Author: Phil Bausch

How we consume music has changed significantly, with streaming now far and away the biggest way we pay for it.

The RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) has released the figures for the first half of 2021.   Streaming accounted for 84% of all music sales.  There are more than 80-million subscriptions to streaming.  Physical sales were only about 10% of revenues.  About two-thirds of that is vinyl records, which saw a 94% increase (skewed some by the pandemic, which hurt last year’s in-store sales).

The biggest album for physical sales was Taylor Swift’s Evermore, which sold over 100,000 vinyl copies in one week…more than any other album in the last 30-years.  Even with significant growth in vinyl sales, listening to records is mostly a hobby, and not the major way we consume most of our music.  Remember, artists used to sell millions of vinyl albums in the ‘70’s & ‘80’s.  Records and CD’s do make nice keepsakes of our favorite artists.

While vinyl continues to grow, CD purchases are still going down.  Box sets, like my George Harrison All Things Must Pass (shown above) are still money makers, but CD’s only accounted for one-third of physical sales.  To be fair, CD’s also cost much less than vinyl, so the number of units sold could actually be similar.  Update: (Feb., 2022)  Sales of CD’s rose slightly in 2022, for the first time after many years of decline.

Digital purchases, such as on iTunes, have fallen drastically in the past few years, and now provide around 5% of sales.

That leaves music licensing (such as for films, commercials, and venues), which accounted for less than 2% of music sales.

The way we get our music shifted amazingly fast once services like Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music gave us access to millions of songs for relatively low monthly fees.  For the price of one box set, you can have a year’s worth of music on streaming.

He was almost in the Eagles, and he was almost a big solo star.  His friends became very famous…Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, Glenn Frey, and Don Henley.  John David Souther may have just missed stardom, but he was very successful.

(Photos from 1971 and 1972)

J.D. Souther was born in Detroit in 1945, and was raised in Texas.  When he moved to California in the late 60s, he met another Detroit native, Glenn Frey, and they formed a Country Rock duo called Longbranch Pennywhistle.

What?  You don’t remember their 1969 album?  It would probably be completely forgotten if it weren’t for the historical perspective it provides.  As the Eagles formed in 1971, J.D. Souther was encouraged to join.  They even worked on one of his songs, “How Long”, but J.D. thought the band already had enough guitarists & singers, and decided solo was the way to go.

His self-titled album came out in 1972, just like the Eagles’ first album.  One of the albums was a hit, and one went to the cut-out bins.  Souther wouldn’t release another solo album for four years; however, he soon found great success…as a songwriter.

Let’s look at some of the songs J.D. Souther helped write for these albums.

Here are the songs J.D. co-wrote (mostly with Don Henley & Glenn Frey):

”Doolin’-Dalton”, “Best Of My Love” (#1), “You Never Cry Like A Lover”, “James Dean”, “New Kid In Town” (#1), “Heartache Tonight” (#1), and “The Sad Cafe”.  That’s three #1 singles, and they’re on some of the best-selling albums of all time.

Three decades later (2007), the Eagles released J.D. Souther’s “How Long” as a hit off their final studio album, Long Road Out Of Eden.  The song won the Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group.  It also was a hit on the Adult Contemporary charts.

Besides the Eagles, J.D. Souther helped with the success of one-time girlfriend, and lifetime friend, Linda Ronstadt.

Here are the songs J.D. Souther wrote that Linda Ronstadt recorded (including duets on which he sang):

”I Can Almost See It”, “Don’t Cry Now”, “The Fast One”, “Faithless Love” (duet), “Prisoner In Disguise” (duet), “Silver Blue” (duet), “Simple Man, Simple Dream”, “White Rhythm And Blues”, and “Hearts Against The Wind” (duet on the Urban Cowboy soundtrack).

Obviously, with the extreme popularity of Linda Ronstadt and the Eagles, J.D. Souther was earning an amazing living as a songwriter.  He would see some success as a solo artist starting in 1976, but first…a band.

There was an attempt to form a “supergroup” by putting J.D. Souther, Chris Hillman (of The Byrds), and Richie Furay (of Poco) together as a band.  It resulted in two albums (I bought), and some success.  The albums reached #11 and #39 in 1974 & 1975, but the group split up after the second album.  It was partly because they were put together by their label, rather than having come together naturally.  Next were the solo albums.

