The 500 - #375 - Late For The Sky - Jackson Browne

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 Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

Album # 375

Album Title: Late For The Sky
Artist: Jackson Browne

Genre: Rock, California Rock
Recorded: Three studios - California
Released: September, 1974
My age at release: 9
How familiar was I with it before this week: Somewhat
Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Before The Deluge

Mad Men was a period drama set in Manhattan in 1960 and focused on the lives of employees at the fictional Madison Avenue advertising agency, Sterling-Cooper. In the Season One finale, an episode called The Wheel, protagonist Don Draper is tasked with developing a campaign for Kodak's new projector which houses photo-slides in a "donut-shaped" wheel on top.

Pitch Meeting in S:1 Ep:13 The Wheel on Mad Men

Here, in the dark and cigarette-smoke-filled room, Draper confidently launches an unexpected sales pitch as he patiently clicks through a series of sentimental family photographs.  

"In Greek, nostalgia literally means 'the pain from an old wound'. It's a twinge in your heart, far more powerful than memory alone. This device isn't a spaceship. It's a time machine. It goes backwards and forwards and takes us to a place where we ache to go again. It's not called 'The Wheel'. It's called 'The Carousel'. It travels the way a child travels ... around and around and back home again."  

I've reached the age where I am prone to prolonged bouts of nostalgia. They are sometimes predictable. Conversations with my high-school friend Terry are a common trigger. The discovery of old photographs or a forgotten song that was part of my teenage soundtrack will provoke a wistful reflection or take me back to a place where I "ache to go again".

And then there is the music of Jackson Browne.  

Jackson Brown (1974)

What is it about Jackson Browne? 

Browne writes songs that gently push the listener toward a contemplative and dreamy state of melancholy and nostalgia. However, most remarkably is the fact that these songs have always had a kind of power over me. Even when I first heard his music at the age of 12 or 13 I was filled with a yearning, or ache, to go back to a simpler time. Which is absurd. I was living in the simplest time of my life. What was I trying to "go back to"...last Wednesday?

Late For The Sky is the third studio release for Brown, a Los Angeles-based multi-instrumentalist and songwriter. It is also the third of three records on The 500 List. I wrote about album #391, The Pretender, last December and For Everyman at #450 in December, 2019 -- which seems like a lifetime ago!

Late For The Sky was released in 1974 in between the other releases. It captures Browne at the high-point of the "classic period" of his career.

For Everyman (1973) and The Pretender (1976) 

This year, Late For The Sky was deemed "culturally, historically and aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and has been selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry. 

Library of Congress - Washington DC

It is a sublime and beautiful record with gorgeously crafted, often heartbreaking, lyrics that blend magnificently with stunningly structured, rich music. Browne was only 24 when he recorded it, but it has the sound of an artist more mature. 

Late For The Sky, much like Don Draper's carousel slide-projector, is "a time machine" which will transport you to a place where you "ache to go again."