Dan Fogelberg r.i.p. : hat down for Yacht Rock
johmbolaya
4,472 Posts
Singer/songwriter Dan Fogelberg dies[/b]Dan Fogelberg, one of the most popular singer/songwriters of the '70s and '80s, died Sunday at home in Maine at age 56. He had battled advanced prostate cancer since being diagnosed in 2004.Fogelberg was a key component of the golden age of the confessional singer/songwriter, joining the likes of James Taylor, Carole King, Jackson Browne and more in turning pop music's focus inward after the '60s' explosion of social commentary. He had started as a rocker in bands around his hometown of Peoria, Ill., but began performing solo while attending the University of Illinois.There he met a local booking agent, Irving Azoff. He and local band REO Speedwagon became Azoff's first managerial projects (prior to managing the Eagles). Azoff secured Fogelberg a contract with Columbia, but first album Home Free made little impact. 1974's Joe Walsh-produced Souvenirs, however, hit the top 20, thanks largely to hit single Part of the Plan, and Fogelberg embarked on a two-decade run that would include nine top-30 albums (including three that hit the top 10).His best-remembered songs include his biggest hit, the affecting ballad Longer; The Power of Gold, a collaboration with flautist Tim Weisberg; Leader of the Band, a tribute to his bandleader father, Lawrence; and the evergreen seasonal standard Same Old Lang Syne, which originally hit the top 10 in 1980.In later years, he ventured into new musical territory, recording a successful pure-bluegrass album, High Country Snows, in 1985, and tackling broader political, spiritual and environmental issues in his songs. His last album, Full Circle, was released in 2003.http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2007-12-16-fogelberg-obit_N.htm?csp=34
Comments
RIP
9 top 30 lps over 20 years, I had no idea.
RIP
And I just remembered that "to innocence" was my official toast of the summer this year (while rocking out to Yacht Rock mixes at the BBQ). Maybe I'll change that to: "to now".
thought i was the only one.... that song always chokes me up.
RIP
Early 80s, I had just moved to Seattle and was working at a shoe repair shop in Bellevue. We listened to top 40 all day (mercifully most of the time the machinery drowned out the radio). That song captured the way I was living and the way I feel about xmas way more than any song about roasting chestnuts and snowmen.
Corny sentimental radio song won me over.