October 9, 1948: Singer, songwriter & troubadour Jackson Browne was born.

When I noticed it was Jackson Browne’s birthday, I flashed back on a concert memory from nearly thirty years ago. I’ll never forget him coming out for an encore of “Take it Easy” with The Eagles at Alpine Valley during the last show of The Long Run tour.

We had seen Jackson the night before at Summerfest, and the last thing he said at the end of the set was something along the lines of “I’ll see you all tomorrow night.” Of course, we knew he meant he’d be at The Eagles show, and it was very cool that he came out to sing an Eagles hit he had co-written. After the song he left the stage and The Eagles performed one more song, but I don’t remember what it was. What I do remember, however, was what happened next.

The musical portion of the show was over, but not the spectacle. The Eagles morphed into The Who, and absolutely destroyed all their equipment. It was no secret that the band was not getting along by the end of this tour, but we were dumbfounded watching their intense little temper tantrum on stage. They totally trashed everything as a stunned crowd watched in amazement.

Not exactly a Jackson Browne story, but a memory that will always be associated with him and is etched in my brain.

I know it’s only rock & roll, but I like it.