I picked up these albums as they were released in 1976, 1979, 1984, and 2011.  The Black Rose album included several songs Souther had written for Ronstadt, plus more originals.  As a young man, J.D. had been influenced by Jazz artists, so besides the Country Rock feel, there are touches of Jazz in some of the arrangements.  It’s a good album, but only made it to #85 on the Top 200 chart.

J.D. Souther’s greatest solo success was in 1979.  His single “You’re Only Lonely” went to #7 on the Top 100 chart, and spent multiple weeks at #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart.  The You’re Only Lonely album peaked at #41, his best solo showing.  It’s also his best album.

Between albums in 1981, James Taylor & J.D. Souther released the duet “Her Town Too”.  It went to #11 on the Top 100 chart, and hit #5 on the AC chart.  The song was written by the two singers, and guitarist Waddy Wachtel.

Neither of Souther’s next two albums, Home By Dawn and Natural History charted, but the latter one featured cool stripped-down versions of some of the songs he co-wrote with the Eagles.  At this point, Souther dropped the periods from his initials, and became JD Souther.

You might have caught JD on TV.  He had a significant role on season three of Thirty Something (1989-1990), and more recently was a recurring character in the country music show Nashville (2012-2017).

While not well known by the general pubic, JD Souther is famous with musicians and songwriters.  He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame in 2013.  John David Souther has had an impressive career…with maybe just the right amount of fame.

Update:  (January 6th, 2024)  JD Souther joined the Eagles for one of their Long Goodbye concerts at The Forum in Los Angeles.  He sang with them on several songs, and took the lead on “New Kid In Town”.

(JD Souther and Don Henley, January 5th, 2024 in L.A.)

Extra:  In case you’re not familiar with his recordings, here’s a recommended playlist of JD Souther songs you can stream.  The first six songs are from You’re Only Lonely, and the next six are from Black Rose.

1. You’re Only Lonely
2. The Last In Love
3. If You Don’t Want My Love
4. Songs Of Love
5. White Rhythm & Blues (Phil Everly on Harmony)
6. Til The Bars Burn Down
7. Simple Man, Simple Dream
8. Silver Blue
9. Midnight Prowl
10. I Can Almost See It (Demo)
11. Faithless Love
12. Doors Swing Open
13. Go Ahead And Rain
14. Hearts Against The Wind (with Linda Ronstadt)
15. The Sad Cafe
16. It Might Be Mine (with Linda Ronstadt)
17. The Heartbreaker (with Souther-Hillman-Fury Band)
18. New Kid In Town
19. Something In The Dark
20. I’ll Be Here At Closing Time

A 5-CD plus Blu-ray “Super Deluxe” box set of Let It  Be was released on October 15th, 2021 (vinyl too).

The discs include the new remix of the Let It Be album, the original unreleased 1969 Get Back album, plus songs from sessions and rehearsals.  You can see a hardback book of photos and information is included.  It’s a 100 page book, as compared with the 240 page The Beatles: Get Back book that came out October 12th.  The book in the box set has detailed information on the recordings, and comments from Paul McCartney, Glyn Johns and more, whereas the other book has dialogue from the film.  Both have previously unreleased photos.   The list price for this Super Deluxe set is $139.98.  (The vinyl version is $199.98.)

Here are the track listings from the back of the box (click to enlarge & make clearer):

Each of these playlists is short enough to fit on a vinyl record, so the Super Deluxe vinyl box set is 5-discs too (4 LP’s and an EP).  The list price is $199.98.

A 2-CD Deluxe set (below) contains the new remix, plus a disc of selected highlights from the rest of the box set.  The list price is $24.98.  The remixed album is also available as a single disc or record.

The never-released Get Back album (with no overdubs) that was assembled by Glyn Johns comes with a nice touch.  Both the CD & Vinyl sets include the cover that was planned for that 1969 album.  Here’s a shot of it from my box set.

The Super Deluxe sets also include two discs of recordings from sessions and rehearsals, and a 4-track EP that includes remixes of the “Let It Be” & “Don’t Let Me Down” singles.  The CD set also has a Blu-ray audio disc of the new remix album with 5.1/Dolby Atmos.  

