I Didn't Forget You Jackson!

As long as we're talking about great musicians, I have to put my man Jackson Browne out there. I was actually getting into that guitar player discussion, which I'm going to get back to, but then I thought "How can we overlook the keyboard players?!" Jackson Browne makes me cry every time I listen to him because I can't play the piano. Not that I could have ever learned to play like that -- I think it's a gift when you have the talent Jackson does. That's always been one of my real sticking points with great musicians -- I like the "real" ones - those that write their own stuff and then perform it. I mean, Jackson has written some really great music AND he can play one hell of a piano, AND the guitar AND tell a funny story; he's the whole package.

I've seen Jackson perform six or seven times. I saw him a few times in Dallas and then several times here in Shreveport. Two Shreveport concerts stand out; one was at Municipal auditorium and was so small and intimate that I remember walking up to the stage, putting my elbows on it and leaning on them, right at the base of his piano. I could have touched his jeans. The other time was at The Strand and was a bit bigger; I was even able to get his autograph on a great 8 x 10 picture I had of him that my friend Mary Beth had taken at a Dallas concert years before. We had great seats though and Jackson talked to us all a lot, telling stories about his songs. What was so great was that it was back in the days of Napster, before it became legit, and someone had recorded the whole concert and put it on there. So I have the Shreveport concert burned on two cds. Love it. I think I can hear myself whooping a time or two.

I love musicians. Some musicians are just entertainers, doing covers of other people's stuff. Jackson and Eric = real deal. And just LOOK at Jackson. I could hurt him. Seriously.

(Photo credit: MTV.com)