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Jackson Browne — Take It Easy
Album: Saturate Before Using
Avg rating:
7.3

Your rating:
Total ratings: 752









Released: 1971
Length: 3:35
Plays (last 30 days): 0
Well I'm a-running down the road trying to loosen my load
I've got seven women on my mind
Four that want to own me, two that want to stone me
One says she's a friend of mine

Take it easy, take it easy
Don't let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy
Lighten up while you still can
Don't even try to understand
Just find a place to make your stand and take it easy

Well I'm a-standin' on the corner in Winslow, Arizona
With such a fine sight to see
It's a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford
Slowin' down to take a look at me

Come on baby, don't say maybe
I've got to know if your sweet love is gonna save me
We may lose and we may win
But we will never be here again
Open up I'm climbin' in to take it easy

Well I'm a-running down the road trying to loosen my load
Got a world of trouble on my mind
I'm lookin' for a lover who won't blow my cover
She's just a little hard to find
Take it easy
Take it easy
Don't let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy
Come on baby, don't say maybe
I've got to know if your sweet love is gonna save me
Comments (48)add comment
This has always been my favorite version of this song. Co-written with Glen Fry, David Lindley on petal steel guitar. Beautiful segue with “Our Lady Of The We’ll” on his album “For Everyman”.
Nice to hear this version by the co-writer!
 ick wrote:

If I were a bettin' man, I'd put my money on Lindley.


The pedal steel in Take it Easy is Sneaky Pete Kleinow. IMHO probably the greatest pedal steel player of his era. Interestingly this song blends into the next track, Our Lady of the Well and all the musicians change. The same thing occurs in the last two tracks on For Everyman… a masterpiece of both story telling in the true “album” sense and production/ engineering.
 damonlazer wrote:

According to Wikipedia, this song is from his 1973 album "For Everyman," and not from his debut album, as listed here.

Also, the 1971 debut album is not actually titled "Saturate Before Using."  Its title is just "Jackson Browne."



Lampard
 Peter_K wrote:

leave this for the “classic rock” stations- they play old top 40 crap. 




If you don't like it, hit the "skip button"! ...problem solved!  A LOT of RP listeners like it!   
 Peter_K wrote:

leave this for the “classic rock” stations- they play old top 40 crap. 


<points at the door>
No need to announce your departure; you're not an airplane.
 naomin wrote:
Four that want to own me, two that want to stone me
One says she's a friend of mine…. Come on baby, don't say maybe
I've got to know if your sweet love is gonna save me… Open up I'm climbin' in to take it easy …. Lookin' for a lover who won't blow my cover, She's just a little hard to find…


As a woman who’s had to deal with irresponsible entitled wanderers like this I find this song rather irritating.

It's an excellent piece of teenage boy coming of age music, full of joy, fantasy, and optimism. So sorry you had a bad relationship or two, but this song isn't about you or the guy who broke your heart. 
 ick wrote:

If I were a bettin' man, I'd put my money on Lindley.



me too. is linda ronstadt doing back up vocals on this? 
Just Googled 'who wrote Take it Easy'

Cool story
Seeing The Eagles tomorrow night. They’ll play it, of course, and I’ll dig it. But this is the best. Lindley’s guitar just shimmers.
 tg3k wrote:

Maybe I'm the odd man out, but I sorta prefer this version over the Eagles'. Something about the slide guitar work (is that David Lindley?) that pulls me in.


If I were a bettin' man, I'd put my money on Lindley.

 mattenuttall wrote:
 Posted 19 years ago by Eul0gy:

Hey. Eulogy. 
Are you still out there? I'm hoping your online name wasn't prescient.... 
It's been 19 years. Your life can no longer be classified as "short". How is this song's playing frequency stacking up?

No comments in 14 years from EulOgy.  
 Posted 19 years ago by Eul0gy:

This song is at the top of a very short list of songs that i have heard WAY too many times in my short life



Hey. Eulogy. 
Are you still out there? I'm hoping your online name wasn't prescient.... 
It's been 19 years. Your life can no longer be classified as "short". How is this song's playing frequency stacking up?
 asap.band wrote:

all my young teeneger years...... 



teenager.... sorry, i m french :)
all my young teeneger years...... 
leave this for the “classic rock” stations- they play old top 40 crap. 
.
.


'Take It Easy'
Written by Jackson Browne and Glenn Frey

Singer-songwriter Jackson Browne began writing this breezy traveling tune in 1971 but couldn’t quite finish it. 
Then living at 1020 Laguna Avenue in Echo Park, Los Angeles, along with Glenn Frey and J.D. Souther, he was plucking away on his piano.
Frey, who was sharing a one-room apartment for $60 a month, heard Jackson in the basement directly beneath him working on an early version.
Frey:
“He had his piano and guitars down there. I didn’t really know how to sit down and work on a song until I heard him playing underneath us in the basement,” Frey noted in album liner notes.
“I had never really witnessed that sort of focus – someone being that fastidious – and it gave me a different idea about how to write songs; that maybe it wasn’t all just going to be a flood of inspiration.
That’s when I first heard this song."