Some fans are disappointed the full rooftop concert isn’t included.  When asked about it, Giles Martin said the rooftop versions are best when watching the film of The Beatles performing them.  The whole concert is in the new film.  Of course the five songs from the rooftop concert are in the box set.  “I’ve Got A Feeling”, “Dig A Pony”, and “One After 909” are the rooftop recordings.  The first rooftop take of “Don’t Let Me Down” is also included.  “Get Back” is made to sound like it’s the rooftop version, with comments from the concert edited onto the beginning and end of the song.  Update:  The entire rooftop performance was released to music streaming services on January 28th, 2022.  The sound quality is excellent.

The front of the box set is very similar to the original Let It Be album cover.  Those pictures are on the book, and are visible through four cutouts in the black cardboard case.

There’s even a vinyl picture disc!  $35.98 ($10 more than the standard vinyl.)

The Let It Be remix hit #1 on the Billboard Album Sales chart, and #5 on the Top 200 Albums chart (which factors in streaming).

Here’s the link to my review of the new box set:  https://ontherecords.net/2021/10/let-it-be-2021-box-set-review/ 

The Country Rock band Poco released their first album in 1969, but it wasn’t until a decade later that they finally had a hit.

(Jim Messina, Randy Meisner, George Grantham, Richie Furay, Rusty Young)

When their band, Buffalo Springfield, broke up in 1968, Jim Messina and Richie Furay (guitarists, vocalists, & songwriters) started the band Poco.  They added Randy Meisner on bass & vocals, George Grantham on drums & vocals, and Rusty Young on steel guitar, banjo, guitar & vocals.  Country Rock was just heating up, and with this talented line-up Poco was sure to be a big success, even though their name means “little” in Spanish.

Unfortunately, their first two albums in 1969 & 1970 only made it to #63 and #58 on the Billboard Top 200 album chart.  Bassist Randy Meisner left the band as the first album was being released.  He went on to play in Rick Nelson’s Stone Canyon Band, and then become a founding member of the Eagles.  He stayed with the Eagles through the album Hotel California.

Poco’s singles weren’t hits either….including “You Better Think Twice” #72 and “Just For Me And You” #110.

I started buying Poco albums when they released the live album Deliverin’ (#26) in 1971.  Timothy B. Schmit had replaced Randy Meisner on bass, and he would replace him in the Eagles years later.  When I bought the studio album From The Inside, (#52) also in 1971, I found out Jim Messina had left (to get together with Kenny Loggins), and he was replaced by Paul Cotton.  Cotton became the lead guitarist, one of the lead vocalists, and one of the songwriters for the band.

(This is probably the most classic line-up of Poco.  Timothy B. Schmit. Richie Furay, George Grantham, Rusty Young, and Paul Cotton.)

Paul Cotton was a little familiar to me, because I had purchased an album by The Illinois Speed Press from a cut-out bin in 1970.  The best song on the album is “Bad Weather”, which Paul Cotton also did with Poco on From The Inside.  Here’s the Illinois Speed Press version from my original 1970 vinyl album:

(Poco’s best studio album, Crazy Eyes , released in 1973.)

Poco kept almost making it big.  By 1973, the Eagles were taking Country Rock into the upper portion of both the album and singles charts.  Poco’s label, Epic, brought in Guess Who producer, Jack Richardson, who helped create a really solid album, Crazy Eyes.  Some of the songs featured extensive orchestration like the Eagles would come to use on some of their songs.

Tracks on Crazy Eyes included a beautiful rendition of “Magnolia”, an excellent ballad by J.J. Cale.  It also had the first recording of “Brass Buttons” written by Gram Parsons.   He had been a member of The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers.  The centerpiece of the album is “Crazy Eyes” (by Richie Furay) which is over nine-and-a-half minutes long, and is brilliantly arranged.  The song is in reference to Gram Parsons, who died at the age of 26 from a drug and alcohol overdose that year.

Crazy Eyes was the highest charting of Poco’s first ten studio albums, but at #38, it still wasn’t the level of success they had hoped for.  Richie Furay left to join The Souther-Hillman-Furay band with Chris Hillman and J.D. Souther.  Instead of replacing Furay, Rusty Young stepped up his songwriting and vocal work.  Poco followed the advice of their 1975 song “Keep On Tryin’” (#50), as they moved to the ABC label.

Finally, in 1979 a song written and sung by Rusty Young, “Crazy Love”, made it to #17 on the Top 40 chart, and #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart.  As a reminder, here’s the song:

The album, Legend, climbed to #14, their best showing ever.  It also contained the hit “Heart Of The Night” (#20), written and sung by Paul Cotton.

