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PREMESSA: LA SUPERIORITA’ DELLA MUSICA SU VINILE E’ ANCOR OGGI SANCITA, NOTORIA ED EVIDENTE. NON TANTO DA UN PUNTO DI VISTA DI RESA, QUALITA’ E PULIZIA DEL SUONO, TANTOMENO DA QUELLO DEL RIMPIANTO RETROSPETTIVO E NOSTALGICO , MA SOPRATTUTTO DA QUELLO PIU’ PALPABILE ED INOPPUGNABILE DELL’ ESSENZA, DELL’ ANIMA E DELLA SUBLIMAZIONE CREATIVA. IL DISCO IN VINILE HA PULSAZIONE ARTISTICA, PASSIONE ARMONICA E SPLENDORE GRAFICO , E’ PIACEVOLE DA OSSERVARE E DA TENERE IN MANO, RISPLENDE, PROFUMA E VIBRA DI VITA, DI EMOZIONE E  DI SENSIBILITA’. E’ TUTTO QUELLO CHE NON E’ E NON POTRA’ MAI ESSERE IL CD, CHE AL CONTRARIO E’ SOLO UN OGGETTO MERAMENTE COMMERCIALE, POVERO, ARIDO, CINICO, STERILE ED ORWELLIANO,  UNA DEGENERAZIONE INDUSTRIALE SCHIZOFRENICA E NECROFILA, LA DESOLANTE SOLUZIONE FINALE DELL’ AVIDITA’ DEL MERCATO E DELL’ ARROGANZA DEI DISCOGRAFICI .

LOGGINS AND MESSINA
full sail


Disco LP 33 giri , 1973, cbs  S 65775, uk,  first press

OTTIME CONDIZIONI, vinyl ex++/NM , cover ex++, a few very small pencil marks on back sleeve / tre piccolissimi segni a matita nel retro di copertina

Loggins and Messina are an American rock–pop duo consisting of Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina who achieved their success in the early to mid 1970s. Among their well-known songs are “Danny’s Song“, “House at Pooh Corner“, and “Your Mama Don’t Dance“.

Full Sail is the third album by singer/songwriter duo Loggins and Messina, released in 1973.
This album showed the versatility of the duo, with everything from
1950s retro to island-style to sappy ballads. The single “My Music”
charted at #16, and the follow-up, “Watching the River Run”, made it to
#71. The album as a whole did better, reaching #10 on the Pop Charts.

• Etichetta:  CBS
• Catalogo: S 65775
• Data di pubblicazione: 1973
• Matrici : S 65775 A1  / S 65775 B1

• Supporto:vinile 33 giri
• Tipo audio: stereo
• Dimensioni: 30 cm.
• Facciate: 2
• Gatefold / copertina apribile,  orange label, original CBS promo inner sleeve

Tracce 

Side one

1. “Lahaina” (Jim Messina) – 2:29
2. “Travelin’ Blues” (Messina) – 3:42
3. “My Music” (Kenny Loggins, Messina) – 3:04
4. “A Love Song” (Loggins, Donna Lyn George) – 3:11
5. “You Need a Man” (Messina) – 5:22
6. “Coming To You” (Messina) – 3:48

Side two

1. “Watching the River Run” (Messina, Loggins) – 3:26
2. “Pathway to Glory” (Messina) – 8:35
3. “Didn’t I Know You When” (Loggins, Michael Omartian) – 2:35
4. “Sailin’ the Wind” (Loggins, Dann Lottermoser) – 6:07

Formazione

• Kenny Loggins – vocals, guitar, harmonica
• Jim Messina – vocals, bass, guitar, mandolin

Additional personnel

• Jon Clarke – horn, oboe, baritone, bass, soprano & tenor saxophone
• Al Garth – violin, bass clarinet, English horn, oboe, recorder, alto & tenor saxophone
• Michael Omartian – keyboards
• Larry Sims – vocals, bass
• Merel Bregante – drums
• Vince Charles – steel drums
• Milt Holland – percussion

Recorded at Wally Heiders, Studio 4, Hollywood.

