– What are your favourite Jackson Browne records?
– Late For The Sky and Running On Empty.
– When did you listen to them recently?
– Not recently. I think maybe 20 years ago.
– What happened?
– Nothing. Time. But I really love them. Memory tells me. Maybe I’ve listened too much to Eno’s music (laughs).
– What is so great about them?
– One is about being too late for the sky. If you are in misery, Late For The Sky (or is its title Too Late For The Sky) calms you down. Makes misery sound uplifting. Like slow-motion surfing on a long wave.
– And the other one? Running On Empty …
– That one crosses different scenarios, spaces, atmospheres. It is deeper than most road sagas partly because Browne had the brilliant notion of recording on the fly … It also works because he tapped the culture’s circa-1977 sense that it was running on empty, feeling like a trashed Holiday Inn room. Empty is about something larger than the misery of room service.
– Last question, just out of curiosity. What is the greatest American rock album ever?
– The Allman Brothers Band Live At Fillmore East.