Jackson Browne - Solo Acoustic Volume 2

Browne: nose around in his live, intimate brilliance

A voice, a guitar, a bunch of songs from an impossibly great back catalogue and a small army of sound engineers to ensure everything is perfect; Jackson Browne had these audiences from his first, almost fluttery “Hello”, to the final fade away of My Stunning Mystery Companion, and he’ll have you too.

He’s been at the heart of that Californian country/folk/ rock hybrid scene for so long now that it’s pretty well infused his whole being, yet he somehow transcends it too. The songs on this collection could have been – in fact were – written for one man to perform and, though they undoubtedly work with a band (the band he wishes were there, at one point) they also work with the pure elements of wood, wire and air.

Occasionally, as with Somebody’s Baby, you can hear the more augmented versions simultaneously in your head, but this is not one of the times you’ll be sent running for the original. Browne delivers all you need from these 19 songs right here. It would have been great to have been there; this disc gets you close enough for it not to matter that you weren’t.

Inside Recordings | INR 8021-9

Reviewed by Tim Holmes
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