ROCK AND ROLL MUSIC – LIVE
Jan & Dean

I know, Chuck Berry wrote it, the Beach Boys ultimately did a more famous cover, but the rendition I always think of is from Jan & Dean’s 1965 live album, “Command Performance,” from back before “Sgt. Pepper” made albums a statement and I purchased long players primarily for the value proposition. “Command Performance” had “The Little Old Lady From Pasadena” and “Theme From The T.A.M.I. Show,” at which they were the hosts, as well as “Surf City,” “Sidewalk Surfin’,” “Dead Man’s Curve” and this.

ROCK ‘N’ ROLL-live
Lou Reed

When they list the best live albums of all time, “Rock ‘n’ Roll Animal” is never on it, but it should be. From the opening, triumphant notes of the intro to “Sweet Jane” to the final flourish of “Rock ‘N’ Roll,” “Rock ‘n’ Roll Animal” is a masterpiece, it cemented Lou Reed’s reputation as a rocker, and this ten plus minute iteration shows that you can rock and swing all at the same time.

ROCK & ROLL
The Velvet Underground

From the album “Loaded,” which was a complete stiff upon release, this is the original take, almost half a decade before.

ROCK AND ROLL
Led Zeppelin

It’s been a long time since I rock and rolled

Truly was. Rock history has been rewritten, “Led Zeppelin III” is seen as a left field masterpiece, that people always loved. Hogwash. It was a step back from what had come before, a true disappointment after “II,” sure it had “Gallows Pole” and “Tangerine” and “That’s The Way” and by today’s standards it’s stupendous, but back in 1970, “III” was a dud, the shine was gone, and then…

Came “IV.”

Call it “ZOSO,” call it whatever you want, but the truth is the band’s fourth LP came on like gangbusters and wouldn’t let go. This is as good as it gets, and today when so many think of rock and roll this Led Zeppelin cut goes through their brains…AND THAT’S A GOOD THING!

I WANNA ROCK
Twisted Sister

Turn it down you say
Well, all I gotta say to you is time and time again
I say no
NO, NO, NO!

The story of my life, if I had a dime for every time I was told to turn it down, I’d be rich. But rock is best when it’s played at full volume, when it drowns out everything else and evidences its power.

All these years later, Twisted Sister is remembered for “We’re Not Gonna Take It,” and I like it, but I prefer “I Wanna Rock.”

IT’S A LONG WAY TO THE TOP (IF YOU WANNA ROCK ‘N’ ROLL)
AC/DC

It most certainly is. Not only for players, but business people too.

It’s harder than it looks.

You might not get beat up, but it’s possible, music’s a game of intimidation, but you’re certainly gonna get robbed and stoned, not necessarily in that order.

People can’t handle the truth, but right here in rock’s most famous song with a bagpipe is a college course worth of information on the rock business. Heed it.

LET THERE BE ROCK
AC/DC

They put out a whole album with “rock” in the title. And they’ve been rockin’ hard ever since, with the same sound, to stadium-sized crowds. Sometimes you get it so right, it’s undeniable.

FOR THOSE ABOUT TO ROCK (WE SALUTE YOU)
AC/DC

Without you, we’re nothing, audience is everything, nobody likes to play in a vacuum, and when the cannons go off at an AC/DC show you feel triumphant.

But the truth is this album was a huge disappointment, cut with the legendary Mutt Lange, about the only thing memorable about it is the title track. This.

ROCK OF AGES
Def Leppard

We got something to say
It’s better to burn out
Than fade away

Rock has always been self-referential, it’s all about roots, just ask the Stones and the rest of the legendary English bands.

Like Def Leppard.

Some things never change, release infectious music that cannot be denied and you will go to the top of the chart, whether it be “Royals” in 2013, or “Pyromania” back in 1983. You only had to hear “Photograph” once, a curious concoction of riff and SoCal harmony, to swoon. But it wasn’t only about the single, but the whole album.

What do you want?
What do you want?
I want rock ‘n’ roll, yes I do
Long live rock ‘n’ roll

Amen.

LONG LIVE ROCK
The Who

Unknown and unheralded, this track did not see release until it was part of the 1974 compilation “Odds & Sods,” whose best track is “Naked Eye,” but this too is legendary.

Rock is dead they say
Long live rock

When anybody tells me rock is dead, this song plays in my brain.

ROCK AND ROLL DOCTOR
Little Feat

The band broke through with its 1974 album “Feats Don’t Fail Me Now” which featured Billy Payne’s “Oh, Atlanta,” but the LP opened with this.

Will Lowell George be remembered in the future?

All I know is those who were there, who were fans, will never forget him.

And this.

And so much more.

TRENCHTOWN ROCK – LIVE AT THE LYCEUM, LONDON
Bob Marley and the Wailers

One good thing about music
When it hits you feel no pain

Rock is a big tent, just ask the Hall of Fame, HA!

