A few years before the Eagles formed, Jackson Browne had just broken up with Nico and moved back to Los Angeles in 1968. Soon after, he met Glenn Frey while playing in a folk band with Jack Wilce and Ned Doheny. At the time, Browne lived in the same apartment complex in Echo Park as Frey and J.D. Souther and eventually started writing together. Browne and Frey’s first collaboration was one of the Eagles’ biggest hits, and their debut single, “Take It Easy.”
Originally written by Browne for his 1972 debut, he lost his song after showing it to Frey, who offered to finish it off for him and use it for the Eagles.
“He kept after me to finish it, and finally offered to finish it himself,” said Browne. “And after a couple of times when I declined to have him finish my song, I said, ‘All right, this is ridiculous. Go ahead and finish it. Do it.’ And he finished it in spectacular fashion. And what’s more, [he] arranged it in a way that was far superior to what I had written.”
Videos by American Songwriter
Photo of Jackson Browne by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
[RELATED: 5 Songs You Didn’t Know Jackson Browne Wrote for Other Artists]
Beyond giving the band an iconic song, Browne was central to the early success of the Eagles and co-wrote several more songs on the band’s first three albums. Here’s a look at the other three songs Browne wrote with and for the Eagles in the early ’70s.
1. “Nightingale” (1972)
Written by Jackson Browne
Along with the Eagles hit “Witchy Woman,” written by Don Henley and Frey, “Nightingale” is the only other track on the band’s self-titled debut with Henley on lead vocals. Along with the opening, “Take It Easy,” Browne also contributed “Nightingale,” which he wrote solo, and follows the story of a man struggling to find some peace of mind despite all the noise in the world.
I’m hanging on to my peace of mind
I just don’t know
I’m hanging on to those good times, baby
Just want to let them roll
I’m gonna make it to the light and joy
I’ll tell you why
I got a woman who can take me there
The apple of my eye
Oh, whoa, I just don’t know
No no, no, no
No, whoa, I love her so
Don’t let me see that mornin’ paper
‘Cause I don’t need those dues
It’s just the same old murder movie
But they call it the news
I’ll tell you what would be some story
And what would set me free
Is if the same thing happened to everybody
That just happened to me
[RELATED: 5 Songs You Didn’t Know Glenn Frey Wrote Solo for the Eagles]
2. “Doolin’ Dalton” (1973)
Written by Jackson Browne, Glenn Frey, Don Henley, and J.D. Souther
Maybe the Eagles wanted to romanticize the life and times of the late 19th century outlaws Bill Doolin and Bill Dalton on their Desperado track “Doolin-Dalton.” Known as the Wild Bunch, the Arkansas-bred fugitives, led by Doolin and Dalton made their way through Oklahoma and Indian territory robbing banks and trains with their gang from 1892 through 1896 when Doolin had a confrontation with a U.S. Marshal and was shot.
In the lyrics, the outlaws’ life of living fast and within all the more debauched and degenerate excesses are exposed. Opening the band’s second album, Desperado, “Doolin’ Dalton” features Henley and Frey sharing lead vocals; Frey can also be heard playing harmonica on the track.
The idea for the song first came to Browne after he was gifted of book on his 21st birthday on the Wild West Outlaws by former bandmate Ned Doheny. Initially, Browne, Henley, Frey, and Souther had the idea for an album honoring anti-heroes. Instead, they went with the wild-west-themed Desperado and also wrote “James Dean,” which would show up on the Eagles’ 1974 release On the Border.
They were dueling, Doolin-Dalton
High or low, it was the same
Easy money and faithless women
Red-eye whiskey for the pain
Go down, Bill Dalton, it must be God’s will
Two brothers lying dead in Coffeyville
Two voices call to you from where they stood
Lay down your law books now, they’re no damn good
Better keep on moving, Doolin-Dalton
‘Til your shadow sets you free
And if you’re fast, and if you’re lucky
You will never see that hanging tree
3. “James Dean” (1974)
Written by Jackson Browne, Glenn Frey, Don Henley, and J.D. Souther
Released as the second single from the Eagles’ third album On the Border in 1974, Browne co-wrote “James Dean” as a direct homage to the silver screen star. The track was first considered for another album honoring antiheroes that were being thrown around, which eventually turned into Desperado and its opening outlaw ode “Doolin’ Dalton.”
James Dean
James Dean
I know just what you mean
James Dean
You said it all so clean
And I know my life would look all right
If I could see it on the silver screen
You were the low-down rebel if there ever was
Even if you had no cause (James Dean)
You said it all so clean
And I know my life would look all right
If I could see it on the silver screen
We’ll talk about a low-down bad refrigerator
You were just too cool for school
Sock hop, soda pop, basketball and auto shop
The only thing that got you off was breakin’ all the rules
Photo: RB/Redferns
