These Days: How Gregg Allman stole Jackson Browne’s song with ONE WORD
What’s a cover song, really? Is it a “tribute” to an artist or is it just an excuse for not being able to come up with a song “as good” or any good songs at all? Maybe we should ask Steve Earle.
I just saw Earle last night here in London. It was my first time seeing him perform. I liked it. It was an earnest and humble performance: a tribute to his “teacher”, Townes Van Zandt. Earle just released an entire album of Townes’ song, aptly titles, “Townes“.
Earle was unapologetic in his unabashed covering of Townes. He did it in tribute. He told us that this album of Townes penned tunes outsold his last two albums of original material (“as a singer/songwriter, that hurts a bit”). I was sitting 3rd row, dead center. I thoroughly enjoyed the show. He delivered each song with passion and told tall tales about times he and Townes shared.
[NOTE: This conversation I am starting here is not really a solo job. I really need to be having it in a bar with four other half-stoned, full drunk music freaks. That being said, do what you have to do in the comfort of your own interweb.]
Cover songs. Some are brilliant: Hendrix – “All Along the Watchtower”. Some are fucking train-wrecks: Britney Spears – “Satisfaction”. What I find funny about cover songs is that the “cover-er” is singing the “cover-ee’s” lyrics, some of which are heartfelt and personal. Case in point: Jackson Browne’s: “These Days”.
You can argue that every one of Browne’s songs are completely saturated with sentiment that oozes from every groove. How can another artist take a song like, “These days” and turn it into a full on autobiography sans parody? Don’t ask Nico that question (her version: I have been in surgery theatres less aseptic than her version)
Ask Gregg Allman. He knows all too, dangerously, well.
Have you listened to Browne’s, “These Days”? Have you had a listen to the lyrics? Let’s jump right to the second and third verses:
Now if I seem to be afraid
To live the life I have made in song
Well it’s just that I’ve been losing for so longThese 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
It is a contemplative song. he’s looking forward, but also looking back. Jackson Browne: ”I’ve been losing for so damn long that I am a bit hesitant to live my life in song”. That’s cool, Jackson. You can reconcile your past though, can’t you. “Hey”, he says, “I fucked up in the past, I haven’t forgotten about that”. Thanks for sharing how you do it…by forgiving yourself and counting quarter tones. His version is pleasant. It makes you feel good about forgetting some mistakes you have made and moving on.
Now…go listen to Gregg Allman’s version. This…this is a cover song that completely dismantles the original version. It kidnaps it, takes it across the country, avoiding amber alerts along the way, and gives it a new identity…and forces it to live an entirely different life than originally intended. And it does it with ONE WORD. One kick-you-in-the-balls word.
Let’s go back to that last verse:
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
Gregg takes the last line and swaps “forgotten” for aware. WHAMO! He take the song and turns it from jaunty, feel good, I’m OK-You’re OK, tune to a I’m-still-neck-deep-in-the-shit, can’t get out of my own way to save myself, present-tense, pity-party lament. I fucking love Gregg’s version.
If you know Gregg’s story [as told in the rock-press/history books and interviews]…he has many personal failures. Need a place to start, go here. Hey, the man has many successes as well…but that is not what this song is about.
Go back and look at the one line in the third verse: “Well it’s just that I’ve been losing for so long”. As Gregg sings this song, he is still losing and it is because of those failures that he just can’t shake.
OK…now go listen to the two versions. They are not all that different stylistically. Gregg’s is a bit more of a dirge. It may be my rock and roll fantasy, but I am sure he made the ONE WORD change before recording the song, which had to have an impact on his delivery.
Gregg: http://rd.io/i/QV5SUzd0zso
Jackson: http://rd.io/x/QV5SUzdNBds
Are you with me now? Gregg now owns that song. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought Jackson covered him.
A lot of people have covered this song. Do you think anyone else out-Jacksons Gregg?
lots of covers of this one out there, and it’s funny, I was unaware of Gregg’s version. What a beautiful share, Judd! Probably the most random cover of this that I am aware of, would be the version from Fountains of Wayne that appears on their Out-of-State Plates rarities comp. I like it, but I’m an uber-FOW fan, so I have definite bias.
