Jackson Browne - BBC Sessions, Volume 3: In Concert, Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD, 8-20-1978

I discovered that Jackson Browne did a third concert for the BBC in 1978. But I researched it, and I couldn't pin down the exact date or location. A lot of copies of this bootleg claim it took place in Shepherd's Bush Empire in London. However, I dug deeper, and discovered that Browne never even was in Europe in 1978, and the set list is clearly from that year. So I dug deeper still, using an archives.org version of a defunct Jackson Browne fan site that had extensive and accurate set lists for every concert. I found out that this concert actually took place in Columbia, Maryland. 

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)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15179062/JacksonB_1978_BBSessionsVolme3InConcrtMerriweathrPostPavilion__8-20-1978.zip.html

I don't know any details of the cover photo, except that it's from a 1978 concert.