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Please do, actually.

I bought the eponymous album in 1976 at Virgin’s first (biggish) store at Marble Arch on the basis of a pretty good review in Rolling Stone (that one of the the Lufthansa crew who lived in my apartment block brought back for me.)

Took it back to Peter Wroe’s flat, dropped the needle and that was it – hooked for life.

The first album has just about everyone of note in the LA session scene of the mid-1970s, plus a few more – Browne, Lindley, Wachtel, Buckingham-Nicks, half the Eagles, Phil Everly, Bonnie Raitt, Rosemary Butler, Carl Wilson.

That’s what happens when Jackson Browne takes you under his wing. And gets you invited along to an music industry party to play a few ditties.

And you’re playing “Poor poor pitiful me” and singing

I met this girl at the Rainbow Bar,
She asked me if I’d beat her
I took her back to the Hyatt House
I don’t want to talk about it….

and then you go

“HUT!”

Jackson Browne said “And every motherfucker and near-motherfucker in the room stopped, turned and looked”

So – for the few souls on the planet who haven’t a clue what I’m talking about – here’s a pretty good mix

You’ll find lines like

“Don’t the sun look angry through the trees
don’t the trees look like crucified thieves“

and

“You looked like something death brought with him in his suitcase“

and

“And if California slides into the ocean
Like the mystics and statistics say it will
I predict this motel will be standing
Until I pay my bill”

Significant chucks of the first album – the stuff above, “Carmelita“, “Join me in LA” with Bonnie Raitt and Rosemary Butler, “Lawyers, guns and money” and “Johnny strikes up the band“ from “Exitable Boy” , “For my next trick I’ll’ need a volunteer” from a BBCsession, “Don’t let us get sick” off the new “Preludes” album, David Lindley and Hani Naser “Play it all night long” live in Tokyo, the wonderful “Poor poor pitiful me” acoustically live in Australia with a touch of “Waltzing Matilda” for good measure, “Stand in the fire” live at the Roxy and “Studebaker” sung by his son Jordan from “Enjoy every sandwich”

[Disclaimer: Meg from Nelson is helping out for a couple of weeks. To say that our musical tastes have few touch points would be an understatement. If you’re surprised to find Barry Manilow, Andy Williams or Liberace here, don’t look at me]