These Days

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPk11AugG4c&feature=related

In the mid-to-late 1960s Browne was a young songwriter who was pitching his material to various artists and publishing houses. On January 7, 1967 he made some demo recordings for Nina Music Publishing at Jaycino Studio in New York City.[1] (An unplanned double album of these recordings was made by Nina Music, with 100 copies issued.) Included in these demos, and the third song on this "record", was " I've Been Out Walking", the earliest manifestation of "These Days". Yet the song was even older than that; Browne would later say he wrote it when he was sixteen years old,[2] meaning in 1964 or 1965.

German underground legend Nico was the first to record "These Days" for release, on her October 1967 album Chelsea Girl. This was an odd mix of production elements: a fairly fast, almost upbeat fingerpicking electric-sounding-acoustic guitar part of its time by Browne (suggested by Andy Warhol[3]), combined with strings and flutes (added after the fact by producer Tom Wilson, without Nico's knowledge) combined with the sad, near-desperate tone of the lyrics, all wrapped around Nico's mannered, icy Teutonic vocals.

While Nico never achieved much commercial visibility, her work caught the attention of other musicians and songwriters. And although Browne was still several years from getting his own recording contract, his wise-beyond-his-years talent was quickly recognized by other performers looking for material. And of Browne's catalogue during this period, "These Days," along with his "Shadow Dream Song," were regarded as his gems.[5] Thus "These Days" was recorded in 1968 by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band on their album Rare Junk, by Tom Rush on his 1970 album Tom Rush, by Kenny Loggins' first band, Gator Creek, around the same time, and by Iain Matthews on his 1973 album Valley Hi.
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