Most everyone knows the Eagles song “Take It Easy” and its famous second verse:
Well, I'm a standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona
And such a fine sight to see
It's a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford
Slowin' down to take a look at me
What most don’t know is that the moment of inspiration didn’t actually occur in Winslow. In an interview with Flagstaff’s own music historian, Matthew Ziegler, Jackson Browne shared that his car had broken down in East Flagstaff and he saw a woman in a Toyota leaving a drive-thru hot dog stand. None of those words make for catchy lyrics so Browne gave the lyrics to his neighbor, Glenn Frey, who took the liberty of smoothing them out a bit into the famous song we know today.
Matthew Ziegler: Is this true? I heard that your song "Take it Easy" originally had the line, "Standing on a corner in Flagstaff, Arizona," but that the Eagles changed it to Winslow?
Jackson Browne: (Laughs) No, it was always Winslow, but the image of that girl driving a truck was an image that came from East Flag. That's what you heard. It wasn't really a flatbed Ford. (Laughs) It was a Toyota truck and it was pulling out of Wienerschnitzel. I used to hang out a lot in Arizona and that song was started in the back of a Dodge paneled van. My car had broken down and some people I’d met were giving me a ride back to L.A. In fact, Glenn (Frey) wrote that song about the girl in the Ford, but I told him,”Standing on the corner in Winslow, Arizona, something, something, something." I gave him this image of the girl. I said, "You know girls out there drive trucks."
The building still stands today on the corner of Route 66 and Switzer Canyon. Join the GeoWoodstock XX Team in hoisting a hot dog on Sunday, May 26 from noon to 2:00 PM while taking it easy on the real corner!
Food and drink available for purchase; no purchase necessary to attend.