But too many midgets are getting in now, once upon a time giants traveled the globe, spreading their sound far and wide. And as big as Marley ended up being in America, he was even bigger worldwide, and his music and influence sustains.

This is my favorite Marley cut.

Hit me with music
Hit me with music now

ROCKIN’ AROUND (WITH YOU)
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

The opening cut from the very first album, where it wasn’t about heaviness so much as feel, a southern interpretation of rock and roll filtered through the ears of one Denny Cordell.

The urgency is palpable. And isn’t that what rock music is all about?

BABY’S A ROCK ‘N’ ROLLER
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

From the follow-up LP, “You’re Gonna Get It,” which was supposed to cement the band’s success, but that had to wait another album, still…

ROCK YOUR BABY
George McCrae

All these years later we’ve come to realize that disco is part of rock and roll, it’s not the enemy of the people, but the basis for so much of that infectious Prince Rogers Nelson music. But when this broke, back in ’74, we didn’t even know what disco was, never mind that it was coming. Unlike the Hues Corporation’s “Rock The Boat,” I never despised “Rock Your Baby,” but if I was little more than indifferent back then, I can attest to its magic today!

ROCK ME
Steppenwolf

Hit me with your best shot, grab me from the very first note, like Steppenwolf. To hear this and “Magic Carpet Ride” emanate from the radio was to believe that the youth had taken over the nation and was united in fun.

LAST OF THE ROCK STARS
Elliott Murphy

It gets in your blood, you can’t let it go. Elliott cut this song on his 1973 debut “Aquashow,” and he recut it this year in a deconstructed version. His life was saved by rock and roll. It’ll save yours too, if you just believe.

ROCK AND ROLL QUEEN
Mott The Hoople

And since we’re talking about people who’ve never given up, why not include Ian Hunter, from the act’s very first album, although the song was written by the band’s secret threat, ultimately hugely successful with Bad Company, Mick Ralphs.

ROCK STEADY
Bad Company

Written by Paul Rodgers, not Mick Ralphs, it’s nothing without Mick’s stinging guitar.

ROCK ‘N’ ROLL FANTASY
Bad Company

Ditto on this one.

If Bad Company had died in a plane crash, they’d be legends today. This is straightforward, straight ahead rock, no one did it better, and either you know that or you’ve got something waiting for you.

A ROCK ‘N’ ROLL FANTASY
The Kinks

The best song ever about being a rock fan, from the Kinks’ best seventies album, “Misfits.”

IT’S STILL ROCK AND ROLL TO ME
Billy Joel

From his wimpiest period, albeit successful, this was back before his rep was resuscitated and we realized how great he truly was.

DETROIT ROCK CITY
KISS

A joke back then, unless you were prepubescent, this was seen as substandard, but there’s no denying the urgency, and like a fine wine, it’s gotten better over years.

ROCK AND ROLL ALL NITE
KISS

A stiff in its studio iteration, this burned up the airwaves in its live rendition.

Always liked it, and I’m not ashamed to say it.

I’m still rock and rolling all nite… Hell, that’s when you can reach me!

ROCK ‘N’ ROLL STEW
Traffic

Written by Ric Grech and Jim Gordon, it opened side two of “The Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys” and was sung by Jim Capaldi.

ROCK’N ME
Steve Miller Band

When he was nearly forgotten, Steve Miller came back in ’75 with a wallop of an album that was playable throughout and was.

A three minute ditty with a sly Beach Boys reference, “Rock’n Me” was written by Miller and endures to this day, just ask all the people who pay to hear it live.

IT’S ONLY ROCK ‘N’ ROLL (BUT I LIKE IT)
The Rolling Stones

A curious situation, the title is more famous than the song, if it weren’t by the Stones it’d be completely forgotten. Ironically, the first side closer, “Time Waits For No One,” with a stratospheric Mick Taylor guitar solo, has been.

TOO OLD TO ROCK ‘N’ ROLL: TOO YOUNG TO DIE
Jethro Tull

Ditto, like the Stones above. Another song whose title is more famous than its underlying composition.

ROCK SHOW
Wings

At the Concertgebouw…huh? From McCartney’s third-best post-Beatles LP. Paul’s band today rocks, but so did this one, with Jimmy McCulloch and Denny Laine.

(WE’RE GONNA) ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK
Bill Haley & His Comets

From the “American Graffiti” soundtrack, from back when we needed films to resuscitate history, before it was at our fingertips online.

THE HEART OF ROCK & ROLL
Huey Lewis & The News

Never forget Mr. Lewis was in Clover, the band that backed up Elvis Costello on its debut, even if he wasn’t involved.

This band always had a sense of humor about themselves, they triumphed on Chrysalis and helped make that label a powerhouse. This is from “Sports,” and it’s not as good as the album’s killer, “I Want A New Drug,” but still…it holds up.

