Album Club Selection #6: Jackson Browne - Late For The Sky

@MagicRatAFC First off, I've been a bad album club member and I've fallen behind.

You have done better than some...

First off, I've been a bad album club member and I've fallen behind.

So, Jackson Browne is someone I've never really gotten into.

I've just never taken the time to explore his oeuvre.

Also, if I'm being honest, his voice has never really grabbed me.

So, to this album, it's a fascinating listen.

Obviously very personal, themes of death, loss, mortality.

This album was released in 74, so he was a very young man when he released it.

Death of a parent or a contemporary?

I'm wondering what motivated this record and I'll do some research.

My favourite track is probably the title track or "For a dancer".

Really good listen and I really must take the time to explore his work.

Obviously

This thread has made me revisit several Jackson Browne albums I used to listen to on regular rotation but hadn't heard for many years. And my goodness, they are as good, if not better, than I recall. As much as he is known for his Seventies records, my favourite albums are from later in his career. I'm Alive, for example, is a magnificent album from start to finish.

We all have that first great love that, for almost everyone, ends in tears and heartbreak. I spent a few months, to all intents and purposes, homeless, living out of my battered and beat up old dark blue Corolla 2 door liftback. At night I'd drive up and down the highway, stopping from time to time to sleep for half an hour at a filling station, get a crappy take away coffee and carry on. I would listen to this album over and over, and, especially, this song.

I remember putting it on a cassette, just this one song, on both sides, and slipping the tape under the front door of the cause of that first heartbreak at 2am on one such night of endless driving. I'll never know if she found it, or if indeed it had any effect, but I was glad I did.

Does any other artist have as many titles as Jackson Browne that begin with For A (fill in the blank)?

It was like his trademark for a while.

The vocal harmonies are outstanding. Both musically, and what they add lyrics wise.