1977 Song, Written by Jackson Browne, Is Still a Soft Rock Hit Almost 50 Years Later

During the ’70s, Jackson Browne released several soft rock hits like “Doctor My Eyes” (1972), “Late for the Sky” (1974), and “Running on Empty” (1977).

“Running on Empty,” the first track off the 1977 live album, also titled Running on Empty, secured the number 11 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1978, four months after the release of the record.

American Songwriter reported that Browne may have been influenced by the lack of gasoline in his car’s tank when penning the tune. According to the publication, Browne once told Rolling Stone he “was always driving around with no gas” because his recording studio for the 1976 Pretender album was close to his home.

“I was always driving around with no gas. I just never bothered to fill up the tank because — how far was it anyway? Just a few blocks,” said the singer-songwriter, now 77.

Bassist Leland Sklar Shared Insight Into the Making of the ‘Running on Empty’ Record in a 2024 Interview

Ultimate Classic Rock reported that the Running on Empty album featured songs performed before concert audiences, as well as wherever Browne saw fit. Leland Sklar, a member of Browne’s background band for his fifth album, The Section, shared some insight into making the 1977 record in a 2024 interview with Ultimate Classic Rock.

According to the band’s bassist, “It was kind of like guerrilla warfare, doing Running on Empty.”

“Because it was unlike any other project we’d ever been involved with. I’d done live albums and stuff before. But there was something about that [which was different]. First off, it was all new material, so you had audiences that were hearing things for the first time,” explained the musician, now 79, to the publication. “It wasn’t like you were playing your greatest hits for them. You’re taking them on this new journey. The Section got to open every one of those shows, so we were having a ball. We got to play our a—s off for the whole tour.”

Sklar then said that he once decided to get drunk on the tour, despite rarely consuming alcohol. He recalled being rather inebriated when Jackson unexpectedly invited him and his bandmates to record for the Running on Empty record while they “were in a Holiday Inn or something.”

“We get in there and we’re recording and I thought I was playing my a-s off. Man, I was rockin’. The next day, I heard the tape and it sounded like a chimpanzee had found a bass in a room and was beating it up. I thought, ‘I’m never going to drink again. This is the most embarrassing, horrible thing I’ve ever done.’ It was a funny moment,” said Sklar with a laugh.