Famous Faces of Orange County

He’s got to be somebody’s baby right? Jackson Browne stole the hearts of millions when he came onto the soft country rock scene in 1966. Some people overlook his prominence because most of his work was overshadowed by the likes of Zeppelin and The Eagles, but Browne did more than just write and play music, he lived it.  Born in Heidelberg, Germany due to his father’s station for his job assignment with the Stars and Stripes newspaper, Clyde Jackson Browne moved all over Germany for the first three years of his life. At that point in time he moved to the Highland Park district just north of Orange County in Los Angeles. The Browne family moved down the coast to Fullerton where Jackson attended and graduated high school from Sunny Hills in 1966. His folk music career began in high school playing at small time venues such as the Ash Grove and the Troubador Club.

Browne began his career as a ghostwriter for many other successful musicians such as Greg Allman, Joan Baez, and the Eagles. He joined the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band who played and opened for The Lovin’ Spoonful at the Golden Bear located right here in Huntington Beach. This is where Jackson’s writing skills were really displayed. The band recorded numerous songs of Browne’s and earned him a spot at Elektra Records as a staff writer. By 1971, already an established industry writer he signed with David Geffen’s Asylum Records and released a self-titled album Jackson Browne which included the hits “Doctor My Eyes” and “Rock Me on the Water” and for the first time in his career, Jackson was getting national and worldwide recognition for his songs that had for so long only been known by the artists he wrote for. 

Jackson Browne did much more for the world than just write a few good songs.

In Barnwell, South Carolina a major civil disobedience action against the Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant took place in spring of 1978. Although Browne did not actually take part in the action, he played the night before in support of the cause. A couple years later, Browne and some other musician friends to form Musicians United for Safe Energy and was arrested for protesting the Diablo Canyon Power Plant in San Louis Obispo. In 1982, “Somebody’s Baby” hit the top charts thanks to its placement in Fast Times at Ridgemont High starring Sean Penn. Throughout the 80’s and 90’s Browne performed at plenty of benefit concerts for things he believed in such as Farm Aid and Amnesty International. Browne has been a major influence in both environmental and social activism as well as in the musical community, getting his first start in Southern California.