Front and back aboard “The Flying Cloud”, Capt. George Walker.

Inside photos aboard “The Sea Runner”, Capt. Bob Wilson.

Location: Maui, Hawaii.

This is every inch a follow-up to Loggins & Messina,
including a ’50s rock & roll pastiche in the style of “Your Mama
Don’t Dance” called “My Music” that hit number 16 as a single. Other
notable material included Jim Messina‘s island-rock anthem “Lahaina” and one of Kenny Loggins‘ sensitive but generic ballads, typically called “A Love Song.” But then, the charm of L&M was that they could get away with something this sappy. Balance is the key to L&M albums, and it’s the chief talent (among many) that producer Messina brings to them. Here, as on L&M‘s
first two albums, he achieves a musical flow that’s exhilarating, and
the record is only denied a “finest” rating because the quality of the
songwriting doesn’t quite match those LPs.

Full Sail

Loggins And Messina

Columbia 32540

Released: October 1973

Chart Peak: #10

Weeks Charted: 49

Certified Platinum: 11/21/86

It has taken Jim Messina three albums to slip out of his sideman sweatshirt and don the trappings of a star, but in Full Sail,
Loggins and Messina’s third release, he does just that. With his
confidence bolstered by gold albums, undisputed box-office success and
numerous cover versions of his music by C&W, pop and soul artists,
he has turned the focus of the band’s attention from Kenny Loggins to
himself.

The LP is subtle and heavily influenced by the liquid sensuality
of reggae, which has seeped into Messina’s music just as in the early
Poco days he let Latin rhythms roll through his country riffs. Although
short on the snap and crackle that made the first two albums exciting, Full Sail is nevertheless their equal. On it, the band does a balancing act between AM rock and jazzier, more personal excursions.

Original album advertising art. Click image for larger view.

Messina’s
production painstakingly creates special environments around each tune
as he mixes the disparate elements of the band into a whole. He assumes
that the audience will allow the music a chance to express its own
identity without preconceived notions. The eclecticism is thus obviously
deliberate.

“Lahaina” and “Coming To You” are both reggaes, one tropically
light-hearted, the other a sexy seance that conjures the spirit of Buddy
Holly. “Didn’t I Know You When” and “My Music,” a couple of solid
rockers, serve as a link to the Loggins and Messina of old as do Kenny’s
mellifluous ballads, “A Love Song” and “Watching the River Run.” The
extended production numbers, “Pathway To Glory” and “Sailin’ The Wind,”
allow the band, particularly Al Garth and Jon Clarke, the chance to
stretch out

Messina
pulls out all the stops for “Pathway,” the album’s showpiece. With a wan
vocal, the best he’s recorded (he gave up cigarettes for these
sessions), he warns himself to beware of worldly ways. But the ghostly
strains of Jon Clarke’s oboe solo suck him into the mesmerizing
waterfall of sound until his instrument dovetails into the pained walls
of Loggins’ harmonica, and then the laughing, sardonic scratchings of Al
Garth’s fiddle. In a revealing burst of bravado, Messina’s guitar
assumes command. Lacking the savagery necessary for a killing blow, the
guitar plays with its quarry until, after a lovely fiddle/guitar
dialogue, the band restates its initial warning and departs.

– Jack Breschard, Rolling Stone, 12-20-73.

Jim Messina, formerly of Poco and Buffalo Springfield, was working as an independent record producer for Columbia Records in 1970 when he met Kenny Loggins, a little-known singer/songwriter who was signed to ABC-Dunhill.

The two recorded a number of Loggins’ compositions in Messina’s home
living room. When Columbia signed Loggins to a six-album contract (with
the assistance of Messina), recording began in earnest for Loggins’
debut album, with Messina as producer. Messina originally intended to
lend his name to the Loggins project only to help introduce the unknown
Loggins to Messina’s well-established Buffalo Springfield and Poco
audiences. But by the time the album was completed, Messina had
contributed so much to the album – in terms of songwriting, arrangement,
instrumentation, and vocals – that an “accidental” duo was born.

