A new item just popped on my Bucket List. A bronze statue has been erected of the late Eagles guitarist Glenn Frey in Winslow, Arizona on the corner of Old Route 66 and North Kinsley Avenue. I have to see it. I have been an Elvis fan all my life, and would rather see Standin’ On The Corner Park than Graceland. I’ve seen enough crushed velvet and shag carpet in my time. To actually stand on the corner in Winslow Arizona would be like being in the middle of a song.
The park is pictured above. That is not a building, that is a wall with a mural painted on it. The flatbed Ford truck, from what I understand from various photos of the park, is part of the montage. There is an existing statue of a young man with a guitar who, though unnamed, bears too strong a resemblance to Jackson Browne to be coincidental. The windows painted on the wall contain an image of the reflection of a “girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford.” There is an eagle perched on the upper left window, and a couple in the right center window in an embrace. They are both wearing jeans. Something tells me they won’t be for much longer…
And now Glenn takes his place. He is leaning with his hand on the lamp post behind the flatbed, mustachioed and with shoulder length hair as he was in the 70’s. The t-shirt he is wearing reads “Music Power”. The story goes that Browne wrote the song while he and Frey were neighbors in a $60 a month apartment building in Los Angeles. Browne had actually been stranded in Winslow once and wanted to include that in the song, but couldn’t find a lyric to go with “standing’ on a corner.” Frey came up with the “flatbed Ford” line. Browne loved it and gave Frey co-writing credit. The Eagles recorded the song on their first album. It was their first single, became a smash hit and the rest, as they say, is history.
And that is the beauty of art. From a struggling young musician stranded in a small town in the middle of the desert came a song that is now so ingrained into pop culture that a life sized shadow box complete with bronze statues of Browne and Frey has been built in the town forever linked to one of the greatest American bands in history.
The first song I ever heard when I fell under the influence of a certain controlled herb, which is now considered medicinal in several states, was “Witchy Woman”. It changed my entire concept of music, and the Eagles in particular, forever. I finally got to see them in concert in 2010. Our friend Charles, a fine Southern Gentleman, got tickets and invited Jackie and I to see them at Piedmont Park in Atlanta. It was one of the best concerts I have ever seen, and though well into their 60’s, the guys could still bring it. Never Too Old To Rock and Roll…
I got a Harmony box guitar for my 21st birthday, and was convinced I was on my way to becoming a rock star. One of the first songs I learned to plunk out the chords to was “Take It Easy”. And I had the vision of standin’ on a corner, not necessarily in Winslow, but anywhere. A girl in a flatbed Ford slows down to check me out. If she’s driving a flatbed Ford, you know she is one cool chick. She stops, asks if I need a lift. I open the door, she’s wearing short cutoffs and a halter top, with long blonde hair and a beautiful smile. I throw in my guitar and duffle bag, hop in and we’re off. Two free spirits…. Still Cruisin’! –J.
Speak Your Mind