|
|
 |
|
|
||
FEATURE
IT’S
ABOUT TIME… for KENNY LOGGINS! by
Tom Lounges
From aging hippies who
fondly remember his early folk rock classics like “Danny’s Song” and “Angry
Eyes” from his Loggins & Messina period; to the gurgling
grandchildren they now rock to sleep while singing Loggins’ toddler
anthem, “House At Pooh Corner”
–– the 55-year-old father of five has contributed many memories to
many people over the years.
He also has some fans
who do not even known they are fans, because some folks do not even
realize that Kenny Loggins is the voice and writer behind songs they
love in such ‘80s blockbuster film classics like “Caddy
Shack,” “Footloose,” “Top Gun,” and “One
Fine Day,” to mention just a few.
And for those
twentysomethings out there who think ‘80s glam-rockers Poison were the
originators of “Your Mama
Don’t Dance”? Get
a grip, Loggins & Messina wrote that song and took it into the
national Top 5 1973, a full decade before Poison ever struck their first
note together. “IT’S ABOUT TIME” TO TOUR...
Another prominent
guest on the new Loggins CD is Michael McDonald, who co-wrote and shares
lead vocals on the title track. “This
was the first time in about ten years, that Michael and I have
collaborated,” said Loggins, of the partner who helped him take home a
Grammy for “What A Fool
Believes.”
Loggins has released It’s
About Time via the West Coast-based independent label, All The Best
Records. Though his 35-song/2-CD greatest hits collection, The
Essential Kenny Loggins, was released last year through Sony, they
only handle the artist’s back catalog. Loggins parted ways with Sony
during a massive downsizing about two years ago, leaving him to oversee
the release of all new recordings, which suits him just fine.
“I’m a free agent
for the first time in years, which is kind of a strange feeling,” he
said, “but a good feeling at the same time.”
“Naturally, fans can
expect to hear all the old favorites when they come to see me this month
in Chicago with Hall & Oates, but I’ll also slip in a couple of
new songs, like the one I wrote for my son (Luke) called, ‘The One That Got Away’,” he added. Loggins has now
released 24 official albums --nine as half of Loggins & Messina team
and fourteen as a solo artist -- not to mention the many soundtracks to
which he has contributed.
In all, Loggins has
amassed sales of more then 20 million records since stepping out as a
solo artist in 1976, which earned him 12 platinum albums, 14 gold
albums, two Grammy Awards (“This
Is It” and “What A Fool
Believes”) and an Academy Award nomination for his work on “Footloose.”
Of his extensive body
of work, “Footloose” and “Danny’s
Song,” are two numbers Loggins said he could not ever improve
upon. “Those are my high
water marks I think,” he said, adding that his version of “What
A Fool Believes” could have been better had he kept an open mind
to the suggestions of others around him at the time he was recording.
“That song is where I learned the lesson to never get so
wrapped up in what I think a song should sound like, that I don’t take
into consideration the thoughts of others working around me,” he said. MAMA DON’T DANCE, BUT...
“My mama didn’t dance and my daddy didn’t rock ‘n’
roll,” laughed Loggins when asked if he hails from a musical family.
“Neither my mother nor my father were musical. But both of my
older brothers were major influences on me musically.
Especially my brother Dan, who is four years older than me and
who got me into music at an early age.”
Loggins described himself as shy and withdrawal as a young child. “Because I had bucked teeth and big ears, the guitar became
a place for me to hide.” he continued.
“Once I grew into my ears and my orthodontist helped with the
rest, I suddenly found that I had a talent that I could use to meet
girls and make friends. From
there it’s the typical story of playing in bands, until I finally
found my way to Jimmy Messina, who had just left Poco and who was
originally just suppose to produce my first album as a solo act, but
ultimately became my musical partner in the early ‘70s.”
Loggins & Messina, though his first major success, was not
the singer/songwriter’s first major act.
“My second year of college I joined the Electric Prunes and
went on the road with them,” he recalled.
“But that did not last very long, because only two original
members were still in the band at that time and they had stopped doing
all the old Prunes songs in favor of having all of us new guys do new
songs. We bombed doing
songs like ‘Danny’s Song’ and
‘Back To Georgia’, because people were yelling for ‘I
Had Too Much To Dream Last Night.’
It was a traumatic year for me...”
This first generation
musician of the Loggins clan, has spawned a trio of second generation
rockers. Of his five
children, three are deeply rooted in music like dear ol’ dad.
Eldest son Crosby (age
22) is a professional singer/songwriter, son Cody
(age 21) is part of the Loggin’s stage crew, and daughter Isabella (age 15) who graced the cover of her dad’ Leap
Of Faith album and is an drummer and guitarist.
“She and Crosby are now doing some shows together as a duo,”
he said.
Rounding out the
gaggle of offspring is Luke
(age 9) and Hana (age 5).
Luke is a baseball superstar in training. “He lives and breaths
baseball,” mused Loggins. “I know it’s kind of early, but I think
Hana’s got musical spark in her,” he crowed. “There’ll be
Loggins music coming for a long time I expect!” KENNY LOGGINS performs in Chicago with HALL & OATES on Aug. 19 @ Chicago Theatre |
||
|
Web
Design By: All Rights Reserved © 6 String Design2003 |
||
Kenny
Loggins is one of those rare artists whose expansive songbook reaches
out across generations and demographics and is capable of touching
virtually everyone who listens.
Loggins
is currently out promoting his brand new studio album –– It’s About Time –– which he described as being “a cross
between my early acoustic roots and my Leap
of Faith album.