My theory is that it was first broadcast on one or more radio stations in the US. Then it was broadcast by the BBC later, and that version got bootlegged. That led to the assumption that it took place in London, since the vast, vast majority of BBC concerts do. But every now and then, the BBC would rebroadcast concerts from elsewhere, perhaps in cases where an artist they wanted to feature wasn't available to tour in Britain. I've posted some albums like that, such as a BBC concert of a 1982 Marshall Crenshaw show that actually took place in New York and was first broadcast there. So I hope this post fixes the confusion and inaccuracy about this recording.
Anyway, as far as the music goes, it's an excellent sounding concert. In 1977, Browne released the album "Running on Empty." It was his most successful album of his career by far, selling seven millions copies in the US alone. So naturally this contains a lot of songs from that album, with some older favorites like "Doctor My Eyes" and "These Days" making up about the other half.
Unfortunately, the BBC version was edited down, probably to fit into an hour-long time slot. Very little banter survived the cuts, and the album is only 55 minutes long. On the plus side, I might have missed something, but as far as I can tell, this is the only soundboard or FM quality recording known from his 1977 and 1978 tours to support "Running on Empty."
01 The Fuse (Jackson Browne)
02 Here Comes Those Tears Again (Jackson Browne)
03 Rock Me on the Water (Jackson Browne)
04 talk (Jackson Browne)
05 Cocaine (Jackson Browne)
06 talk (Jackson Browne)
07 Rosie (Jackson Browne)
08 Doctor My Eyes (Jackson Browne)
09 These Days (Jackson Browne)
10 Running on Empty (Jackson Browne)
11 Love Needs a Heart (Jackson Browne)
12 Nothing but Time (Jackson Browne)
13 The Load Out (Jackson Browne)
14 Stay (Jackson Browne)
I don't know any details of the cover photo, except that it's from a 1978 concert.
Hi Paul, I love this blog! And in particular, this post is especially noteworthy, as this concert at the Merriweather Post Pavilion (actual date was 8-27-1977) in Columbia, MD was not in support of the "Running On Empty" album, but rather the ACTUAL performance that was recorded and used on that album... additionally, two other songs were recorded at this concert and used on the "ROE" album as well: "The Load Out" and "Stay".
ReplyDeleteA few minor overdubs were done in the studio, and the "ROE" album was released on Dec. 6, 1977 -- with three songs from the Merriweather Post Pavilion concert just over 3 months earlier now immortalized!
Wonderful blog -- keep up the great work! :)
Glad you're enjoying the blog. So you're saying I should change the date? What's your evidence for that? Could it be there were different dates at the same locale?
DeleteOkay, I looked a little more into your idea. One problem with it is if you compare the set list at setlist.fm to this set list, it's different:
Deletehttps://www.setlist.fm/setlist/jackson-browne/1977/merriweather-post-pavilion-columbia-md-1bd5a5f0.html
And it's not just a matter of being shorter. There are songs on this one not played on that one, and vice versa.
It could help if one could listen to "Running on Empty" extremely closely and check to see if they're the exact same versions. Ditto with "The Load Out - Stay."
You definitely raise valid points; I was unaware of the 8-20-78 concert at the same venue (Merriweather Post Pavilion) so my earlier observations are certainly questionable… I based my comment on an A/B comparison of the song “Running On Empty” from both sources—particularly the vocals; they are almost identical (except for a line near the end, which I attributed to simple overdubs)… they probably wouldn’t be this close from 2 different concerts a year apart. Not impossible, but fairly improbable.
DeleteI have the vocals extracted I can share with you to compare and see what your opinion may be. Let me know, I’d be gladly to send them your way. 😊
You got me curious, so I just checked the two Running on Empties myself. They're definitely different versions. The vocals are very close. But where you can really tell the difference is in the guitar solo near the end. Totally different guitar solos. And even the song length is different, with one version almost half a minute longer than the other.
DeleteThat said, there's still some mystery about this concert. I can't say I'm 100 percent certain about the date and location.