ROCK N ROLL JESUS
Kid Rock

Unlike his hero, Bob Seger, Mr. Ritchie has seen the light and put his songs on Spotify. This is the title track, the opening cut from his best post “Devil Without A Cause” LP.

JAILHOUSE ROCK
Elvis Presley

Half a century old, but somehow more dangerous than anything else on this playlist, it’s the simple instrumentation and the vocal delivery, like the only thing that matters is this, the music.

ROCK CANDY
Montrose

Heavy and headbanging, this was active rock before that format lost the plot.

ROCK THE NATION
Montrose

What the hell, another, from an unheralded band with a first class guitarist and a first class frontman.

THERE’S ONLY ONE WAY TO ROCK
Sammy Hagar

Where said frontman does it under his own moniker, and if not as good as the album’s opener, “I’ll Fall In Love Again,” it’s still pretty good.

ROCK ME AMADEUS
Falco

Like I said, rock’s a big tent, it even has room for a novelty track, like this!

ROCK ME
Great White

Known more for a pyrotechnic disaster than its music, this is one of the band’s building blocks, that got people out to see them.

I’M A ROCKER
Bruce Springsteen

He most certainly is.

I prefer the ballads to the upbeat tunes on “The River,” but this is undeniably a part of the Boss’s canon.

SHEENA IS A PUNK ROCKER
The Ramones

From the band’s best LP, their third, “Rocket To Russia.” Sure, I could have included “Rock ‘N’ Roll High School,” but I like this one better!

THE HOUSE IS ROCKIN’
Stevie Ray Vaughan

A tear.

My favorite Stevie Ray song is “Life By The Drop,” but this evidences his genius quite well, it’s pure rock and roll.

ROCK LOBSTER
B-52’s

Like nothing else. From back when originality counted. When everybody thought they could be in a band and was taking chances, most famously and successfully Devo and the B-52’s, built by KROQ before that station codified its playlist and went for its victory lap.

CROCODILE ROCK
Elton John

A huge smash from someone who never stopped being a fan.

ROCK BOTTOM
Kenny Chesney

From where rock lives today, Nashville. If you like big guitars and big riffs, this is where you should direct your attention.

ROCK & ROLL BAND
Boston

You might call it corporate, I call it genius, just listen to that guitar sound!

Every band struggles before it breaks through, because…it’s a long way to the top if you wanna rock and roll!

SO YOU WANT TO BE A ROCK ‘N’ ROLL STAR
The Byrds

Featuring McGuinn’s legendary sound, from back when he was Jim and not Roger and we listened to the records, bought instruments and wanted to be.

WE WILL ROCK YOU
Queen

Queen wasn’t always legendary.

They were always good, but they didn’t truly break through until their fourth LP, “A Night At The Opera.” And then they kept on deliverin’.

Until “Wayne’s World,” this was the band’s most famous song. And it still survives, in stadiums, everywhere there’s a need for a little rock music to energize the assembled multitude.

Freddie Mercury may be dead.

But his legend lives on.

As does his music.

Over and out.

Final Rhinofy – Rock & Roll

It was a religious experience.

Used to be it wasn’t a show, but a concert. You know, the kind your parents went to, where you sat down and let the music wash over you, let your mind drift into a special place you could not reach anywhere else.

Venues were temples. Places you went to connect and commune, recite the liturgy and be transformed. What you wore was irrelevant, it was about how you FELT!

And it was that way again Saturday night.

It should not have been this good, it shouldn’t have been this meaningful. It’s not like the Zombies have disappeared, or that their music is inaccessible. But indoors, as opposed to their last gig in L.A. on the Santa Monica Pier, the whole performance had gravitas. Everybody paid to get in. And when you’re playing to the faithful there’s an energy that’s palpable. The band feeds off the audience and vice versa.

And that’s what it’s supposed to be about.

It was Colin Blunstone’s voice that lifted the congregation. At age seventy most singers have lost a step, but when Colin held the notes in “I Love You” the assembled multitude levitated. This band came to play. The musicians might have been old, but this show was surprisingly sprightly.

As evidenced by the multiple new cuts the group played. Which were curiously satisfying.

But not what we came to hear.

We came for the hits. We came to be jetted back to a past when music ruled the world, when we were locked up in our bedrooms believing that if we just listened hard enough, our lives would change.

And they did. Because the tunes provided a way to communicate, a bond that brought us together.

Now the Zombies were there at the beginning, part of the British Invasion. And even they were anxious about their acceptance in America. Wet behind the ears, they felt inferior to the legends they shared the stage with at the Brooklyn Fox, at Murray the K’s Christmas spectacular.

But the band got accolades. And then they broke up. And their career was revived and their legend cemented when Al Kooper plucked “Odessey and Oracle” from the dustbin and midwived “Time Of The Season” into a hit.

And that was the linchpin of this event, a full rendition of that legendary album. With the original band. Sans Paul Atkinson of course, he’s deceased. But Hugh Grundy pounded the skins and Chris White picked the bass and it was like your high school reunion, only these were truly the cats.