The album’s cover drawing of a horse was by Phil Hartman of Saturday Night Live.  You can see the artwork was incorporated into multiple Poco album covers (above).  Hartman was a graphic artist before he became an actor and comedian.  His brother, John, was the manager for Poco and the band America.  Phil Hartman also did the excellent cover art for the album History: America’s Greatest Hits.

After 1979, Poco released another seven studio albums, and lots of various “Best Of” collections.  I particularly liked the 2 CD set shown above.  It contained the songs recorded while they were with the Epic label.

In 1989, the original members of Poco got together for the album Legacy which made it to #40, and had their final two Top 40 hits, “Call It Love” (#18), and  “Nothin’ To Hide” (#39).

The truth is, no other Country Rock bands ever came close to the popularity of the Eagles, and few even equaled Poco’s popularity.  It seemed like the acts were too Country for Rock radio stations, and too Rock for Country stations.

In 2021, we lost two of Poco’s most important members.

Rusty Young, shown above on banjo & steel guitar, passed away of a heart attack on April 14h, 2021 at his home in Missouri at the age of 75.  Lead guitarist Paul Cotton, shown above on guitar, passed away August 1st, 2021.  He was at his Summer home near Eugene, Oregon.  His wife said he died suddenly, but no cause was given.  He was 78.

Even though Poco never became immensely popular, they still attracted a large following of devoted fans who attended their live shows for decades.  The musicians of Poco were respected professionals who made a great living doing the thing they loved.  Nearly everyone would call that a big success.

Most artist don’t wait 14 years to follow up a big Grammy winning album, but Alison Krauss and Robert Plant did.

Raise The Roof was released on November 19th, 2021.  The first single is “Can’t Let Go”, which sounds like a long lost hit by the Everly Brothers (even though Lucinda Williams wrote it).  You may remember that the Everly’s “Gone Gone Gone” was the first hit from their previous album.  Here’s the link to “Can’t Let Go”:

https://youtu.be/U-sPS9y7y5c

Their 2007 album Raising Sand won five Grammy awards, including Album Of The Year.  Once again, T Bone Burnett (who also won a Grammy for the last album) is the producer, and he used top session players.  One song, “High And Lonesome” is an original, and the other eleven songs are by outside writers.  Here’s the track list:

Eleven of the twelve songs are covers of relatively obscure tracks that the duo and producer T Bone Burnett have shaped into their own style.  Two of the songs that feature both Plant and Krauss throughout, “Quattro (World Drifts In)” and “Can’t Let Go” are standout tracks.  Many of the songs are more like solos, with some harmony help from the other singer.  One such song, and another highlight, features Robert Plant’s “High And Lonesome”, which he wrote with Burnett.  The 73-year-old singer’s voice is still strong, and sounds impressive throughout the album.  Of course Krauss, at 50, has one of the most beautiful voices in all of music.

The arrangements and the production by T Bone Burnett are as important as the stars’ vocals.  An example of how rearranging a song can be transformative is “The Price Of Love”.  It’s an old Everly Brothers song that didn’t particularly resonate.  Here it’s slowed down to become a moody piece sung mostly by Alison Krauss, with the harmonies saved for the chorus.  It works so much better.

If you liked the first album by these two, you’ll enjoy Raise The Roof too.  The quality is still there (it may even be a little better), but with some major releases this year, it may not win at the Grammys.

Krauss and Plant have also been touring.

Extra:  For a career-spanning article on Alison Krauss, and exclusive concert photos, here’s the link:  https://ontherecords.net/2020/02/alison-krauss/

All Things Must Pass…but apparently not this great album.  It’s been 51 years since George Harrison’s best post-Beatles album was released, and now it sounds better than ever!

George Harrison said he was tempted to remix the album to lose some of the reverb and “wall of sound” production techniques used by Phil Spector.  George’s son Dhani and mixer/engineer Paul Hicks have made that happen. The 50th Anniversary remix of All Things Must Pass lets us hear George Harrison’s vocals much better than previously, yet the the songs retain the feel of the original arrangements.  Paul Hicks was able to do the same thing for John Lennon’s best songs with last year’s collection Gimme Some Truth.

