Jackson Browne: “You Had To Guess What Nico Was Thinking”
The singer-songwriter recalls his dalliance with the Velvet Underground chanteuse, and more, in a career-spanning interview in MOJO magazine.
“I WAS STILL YOUNG…” notes Jackson Browne as he recalls his brief affair with Nico in MOJO magazine (April 2015/ #257), available in the US now.
Speaking about the model and sometime Velvet Underground collaborator as part of a career-spanning interview with MOJO's Paul Elliott, the singer-songwriter remembers how as a 17-year-old he joined the singer’s band and briefly became romantically involved with his boss.
“Nico was playing these small places, and she’d have various people backing her,” Browne recalls. “Sometimes it was Tim Buckley, sometimes Lou Reed. I got the gig. I would not use the world ‘romance’, [but] it happened almost right away, and didn’t last very long. I was still young. She had a kid and would not speak about herself. It was up to you to guess what she was thinking.”
“Warhol offered me a part in Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs, with a black supermodel as Snow White.”
Jackson Browne
Despite the brief and unlikely nature of their entanglement, Nico ended up recording three of Browne’s songs for her Chelsea Girl album, including These Days. Through Nico, Browne also met Andy Warhol, who also appeared enamoured with the handsome young songwriter.
“I got to know Andy and he offered me a part in a movie he was trying to make,” explains Browne. “Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs, with a black supermodel as Snow White and seven boys as the dwarfs. I said, No, I don’t think that’s me…”
Get the latest MOJO now for the full Jackson Browne interview, It covers the whole career, tackling the real-life heartbreak that fed his songwriting, plus latest album Standing In The Breach, and more.
In the meantime, watch Jackson Browne performing These Days himself in 2002.
For more, including details of Standing In The Breach visit www.jacksonbrowne.com.
PHOTO: Danny Clinch