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On The Pretender, Jackson Browne took a step back from the precipice so well defined on his first three albums, but doing so didn't seem to make him feel any better. Employing a real producer, Jon Landau, for the first time, Browne made what sounded like a real contemporary rock record, but this made his songs less effective; the ersatz Mexican arrangement of "Linda Paloma" and the bouncy second half of "Daddy's Tune," with its horn charts and guitar solo, undercut the lyrics. The man who had delved so deeply into life's abyss on his earlier albums was in search of escape this time around, whether by crying ("Here Come Those Tears Again"), sleeping ("Sleep's Dark and Silent Gate"), or making peace with estranged love ones ("The Only Child," "Daddy's Tune"). None of it worked, however, and when Browne came to the final track -- traditionally the place on his albums where he summed up his current philosophical stance -- he delivered "The Pretender," a cynical, sarcastic treatise on moneygrubbing and the shallow life of the suburbs. Primarily inner-directed, the song's defeatist tone demands rejection, but it is also a quintessential statement of its time, the post-Watergate '70s; dire as that might be, you had to admire that kind of honesty, even as it made you wince.
© William Ruhlmann /TiVo
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Jackson Browne, Lead Vocals, Writer, MainArtist - Bernie Grundman, MasteringEngineer - Leland Sklar, Bass Guitar - David Lindley, Slide Guitar - JOHN HAENY, Audio Recording Engineer - Greg Ladanyi, MixingEngineer - Russell Kunkel, Drums - Dennis Kirk, Assistant Mix Engineer - Craig Doerge, Piano - Jon Landau, Producer - Paul Black, Assistant Recording Engineer - Mark Howlett, Audio Additional Mix Engineer
© 1976 Elektra/Asylum Records for the United States and WEA International for the world outside of the United States. ℗ 1976 Elektra/Asylum Records for the United States and WEA International for the world outside of the United States.
Jackson Browne, Acoustic Guitar, Lead Vocals, Writer, MainArtist - Lowell George, Slide Guitar, Harmony Vocals - Chuck Rainey, Bass Guitar - JIM GORDON, Drums - Bernie Grundman, MasteringEngineer - JOHN HAENY, Audio Recording Engineer - Billy Payne, Organ - Greg Ladanyi, MixingEngineer - ROY BITTAN, Piano - Dennis Kirk, Assistant Mix Engineer - Jon Landau, Producer - Paul Black, Assistant Recording Engineer - Mark Howlett, Assistant Additional Recording Engineer
© 1976 Elektra/Asylum Records for the United States and WEA International for the world outside of the United States. ℗ 1976 Elektra/Asylum Records for the United States and WEA International for the world outside of the United States.
Jackson Browne, Lead Vocals, Writer, MainArtist - Bernie Grundman, MasteringEngineer - Arthur Gerst, Arranger, Harp, Background Vocals - Roberto Gutierrez, Guitar, Violin, Background Vocals - Greg Ladanyi, Audio Recording Engineer, MixingEngineer - Dennis Kirk, Assistant Mix Engineer - Luis F. Damian, Guitar, Background Vocals - Jon Landau, Producer - Paul Black, Assistant Recording Engineer - Mark Howlett, Audio Additional Mix Engineer
© 1976 Elektra/Asylum Records for the United States and WEA International for the world outside of the United States. ℗ 1976 Elektra/Asylum Records for the United States and WEA International for the world outside of the United States.
Jackson Browne, Lead Vocals, Writer, MainArtist - Mike Utley, Organ - JIM GORDON, Drums - Bernie Grundman, MasteringEngineer - JOHN HALL, Solo Guitar - Fred Tackett, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar - BONNIE RAITT, Harmony Vocals - Rosemary Butler, Harmony Vocals - BOB GLAUB, Bass Guitar - Billy Payne, Piano - Greg Ladanyi, MixingEngineer - Dennis Kirk, Assistant Mix Engineer - Jon Landau, Producer, Performance - Paul Black, Assistant Recording Engineer - Mark Howlett, Audio Additional Mix Engineer
© 1976 Elektra/Asylum Records for the United States and WEA International for the world outside of the United States. ℗ 1976 Elektra/Asylum Records for the United States and WEA International for the world outside of the United States.