Despite all the extra demos and outtakes, the most important recordings are the ones on the original album that we’ve known for over 50 years.  The improvement in those recordings is impressive.  From the first track, the Harrison/Dylan song “I’d Have You Anytime”, the depth and clarity of the voices and instruments are so much better.  “My Sweet Lord” let’s you hear George’s voice and the background chorus like never before.

The new remix of “Isn’t It A Pity” is especially revealing.  Now we can hear the individual instruments, and how brilliantly they were used to build up the song as it progresses.  We’re fully hearing the song for the first time.  By the way, like many of these songs, “Isn’t It A Pity” was written during The Beatles’ time together, but wasn’t seriously worked on by the band.  It may be better that George was able to keep these songs for his personal vision.

Following “Isn’t It A Pity” are three more of the album’s best songs… “What Is Life”, “If Not For You”, and “Behind That Locked Door”.  They all sound great, especially the last one.  The remix sounds like George and the band are in the room with you.  A surprise for me was “Let It Down”.  The remix sounds so much better that it elevates my opinion of the song.  “Run Of The Mill” (which every common sense person knows should have been titled “It’s You That Decides”) is perfection.  On the outtakes CD, there’s an alternate version with dual guitars that are a bit reminiscent of the style used by The Allman Brothers Band.

The third side of the original album started with one of the album’s very best tracks, “Beware Of Darkness”, and that side’s lineup is strong all the way through to the excellent title track “All Things Must Pass”.  The point is, if you liked the songs before, you’re going to enjoy them even more with the greatly improved mixes.  Dhani Harrison and Paul Hicks deserve high praise for their years of work on this project.  Their goal was to improve the sound of these recordings so they will be enjoyed for another 50 years and beyond.  Mission accomplished.

There are a bunch of different CD and vinyl versions available.  This is my three CD version.  It includes the remixes of the original three record set, plus a full CD of outtakes and alternate versions.  You can click and zoom the photo to see the songs on each CD sleeve.  The set also has a nice colorful 20-page booklet, and a folded poster with the lyrics on the back.  There’s a five CD version that has two discs of demos, which I listened to on streaming.  A complete list of the songs and the descriptions of the various CD & Vinyl versions (with prices) are available in an earlier article on this site.

(A quote from George Harrison at the front of the booklet)

The outtakes disc starts with a short verse that shows George’s sense of humor about how long it takes to get a song right.  He sings… “Isn’t it so shitty, isn’t it a shame.  How we do so many takes, and we’re doing it again.”  The outtakes are interesting, but like nearly every box set, you’ll hear why the versions ultimately chosen are better.  There’s a new track on the disc that’s an enjoyable eight-and-a-half-minute blues jam, “Almost 12-Bar Honky Tonk”.  George recruited top musicians for this album, and they played great together.

The two demo CD’s are divided into Day 1 and Day 2.  It’s striking how many songs George Harrison had available to record just six months after The Beatles broke up.  He had obviously been writing the songs for years, and now he could bring them to life for the public.  Even though the produced versions are better than the demos, you may enjoy hearing how the songs began.

(My 30th & 50th Anniversary CD box sets)

Additional test:  After loading the CD’s into my computer at the highest quality possible, I made a playlist of the songs from the 2001 remaster.  Then immediately followed each song with the same song from the 2021 remix…in order to get a good comparison.  The audio was played on a high-quality stereo system.  The simplest explanation of the result is that the 2001 remaster sounded like it was playing on smaller speakers than the 2021 remix.  Even though the volume levels were the same, the new remix definitely lets you hear the bass and drums more like the instruments really sound (full & clear).  Besides the clarity of all the instruments, the biggest improvement is that the remix sounds more like George is right there with you.

There are always some people who are going to prefer the version they’ve known for 50 years, and that’s okay.  But I can only imagine the screams that would have happened if this new remix had been the original version, and Apple later released that thinner sounding version with vocals more buried, and an over abundance of reverb.

I bought the original 3-record set on sale for $6.50 the week it came out in 1970.  The album was extremely popular.  It went to #1 for seven weeks, and by some counts is the biggest selling solo album by any of The Beatles.  Paul McCartney’s Band On The Run actually sold more copies, but a 3-record set counts as three sales.

It’s obvious George Harrison would have loved the new mix of All Things Must Pass, and would have been proud of his son for making his wish come true.  There’s no other solo album by an ex-Beatle that contains so many great songs.  The new remix deserves as many stars as reviewers are allowed to give.

