Jackson Browne

Aug. 12, 2010

Dear Leslie,

Jackson Browne was one of the singer/songwriter heroes of the '70s who never stopped making albums, even when he burned out. At the end of the '70s, his album "Running on Empty" described that willingness to keep on going though the rock 'n' roll- and LSD-powered revolution of the '60s had descended into a parody of disco and cocaine.

Browne is a man of heart and soul who can express love for a woman and for humanity in the same sentence. His voice is Southern Californian, from nowhere and everywhere at the same time. His sentiments are universal: "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."

His humanity translated into progressive political stances that opposed nuclear energy, cultural imperialism and equating nationalism with patriotism. His lyrics are intelligent and poetic, but his heart has always shone through.

Browne's discography contains songs many of my generation identified with at different stages of our lives. Feeling lost, for instance.

In "For Everyman" he sings: "Everybody's just waiting to hear from the one/Who can give them the answers/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? /Long ago I heard someone say something 'bout Everyman."

Being puzzled by the heart: "Such an empty surprise to feel so alone," he sings in "Late for the Sky." "True love could have been a contender" is the rejoinder in "The Pretender."

Anger at lies that justify war: "And there are lives in the balance/ There are people under fire/There are children at the cannons/And there is blood on the wire."

Most of us have a personal history playlist, songs or whole albums that saw us through soul-shaking times or that reminded us the good love can do. My own No. 1 was Neil Young's "Comes a Time," an album I wore out after taking off alone to the California redwoods decades ago. "Oh, this old world/keeps spinning round/It's a wonder tall trees ain't layin' down/There comes a time."

DC barely knew who Jackson Browne was, but she was game to see him perform in St. Louis earlier this week. Our friends Charlie and Gail were there, too.

We all enjoyed his sidekick David Lindley, a polyester-shirted shaman who can bring any stringed instrument to life. DC instantly fell in love with Browne's "Too Many Angels," an intricately composed heart-stopper.

At the Fox Theatre we were surrounded by people mostly our own age, people who had survived the emotional and political tumult Browne has sung about for the past 40 years. It takes a lot to get people in their 50s and 60s out of their seats, but the audience jumped up en masse when he played the first thrumming notes of "Doctor My Eyes," Browne's first hit. "I have done all that I could/to see the evil and the good without hiding," he sang.

Part of Jackson Browne's genius was to know at a young age that to survive and thrive as a people and as a human demands no less.

Love, Sam

Sam Blackwell is a former reporter for the Southeast Missourian.