Their debut album was released November 1971 as Sittin’ In.
Although the album went unnoticed by radio upon release, it eventually
found success by autumn 1972, particularly on college campuses where the
pair toured heavily. Loggins’ and Messina’s harmonies meshed so well
that what was begun as a one-off album became an entity unto itself.
Audiences regarded the pair as a genuine duo rather than as a solo act
with a well-known producer. Instead of just continuing to produce
Loggins as a sole performer, they decided to record as a duo – Loggins
& Messina.

“When our first album, ‘Sittin’ In, ‘ came out, we started receiving a
lot of excitement about the music and good sales,” Messina recalled in
2005. “We had a choice. It was either I now go on and continue to
produce him and we do the solo career or we stay together and let this
work. For me, I did not desire to go back out on the road. I had had
enough of that, and I wanted to produce records. But Clive Davis (then
president of the record company) intervened and said, ‘You know, I think
you’d be making a mistake if you guys didn’t take this opportunity.
Things like this only happen once in a lifetime. It may merit you
sleeping on it overnight and making a decision that will be in your best
interest.’ He was absolutely correct. Kenny made the decision as well.
It delayed his solo career, but it gave him an opportunity, I think, to
have one.” 

Over the next four years they produced five more original-material albums, plus one album of covers
of other artists’ material, and two live albums. They sold 16 million
records and were the most successful duo of the early 1970s, surpassed
later in the decade only by Hall & Oates.^[1] Their work was covered by other artists such as Lynn Anderson who recorded “Listen to a Country Song” released in 1972 and reached #3 on the charts. Perhaps most notably Anne Murray, who reached the U.S. top ten with “Danny’s Song” in early 1973, and again with “A Love Song” the following year. A greatest-hits album, The Best of Friends,
would be released a year after the duo had separated. The later studio
albums often found both Loggins and Messina more as two solo artists
sharing the same record rather than as a genuine partnership. As both
Loggins and Messina noted in 2005, their collaboration eventually became
more a competition – a frequent, almost-inevitable dynamic of show
business duos.

Never really a team of true equals due to the “teacher/apprentice”
nature of their music experience levels, the pair had by early 1976
quietly but amicably parted to pursue solo careers, following the
release of Native Sons. Messina found solo success elusive but Loggins went on to become one of the biggest hitmakers of the 1980s.

They reunited in 2005 to choose tracks for an expanded compilation album of singles and album cuts The Best: Sittin’ In Again,
which proved successful enough for them to embark on tour together.
Their successful “Sittin’ In Again” tour was launched in mid-2005 and
played out the remainder of the year. “Every couple of years we’d talk
about it, but I was having too much fun as a solo artist,” Loggins said
that summer. “It was very rewarding for me, and I wasn’t ready to share
the reins. I still had a lot of stuff to do on my own, to prove myself
and to express myself, in a way that wouldn’t have fit in with Loggins
& Messina.” 

The two were pleased enough to consider future Loggins and Messina
projects, and a summer/fall 2009 tour was announced on May 28, 2009.
“Like most relationships, we were a moment in time,” Loggins said. “It’s
just really fun to be able to go back and celebrate that and just sort
of really honor each other as grown men, in a way we never really did
back then. We were young and competitive and didn’t realize that it
wasn’t necessarily all about getting your way, but you learn that if you
grow up.” 

Their backing band changed from album-to-album but the core members
are listed below. Many albums featured backing members who were well
known in their own right, John Townsend and Ed Sanford, later of the Sanford & Townsend Band (“Smoke from a Distant Fire“) contributed vocals and songwriting to the Native Sons, their final studio album.