Update:  All Things Must Pass won Best Box Set at the 2022 Grammy Awards.  That makes Dhani the first Beatles’ son or daughter to win a Grammy.  His mom, Olivia, also won as a co-producer.  She joins Linda McCartney and Yoko Ono who won Grammys with their husbands.

Extra:  Wanted to share this photo from the booklet.

It seemed like the 70s.  David Crosby and Jackson Browne released new albums on the same day (July 23rd, 2021).

David Crosby had trouble keeping friends in recent years, especially his band mates Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, and Neil Young.  So, he recruited other friends to help with his album, For Free.

The impressive cover painting is by Joan Baez.  The first song, “River Rise” is a solid start for the album, and features great harmony work by Michael McDonald.  Of course McDonald is known for his solo hits, as well as his work with The Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan.  Crosby also got Steely Dan’s Donald Fagan to co-write one of the other tracks, “Rodriguez For A Night”, which definitely sounds like it would have been at home on a Steely Dan album.

(Photo by Anna Webber)

The title track, “For Free”, is the well-known song by Joni Mitchell, and is done here as a duet with Sarah Jarosz.  The song is about a popular singer spotting a street musician who is…”playing real good for free”.  The recording has a beautiful sound, and they sing it in perfect harmony, but that’s the problem.   If Sara Jarosz had only joined-in with harmony for portions of the song, it would have been effective.  Unfortunately, with the two singing nearly every word in harmony, you can hear how hard they’re striving to stay in perfect synchronization.  The song loses its story-telling flow.  Crosby did a better version with The Byrds nearly 50 years ago.  By the way, David Crosby turned 80 on August 14h, 2021, just after the release of this album, and his voice was still strong.

Despite the slight miss on the title track, this is a high quality album. The playing, singing, and arranging are all first rate.  There are no clunkers to be found.  Some of these songs would have worked great as Crosby Stills & Nash recordings, but the tracks on this album that have more of a pop/jazz feel (like “Secret Dancer”) are cool too.  Of the flurry of albums David Crosby released late in his life, this is the best one.

For Free concludes with a touching song, “I Won’t Stay For Long”, by David Crosby’s son, James Raymond.  It includes the lyrics… “I don’t know if I’m dying or about to be born, but I’d like to be with you today, and I won’t stay for long.”

It was a long stay in the music business for David Crosby.  Since The Byrds hit with “Mr. Tamborine Man” in 1965, we’ve had the privilege of enjoying his talent.  Whether he sang harmony or lead, whether in a group or solo, he always gave us his very original style.  With all of David Crosby’s personal and health problems over the years, it’s amazing he made it to 81, and was still writing and singing at this high level.  On January 18th, 2023 he passed away (It was announced on the 19th).  His wife, Jan, released a statement that he died after a long illness, but members of his band said Crosby was preparing for a tour, even though he had to turn over his guitar parts to someone else.  In recent interviews, Crosby said that arthritis in his hands made guitar playing difficult.  Band members also said Crosby had been writing & recording new songs shortly before he died.

Extra:  During a July, 2021 interview in the Los Angeles Times, Jackson Browne was asked if any musicians served as mentors to him when he was young.  Here’s his answer:  “David Crosby agreed to sing on my first record.  He absolutely showed me how to record, how to multitrack vocals.  He praised me to others and to myself, and that was really important.  I feel a great debt of gratitude to David.”

Here’s the link to the review of Jackson Browne’s new album:  https://ontherecords.net/2021/07/jackson-brownedownhill-from-everywhere-review/

These days, Jackson Browne says the songwriting process is slower for him.  It’s been seven years since the 73-year-old singer/songwriter released a new album, and now we have Downhill From Everywhere.

The album is a collection of ten Jackson Browne originals (with some co-writing).  Right away, Jackson lets us know he’s “Still Looking For Something”, which is a really good song, and a strong start for the the album.  It would have been a good title for it.  He says…“If all I find is freedom, it’s alright.”

The featured single and video is “My Cleveland Heart”.  It’s a lap steel guitar rocker about avoiding heartbreak by getting an artificial heart at the famous Cleveland Clinic.  The video adds some humor to the idea.

The third track on the album, “Minutes To Downtown”, is another song about heartbreak, and it has that classic Jackson Browne sound.  “I See that smile, and even while it breaks my heart, I laugh.  That’s because this heart was already torn in half.”

