Jackson Browne

Background

Clyde Jackson Browne was born in Heidelberg, Germany, on October 9, 1948, when his father, American serviceman Clyde Jack Browne, was stationed for his employment assignment with the “StarsandStripes” newspaper. Browne’s mother, Beatrice Amanda, was a Norwegian immigrant from Minnesota. Browne’s siblings are Roberta “Berbie” Browne, Edward Severin Browne, and his younger sister, Gracie Browne, who was born a few years later. Browne and his family moved to his grandfather’s house, Abbey San Encino, in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, when he was three years old. He began performing folk songs at local places such as the Ash Grove and The Troubadour Club while he was in his teens. Browne graduated in 1966 from Sunny Hills High School in Fullerton, California.

Browne joined the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band after graduation in 1966, performing at the Golden Bear nightclub as an opener for The Lovin’ Spoonful. The band subsequently covered Browne’s first songs ‘These Days,’ ‘Holding,’ and ‘Shadow Dream Song.’ Browne left the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band after a few months and relocated to Greenwich Village, New York, where he worked as a staff writer for Elektra Records’ publishing house, Nina Music, before turning 18. Browne signed with David Geffen’s Asylum Records in 1971 and released his self-titled album “Jackson Browne” in 1972, which featured the piano-driven ‘Doctor My Eyes,’ which reached the Top 10 on the U.S. singles list. In 1973, he released “For Everyman,” which was less popular than his debut album but still sold a million copies. Browne was accompanied on tour in 1975 by his wife Phyllis and their one-year-old son Ethan, as well as keyboardist Wayne Cook. Browne shared the stage with the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, Toots, and the Maytals in the autumn of 1975. Browne regularly played at benefit concerts for organizations he supported throughout the 1980s, including Farm Aid, Amnesty International, Nicaragua’s post-Somoza revolution, and the Christic Institute. Steven Van Zandt’s ‘I Am a Patriot,’ which he has played at countless performances, is covered on the album “World in Motion,” published in 1989.

Browne returned in 1993 with “I’m Alive,” a highly lauded album with a more intimate sound, four years after his last album. The album’s ninth track, ‘Sky Blue and Black,’ was included in the pilot episode of the sitcom “Friends.” Browne and Kathy Mattea collaborated on the AIDS charity album “Red Hot + Country” published by the Red Hot Organization in 1994, contributing the song ‘Rock Me on the Water.’ He appeared in “The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True” at Lincoln Center in 1995, a musical production of the iconic story to support the Children’s Defense Fund. Browne got inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004 and he played at a fundraiser for Democratic politicians in Ohio with Michael Stanley and J. D. Souther in late 2006. He collaborated with Ray Davies on the album “See My Friends” in 2010 and recorded a rendition of ‘Waterloo Sunset’ with him. Browne and David Lindley performed “Love Is Strange: En Vivo Con Tino” which won the Best Live Performance Album category at the 10th Annual Independent Music Awards in January 2011. Browne released his 14th studio album, “Standing in the Breach,” on October 7, 2014. Browne and the Eagles then played ‘Take It Easy’ at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards on February 15, 2016, in memory of Glenn Frey, who had died the month before. Browne released ‘A Little Soon to Say’ as the first song from his then-untitled 15th album in March 2020 and the following month, he released ‘Downhill from Everywhere,’ the album’s title tune. Browne teamed with singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers on a new version of her song ‘Kyoto,’ which was released exclusively on Spotify in March 2021. “Downhill from Everywhere,” Browne’s 15th studio album, was released on July 23, 2021, through Inside Recordings.