One of the best singer/songwriters I've ever heard, and a versatile musician, to boot. Just listened to "The Last Nail" from the Captured Angel album. A masterpiece.
Kevin
One of the best singer/songwriters I've ever heard, and a versatile musician, to boot. Just listened to "The Last Nail" from the Captured Angel album. A masterpiece.
Kevin
The Innocent Age is a masterpiece double album. Not too many artists can stake that claim.
I'm a fan! I think everything through Phoenix is worth getting.
Completely unaware of much music during his heyday, he is an artist I've always thought I should explore. As I near 60, maybe I should get on that....
I love his music!!! Brilliant songwriter, performer and artist. I first saw him open for the Eagles in 1975. It was my first concert ever. Saw him 3-4 more times too.
"Souvenirs", "Captured Angel" and "Nether Lands" are all brilliant. Check out "There's A Place In The World For A Gambler". Hearing it performed live was amazing...the entire audience was singing the chorus. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srNvp7w341I
His work with Tim Weisberg was awesome as well. Some of his later work became more commercial but still excellent.
He died from prostate cancer at age 56...way to young...so tragic!!! RIP Dan...you are still loved and remembered!!
Not a huge fan, but liked some of his individual songs.
Interesting that you mention Dan as I've just been re-acquainting myself with a lot of his music. A great singer, songwriter, and musician who left us way too early. However, as we all have to leave here sometime, I think many of us would warm to the thought that we we'd given the world such a large body of finely-crafted, deeply-inspired music as Dan certainly has.
Heard the name, never heard his music.
Did he have a lot of hits? I remember only "part of the plan", "auld lang syne" (yuck! can you get any more maudlin than that one?), "longer" (I like that one and the Glass Hammer version is fantastic), and "language of love".
If there is one album to get where he is the least sappy and maudlin what would it be?
Gotten into his work as of late. Souvenirs is a great kick back and relax listen. I need to add some other pieces of his to my collection.
I think he had one minor hit in this country, and I don't even remember the name of it, but I do remember that seemed very much "easy listening" music - music I could enjoy while hearing it, but did not particularly need to hear it again.
It certainly wasn't "Nether Lands", which is a great song, though his delivery is a smidgin too melodramatic for me. That lush orchestral accompaniment is something you never hear in popular music these days, except in the odd musical, but I wish there was more of it about.
He had some pretty big hits in the U.S. A couple I remember off the top of my head were:
Longer (not prog, but covered by Glass Hammer)
Leader Of The Band (great song about his father)
Same Old Lang Syne
The Power Of Gold
Pheonix (not sure if it was a single, but got a lot of AOR airplay around here)
His most consistent album I think is "The Innocent Age". The song "Run for the Roses" is beautiful. A great singer songwriter who died way too young.
My girlfriend loves him. About 30 years ago he did a country/bluegrass album called High Country Snows w/ Doc Watson, David Grisman, and Herb Pedersen. I liked most of that one, with the exception of the last tune, which really didn't fit with the rest of the album.
I saw Dan around 1985 on the Windows and Walls tour. Near the end of the show, right before playing "Gambler," Dan said he wanted to play something that showed the kind of music he was into at that time. He proceeded to play a hard rock/metal guitar solo while the band stood by and watched. The crowd went crazy. My date sarcastically said "I'll bet you liked that, didn't you?" I think it caught everyone off guard, but he did it well.
Kevin
For some reason I always get Dan Fogelberg and Jackson Browne mixed up.
few times a best of tape would open up such a body of work
My favourite songwriter (only Al Stewart & Gordon Lightfoot come close!).
It's the way he combines so many styles of music - rock, blues, folk, country, bluegrass, prog (really), jazz, classical - into a coherent whole. As a listener, you were never really sure what to expect.
Don't agree that his gentler songs are sappy - I love Same Old Lang Syne (Tchaikovsky meets James Taylor) & others. Just a shame really that his record company concentrated so much on the ballads as singles that some people regard him as simply a crooner. If you want to avoid the quiet stuff, Arturs, the box set is the place to go. The four discs are split into hits, ballads. travellers' tales & rock & roll, so you can concentrate on the up-tempo stuff!
Tucson Arizona (Gazette) from Windows & Walls is my favourite song bar none. Eight minutes of sheer genius.
a great talent taken from us too soon. Nether Lands is my favorite album & song by him. but also Phoenix, The Innocent Age & Windows & Walls are great albums too. lyrically he invites you into his life and shares his experiences, travels and woman. i saw him live twice and he puts on a great show- weather it's with his band or just him by himself on stage- he is sensational live. before he died, he put together a final album called Love In Time which was released later. the album is one of his best. it has a cover of Neil Young's song Birds which he sings to his wife as a swan song. very sad and very strong. some other songs to check out.... To The Morning, The River, The Last Nail, Scarecrow's Dream. In The Passage, The Reach, Ghosts, Tucson Arizona Gazzette, Blind To The Truth, The River Of Souls, etc....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78Zb4tE6aCc
I have several of his albums and I like a lot of what he did. I had an office mate who grew up with Dan in Illinois. I recall overhearing him calling the family from his desk to express his condolences when Dan died. He was surprised that I knew Dans music. He told me a lot about Dan before he made it "big" (relatively speaking). I haven't heard much of Dan's work after Phoenix. That was a great album and suited my taste at the time. I just kind of drifted away from that type of soft pop-rock. Ive never been tempted to return to it. Twin Sons was a little too "poofy" for my tastes, but I still own it and play a song or two every decade.
I got nothin' :
...avoiding any implication that I have ever entertained a cognizant thought.
live samples:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwbCFGbAtFc
https://youtu.be/AEE5OZXJioE
https://soundcloud.com/yodelgoat/yod...om-a-live-show
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUe3YhCjy6g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VOCJokzL_s
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