The quality continues with the duet “A Human Touch”.  The vocal is started by co-writer Leslie Mendelson.  Jackson Browne adds harmony on the chorus, and then takes the lead on the next verse.  The lap steel guitar gives it a country feel, and the lyrics hit home after the distancing of the pandemic… “Sometimes all anybody needs is a human touch.”  It reminded me of another duet, “Sometimes Love Just Ain’t Enough”, by Patty Smyth and Don Henley.

The title track, “Downhill From Everywhere”, is based on the thought that everything we do eventually goes downhill into the ocean, polluting it.  The song is a rocker that sounds like the guitarist had the riff from The Rolling Stones’ “Start Me Up” stuck in his head.  It’s not one of the better songs on the album…just too many listings of  “Downhill from…” on it.

The second song that has a Stone’s guitar feel is “Until Justice Is Real”.  It took a few listens for me to warm up to it, but it sounds like it would have fit on Jackson’s “Lives In The balance” album.

 One of the best songs is the welcome new ballad “A Little Soon To Say”.  It features beautiful guitar and organ accompaniment, with effective vocal harmonies, especially on the title line about whether things will be alright….“It’s just a little soon to say.”

The album ends upbeat with “A Song For Barcelona”.  The rhythm and instrumental arrangement match the title perfectly.  The band is energetic and in a groove.  Jackson Browne sings that Barcelona “gave me refuge in my escape from Rock & Roll.”

Something Jackson Browne could work on is making his album covers more appealing.  Here are his last two covers next to each other.

It looks like a place you’d want to avoid.  It would be a shame if anyone missed the music because they were turned away by the cover.  One of the new publicity photos would have made a much more inviting cover, and would have still been in line with his often serious lyrics.

Jackson Browne fans will definitely be adding some of the songs from Downhill From Everywhere to their permanent playlists.  This album has the most Jackson Browne songs I’ve added from any of his albums in the last 30 years.  Jackson is performing tracks from the new album, as he’s touring this fall with James Taylor, and on his own.

These days, we’re lucky Jackson Browne is still providing fans with new music.

Extra:  For a look at Jackson’s best albums, and some original concert photos, here’s the link.  https://ontherecords.net/2017/06/jackson-browne-best-albums-2021-updates/

Update (August, 2021):  Jackson Browne & James Taylor returned to the stage in Sarasota, Florida August 23rd.  Here are photos from the Daily Gazette.

According to the article, the two singer-songwriters performed together on three of Jackson’s songs “The Pretender”, “Running On Empty” and “Take It Easy”.  Trivia:  Both J.B. & J.T. were born in 1948.

Bonus photo from 2022 concert:

Famous producer Rick Rubin gets a Beatles fan’s dream…a conversation with the man who is probably the world’s most famous musician, Paul McCartney.  Rubin asks him about the music McCartney created with The Beatles, Wings, and as a solo artist.

McCartney 3, 2, 1  is a new six-part documentary on Hulu (each part is about half-an-hour).  The interview portion is in black & white, but some featured photos and film segments are in color.  Hulu subscribers (Hulu also offers free trials) can binge all episodes of the series, which started on Friday July 16th, 2021.

Actually, here on the West Coast, it became available Thursday at 9 PM.  My wife and I watched the six episodes straight through to Midnight.  If you’re into Beatles music, you’ll find the series to be absolutely fascinating.  Rick Rubin selected song sections to play for Paul McCartney, and Paul describes how the recordings came to be.  There are some familiar stories, but also a lot of new insights about songs we love.

Paul McCartney and Rick Rubin cover a lot of ground, and it’s never boring.  Both men at times controlled the mixing board, and various instruments or vocals were isolated like we’ve never heard before.  You get completely pulled into how the recordings were created.  As expected, the majority of the time is spent on Beatles songs, but some of Paul’s Wings and solo recordings are included.  The questions and discussions go beyond specific songs, and reveal so much about how The Beatles worked together.

McCartney even provides some live musical demonstrations on piano, guitar, drums, and his Hofner bass.  Instead of trying to be a definitive documentary of all things Beatles & McCartney, it’s a wonderfully casual and candid conversation. 

Beatles fans and musicians…a splendid time is guaranteed for all.

Here’s the trailer for the documentary:  https://youtu.be/eTSe5hgB04s

Update:  In July, 2022, the Paul McCartney documentary was nominated for three Emmy awards.