Grundy was wearing a Neal Peart cap and playing with a studious joy. He needed to get it right, but you could tell he was thrilled to be on stage.

White looked like he’d just finished up at the insurance brokerage and watching him perform created cognitive dissonance. But once you’ve got the music in you, it’s there for all time.

But the original four only played the second set, “Odessey and Oracle.”

The first half was the new band, with Blunstone and Argent and Jim Rodford, the 74 year old wonder who anchored those midseventies Kinks records. That’s right, when arthritis has sidelined a generation, when television is more important than music, this guy from the Mother Country never gave up hope, he didn’t stop believing, he might not look like a modern rock star, but as he mouthed the words to the songs he didn’t even sing Rodford was an inspiration.

And those who were there will remember that Rodford also anchored Argent.

And the band played “Hold Your Head Up.” And Rod Argent told us that the song was cowritten by the bloke soon to take the stage, Chris White rescued the riff from obscurity, and if you were alive in ’72 you remember the track dominating the airwaves. And the chorus is memorable, but it’s that keyboard intro that satiates, and when I heard it Saturday night, that twinkle, I was brought right back to the New Raghadan Hotel in Jerusalem, where I listened to it as I tried to sleep in dirty sheets.

Six plus minutes long, “Hold Your Head Up” is an anthem. Like “Stairway To Heaven” and “Free Bird.” Part of the rock canon after we switched allegiance from AM to FM and music ruled the world.

“Odessey and Oracle” brought back memories. Sitting as the band played all the notes I was taken back to an era when music was about exploration, if you weren’t moving forward you would be forgotten. This was the Zombies’ opus, which ultimately fell flat, but back then our icons took risks. Hell, remember the Stones did “Satanic Majesties”!

And Rod and utility player Darian Sahanaja tickled the ivories of their respective Mellotrons, and the music drifted over me and I experienced what once was and will never be again.

An era when music enraptured an entire generation and untold riches rained down upon those involved. When you had to leave home to feel alive, when nothing was virtual and everything was tactile, when songs didn’t come and go, but lasted, forever.

Like “She’s Not There.”

Well no one told me about her
The way she lied
Well no one told me about her
How many people cried

It’s the alchemy of keyboard, bass and voice. Proving sound counts, yet simple can rule.

But it’s too late to say you’re sorry
How would I know, why should I care

And changes count.
And then comes the anthemic chorus, the personal that becomes universal.

Well let me tell you ’bout the way she looked
The way she acted, the color of her hair
Her voice was soft and cool
Her eyes were clear and bright
But she’s not there

Oh, pain. Love lost. Feeling sorry for yourself at the same time you feel taken advantage of, unable to see what was coming. We’ve all been there, it’s the nature of growing up, and our experience was encapsulated in song.

Sung by someone who didn’t need to prove he was better than us, who didn’t need to be richer than us, but just had to convey his pain, his anguish.

The difference between Saturday night’s show and those of yore was that Rod and Colin stopped the flow to tell the stories of their career, of the genesis and meaning of the songs. Used to be the acts were silent, too uptight to speak. There was a barrier between the acts and us, which left the bands on an unreachable pedestal.

Whereas Saturday night we were all in it together, there was little charisma, only wonder that we’d all been there.

But many were not. I was stunned how many fortysomethings were in attendance, who hadn’t even been born when the Zombies hit.

But that’s not only the power of music, but the power of darkness, the power of thought, the power of people. Today it’s all about the surface, we judge you by your looks, cash and job. The Zombies hearken back to when the music brought us together and it was enough.

And it was Saturday night.

There was no production. No dancing. No outfits. Music ruled. Because you don’t take phone calls in church, you don’t talk in synagogue, you pay attention and you have an experience.

And the experience I had Saturday night was one of reflection upon who I was and who I became. Of a time when I had more questions than answers and the only thing that kept me going was the music.

They gave it to us easy with their pleasured hands.

They took us to the promised land.

It was the time of the season for loving.

Sometimes the only way to get by
Is to get high

And I don’t even smoke dope!

There’s a quiet revolution going on and it’s called the Spotify Discover Weekly playlist. Beats 1 gets all the hype, but Discover Weekly gets all the love.

I ignored it at first. Well, after a glance. Too many tracks I already knew and more I never wanted to. But people kept e-mailing me about the playlist, run by algorithms and particularized to the individual, everything I hate in theory but in practice…

People now wait for Mondays, for their new playlists. And I check it out too, for the rare discoveries, and I just made one, Brandy Clark’s “Get High.”

She hates her job
Loves her kids

Well, that sounds like reality. For all the stories of winners, there are even more of losers. Those who find their houses underwater who aren’t even working for the weekend, but just to pay all the bills.