Loggins & Messina rappresentano la nitida
istantanea di un team di successo nel panorama
country-rock californiano dei seventies. Il duo riassume e sintetizza in un
certo senso, lo spirito, gli umori, le qualità e le contraddizioni dei
protagonisti di un genere che in quel periodo raggiungerà il suo massimo
fulgore, almeno dal punto di vista commerciale.

Nel 1972, anno di pubblicazione di Sittin’ In,
il venticinquenne Jim Messina poteva già vantare un
passato di tutto rispetto. Membro di alcune formazioni
di surf-music, era approdato in sala di registrazione nel 1964 con i Dragsters
e l’anno seguente con i Jesters, incidendo due album sia pur minori; aveva
quindi lavorato come tecnico del suono a Los Angeles per poi collaborare come
recording engineer con i Buffalo Springfield nel loro secondo album: Buffalo
Springfield Again. A seguito della dipartita di Bruce Palmer e la fugace
apparizione dell’ex Blood Sweat & Tears Jim Filder, mentre la band era
impegnata nelle travavagliate sessions di Last Time Around, Messina
divenne il bassista della formazione conservando contemporaneamente il ruolo di ingegnere e producendo il disco stesso.

Dopo l’esperienza con il gruppo di Stephen Stills
e Neil Young, insieme a Richie Furay, Randy Meisner, Rusty Young e George Grantham,
iniziò l’avventura dei Poco (1). Nel dicembre del 1968 la band firma con la Epic Records (dopo un primo interessamento della Apple)
per poi registrare il primo Lp Pickin Up The Pieces. Jim Messina sarà
uno dei band leader’s fino al 1970 incidendo altri due dischi, Poco
(1969) e il bel live Deliverin’ (1970)
ricoprendo il ruolo di chitarrista, cantante, compositore e produttore ma
soprattutto continuando a modulare il proprio sound fresco e brioso
orientandolo attraverso l’uso fluido e pulito dello strumento, l’originale e
moderno utilizzo delle armonie vocali – che troveranno poi la loro quintessenza
nei duetti con Kenny Loggins – e le aperture a sonorità e stilemi altri (il
momento è quello di ritmi ed atmosfere latine). Quel particolare ‘mellow’, che
passa anche attraverso la collaborazione con Ritchie Furay e Timothy B. Schmit,
scorrerà nelle vene del gruppo, come una sorta di
eredità, anche dopo l’abbandono di Messina, fino ai giorni migliori della band.

A quel tempo Kenneth Clark Loggins lavorava presso
la Abc Dunhill come compositore. Già Gator Creek,
Second Helping ed Electric Prunes aveva appena firmato quattro brani per la
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (uno dei quali in
collaborazione con l’ex Stone County Dan Lottermoser) inclusi in Uncle
Charlie & His Dog Teddy (2).

Nel novembre del 1970 la strada del giovane
cantautore – californiano d’adozione ma nativo di Everett,
Washington – s’incrocia con quella di Jim Messina che, abbandonati i Poco –
ufficialmente per insofferenza alle tournée – aveva avviato un rapporto con la
Columbia in qualità di produttore indipendente.

Buona parte del materiale sonoro che verrà utilizzato per i demo precedenti Sittin’ In
provengono da registrazioni effettuate a casa dello stesso Messina, a
testimonianza dell’immediata intesa stabilitasi fra i due musicisti. Il
contratto formalizzato nei primi mesi del 1971 con il manager della major, Clive Davis, prevedeva un album del songwriter
Kenny Loggins prodotto da Jim Messina. Alcune serate al Troubadour di Los
Angeles confemano e rafforzano l’entusiasmo di pubblico e protagonisti.
L’intuito di Messina sta producendo ottimi frutti; la sua idea di un
country-rock d’ampio respiro, dove pop, elementi bluesy, soluzioni ritmiche
latine, tropicali o afro-americane si innestano su
atmosfere concettualmente acustiche, risulta accattivante e persuasiva. Visto
il coinvolgimento sempre maggiore nel nuovo proggeto, prende corpo la
possibilità di una nuova ditta ma in coerenza con i termini contrattuali e
quasi come una sorta di pay-off ad uso del pubblico di
Messina, l’album in cantiere sarà intitolato Sittin’ In, a nome Kenny
Loggins with Jim Messina, utilizzando brillantemente il gergo dei turnisti che
con quello slang definiscono la partecipazione in un disco altrui.

