One of the more unheralded “guy behind the guy” guys, David Lindley did plenty of amazing stuff, but he shined brightest backing up Jackson Browne on some of the ’70s most sublime songs. It’s possible, if not probable, that JB would have been a (very satisfactory) singer/songwriter, more on the mellow side, but Lindley, with his distinctive slide guitar and all-manner of strings, fleshed out and beefed up JB’s arrangements, making them at once more accessible and lively; JB was all heart & soul but his best songs needed some balls, and DL delivered the goods time after time.
It’s impossible, for instance, to imagine “Redneck Friend” (a personal fave) working without Lindley’s contributions.
For me, his work on Late for the Sky, featuring one of the best one-two punch opening tracks of any rock album, secures his legacy and makes him an absolute legend: his solo on “Fountain of Sorrow” is full of longing and a kind of sad wisdom–the perfect counterpoints to JB’s voice & piano (and those harmonies!); but the title track is truly time capsule shit: complete perfection, almost impossibly evocative, suffused with regret and misgivings, guilt and hope, and ultimately acceptance — a masterpiece (and, of course, it features in “the scene” from Taxi Driver, an uncanny commentary on alienation and loneliness. More about that scene, and movie, here).
This music will endure as long as people can hear it, so David Lindley will always be with us.
