Standin’ on The Corner Park

Standing on the Corner Park in Winslow, Arizona opened in 1999. The park commemorates the song “Take it Easy,” a hit song written by Jackson Browne and Glenn Frey that was made popular by the Eagles in 1972. The song peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on July 22, 1972 and it has been a popular tune for rock music lovers, road trippers, and karaoke stars ever since.

The second verse of the classic song famously goes, “Well, I’m a-standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona, such a fine sight to see. It’s a girl, my Lord in a flat-bed Ford, slowin’ down to take a look at me.” And this Route 66 town has truly embraced that musical tie.

Once a thriving town on the Main Street of America, tourism dwindled in Winslow ever since the two-lane highway was replaced by the faster I-40. The town needed something that would start bringing tourists back. So they tapped in to the famous lyric to create this now famous attraction.

On September 11, 1999, “Standin’ on the Corner” Park was unveiled in Winslow. Yes, it is “THE” and not “A” like the actual song title. But the committee behind the park decided that the variation on words was necessary to make it known to the world that this was not just any old corner, it was THE corner.

Though, in reality, no one knows for sure if this was actually THE corner. Or if that corner even truly was in Winslow.

Glenn Frey wrote the famous lyric after getting stranded in Winslow for a night. Co-writer Jackson Browne later added the flatbed Ford line. And the song was born. But there has been some debate over whether the songwriter was actually in Winslow when coming up with the verse or in neighboring Flagstaff.

So what can you see at Standin’ on the Corner Park?

The Route 66 roadside attraction features a two-story mural, a Ford flatbed truck, a statue of Eagles singer Glenn Frey, an interactive wings mural, a Route 66 roadside attraction sign, and a bronze statue of a man standing on the corner.

The backdrop to the attraction is a massive brick wall painted as a “trompe-l’œil” mural. The style is noted for the optical illusion it creates by depicting a highly realistic three-dimensional scene on a two-dimensional surface. In this case, artist John Pugh set the scene with a fake facade of windows. You’ll also find bold lettering that says “WINSLOW ARIZONA.”

In October 2004, the adjacent J.C. Penney store caught fire and collapsed, destroying the mural’s building. It was demolished in 2006 but the brick mural wall was able to be salvaged.

​​The famous bronze statue was created by Ron Adamson. It depicts a man in cowboy boots holding the headstock of an acoustic guitar and leaning against a post marked with a white route shield sign marked with “Standin’ on the Corner.” Many say that the statue resembles Browne, but it is meant to represent “the troubadour” from the song and was modeled after the sculptor’s son.

The final touch of this Winslow attraction is a real bright red 1960 Ford flatbed truck representing the vehicle the woman was driving in the song.

In 2016 another statue was added to the park: one of Eagles singer Glenn Frey, who passed away earlier in the year. Frey is depicted as he would have looked in the 1970s, with shoulder length hair, a mustache, bell bottom jeans, and a t-shirt that reads, “Song Power.” The addition was spearheaded by two Phoenix morning radio DJs, Mark Devine and Paul “NeanderPaul” Marshall of the classic rock station KSLX along with the Standing on the Corner Foundation and the City of Winslow.

You can also take your photo with the interactive sculpted metal set of wings. They are attached to the brick wall and topped with the famous phrase, “TAKE IT EASY.”