When the Eagles were in the studio recording their 1972 debut album, the band’s friend Jackson Browne helped co-write two songs, including the opening “Take It Easy,” with Glenn Frey. At the time, Browne had moved from New York City to Los Angeles after breaking up with Nico was living in the same apartment complex as Frey and J.D. Souther in Echo Park.
Initially, Browne started writing “Take It Easy” for his 1972 debut before Frey kept pestering him and offering to finish the song so he could record it with the Eagles. “He kept after me to finish it, and finally offered to finish it himself,” recalled 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.’”
Browne continued, “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.”
For The Eagles, Browne also contributed another track, which producer Glyn Johns had the band record several times since he didn’t think it was as strong as their opener. Nevertheless, “Nightinglae” was kept on album to replaced “Get You in the Mood,” which originally replaced the former track. “Get You in the Mood” never made the album and was still released as the B-side to “Take It Easy.”
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‘I’m gonna make it to the light and joy’
Closing side one on The Eagles, “Nightingale,” may not have had the same hit as “Take It Easy” but it was there to pick up the beat following the more melancholy “Most of Us Are Sad.”
Along with the Eagles hit “Witchy Woman,” written by Don Henley and Bernie Leadon, “Nightingale” is the only other track on the Eagles’ self-titled debut featuring Henley on lead vocals. The song 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, I just don’t know, no no, no, no
Oh, I love her so
Don’t let me see that morning 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
Oh, I just don’t know, no, no, no, no
Oh, I’ll never let her go, no, no, no
And every time I hear somebody
Sneakin’ up behind Oh,
I turn around but I still hear that sound
Browne’s Other Eagles Songs
After the success of The Eagles and “Take It Easy” and contributing “Nightingale,” Brown continued collaborating with the band on their second album Desperado, co-writing “Doolin’ Dalton” for the band’s 1973 album Desperado with Henley, Frey, and Souther. The idea for the song first came to Browne from a book he was gifted on his 21st birthday by former bandmate Ned Doheny on the Wild West Outlaws.
For the Eagles third album On the Border, Browne also co-wrote their tribute to Hollywood icon actor James Dean, who died in a car accident in 1955 at the age of 24. “James Dean” was oroignally recorded during the Desperado sessions and shelved before they added to On the Border and released it as the second single off the album
“When it came time to do ‘On the Border,’” said Frey, “we got ‘James Dean’ right off the shelf and said, ‘Let’s finish this.’”
Photo: Ian Dickson/Shutterstock
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