Jackson Browne says the Eagles absolutely did a better version of his song “Take It Easy” than he did and he’s thankful for their success with the song.
Jackson was on comedian Marc Maron’s ‘WTF podcast and talked about the artists who had better versions of his songs than he did. He talked about Bonnie Raitt covering “Under the Falling Sky. ”That was a song from Browne’s first album that he "thought was not so good," and he says she "completely fixed" it. "In many cases, songs that people have done of mine have taken that final turn and become something really great.”
On “Take It Easy,” Jackson said the Eagles "made that song a much better song than it would have been" if he had finished it and recorded it himself, using "their arrangemental sense and their ability to play as band."
He talked about learning from how other artists covered his songs, including former roommate Gregg Allman who covered Browne’s “Three Days.”
Talking about that song, Jackson said, "It was almost like he'd co-written it. By the time I recorded it (after Allman's had been released), I wanted it to sound like his version...but it wasn't even close."
[Source: Classic Hits Today]