Il progetto implica anche una band
solida e affidabile. Qualcosa di più di side-men da
utilizzare all’occasione, piuttosto un gruppo stabile, che garantisca un solido
supporto nelle esibizioni live e un aiuto prezioso in sala, talvolta anche in
fase di scrittura. The Group, così come viene
presentato nelle note di copertina di Sittin’ In, è composto da Merel
Bregante alla batteria e Larry Sims al basso, entrambi provenienti dalla
Sunshine Company; dall’ex Don Ellis Band Jon Clarke, flauto e sax; dal
polistrumentista e affermato session man Lester A. Garth. A
completare il team inoltre l’eccellente Michael Omartian (Keyboards) e Milt
Holland, brillante percussionista ed etnomusicologo.

Il disco, pubblicato nel 1972, vende più di un
milione di copie. L’innovativa miscela country-rock proposta da Loggins e
Messina diviene in breve uno dei suoni più
accattivanti degli States. Nel lavoro convivono soft rock come Lovin’ Me, convincenti brani intimisti quali Danny’s
Song e l’ormai celebre House At Pooh Corner, graffianti segni
rhythm’n’blues in Back To Georgia 
e i richiami alla tradizione di Listen To A Country Song.
L’atmosfera è pervasa dalla sensibilità folkie di Loggins
mentre aleggia lo spirito di Buddy Holly.

Sittin’ In è il
lavoro che suggella l’idea del duo. Nell’album successivo il classico lettering
della copertina scriverà semplicemente Loggins and
Messina. Sembra lontanissimo il tempo in cui Kenny divideva l’appartamento da
65 dollari alla settimana nell’East L.A. con Dave
Lottermoser eppure sono trascorsi soltanto pochi mesi (3). Your
Mama Don’t Dance e Thinking of You, tratte da quello stesso secondo
disco, si stabilisocno nella Top 20.

Paradossalmente l’ufficializzazione della nuova
ditta segna potenzialmente anche l’inizio del lento processo di
erosione del rapporto fra i due protagonisti. Gli accordi si fondano sul
principio di eguaglianza ma sarà il produttore a
pronunciare l’ultima parola; ed il produttore è Jim Messina. Il dualismo
genererà tensioni che coinvolgeranno anche altri componenti
della band. In più d’una occasione Al Garth sarà
vicinissimo ai Poco (in Head Over Heels l’apporto sarà realmente
sostanzioso), in predicato di divenirne membro stabile, anche a causa della
difficile convivenza con Messina. Le tensioni comunque
non influiranno sulla qualità deila produzione. Full Sail (1973), On
Stage (1974) e Mother Lode (1974) sono infatti
tre ottimi lavori (il disco dal vivo soprattutto può, in buona sostanza, essere
considerato un classico del country-rock) e ciò grazie anche al sostegno ed
all’energia trasmessi da un’audience fedele e affezionata (4).

Full Sail,
influenzato da ritmiche tropicali, è il best seller
del duo, contiene l’hit My Music e l’elegante Travelin’ Blues,
stupenda composizione di Messina dall’andamento sinuoso, giocata sulla tipica
vocalità dell’ex Poco e sui misurati interventi della sezione fiati, davvero
impeccabili. Mother Lode presenta il corposo mid-tempo Growin’,
la lunga e articolata Be Free (notevole tappeto per le performance dei solo nelle esibizioni live) e la gemma nascosta Fever
Dream firmata da Kenny Loggins e Maury Muehleisen chitarrista e amico
fraterno di Jim Croce (5).