No probs, Matt. I went crazy w/this song once I heard Gregg’s version. I have an albums worth of covers of it on my hard drive. I will seek out the FOW take. I am far from an Uber-FOW fan. I haven’t given them enough of a chance. I will put my ear to their tracks.
A delicious share indeed Juddster! My empathy cup runneth over for Mr Gregg A. The power of one simple word. Classic.
Wow! I didn’t know that Jackson Browne was only 17 when he wrote this song. How does a 17 year old kid write this?!?
Interesting note that I learned from reading Mark Bego’s “biography” of JB, which was really a garbage read (basically just a collection of press clippings stitched together) except for this one bit of knowledge. There were several covers of “These Days” after Jackson wrote it, but he wasn’t moved to cover it himself, until he heard Gregg Allman’s version.
How does a 17 year old kid write this?!?Ah, but I was so much older then,I’m younger than that now.
@addictedtovinyl Matt: what a trip. being motivated to record your own work based on another’s cover. Was JB trying to reclaim it or just have his say. Daunting task to outdo Gregg.Other artists just waive the white flag. Dylan says “Watchtower” doesn’t belog to him anymore…it belongs to HIM (you know who)
@horringbone Kip: perfect response.
@Judd6149 – I think that he was moved by hearing Allman’s version to the point that it finally gave him the perspective that he needed to record his own version. From what I know about JB, it doesn’t seem like he would do something like that to reclaim or have his own say – I think he just genuinely enjoyed making music in those years, but at the same time, encountered a bit of frustration along the way. I think that hearing Allman’s version might have restored a bit of faith in Browne and his own songwriting. That little tidbit btw about the Allman inspiration came originally from a Rolling Stone interview btw, I believe. I don’t have the book in front of me right now, but I think it was RS.
@addictedtovinyl nice tidbit. Would love to have been a fly on the wall when JB first heard that. Did he listen to it over and over…did he head to the recording studio straight away…did he start frantically writing new songs on the spot…Choose your own adventure!My wife and I are gong to see JB at the Royal Albert Hall in June. 10th row centre. We’re not huge fans, but those early albums get plenty of rotation. The same for Bonnie Raiit…I just got her first three and they are a fave of the wife, so they have been bouncing off the walls for weeks now.
I think I’m finally going to see JB this summer. Can’t wait. Is David Lindley on the date that you’re going to see? As you probably know, I love Bonnie. I’d love to see her again – it’s been a looooong time.
@addictedtovinyl Yes, Lindley is on the bill. I haven’t seen JB before…looking forward to it. Haven’t seen Bonnie either! After soaking in those 1st three albums, seeing her live is a must. I am watching American Idol (sucked in again!). The one girl from Denver… played in clubs and subways, gruff voice…I would be getting her to play either “Thank You” (couldn’t find a link) or “Women Be Wise” http://tinysong.com/jMTn off of Bonnie’s debut.
Bonnie's Road Tested live record (and DVD too) is a must, if you don't have it. I picked up her Montreux live DVD recently (from '77, I think), and I'm looking forward to giving that one a spin….it's a bit short, but I couldn't pass it up for the cheap price that I paid for it on Amazon. I've never been much of an Idol fan – not sure why, but I've always been a bit annoyed by the show…..just not my thing. I'll have to check out the girl that you mention…sounds like good stuff!
@addictedtovinyl I’ll pick up Road Tested this weekend. Idol: I never watched it when I lived in the States. Not sure why all of a sudden I’m on to it…
The CD version is longer than the DVD. Killer version of Thing Called Love with Hornsby and others assisting. As I recall, JB and Bonnie do a great version of My Opening Farewell together as well.I didn't take to it when I bought it originally, and in fact, got rid of it. Many years later when I became a bigger Bonnie fan, I re-bought it, and now, I'm not sure why I ever dumped it – it gets many a spin in my world.
I understood he wrote it soon after his first experience with LSD.
Wow. Was looking up lyrics to this cover by Gregg and stumbled upon this. Always knew it was a JB song, and have always preferred Allman’s version over any other. Total agreement with the one word captivity. I grew up on early JB, Bonnie Raitt, Allman Bros, etc. Laid Back is in my opinion, a masterpiece.
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