Jackson Browne - The Pretender

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, All Music Guide

Name Credits Albert Lee Guitar (Electric), Guitar Arthur Gerst Vocals (Background), Arranger, ?, Harp Bernie Grundman Mastering Bill Payne Keyboards, Piano, Organ Bob Glaub Bass Bonnie Raitt Vocals, Harmony, Vocal Harmony Chuck Findley Horn Chuck Finley Horn Chuck Rainey Bass Craig Doerge Piano, Keyboards David Campbell Viola, Arranger, String Arrangements David Crosby Vocal Harmony, Harmony, Vocals David Hyde Horn David Lindley Slide Guitar, Violin, Lap Steel Guitar, Fiddle, Guitar, Guitar (Steel) Dennis Kirk Mixing Assistant, Assistant Don Henley Vocal Harmony, Vocals, Harmony Fred Tackett Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Guitar Gary Burden Art Direction, Design Gary Coleman Percussion Graham Nash Harmony, Vocal Harmony, Vocals Greg Ladanyi Engineer, Mixing Howard Burke Photography J.D. Souther Vocal Harmony, Vocals Jackson Browne Vocals, Producer, Keyboards, Guitar (Acoustic), Photography, Piano, Guitar Jeff Porcaro Drums Jim Gordon Drums, Organ Jim Horn Arranger, Horn John Haeny Engineer, Recorder John Hall Guitar Jon Landau Notes Editing, Vocals, Producer Leland Sklar Bass Lowell George Harmony, Vocals, Slide Guitar, Guitar, Vocal Harmony Luis Damian Vocals (Background), ?, Vocals, Guitar Mark Hammerman Management Mark Howlett Engineer Mike Utley Organ, Keyboards Paul Black Assistant Engineer, Assistant Quitman Dennis Horn Richard Hyde Horn Roberto Gutierrez Vocals, Vocals (Background), Guitar, Violin, Guitarron Rosemary Butler Harmony, Vocal Harmony, Vocals Roy Bittan Piano Russ Kunkel Drums Tom Kelley Cover Photo Val Garay Mixing