Jackson Browne Co-Wrote This Iconic 1972 Eagles Song — Before He Was Ever Famous

Jackson Browne may have had a first-rate career as a '70s singer-songwriter in his own right, but he also helped the Eagles out with "Take It Easy," a song that became synonymous with the band's easygoing Southern California sound. It's not a huge surprise that the Laurel Canyon crew would criss-cross their musical offerings; both Browne and the Eagles would be foundational in forming what became the SoCal music scene of the early '70s. But at the time of this fortuitous team-up, Browne had yet to make himself known as a recording artist, and members of the Eagles had decided to step out from behind Linda Ronstadt as her backing band and take the spotlight for themselves. 

What is surprising is that one of the Eagles' best-known songs and their first hit single wasn't a work the band wrote themselves. It was actually a tune originally penned by Browne — partially, at least — that lingered in the ether until his musical pals from the Canyon scene resurrected it and made it their own. Browne wasn't a global superstar singer-songwriter at the time; he was simply getting his act together, just like Glenn Frey, Don Henley, and company. And in one of those magical moments of creative synergy, they combined forces to craft a classic that rock fans have cherished for decades  — a song that helped the Eagles dominate the music of the '70s.

When you sing along with the Eagles about "standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona," in the band's beloved hit "Take It Easy," you've actually been singing a song that was started by Jackson Browne this whole time. Though he'd started the song and intended it to be part of his own debut record, Browne set it aside when coming up with a suitable second verse posed a challenge. Luckily, his upstairs apartment neighbors — the Eagles' Glenn Frey and J.D. Souther — were listening as Browne worked. 

It was Frey who remembered the tune and expressed his interest in it, prompting a work session with Browne to finish it up. Frey pitched in the line about "a girl, my lord, in a flatbed Ford, slowing down to take a look at me" and fleshed out the second verse of the lyrics. With a completed tune in the bag, Browne graciously handed it over to his musical pals, who recorded it for their debut and launched it as their first single, taking it all the way to No. 12 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart.

Browne eventually recorded "Take It Easy" himself for his second album, "For Everyman," though it wasn't released as a single. He also performed the song with the Eagles at the Grammy Awards ceremony a month after Frey's tragic death in 2016, commemorating their shared accomplishment with one last round of the song's most poignant and fitting line: "We may lose or we may win / but we will never be here again."