Bored with her husband
Tired of the same old list of things to do

Now that’s modern life, not one wherein we’re thrilled by the plastic people who dominate the interwebs, but frustrated by the situation we find ourselves in. Overburdened, underappreciated and unhappy.

So when the to-dos have all been done
She sits down at the kitchen table
Rolls herself a fat one

HUH?

You’ve got to understand I’m just clicking through the Discover Weekly playlist, skipping past the detritus, and I hear some pickin’ that could come off a Ry Cooder album, and then there’s this hooky pattern and lyrics sung by a woman without tons of attitude and then…there’s a dope reference?

I had to see who this was. Brandy Clark. In the endless tsunami of hype everything rolls right off my back, I know the name, but not the music. And now I’m completely hooked.

She laughs out loud
At who she used to be
A girl who’d a looked down on
A woman smoking weed in her kitchen
Sometimes she misses them younger days
Seein’ the world through rose-colored glasses
‘stead of this purple haze

Was that a Jimi Hendrix reference? Are country people experienced? Yes, they’ve been shook all night long and we live in a great mish-mash where everybody knows a little bit of everything even though they tell us how different we are. However I know a ton of right-wingers who hate taxes but love gay marriage.

But the politicians pander, they can’t change. And when they do, it’s purely expedient. I’ll vote for Hillary, but if she stopped flip-flopping in search of satiation of a theoretical majority I’d smile and spread the word.

Life’ll change you. That’s what they don’t tell you. They tell you you jump through hoops and everything works out. But stuff happens and you realize what your parents told you is wrong. How do you square who you used to be with who you are now?

You know life will let you down
Love will leave you lonely
Sometimes the only way to get by
Is to get high

“Get High” would be a great record with completely different lyrics, the sound is so entrancing, so hooky, but it’s the truth in its three and a half minutes that astounds. The words are everything that blew up not only country music, but rock and roll. When you didn’t know which way the wind blew unless you were glued to the radio.

So she tucks her kids in at night
Kisses her husband
Turns off the light
And talks to God
Says Lord help me accept what I can’t change
But ’til I learn to do that
Thanks for the Mary Jane

This is the national anthem, not that formulaic crap they beam on the airwaves. If we want music to burgeon, it must resonate. But the truth is there are so many layers of crap heaped upon us that most throw their arms in the air and ignore the scene while those inured to the radio hits trump stuff so worthless it slides right off of you when you hear it.

But not Brandy Clark.

I immediately went to Wikipedia, I wanted to know more, not less, which is quite a switch with today’s celebrities. I found out she’s a lesbian with a string of hit covers. That’s right, you can be out today, the only people who care about sexuality are the old school gatekeepers who don’t realize like the woman in this song, our country has changed.

But it’s not only “Get High.” I’m playing Brandy Clark’s 2013 album “12 Stories” and marveling.

There are people who will say I’m late to the party. But you can’t get on your high horse unless something’s ubiquitous, and Brandy Clark is not.

But she could be.

Change starts small. Little stuff that seems irrelevant alters the entire paradigm. Buzz is building on Discover Weekly. Sure, people are listening to different music, but they’re talking about it, and that’s a start.

And listening to Brandy Clark I’m astounded by the truth encapsulated in song, it makes me a believer, after I’ve strayed from the faith.

Maybe I’ll pick up the pipe!

Get High – Spotify

Get High – YouTube

DOCTOR MY EYES

The first time you probably heard him.

But I discovered him at the Fillmore East, opening for Laura Nyro in December 1970, during her annual Christmas spectacular, they were both managed by David Geffen, ergo Jackson’s appearance. Very few people impress you the first time out, especially if you’re completely unfamiliar with their material, but I was enraptured by Jackson and waited with bated breath for his debut LP, which didn’t come out until early ’72.

“Doctor My Eyes” was not my favorite cut on the album, it was somehow too obvious, but hearing it a decade later waiting to check out at Fedco I realized the magic was in the piano part, and I now love it. It stands the test of time.

ROCK ME ON THE WATER

The first cut to enrapture me on the debut LP, it ended up with a big skip in the middle which I used to wait to hear on the CD, but it was gone.

There have been a number of covers, but no one sings it as well as Jackson.

SOMETHING FINE

My favorite song on the album. It opened side two and was quiet and meaningful and was the soundtrack to that bleak Vermont winter.

Now you say ‘Morocco’ and that makes me smile
I haven’t seen Morocco in a long, long while

Never underestimate the ability of a song to paint a picture and take you away to a place you’ve never been before.

SONG FOR ADAM

Who was he? How did Jackson know him?

Death. It’s something barely understood in your late teens, when I first heard this. But it wasn’t long thereafter that my roommate’s brother was killed in a car crash.

Some never get to fulfill their promise. While we waste time and spin our tales squandering our futures.

JAMAICA SAY YOU WILL

The opener. With that majestic piano part. Once again, there are many covers but Jackson owns it. You’ll find yourself singing along with the chorus, you won’t be able to help yourself.

