The 500 - #450 - Jackson Browne - For Everyman

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

My plan (amended). 

• One record per week (ish) and at least two complete listens.
• A blog post for each, highlighting the important details and, when possible, a background story that relates to the record.
• No rating scale - just an effort to expand my appreciation of diverse forms of music.
• Listen to Josh and his guest on The 500 podcast, which drops weekly, to gather additional information and insights.

Album # 450

Album Title: For Everyman
Artist: Jackson Browne
Released: October, 1973
My age at release: 8
How familiar was I with it before this week: One song
Song I am putting on my Spotify Mix: I Thought I Was A Child
Great Lyric:
"These days I sit on corner stones
And count the time in quarter tones to ten, my friend Don't confront me with my failures I had not forgotten them." (These Days)

In January, 2011, my brother and sister, who are twins, were turning 40. I wasn't sure what to get them for their birthday until it was announced that Rock and Roll Hall of Fame musician Jackson Browne had included London's John Labatt Centre (JLC) on his solo acoustic tour. I purchased three tickets and gave them the news on their birthday.

On April 18, 2011 we met for dinner and went to the show. We had great seats for an intimate performance. The JLC had curtained off half the arena with a heavy, floor-to-ceiling drape so it felt like a small theatre. The stage was simple. A rack with a dozen guitars and a small, electric piano. 

The tour was promoted as one without a prescribed set-list. Instead, Browne opted to take requests from audiences. At our event, rather than requests being raucously shouted, they were politely called out. There are not many things more mellow than a middle-aged, Canadian audience at a Jackson Browne acoustic gig. The soulful, soft rock of the 1970s has been dubbed yacht rock, dad rock and chillwave because of its very smooth, introspective and marijuana-friendly spirit.

At one point, a request for the song Our Lady of the Well was made and, after picking up a guitar, Browne paused and said, "I think I'll play that on the piano tonight." 

This is the musicianship of which I am most envious. I play saxophone and guitar at an intermediate level and have been taking piano lessons for three months. I can learn a song on each instrument and, if I practice enough, I can perform it reasonably well. However, nothing can change. 

• I can't change the key or the instrument. 
• If I learned it on guitar, I have no idea how to play it on the saxophone.
• I'm not able to participate in any kind of improvised jam - even if it is built around the melody. 
• Without sheet music, I am lost.

I'd love to be able to seamlessly embrace a piece of music in a way that resonates with me in the moment. That being said, I realize that Browne is a professional musician with 40+ years of playing experience behind him. He has certainly eclipsed Malcom Gladwell's 10,000-hour rule for expertise. Still, that casual, personal comfort with music is something to which I dreamily aspire. 

For Everyman is a wonderful record. It was my Christmas week soundtrack as I heard it at least a dozen times over five days. I also listened to Josh's podcast interview with Judd Apatow about this record twice. 

I am a huge fan of Judd's work and use his coming-of-age series Freaks and Geeks as part of my Grade 7 & 8 Health curriculum. During the interview, Judd ruminates on the influence Jackson Browne has had on his writing. Apatow acknowledges that many of his stories are built around the challenges associated with growing-up, an unmistakable theme on Browne's For Everyman. 

Apatow cites I Thought I Was A Child as direct inspiration for his 2007 comedy, Knocked Up. 

 As he puts it...

"Sometimes, when I make a movie, I'll work on it for years. So a movie will take 2 to 5 years to make. And then I'll hear a song and go...'everything I was going for in that movie, this person expressed in 3 and a half minutes'."

Apatow freely admits his fascination with the tribulations associated with aging. "I do have two movies with the number 40 in them" he jokes. 

I, too, have an odd, sometimes maudlin fascination with time, aging and maturity. 

Perhaps that is why I like Browne and Apatow so much? 

Perhaps that is why I took my brother and sister to see Browne on their 40th birthday? 

Okay, the second question is a stretch but...it does give me a tidy book-end to this blog.

Ticket Stub from that show.

Next up: #449 - Big Star - Third

August 18th is a day

For the past four years, I have been using an App on my phone called Momento which bills itself as the "smart private journal for capturing your life story". It works like most social media apps (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc) however it is private. Consequently, it has the advantage of allowing the user to document anything without considering an audience -- other than one's future self.

A frequent criticism of social media is that users tend to create a "False Face" or "Ideal Self" as their online persona. I know this is true for me. My Twitter/Instagram feed is absolutely curated -- I tend only to show the best stuff going on around me. However, my Momento feed allows me to reflect on everything in my life -the banal, the somber, the pessimistic, the boastful, the tragic...the real.

The app also has a feature called "This Day" which highlights all the posts made on a calendar day. Now that I have been using it for several years, this is my favourite feature and I look forward to clicking my "This Day" button every morning over coffee. It is also interesting to see moments from your past strung together around the theme of a single calendar date. It's remarkable and often surprising how different Wednesday, June 10 in 2015 might be from Sunday, June 10 in 2018.

I have been fortunate, and most days I am delighted to see the pictures and text appear on my phone screen. Today was different.

Two years ago, on this date (August 18, 2016), I was standing on top of Mount Franny in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. A slightly challenging 2 kilometer trek puts the hiker at an elevation of 450 meters above sea level. Here, one is rewarded with a nearly 360 degree view of the Ingonish region of the Cabot Trail.  There is even a red, Muskoka/Adirondack chair intended to encourage a moment of mindful reflection.

It was about the time I snapped this picture of my wife that my phone rang. It was my good friend Bill and his typically buoyant voice sounded reserved and reed-thin. He let me know that our mutual friend Duncan had been diagnosed with an aggressive cancer. I paused and then immediately began to extol the achievements of the Canadian medical community. I recognize that this is my coping method -- I put faith into science and comfort myself with success stories I have experienced and the potential for healing that 21st Century medicine offers.

Last year, on this date (August 18, 2017), I was meeting my new fur-nephew at my cottage. An Irish Wolfhound with a wonderful disposition, he is a rescue dog from Texas who is featured in my avatar on multiple media platforms. He brought great joy to my sister one year after she said goodbye to "Merlot" a gentle and sweet dog who generously and effortlessly extolled warmth and elation to anyone he met.

Merlot in the Thames River, London, Ontario

This also marked the day I had returned to our cottage after spending time in London. I had gone to London to attend Duncan's celebration of life. An incredibly talented musician, composer and educator - he was well known and respected by many. The event was held in the outdoor music pavilion at Wonderland Gardens. His album of original jazz music Floating Point was played and his equally talented brother Cam, and Duncan's two daughters, performed. It was mournful -- but also beautifully uplifting.

Today, (August 18, 2018), I am drinking coffee and writing. I have yet to post a picture or text in my Momento App.  I suspect I will post a link to this blog. Tonight, my wife and I are going to meet good friends -- people who have chosen to travel to spend time with us. On Monday, we head for New York City -- to celebrate 32 years together and our 12th wedding anniversary (New York was the city in which we were married -- August 18, 2006).

We didn't go there for our 10th anniversary -- because of the exchange rate and the opportunity to go to Nova Scotia. I have been patiently waiting for the dollar to improve to make this trip more financially efficient. Secretly, my wife booked a flight, hotel and tickets to see Billy Joel at Madison Square Gardens. She surprised me on my birthday.

She was right.

She usually is.

Life is incredibly short and it can change quickly. Go out and make the most of every day -- including August 18th.