with a quiet slowdown towards the end, only to come back strong to a rousing finish. I love listening to the rhythm of this song. “And while the future’s there for anyone to change/Still you know it seems/It would be easier sometimes to change the past” is a wonderful description of the tendency to remember our past the way we would like it to be rather than the way it was. The words flow as if they roll effortlessly out of his mind. His lines vary in length and meter but still seem to flow with an uncanny smoothness as if he thinks naturally in rhyme and rhythm.
Looking through some photographs I found inside a drawer
I was taken by a photograph of you
There were one or two I know that you
Would have liked a little more
But they didn’t show your spirit quite as true
You were turning round to see who was behind you
And I took your childish laughter by surprise
And at the moment that my camera happened to find you
There was just a trace of sorrow in your eyes
Now the things that I remember seem so distant and so small
Though it really hasn’t been that long a time
What I was seeing wasn’t what was happening at all
Although for a while our paths did seem to climb . . .
Now for you and me, it may not be that hard to reach our dreams
But that magic feeling never seems to last
And while the future’s there for anyone to change
Still you know it seems
It would be easier sometimes to change the past
I’m just one or two years and a couple of changes behind you
In my lessons at love's pain and heartache school
Where if you feel too free and you need something to remind you
There’s this loneliness springing up from your life
Like a fountain from a pool . . .
Fountain of sorrow, fountain of light
You’ve known that hollow sound of your own steps in flight
You’ve had to struggle, you’ve had to fight
To keep understanding and compassion in sight
You could be laughing at me, you’ve got the right
But you go on smiling, so clear and so bright
And it’s good to see your smiling face tonight
“For a Dancer” is a lovely song with unusual rhythm and meter changes and a wonderful melody. It sounds like an older person imparting wisdom and encouragement to someone he loved but lost. Browne was only 25 years old at the time, but his lyrics on these early albums seem to contain wisdom beyond his years. He was someone who a friend of mine would have called an “old soul”. The song carries a hopeful and compassionate message. I love the lines “Just do the steps that you’ve been shown/By everyone you’ve ever known/Until the dance becomes your very own”. . . /And somewhere between the time you arrive/And the time you go/May lie a reason you were alive/That you’ll never know”. "In the end there is one dance you'll do alone" is a mature perspective for someone a mere 25 years old.
Keep a fire burning in your eyes.
Pay attention to the open skies
You never know what will be coming down
I don’t remember losing track of you,
You were always dancing in and out of view
I must have thought you’d always be around
Always keeping things real by playing the clown
Now you’re nowhere to be found
I don’t know what happens when people die
Can’t seem to grasp it as hard as I try
It’s like a song I can hear playing right in my ear
That I can’t sing
But I can’t help listening . . .
Just do the steps that you’ve been shown
By everyone you’ve ever known
Until the dance becomes your very own.
No matter how close to yours another’s steps have grown
In the end there is one dance you’ll do alone . . .
Don’t let the uncertainty turn you around.
The world keeps turning around
Go on and make a joyful sound
Into a dancer you have grown
From a seed somebody else has thrown
Go on ahead and throw some seeds of your own
And somewhere between the time you arrive
And the time you go
May lie a reason you were alive
That you’ll never know.
“The Late Show” is a lament describing a history of looking for love and failing to communicate and connect, with a lovely melody and gorgeous guitar again by Lindley. It ends with
Look, it’s like you’re standing in the window
Of a house nobody lives in
And I’m sitting in a car across the way
Let’s just say
An early model Chevrolet
Let’s just say
A warm and windy day
You go and pack your sorrow
Trash man comes tomorrow
Leave it at the curb and we’ll just roll away
Browne is the humble self-confessed stumbler through life in many of his songs. In “Farther On” he sings “I’m not sure what I’m trying to say/It could be I’ve lost my way”. But he’s not always full of lamentation, as shown by “Redneck Friend” and “Ready or Not” on For Everyman, as well as “The Road and the Sky” on this album. In “Walking Slow” he’s happy without having a reason, like Dan Millman’s “peaceful warrior”:
Walking slow down the avenue
In my old neighborhood
I don’t know why I’m happy
I got no reason to feel this good.