UNDER THE FALLING SKY

Can I say I prefer Bonnie Raitt’s take, on her definitive album “Give It Up”? (Actually, Bonnie equaled it twenty years later with “Luck Of The Draw,” how many people return to the pinnacle…ALMOST NOBODY!)

A CHILD IN THESE HILLS

Everybody acts so grown up today. Am I the only one who still feels like a child?

TAKE IT EASY

Yes, Jackson cowrote it, many argue he was mostly responsible for the Eagles’ breakthrough hit, he released his iteration in 1973, a year after theirs. It was quieter and less majestic, more intimate, and its greatness was in the way it segued into “Our Lady Of The Well” on the album.

I THOUGHT I WAS A CHILD

Once again, Bonnie Raitt did a killer cover, on her third album, “Takin My Time,” but that LP is a bit slicker than “Give It Up,” and “I Thought I Was A Child” suffers for it.

It’s such a clever innocence with which you do your sorcery

Whew! Who writes this stuff? One Jackson Browne, the bard of the seventies, the king of the California sound. Hipsters knew him, he had a place in the firmament, but he was not ubiquitous, his true fame was years off, but his greatness was evidenced early. “For Everyman” was not quite as good as the initial LP, it moved the ball forward ever so slightly, but that does not mean it’s not excellent, even better in retrospect, after decades of substandard albums by pretenders.

THESE DAYS

At this point Jackson was not famous for writing this, as he is today. “For Everyman” pre-dated Gregg Allman’s solo LP by a smidge, but when the southern rock icon released “Laid Back” Jackson’s fame grew. Funny, as time marches forward the wisdom and greatness of this song is being forgotten, we thought our music was forever… Well, it is for us!

READY OR NOT

And the next thing I remember, she was all moved in
And I was buying her a washing machine

The story of Jackson meeting and marrying his first wife, if this song doesn’t make you want to move to SoCal and partake…you have no dreams.

THE LATE SHOW

My number one album of all time.

Go ahead and judge me, but there’s more insight and wisdom in 1974’s “Late For The Sky” than anything released in the twenty first century.

This is the closing song on side one of the LP, and it’s full of couplets that deserve to be framed.

My favorite is:

Now to see things clear it’s hard enough I know
While you’re waiting for reality to show
Without dreaming of the perfect love
And holding it so far above
That if you stumbled on to someone real you’d never know

There it is. We’re so busy looking in the distance that we don’t see what’s right in front of us.

Maybe people only ask you how you’re doing
‘Cause that’s easier than letting on how little they could care

Whew! Ain’t that the truth. If someone is truly listening, make them your friend, you’re gonna need ’em, life is rough.

Afraid that all these words might scare you away

If you meet the right person you can’t shut up, you want to share everything.

If you’ve got more questions than answers, if you feel damaged and alone, with no direction home, spin “The Late Show.” No one ever talks about it, you never hear it on the radio, but it’s my favorite song on the LP. Join the club.

LATE FOR THE SKY

Now the words had all been spoken
And somehow the feeling still wasn’t right
And still we continued on through the night

You’ve said everything but you’re still yearning to connect, to make your point, so you soldier on, even though it’s way past midnight.

Tracing our steps from the beginning
Until they vanished into the air
Trying to understand how our lives had let us there

Breakups, they’re hard. Today you ghost, just disconnect, maybe text your exit. But when you live together, when you’re invested, it’s so hard. We used to review everything that once was, reminiscing as we knew there was no future. You’ve come this far, but you can go no further.

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

As close as we are in relationships, we’re still alone. We never really know what bonds others to us. What we think are our flaws are our attractions.

Awake again I can’t pretend
And I know I’m alone
And close to the end
Of the feeling we’ve known

It’s so scary. Part of you is dying to march forward, into the universe.
Another part of you just wants to stay put.

How long have I been sleeping
How long have I been drifting alone through the night

You could see the end coming, if you were looking.

And now you’re here.

FOUNTAIN OF SORROW

As depressing as the opening cut might be, as heavy as “Late For The Sky” is, the piano bangs and then you’re off and running, on the album’s opus.

Listen for the truth.
I’ll just quote one line, which I use on a regular basis:

I’m just one or two years and a couple of changes behind you

We’re all going through this life at our own speed. And it’s rare that we’re on the exact same page. We’ve got so much to learn, and opportunities are lost when we can’t connect because we’re in different places.

FOR A DANCER

Keep a fire burnin’ in your eye
Pay attention to the open sky
You never know what will be comin’ down

You learn this as you age, the best plans are ruined. Life is about the unexpected. Like death.

I don’t know what happens when people die
I can’t seem to grasp it as hard as I try

I said these words at my father’s funeral, and I’m gonna say them at yours. He had terminal cancer, but his death was still a shock. The finality. They’re gone.

