If you’ve been paying attention over the past two years you already know that I adore the late Dan Fogelberg. He was a talented songwriter, a great singer, and although we tend to overlook it, he was a wonderful musician. Today post features his musical chops on the beautiful song, Snowfall………
I was lucky to get to see Dan multiple times in the 70s and 80s and one of my biggest wishes has been to show all of the readers of this blog what an amazing live performer he was. I’m excited to tell you that I’ve recently discovered some live performances by Dan from 1976 and I plan to feature those performances in a post before the end of the year. Keep an eye out for it!
So even though this is listed as my #2 New Years Song, I must confess that it is really my favorite. Dan is one of my favorite singer/songwriters of all time and Same Auld Lang Syne is as close to a perfect song as you will ever find. Let’s listen….
I was lucky enough to see Dan perform live many time in the 1970s and 1980s and from his between song banter during those shows I knew that this song was based on something that really happened to him but I didn’t know the details. A blog post by Annie Zaleski that was published after Dan’s death fills in some of those details.
“Same Old Lang Syne was written about an old girlfriend of his who now lives in St. Louis. The Peoria Journal Star printed a nice article which included an interview with Jill Greulich and her chance encounter with Fogelberg in a grocery store, long after they stopped dating.”
After graduating college, Jill relocated to the Chicago area, where she worked as an elementary teacher and flight attendant. Not long after college, she married a man from that area, and her connection to Fogelberg faded to memories.
But on Christmas Eve 1975, Jill and her husband visited her parents, who still lived in the Woodruff district. Also at the home were some friends of the family.
During the gathering, Jill’s mother asked her to run out for egg nog. Jill drove off in search of an open store.
Meanwhile, a few blocks away, a similar scenario was playing out at the Fogelberg home, where Dan Fogelberg was visiting family for the holiday. They needed whipping cream to make Irish coffees, so Fogelberg volunteered to go search for some.
By happenstance and because almost every other business on the East Bluff was closed, Jill and Fogelberg both ended up at the Convenient store at the top of Abington Hill, at Frye Avenue and Prospect Road. She got there first, and Fogelberg noticed her shortly after arriving.
They bought a six pack, sipped beer in her car and gabbed away. “We had some laughs,” Jill recalls.
Our 2012 end of the year music review concludes today with the Best Album award. I identified my top ten albums for 2012 in yesterday’s post. If you missed that post, now would be a good time to read it before I announce my pick. Go ahead……I’ll wait.
Ok, here we go……the best album for 2012, by a landslide, is Wrecking Ball by Bruce Springsteen. Bruce captures the United States of 2012 and in the process shows that he is still growing as a songwriter and performer. To make that last point, checkout Rocky Ground where Bruce manages to combine great lyric with a performance that includes elements of hip hop and Gospel. I am not a hip hop fan at all but Bruce manages to use it in a context where even I like it. Let’s listen to a live performance of Rocky Ground from South by Southwest this year……..
It’s a great album…..buy it if you don’t already have it.
For the third straight week we are continuing with “dream” as our root word for the week. We have some great dream songs for you with a cast of performers that include John Lennon, Bruce Springsteen, Dan Fogelberg, and Gary Wright. I guarantee you there is no better way to kick off your weekend. Sit back, relax, and enjoy these great songs then go out and have a wonderful weekend!
So….let’s forget about politics for a few minutes and get back to music. Today’s Album of the Week post wraps up my series on Dan Fogelberg and represents your last chance to help him get into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Home Free, released in 1972, was Dan Fogelberg’s first album. Although it was not a hit when first released, it has since been certified platinum. I personally think Home Free is one of the very best initial releases by any of the singer/songwriters from the early 1970s.
I wanted to do something a little different with this album so I scoured the internet to find early performances of as many of the Home Free songs as possible. These live performances, along with some of actual Home Free album tracks, provide you with an interesting view of a young artist at the very beginning of his career. Good stuff. Let’s listen…..