The album ends with “Before the Deluge”, a sort of semi-apocalyptic description of what's anticipated in “For Everyman”. It has the same broader perspective that takes in all of humanity, or at least the 70s counterculture, instead of the focus on personal relationships as in most of his songs. It’s a big song, an anthem for those who tried to imagine and build a better world, finally to be defeated and swept up in the tide of history. It’s accompanied beautifully by Lindley’s fiddle playing and Jai Winding’s organ that give it a spiritual overtone that’s almost churchlike.
Some of them were dreamers
And some of them were fools
They were making plans and thinking of the future
With the energy of the innocent
They were gathering the tools
They would need to make their journey back to nature
While the sand slipped through the opening
And their hands reached for the golden ring
With their hearts they turned to each other's hearts for refuge
In the troubled years that came before the deluge
Some of them knew pleasure
And some of them knew pain
And for some of them it was only the moment that mattered
And on the brave and crazy wings of youth
They went flying around in the rain
And their feathers, once so fine, grew torn and tattered
And in the end they traded their tired wings
For the resignation that living brings
And exchanged love's bright and fragile glow
For the glitter and the rouge
And in the moment they were swept before the deluge
Let the music keep our spirits high
Let the buildings keep our children dry
Let creation reveal its secrets by and by
By and by, by and by . . .
When the light that's lost within us reaches the sky
Some of them were angry
At the way the earth was abused
By the men who learned how to forge her beauty into power
And they struggled to protect her from them
Only to be confused
By the magnitude of her fury in the final hour
And when the sand was gone and the time arrived
In the naked dawn only a few survived
And in attempts to understand a thing so simple and so huge
Believed that they were meant to live after the deluge . . .
While the sand slipped through the opening
And their hands reached for the golden ring
With their hearts they turned to each other’s hearts for refuge
In the troubled years that came before the deluge
The Pretender was a more personal album that grew out of his wife's death, which sold well and had hits with the title song and “Here Come Those Tears Again”. Running on Empty was a bigger album hit with the high-energy title song and “The Load Out/Stay” being a hit single. In the latter he paid tribute to the roadies who travel with him to set up and take down the amps and other stage equipment while he asks them to come for his piano last because well after the concert’s over he still wants to keep playing – then he launches into the old rock and roll hit “Stay” as if he doesn’t want the euphoria of playing music for an audience to end, even though the concert hall has probably cleared out. It's like he’s still playing for his roadie crew while they tear everything down, pack it up and haul it away. His next two albums, Hold Out and Lawyers in Love did well commercially, but even though I bought them I didn’t listen to them much. He’s continued to release albums and has had some critical and commercial success with a number of them.
Browne also has a long history of political activism and benefit concerts as well as collaborations with other singer/songwriters including Crosby, Stills and Nash, Bonnie Raitt, Jennifer Warnes, Ray Davies of The Kinks – and Roger Daltry in a benefit production of The Wizard of Oz in which he played the Scarecrow. He's a sane and stable example in an arena where that's rare, and an paragon of social responsibility that's inspiring. “Our Lady of the Well”, “I Thought I was a Child”, “Ready or Not”, “These Days”, “For Everyman”, "Late for the Sky", “The Late Show”, “For a Dancer”, “Fountain of Sorrow” and “Before the Deluge” spontaneously start to run through my head often. For Everyman, Late for the Sky and The Pretender were picked by Rolling Stone as among the 500 best albums of all time. He sings with heart, and he’s another one of those musicians who’s continued to be creative for over fifty years, someone I still listen to with pleasure after that long. And like Steve Goodman, he’s someone who often voices what I feel and think.