Jackson Browne, Lead Vocals, Writer, MainArtist - J. D. SOUTHER, Harmony Vocals - Jeff Porcaro, Drums - Chuck Rainey, Bass Guitar - Gary Coleman, Percussion - Bernie Grundman, MasteringEngineer - Fred Tackett, Acoustic Guitar - DON HENLEY, Harmony Vocals - Albert Lee, Guitar - David Lindley, Violin - JOHN HAENY, Audio Recording Engineer - Billy Payne, Piano - Greg Ladanyi, MixingEngineer - Dennis Kirk, Assistant Mix Engineer - Jon Landau, Producer - Paul Black, Assistant Recording Engineer - Mark Howlett, Audio Additional Mix Engineer
© 1976 Elektra/Asylum Records for the United States and WEA International for the world outside of the United States. ℗ 1976 Elektra/Asylum Records for the United States and WEA International for the world outside of the United States.
Jackson Browne, Lead Vocals, Writer, MainArtist - Jeff Porcaro, Drums - Waddy Wachtel, Guitar - Bernie Grundman, MasteringEngineer - Fred Tackett, Guitar - Leland Sklar, Bass Guitar - Jim Horn, Saxophone, Horns Arranger - David Lindley, Slide Guitar - Dick Hyde, Horn - Greg Ladanyi, MixingEngineer - Dennis Kirk, Assistant Mix Engineer - Craig Doerge, Piano - Jon Landau, Producer - Chuck Finley, Trumpet - Paul Black, Assistant Recording Engineer - Mark Howlett, Audio Additional Mix Engineer - Quitman Dennit, Saxophone
© 1976 Elektra/Asylum Records for the United States and WEA International for the world outside of the United States. ℗ 1976 Elektra/Asylum Records for the United States and WEA International for the world outside of the United States.
Jackson Browne, Lead Vocals, Writer, MainArtist - Jeff Porcaro, Drums - Val Garay, MixingEngineer - David Campbell, Strings Arranger - Bernie Grundman, MasteringEngineer - Fred Tackett, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar - Leland Sklar, Bass Guitar - Craig Doerge, Piano - Jon Landau, Producer - Paul Black, Assistant Recording Engineer - Mark Howlett, Audio Additional Mix Engineer
© 1976 Elektra/Asylum Records for the United States and WEA International for the world outside of the United States. ℗ 1976 Elektra/Asylum Records for the United States and WEA International for the world outside of the United States.
Jackson Browne, Writer, MainArtist - Jeff Porcaro, Drums - David Crosby, Harmony Vocals - David Campbell, Strings Arranger - Bernie Grundman, MasteringEngineer - Fred Tackett, Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar - Graham nash, Harmony Vocals - JOHN HAENY, Audio Recording Engineer - Greg Ladanyi, MixingEngineer - Dennis Kirk, Assistant Mix Engineer - Craig Doerge, Piano - Jon Landau, Producer - Paul Black, Assistant Recording Engineer - Mark Howlett, AdditionalEngineer
© 1976 Elektra/Asylum Records for the United States and WEA International for the world outside of the United States. ℗ 1976 Elektra/Asylum Records for the United States and WEA International for the world outside of the United States.
Album review
On The Pretender, Jackson Browne took a step back from the precipice so well defined on his first three albums, but doing so didn't seem to make him feel any better. Employing a real producer, Jon Landau, for the first time, Browne made what sounded like a real contemporary rock record, but this made his songs less effective; the ersatz Mexican arrangement of "Linda Paloma" and the bouncy second half of "Daddy's Tune," with its horn charts and guitar solo, undercut the lyrics. The man who had delved so deeply into life's abyss on his earlier albums was in search of escape this time around, whether by crying ("Here Come Those Tears Again"), sleeping ("Sleep's Dark and Silent Gate"), or making peace with estranged love ones ("The Only Child," "Daddy's Tune"). None of it worked, however, and when Browne came to the final track -- traditionally the place on his albums where he summed up his current philosophical stance -- he delivered "The Pretender," a cynical, sarcastic treatise on moneygrubbing and the shallow life of the suburbs. Primarily inner-directed, the song's defeatist tone demands rejection, but it is also a quintessential statement of its time, the post-Watergate '70s; dire as that might be, you had to admire that kind of honesty, even as it made you wince.
© William Ruhlmann /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 8 track(s)
- Total length: 00:35:07
- Main artists: Jackson Browne
- Label: Elektra Asylum
- Genre: Pop/Rock Pop
© 1976 Elektra/Asylum Records for the United States and WEA International for the world outside of the United States. ℗ 1976 Elektra/Asylum Records for the United States and WEA International for the world outside of the United States.
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