I problematici rapporti
in seno alla band divengono tuttavia imprescindibili nel 1975, l’anno di uscita
di So Fine, una raccolta di oldies dei ’50 che è pure il disco meno
venduto del gruppo.

Si potrebbe, senza forzature, semplicemente
constatare che gli equilibri interni sono saltati. Kenny Loggins non è più il
songwriter ingenuo e inesperto degli esordi; Jim Messina non è
più il suo mentore. L’autore di House At
Pooh Corner ha ormai raggiuto quella maturità che gli permette di gestire
un talento eclettico, aperto e ricco di sfumature. La carriera solista è
inevitabile. Dopo un’ultima tournée e la pubblicazione di Native Sons il gruppo
decide definitivamente di sciogliersi.

Loggins & Messina hanno indicato una nuova
strada al complesso movimento country-rock esplorandola e percorrendola per
circa cinque anni. La preziosa e prolifica penna dell’uno e l’idea
‘country-Telecaster’ dell’altro hanno prodotto una
combinazione tonica, innovativa e, in più, ricca di potenziali ulteriori
sviluppi, riuscendo a dosare molteplici e disparati ingredienti.

La successiva produzione solista di Loggins ne
sarà inevitabile conseguenza. Citiamo soltanto Celebrate Me Home (1977)
che ha gestito in maniera mirabile l’incontro fra Pop,
tensioni Jazz e colorazioni black; Leap Of Faith (1991) dove una
delicata ‘sensibilità acustica’ arricchita da elementi etnici propone una
visione ‘orizzontale’ della musica e Return to Pooh Corner (1994)
spiraglio illuminante sul versante più delicato della personalità di Kenny
Loggins.

A trent’anni dalla separazione Loggins &
Messina hanno realizzato una reunion. Tour per gli States fra
la primavera del 2005 e l’autunno dello stesso anno, degna antologia Columbia: The
Best: Sittin’ in Again, e DVD Live della meritoria Rhino Records: Live:
Sittin’ In Again At Santa Barbara Bowl, a rinverdire emozioni mai
dimenticate.

Ma
questo è un altro capitolo.

Note:

1. Il gruppo avrebbe dovuto chiamarsi Pogo, dai
fumetti di Walt Kelly ma l’idea fu abbandonata per
problemi legati ai diritti del nome. Rusty Young era stato impiegato nelle
ultime sessions dei Buffalo Springfield. In precedenza
il grande steel guitarist aveva suonato insieme a
George Grantham nei Boenze Cryque, band del Colorado. Randy Meisner proveniva
dai Poor.

2. Fra le quattro composizioni
incluse nel convincente lavoro del 1970 per la Liberty, anche la classica House
At Pooh Corner, un partecipato ricordo dei giorni dell’infanzia
scritto da Loggins ai tempi dell’high school.

3. Nel clima ‘yippie’ di quei giorni Loggins e
Lottermoser passavano intere notti a tradurre in musica storie immaginarie
generate dalle loro conversazioni. Da una di queste storie nascerà l’idea di Vahevela,
una parola ‘esotica’ senza alcun significato che ‘suona’ come un luogo, una
fantastica isola nei mari del sud.

4.Jim
Messina si esprimerà in questi termini :”una delle ragioni del nostro
successo è che ci rivolgiamo ad una generazione non ad una stazione
radiofonica”.

5. Nel 1973 gli entourage
di Jim Croce e Loggins & Messina hanno ‘girato’ insieme in tour. Il brano è
il risultato delle jam che i musicisti usavano informalmente tenere prima o
dopo gli spettacoli, quasi una tradizione intorno alla metà dei ’70.

6. Postumi saranno pubblicati The Best Of  Friends (1976),
antologia che presenta una versione alternata di Angry Eyes e il doppio
dal vivo Finale (1977).

Loggins
& Messina

A fantastic duo….

