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VII: "We decided to form a band."

Jackson Browne

 To return to the point when Lindley returned from England, one of the things that he was planning was forming a band with Jackson Browne. Sundry stories surround their first meetings, so I asked Lindley about it. "The first time I met him was, very briefly in the Ash Grove at a Kaleidoscope gig, years ago, he was introduced by Jimmie Faddon of the Dirt Band. I re-met him at a CBS convention after which I gave him a ride to his car. The next time was over here, after David Geffen had subsidized him to write and everything. I went and recorded some stuff with him at Island's studio, with Leon Russell, Jim Keltner, and some other people. It didn't turn out that well, but we went across the street to a Jamaican bar where they had reggae on the juke box and we decided to form a band. This was when I was thinking about going back to the States." So about six months after his return Jackson and Lindley got together. This wasn't in fact with a band, it was the first of two acoustic tours they did on their own. Personally, for most of Jackson's material anyway, I prefer the acoustic versions, particularly the stuff they did at the Main Point in Philadelphia, which I mentioned right back at the beginning. Lindley agreed "We're very attached to that gig, we did that to help keep the Main Point open. We did an hour and a half version of "Werewolves of London." Also, there is a fire house across the street and just as I started to do a fiddle tune the siren went off and got louder and louder so that I had to stop playing, it was very odd. Yes, there's stuff that we did there that will never happen again, as Eric Dolphy would say 'It's gone into the air, we'll never hear it again.'" Apart from almost Jackson's entire catalogue they performed great versions of things like Lowell George's "Long Distance Love" and Lindley got a spot to himself which included a remarkable banjo piece, not unlike the one on Incredible.

Since the first acoustic tour with Jackson in '74 the Lindley saga becomes increasingly difficult to follow. There has been another acoustic tour (the one that included the Main Point gigs in late summer '75) plus a vast number of tours with at least five different bands. Lindley had trouble in remembering who was in the bands, or when they took place. Some bands were constituted just for one tour like the one with Herb Pederson when Jackson toured with Phoebe Snow, others like the current one are somewhat more permanent. He has become perhaps the most sought-after musician in LA and now tours regularly with Linda Rondstadt ("the version of 'Heart Like a Wheel' with Andrew Gold on viola is really scary"), the James Taylor band ("the horn parts are actually provided by also sax, fiddle and steel") and of course the Crosby and Nash band, with whom he came to England last year. Lindley has a suspicion that the tours are arranged to mesh, enabling him to go out with each band, which if it's true he finds very flattering. He also thinks that he holds the record for touring non-stop. "I wanted to see how long I could stay on the road without going insane. I've gone a little mad maybe and a little homicidal at times, but not insane." When I talked to him on the Jackson Browne tour he'd been on the road for nine months without a break; the order of the '76 tours was Crosby-Nash, James Taylor, Crosby-Nash (twice) and Jackson Browne (twice), and in two months time the Jackson Browne band were off again to Japan. And when he's not on the road he still does sessions.

I asked him whether there were a few albums that he would like to be remembered for other than those of the main bands he's been in - "Well, Heart Like a Wheel by Linda Ronstadt, Graham Nash's Wild Tales, the new David Blue album and one that's I've been working on with an amazing lady called Laura Allen" (who appeared on Crosby's If I Could Only Remember My Name album).

Returning to music I asked Lindley if he liked being in backing bands - wouldn't he like to be more in the forefront? "Things like that you have to take a little bit at a time. You can't all of a sudden assume that you're hot shit and can get up and say 'I'm going to do my own thing with my heavy friends.' I'm quite happy to contribute to someone else's music, which at the same time I make part of my own music." He has, however, been contemplating and occasionally working on a solo album for a number of years. "There's been one in the works for ages, it's been about five different albums depending on whom I've been working with at the time. When I write songs I inevitably have to compare them with Jackson's and other people that I like and it's difficult to come up with anything good. On the road you come under lots of different influences but I've learnt a lot from all the people I've been with. It's not going to be purely an album of songs, it'll be an album of… stuff. I've got some live tapes I'd like to use. I can't sing like Jackson or Terry but I can do what I know how to do, but I get hesitant about doing that because it's enough for me to get up on stage with someone else. When I do the album I'll get some people in that I think could do it. There are some really unknown people I'd like to use. There's a guy up in San Diego who plays hammer dulcimer and psaltery that I would love to use, called Kurt Vaudus."

That was it, really. The Jackson Browne tour had finished and Lindley and co. were off back to their new house in Claremont for Christmas. Lindley's main intentions were to rest and work on the solo album on his new 4-track. I hope he finishes it soon.

Postscript

The interview on which the above was based was conducted, as indicated, last December, and is thus none months or so out of date. I would like to be able to tell you what he's been up to since then; unfortunately I can't except that the Jackson Browne band did go to Japan, where they did a "Save the Whales" concert with Country Joe. Yesterday, however, I got a letter from John Delgatto, proprietor of Briar Records and the guy mentioned back at the beginning of this piece who produced the Scat Band EP. Amongst some interesting recollections of Lindley (they were at high school together) John mentioned a pre-Ramblers band which David must have forgotten about, dating from 1961, with the unlikely name of the Smog City Tressel Hangers. Unfortunately he provides no further details of this lot, but I will try to get some in time for the next issue. John has also been trying to persuade Lindley to put together a Scat Band album (including live stuff!) as well as trying to get him to finish his album for Briar. If you read this, David, do it, please!

Pulsating Dream Postscript: John Delgatto currently runs Sierra Records. The Scat Band & Ramblers tapes remain, sadly, in the vault. However, almost 25 years after the appearance of this article, the hope remains these recordings will see the light of day.