If you needed any recommendation to listen to Running on Empty by Jackson Browne more than my own, all you need to know is that Keith Richards listened to the album in the car every single day of his commute to the studio when the Stones were recording Some Girls.  Recorded live "on stage, backstage, in hotel rooms and on the bus" in 1977 Running on Empty the album covers the rigours of life on the road in it's various forms.  It’s well worth a listen as a whole piece of work but today I’m just going to focus on the opening track which is my favourite.

If you’re not familiar with Jackson Browne’s work but his name rings a bell, you might remember him for producing Warren Zevon’s first album which I talked about in the first Friday Tracks.  He also worked with The Eagles, co-writing their hit Take It Easy (which I’ve only just discovered so get ready for me to start going on about that as a Friday track in a few weeks time..)

Running on Empty starts with a little bit of audience noise and guitar ambience and then a bang and you’re in, out on the road.  The piano carrying the melody with the warm hum of the lap steel humming underneath everything before punctuating the song with high notes (and two killer solos no less).  There’s something about road songs that highlight the unseen world of the touring musician and glamourise it into something mystical and amazing.  This song captures that perfectly with the perfect hint of sadness and loneliness needed to make everything great.

Looking out at the road rushing under my wheels,

I don’t know how to tell you all just how crazy this life feels,

I look around for the friends that I used to turn to to pull me through,

Looking into their eyes I see them running too

It would be foolish to write about this song and not mention the soaring harmony work undertaken by the backing group The Section and backing singer Rosemary Butler.  Creating a rich warm harmony they give this song such a depth that without it the tone of the song would drastically alter.  Summer’s here and there’s no better time to get on the road, let this song take you there.