Renowned songwriter Jackson Browne has settled his legal fight with the Republican party after the American institution apologised for using one of his songs without permission.
Jackson Browne with born in Germany. Brought up by a military family he was raised in the United States, and from an early age showed an interest in music.
Helping form the hugely influential country rock group Nitty Griity Dirt Band he later moved to New York where he worked on Nico’s debut album. Contributing the song ‘These Days’ the German singer’s arrangement is widely held to be the definitive version of the song.
Carving out a solo career, Jackson Browne signed to Asylum Records in 1971. His debut solo album followed soon after and became an enormous success, spawning the Top Ten single ‘Doctor My Eyes’ – later covered by The Jackson 5.
Browne is still writing and performing, although in recent years his musical appearances have made way for a number of political engagements. Inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2004, Jackson Browne is renowned for his almost effortless combination of personal concerns with political engagement.
All of which means that the Republican party should have thought things through when they used one of his songs in a television advert. ‘Running On Empty’ was used to soundtrack Senator John McCain’s bid to reach The White House, but the party never sought permission to use the track.
A legal battle followed, in which a war of words was exchanged between the Republicans and the staunchly Democrat Jackson Browne. However the case has now been settled with the politicians lining up to apologise to the songwriter.
“This settlement is really a great affirmation of what I believed my rights to be, and all writers’ rights to be,” Browne told The Associated Press.
“One would hope that a presidential candidate would not only know the law but respect it. It was a matter of bringing that issue to bear.”
Continuing, Jackson Browne insisted that he feared being portrayed as a Republican supporter. “Thousands of people come to an event or they see it on TV and they see John Mellencamp’s song being used or Ann and Nancy Wilson’s song being used and they assume a kind of solidarity and a kind of endorsement that simply does not exist,” he said.
