Clyde Jackson Browne is an American rock musician, singer, songwriter, and political activist who has sold over 30 million albums in the United States.
Emerging as a teenage songwriter in mid-1960s Los Angeles, Browne had his first successes writing songs for others. He wrote "These Days" as a 16-year-old; the song became a minor hit for the German singer and Andy Warhol protégé Nico in 1967. He also wrote several songs for fellow Southern California bands the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (of which he was briefly a member in 1966) and Eagles, the latter of whom had their first Billboard Top 40 hit in 1972 with the Browne co-written song "Take It Easy".
In the early 1970s, Browne lived in a small apartment in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. He started writing "Take It Easy" for his first album, but did not know how to finish it. His upstairs neighbor Glenn Frey came to visit and was able to help complete the composition. Frey recalled hearing Browne's persistent songwriting process, including the sound of his teapot and piano, from which he learned about the creative effort involved in finishing a song.