Conventional wisdom, which is always a dangerous thing, says that Jackson Browne lost his command of the zeitgeist — and his status as a Top-40 hitmaker and album-oriented Rock hero — with 1983’s Lawyers in Love album (and its single of the same name).
Coming after one of his biggest Rock hits to date, the wonderfully tender single “Somebody’s Baby,” it failed to live up to expectations. And while the album in truth had some pretty good songs and Browne stayed a principled, politically progressive presence on the concert circuit afterward, his time as an arena-filling superstar seemed over.
But for those who stopped paying attention, Browne — like Bob Dylan — has been putting together a long, impressive comeback that now finds him able to come close to selling out venues like Cincinnati’s PNC Pavilion. He is reengaging those who loved his more acoustic-oriented, confessional Folk Rock ballads of the 1970s (“These Days,” “For a Dancer”), and he’s also attracting younger fans looking for a role model.
A great album of new, melodically significant material, 2008’s Time the Conqueror, helped prove he still had a lot to say with tuneful songs like the politically angry, Gospel-like “Where Were You” (about Hurricane Katrina) and the gently loping, romantic “Giving That Heaven Away.” And his version (with Tom Morello) of “American Skin (41 Shots),” recorded at 2013’s MusiCares Tribute to Bruce Springsteen (which was released as a concert video in 2014), was a standout full of fiery passion.
Next week’s show in Cincinnati is his first since his latest album, Standing in the Breach, came out, featuring further excellent songs like “Yeah Yeah” and “The Birds of St. Marks.” Browne returns as a still-vital elder with both stirring new material and a songbook that will endure for a long, long time.
This article appears in Sep 2-8, 2015.