Just do the steps that you’ve been shown
By everyone you’ve ever known
Until the dance becomes your very own

So many never do this, they never grow up, they never make decisions for themselves, they still worry about what their parents and society have to say.

Don’t.

WALKING SLOW

With Freebo on tuba. This tack is upbeat, the kind you sing to yourself when you’re walking down the avenue feeling good and not exactly sure why.

THE PRETENDER

It’s 1976, two years after “Late For The Sky,” Jackson is reaching critical mass and Jon Landau produces an album if not quite as good as what came before results in much deeper cultural impact.

This was a staple on the radio, along with Hall & Oates’s “Rich Girl” and eventually “Hotel California,” it was a magical time, the fall of ’76.

YOUR BRIGHT BABY BLUES

The best song on “The Pretender.”

Everybody’s going somewhere
Riding just as fast as they can ride
I guess they’ve got a lot to do
Before they can rest assured
Their lives are justified

As true today as it was back then. Everybody’s fakin’ it, trying to prove something to someone who is not them.

I can’t help feeling I’m just a day away from where I want to be

My mantra.

Well, it used to be. When I believed in the power of the individual, when I thought I could make it on sheer will.

I haven’t, but I’ve still got this record.

Baby if you need me
Like I know I need you
There’s just one thing
I’ll ask you to do
Take my hand and lead me
To the hole in your garden wall
And pull me through

Please.

HERE COME THOSE TEARS AGAIN

Here come those tears again
Just when I was getting over you

Oh, your twenties. When so many relationships end in dead ends.

You can’t live with ’em, and you can’t live without ’em.

This song is a tear, with backup vocals by Bonnie Raitt, it will empower you to hang on.

RUNNING ON EMPTY

Made Jackson Browne a star.

Only a year later, much sooner than ever before, Jackson released this 1977 album cut on the road and ended up a giant. This was the opening track, and if not quite as famous is as much a part of the culture as the Eagles’ “Life In The Fast Lane,” you should know that your baby boomer predecessors uttered these words all the time…

They were RUNNING ON EMPTY!

THE ROAD

Written by one Danny O’Keefe, it feels like being on the road. Check it out.

THE LOAD OUT/STAY

The first of its kind, where many people first learned about life on the road, this epic production was an FM staple.

DISCO APOCALYPSE

Now it’s two and a half years later. The eighties have begun, disco killed corporate rock and then the whole enterprise imploded. There’s just something magical in the sound of this track, I’ve come to love it more with each year that’s gone by.

OF MISSING PERSONS

The story of Lowell George, who most didn’t know then and still don’t know now.

LAWYERS IN LOVE

The eighties were in full swing, yuppies were coming into prominence, but despite the dash for cash Jackson Browne didn’t cast aside his role as commentator. You were either with us or against us. But the truth is most had given up and switched sides, the revolution was in the rearview mirror.

CUT IT AWAY

The best song on “Lawyers In Love,” it’s about when your brain says yes but your heart says no. Jonathan Franzen details this eloquently in “Purity,” but not as well as Jackson does here. You’ve got everything you thought you wanted, you fought hard for it, and then you find out…it doesn’t make you happy. Why does life has to be so strange? You think you’ve reached the mountaintop, but the truth is you’ve got to journey back down into the valley in search of a destination you can only feel and may never find.

DOWNTOWN

Supposedly the album was concocted in a loft downtown, when L.A.’s titular epicenter was a true wasteland, before its renaissance.

FOR A ROCKER

I’m gonna tell you something I found out
Whatever you think life is about
Whatever life may hold in store
Things will happen that you won’t be ready for

It’s 1983, MTV’s got traction, Jackson’s on the losing side of distance, yet he’s still got it!

I used to say to play this at my funeral, when I was still a rocker, when I still felt that music could save your life.

Listening on headphones right now…maybe it still can.

IN THE SHAPE OF A HEART

Jackson’s last single with any real traction. 1986’s “Lives In The Balance” is not good, it just wasn’t timely, “Thriller” had and the SoCal sound seemed quaint. You can listen to more of the album, check out “Candy,” but you don’t have to, not if you’re not a fan.

I AM A PATRIOT

Written by Little Steven, when he was on EMI America and trying to make it as a solo act, when he thought politics were important, before he became Silvio Dante and retreated to the E Street Band with his tail between his legs.

Jackson still plays this live.

As for the rest of 1989’s “World In Motion”… A true disappointment.

And then came…

I’M ALIVE

A complete return to form. Four years later. Completely unexpected.

Suddenly Jackson retreated to the sound that made him, cast aside the electricity and went for that intimate sound.

This is the post Daryl Hannah album. And maybe it was less than successful because his female fans were now judging him, but this album is nearly as big an accomplishment as the aforementioned Bonnie Raitt album “Luck Of The Draw,” a high point decades later when it was least expected.

You’re deep into it.

Then you escape.

Then you’re…ALIVE!