To The Morning – 1973
Stars – 1974
More Than Ever (album track)
Be On Your Way (album track)
Looking For A Lady/Hickory Grove – 1971
Long Way Home (album track)
Anyway I Love You/Let Me Go – 1971
Wisteria (album track)
The River (album track)
So….do you agree with me that Dan belongs in the Hall of Fame. If so, sign the petition at the following link.
The Last Nail, the last song on Dan Fogelberg’s Captured Angel album, has always been one of my favorite songs. Here is what Dan had to say about it in the liner notes for the Portrait box set.
A very cathartic song about finally letting go of my first great love. Never thought I’d use the word Pennsylvania in a song, but there you are.
Let’s listen……
I recently found an interview where Dan talks about The Last Nail and Tucson, Az (Gazette) (which I posted about a couple of days ago). I though you might enjoy hearing it so let’s listen….
Ok, that was not a good idea….it is way too sad that both Dan, and the woman Dan obsessed about all through high school/college, died way before their time! Sorry to bring everyone down.
By now you are probably saying I thought this was a “My Final Playlist” post, why would anyone want to use this song at their funeral? The answer to that question is that I don’t want to use the whole song, just this part….
I was always very taken by this part of the song and think it would be a great way to say goodbye to friends. What do you think?
Let me leave you with this live performance of The Last Nail from 1982.
Have you signed the petition to get Dan in the Rock and Roll Hall of Face? No? You know he deserves it…..so do it now!
In 1987 Dan Fogelberg released, Exiles, his tenth album. He was in the process of going through a divorce (not one that he initiated) and coping with a seriously broken heart. The album is all about grief with songs that touch on all of its stages: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance. Today we are focused on Anger.
Dan wrote all of the songs on Exiles with the exception of It Doesn’t Matter which was written by Stephen Stills and Chris HIllman and originally released by Manassas. We featured the Manassas version our Southern California Sound #13 post but let’s listen again to refresh our memory of what the original sounded like…..
I love this song and, while the lyrics are sad, I never considered it to be angry. If I had to categorize the tone of the Manassas performance it was resigned…..definitely not angry.
Back to Dan and his cover version of the song. Believe it or not, his version is not on YouTube so I put it on my private channel just for you guys. Let’s listen and then we will talk.
Angry, Angry, Angry….the last 90 seconds of this song are amazing. Although I have huge respect for Dan’s guitar skills, I never imagined that he had that solo in him. I don’t know if Dan had screaming matches as part of his divorce but if he didn’t that guitar solo definitely got it out of his system. It was a musical, one sided, all out screaming match and I am willing to bet that he was emotionally spent after recording it. I am seldom surprised by musical performances but this one was an exception.
All I can say is well done Dan……..we miss you very much!
If you haven’t done it already, go back to yesterday’s post and sign the petition to get Dan into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!
So…..my series of Todd Rundgren posts last week got me thinking about other favorites of mine that are still not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. That train of thought led me straight to Dan Fogelberg and this special edition twofer (two for one) long song Tuesday post.
I have been a Dan Fogelberg fan since the release of his first album, Home Free, in 1972. I had the good fortune to see him in concert multiple times during the 70s and 80s including acoustic solo shows and full band rock and roll shows. He never disappointed me! Dan is one of my favorite artists of all time and I think it is a sin that he is not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Let’s listen to some music and see if you agree with me.
Today’s post spans a good portion of Dan’s career. We start with To The Morning, the first song on his first album. Here is what Dan had to say about the song in the liner notes for his career spanning box set named Portrait.
I wrote this (in the summer of 1970) when I was 18 years old. This was the first song that made me think I might actually make a living as a songwriter. I still find it a special piece to perform.
This is a live version of the song from a 1973 concert in Denver. As you listen to Dan in the introduction to the song you can tell that this is a young artist but one that is on his way up. He is particularly excited about a pending purchase of a home in Colorado. This house would serve as the inspiration for much of his future songwriting. Let’s listen…..