Jackson Brown - 1972









 naomin wrote:
Four that want to own me, two that want to stone me
One says she's a friend of mine…. Come on baby, don't say maybe
I've got to know if your sweet love is gonna save me… Open up I'm climbin' in to take it easy …. Lookin' for a lover who won't blow my cover, She's just a little hard to find…


As a woman who’s had to deal with irresponsible entitled wanderers like this I find this song rather irritating.


I'd never thought about it that way, so thank you naomin for that take on this song. I had always seen the song as being about a man bowled over by an empowered woman as suggested by the line credited to the Eagles' Glen Frey: 

“Such a fine sight to see. It’s a girl, my lord, in a flatbed Ford, slowin’ down to take a look at me.”
 
I stopped in Winslow one time. The sun was setting and we needed to stop for the night. We turned into a campground just north of Winslow. I asked the charming elder woman who checked us in if she could recommend a good place to eat. Her directions included a reference to "the corner." Glancing at the map, I twigged to the fact that must be "the corner in Winslow, Arizona." referred to by Browne. I asked her: "Is that the corner in the song" and simultaneously we both started singing that line. 

What can I say, it was a moment. 
 Eul0gy wrote:

This song is at the top of a very short list of songs that i have heard WAY too many times in my short life



Dude. Take it easy. 
 damonlazer wrote:

According to Wikipedia, this song is from his 1973 album "For Everyman," and not from his debut album, as listed here.

Also, the 1971 debut album is not actually titled "Saturate Before Using."  Its title is just "Jackson Browne."




100% correct.
According to Wikipedia, this song is from his 1973 album "For Everyman," and not from his debut album, as listed here.

Also, the 1971 debut album is not actually titled "Saturate Before Using."  Its title is just "Jackson Browne."
Ah,
Back when we were young! 
 Eul0gy wrote:

This song is at the top of a very short list of songs that i have heard WAY too many times in my short life



Lucky you.  That's what I say when the Eagles sing it...
Back when this song came out I had a friend of mine who was actually hitchhiking out in Winslow Arizona. He was picked up by a gentleman who drove him all the way back to Winchester Massachusetts and when he alighted from the car he told us the story and we were all absolutely amazed!! Yeah “Pineapple” Harlow!!
I will take this version over the more common one (we all know which) any day of the week.
 naomin wrote:
Four that want to own me, two that want to stone me
One says she's a friend of mine…. Come on baby, don't say maybe
I've got to know if your sweet love is gonna save me… Open up I'm climbin' in to take it easy …. Lookin' for a lover who won't blow my cover, She's just a little hard to find…


As a woman who’s had to deal with irresponsible entitled wanderers like this I find this song rather irritating.
 
This is why I like it. I hear it as calling men out on their bullshit. 
 siemsen wrote:
Truly sick of hearing it, Eagles or Jackson Browne version.
 
PSD
Four that want to own me, two that want to stone me
One says she's a friend of mine…. Come on baby, don't say maybe
I've got to know if your sweet love is gonna save me… Open up I'm climbin' in to take it easy …. Lookin' for a lover who won't blow my cover, She's just a little hard to find…


As a woman who’s had to deal with irresponsible entitled wanderers like this I find this song rather irritating.

perpetualdeja_vu wrote:
I don't care what you guys say, this song is awesome. Both versions are awesome. Makes me want to drive somewhere warm and ride around with the top down.
here! here!
drH wrote:
Pedal steel credit goes to someone by the name of Sneaky Pete. Lindley plays on it too, but not slide, as far as I can tell.
pete was also an original flying burrito brother. i love his pedal steel!
tg3k wrote:
Maybe I'm the odd man out, but I sorta prefer this version over the Eagles'. Something about the slide guitar work (is that David Lindley?) that pulls me in.
Pedal steel credit goes to someone by the name of Sneaky Pete. Lindley plays on it too, but not slide, as far as I can tell.
I love the banjo work in the Eagles version of this. But they're both worth having.
Maybe I'm the odd man out, but I sorta prefer this version over the Eagles'. Something about the slide guitar work (is that David Lindley?) that pulls me in.
I don't care what you guys say, this song is awesome. Both versions are awesome. Makes me want to drive somewhere warm and ride around with the top down.
Maybe it's because I'm in England but we don't hear this so much, it still makes a great listen!
Truly sick of hearing it, Eagles or Jackson Browne version.
This song is at the top of a very short list of songs that i have heard WAY too many times in my short life
I've had a really rough day and I hate the f*cking eagles...... or any cover thereof
Ahhh...the real way this song should sound. Not the way those damn Eagles f@%@'d it up!
Jackson Browne? Yes. \"Take it Easy\"? Not so much...
Originally Posted by dadofsammy: Pretty much the best thing about this version was the segue into Our Lady of the Well....alas, 'tis not to be on RP.
I love they way Take It Easy and Lady of the Well blend! I might have to upload that.
Pretty much the best thing about this version was the segue into Our Lady of the Well....alas, \'tis not to be on RP.
More Jackson Browne, puh-leaze!
Mediocre performance by a mediocre artist of a mediocre song by an overrated band.
I know he co-wrote this song, but hasn\'t the world pretty much decided that the Eagles\' version is better? It\'s not sufficiently different to be interesting.
no JB = good TIE = bad