MY PROBLEM IS YOU

But to go on attempting to break into the prison
You’d have to be me

Perseverance. Or maybe myopia. You’re not ready to give up.

EVERYWHERE I GO

Great white reggae. Infectious.

I’LL DO ANYTHING

The haunting sound that sold JB in the first instance.

MILES AWAY

It rocks, all of “I’m Alive” is not a downer, you can groove to the sound, even if the story is less than optimistic.

TOO MANY ANGELS

For those of you who thought Jackson burned out, that he couldn’t do it anymore, check this out.

SKY BLUE AND BLACK

“I’m Alive”‘s epic. Which had some word of mouth and some traction, but ultimately “I’m Alive” did not fulfill expectations, so Jackson backed away from this intimate sound, to his detriment, he was on to something. “I’m Alive” is a hidden gem, check it out.

LOOKING EAST

It’s three years later, 1996, and Jackson’s rocking out again, the title track of the LP is infectious in the same way as “Disco Apocalypse,” the hooks will grab you.

THE BARRICADES OF HEAVEN

This survives. Jackson plays it regularly today. The story of growing up in California, the story behind the exuberance of “Running On Empty.”

No, I couldn’t tell you what the hell those brakes were for
I was just trying to hear my song

And the song remains the same, the youth run head first into the future with little wisdom but plenty of drive. The only difference was back then you did it anonymously.

SOME BRIDGES

Almost yacht rock, a modernized “Walking Slow,” the magic is in the change into the chorus.

I’M THE CAT

Come on, sometimes you feel good, you feel powerful, and you sing a song like this in your head. At least I did. Yup, I waver, but sometimes…I’M THE CAT!

CULVER MOON

That’s Culver City. Before it became gentrified, when the Lakers still played just south of there. If you’re a basin resident, you’ll crack up and smile.

BABY HOW LONG

Totally different from the sound of “I’m Alive,” the essence is in the electric guitar, but it feels so good here!

THE NIGHT INSIDE ME

And then all hell broke loose. Napster eviscerated the recording industry and suddenly the baby boomers no longer counted. Jackson didn’t return to his acoustic sound of yore, he was stuck in band mode, but there’s some magic on 2002’s “Naked Right Home.”

I caught a ride into the city every chance I got
I wasn’t sure there was a name for the life I sought
Now I’m a long way gone down the life I got
I don’t know how I believed some of the things I thought

It’s too late to start over. Suddenly, we are what we’ve become. Oh, what a long strange trip it’s been.

ABOUT MY IMAGINATION

There are two killers on “The Naked Ride Home,” two unforgettable tracks that will get inside you and won’t let go.

This is one of them.

It’s about the changes. Supported by the organ, the sound.

And the magical chorus.

NEVER STOP

And this is the other. Not only my favorite track on the album, but the best thing Jackson Browne has cut in the twenty first century.

And never stop coming up with all that love for me
Never stop coming with your faith in what a love can be

Be there for me, PLEASE!

THE BARRICADES OF HEAVEN-LIVE

And then Jackson gave up, stopped recording new music and went on a victory lap, recorded two double live albums of greatest hits and sold them himself.

If you don’t know these “Solo Acoustic” albums you’re in for a treat, especially when you hear the stories, like when the audience asks Jackson to sing a SoCal song he didn’t write.

This is that 1996 song from “Looking East,” which gains gravitas in this solo acoustic rendition.

LOOKING EAST-LIVE

A complete reworking, the same song, yet different. This is my favorite of the solo acoustic redos. Check it out, it’ll get under your skin. The kind of music you used to treasure, you know, when you were alone, at home, behind the wheel…it sets your mind free, you can see the past and the future and you’re aware of your place in the landscape of life.

NEVER STOP-LIVE

From the second “Solo Acoustic” set. A great song works in all formats, fully produced and stripped down. This is so intimate and so great. It’s stuff like this that keeps me going.

LOOKING EAST-LIVE

And then Jackson reunited with his old partner David Lindley for a tour and live album. I saw it, hope you did, I’m not sure it will ever happen again.

But Jackson does go out solo with his eighteen guitars. If he shows up in your neighborhood RUN to see him!

Once again, this is a slowed-down, reworked rendition of this song, nearly as infectious as the iteration on the solo acoustic album above.

WHICH SIDE

I prefer the acoustic YouTube version with Dawes at the Occupy site downtown. It has an energy the studio take does not. Yet, this has got a great electric guitar sound and maintains its lyrical insight.

Which side are you on?

Do you think music is a sideshow, something casual that pairs with wine?

Or do you believe it can save your life, can move mountains, can exact change.

Used to be musicians used their power to right wrongs, to fight for not only themselves, but you. Back before the best and the brightest all went into tech and everybody became so narcissistic and most concerned with self-preservation. Jackson Browne has a long history of standing up for what’s right, and still does, few have done as many benefits, he still believes.

And when you listen to his music, you still do too.

Rhinofy-Jackson Browne Playlist