Good stuff….it reminds of seeing Dan in a solo performance immediately following the release of Nether Lands in 1977. Dan had nearly lost his voice but was determined to put on a great show and that he did. Seeing him at the piano singing singing Nether Lands may be my favorite concert memory of all time.
Next up is a song called Tucson, Az (Gazette) from his Windows and Walls album. Much to my surprise, Dan indicated that this was his favorite song in the liner notes for Portrait.
My all-time favorite track. The critics dismissed it because of its length but I am still fiercely proud of it. It was an immense undertaking and took months to complete. I consider this probably my best journalistic lyric writing. A movie for the ears, all it lacks is the popcorn.
Although it is not one of my favorite songs from Dan, I can appreciate the songwriting and the musicianship that it represents. Let’s listen……
So….do you agree with me that Dan belongs in the Hall of Fame. If so, sign the petition at the following link.
This week our word of the week is Ghost. I don’t know if I believe in Ghosts but I am certainly not willing to rule out the possibility. Whether real or not, Ghosts have certainly inspired a lot of great music over the years. Today I present you with my favorite ghost songs.
After listening to the music, please take the time to read my note after the last song in the post. Have a great weekend!
Ghost – Indigo Girls
Ghosts – Dan Fogelberg
Ghost Riders In The Sky – The Outlaws
Ghost of Cape Horn – Gordon Lightfoot
Ghost On The Canvas – Glen Campbell
Personal Note
In case you have not heard, Glen has Alzheimer’s and this song is from what will be his last album. He meant a lot to me when I was first getting into music and including his last song in this post is my personal tribute to him.
In the late 1960s, as a teenager, I absolutely loved Glen and bought all of his singles: Gentle on My Mind, By The Time I Get To Phoenix, Wichita Lineman, and Galveston. During this time, he had a variety show on TV that I looked forward to watching each week. He featured great musical guest on the show each week and by exposing me to this variety of performers he helped to expand my evolving musical tastes. In addition to his musical guests, Glen sang a couple of songs each week and I never tired of listening to his great voice. I am happy to say that that voice has survived the intervening years as evidenced by this video!
As I have learned more about music history, I have grown to appreciate Glen’s skills as a musician. He was a popular LA session musician in the early 60s, one of a group of players that came to be known as The Wrecking Crew. They played on some of the biggest hits of that time supporting performers and producers as diverse as Rick Nelson, Elvis Presley, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and Phil Spector. In 1964-1965 Glen actually toured as a member of the Beach Boys replacing Brian Wilson when he quit touring to stay in the studio.
Glen…..we will miss you. Thanks for your wonderful music over the last 50 years!
We have a special edition of Long Song Tuesday today. It is a tribute to Dan Fogelberg, beautifully composed by beggarsgame on YouTube. For those of you who know and love Dan, think of it as a tribute. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Dan, think of it as an educational introduction to a singer/songwriter that that you need to learn about.
Three of Dan’s songs, Tullamore Dew, Winterskol, and Ever On, are featured in the video. If you are interested in knowing more about Dan, let me know and I will be happy to give you some recommendations of where to start in his catalog.
Since I have featured Dan Fogelberg on a number of my posts you have probably figured out that he was one of my favorite performers. I was thinking about him as I finished up my most recent posts in The California Sound series. Dan, like myself, was a huge fan of Buffalo Springfield. He wrote a beautiful song, The Innocent Age, which he described as, “My tribute to my favorite American band, Buffalo Springfield. Really went after the guitar and drums sounds from their records. It was a great touch to have Ritchie Furay (original Springfield member) sing harmony on it. Thanks, Rich!” I added a short introduction to Dan’s tribute song and a few pictures. I hope you enjoy this collaboration.
Dan passed away a couple of years ago but he had a tremendous influence on me and millions of other people. He once stated, “You’re successful if you can get one person to pick it up and put it on the turntable and go, Wow, thanks for writing that!” which was my inspiration for this blog. If just one person reads this blog and in so doing finds some joy or learns something new about music I will consider myself, and the blog, to be a success.
thebestmusicyouhaveneverheard 