Thirty-three years after
first Sittin’ In together, and nearly thirty years since they last toured
together, Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina are sitting side by side in Loggins’
living room. The two men are in the early stages of putting together their
surprising and heartening Sittin’ In Again reunion tour as well as
finalizing a new Loggins & Messina retrospective of the same name.

All this shared activity
marks the unexpected and unlikely return of the most successful duo of the
early Seventies – a group whose most enduring songs were so well crafted
that they have never really gone away. At the same time, Loggins & Messina
find themselves in the moving process of healing a personal connection
fractured long ago.

“This is less about a
musical reunion and more about reuniting a relationship that’s become more
of a friendship than ever before,” says Jimmy Messina.

“Nothing like thirty years
to be the great leveler,” Kenny Loggins says.

Though Loggins & Messina’s
first greatest hits collection was called Best of Friends, both men confess
that their relationship has long been a complex and sometimes difficult one.
When they first met, Jim Messina was already a well-established success
story, having produced and played with the legendary band Buffalo
Springfield and later with the country-rock pioneers Poco. Loggins,
meanwhile, was a young singer-songwriter with far less experience, but with
talent to burn as evidenced by early compositions like “House At Pooh Corner”
and “Danny’s Song.” Then Sittin’ In (1972), originally envisioned as a
one-off joint release intended to introduce Loggins as part of a Messina
six-album production deal with Columbia Records, became a major smash hit.

So as if by public demand,
this accidental duo was created. In the next few years, a series of albums
would follow in rapid order – 1972’s Loggins & Messina, 1973’s Full Sail,
1974’s double-live On Stage, the same year’s Mother Lode, 1975’s cover song
set So Fine and 1976’s Native Sons. The Best of Friends collection followed
later that year and in 1977 another live album fittingly called Finale. With
that, Loggins & Messina, who had sold sixteen million albums and become one
of rock’s most popular draws, was over and apparently done.

In retrospect, the once
close connection between Loggins & Messina was torn apart by the unusual
nature of their working relationship and by what Messina calls a “divide and
conquer strategy that’s been around since Napoleonic times.”

“The trouble with duos is
inevitably it becomes a competition,” explains Loggins. “It’s not just the
press that pits you against one another – it’s everybody. It’s your business
managers, your managers and your lawyers. Everybody wants to get on your
good side.”

Complicating
matters, Loggins & Messina’s partnership was from the inception not one of
equals. “In our original relationship, I came in and auditioned for Jimmy,”
Loggins remembers. “Right from the beginning, Jimmy was the producer, I was
the artist. I’d never made a record. I’d never put a band together. I’d
never found a manager or an agent. So Jimmy was the lead and in that way, he
became my mentor. The inevitable thing when you grow through a mentor is you
have to leave and go off on your own. Our relationship had become
teacher-student, father-son, big brother little brother and eventually it
was not healthy for me. I had a lot to prove to myself and, subconsciously I
think, I had a lot to prove to Jimmy too.”

In the decades apart,
Loggins established himself as a solo artist with a series of albums
starting with 1977’s Celebrate Me Home, 1978’s Nightwatch, 1979’s Keep The
Fire, 1980’s Alive, 1982’s High Adventure, 1985’s Vox Humana, 1988’s Bacl to
Avalon, 1991’s Leap of Faith, 1993’s Outside: From The Redwoods, 1994’s
Return To Pooh Corner, 1997’s Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow: The Greatest Hits
of Kenny Loggins and The Unimaginable Life, 1998’s December, 2000’s More
Songs From Pooh Corner, 2002’s The Essential Kenny Loggins, 2003’s It’s
About Time, as well as a number of soundtrack contributions.

During this time, Jim Messina recorded five solo albums: 1979’s Oasis,
1981’s Messina, 1983’s One More Mile and 1996’s Watching The River Run.
Messina also reunited with Poco for the 1989 album Legacy, as well as
establishing the Songwriters’ Performance Workshop. “The purpose of the
workshop is to empower amateurs,” explains Messina.

Today, Jim Messina explains
that he has no desire to be in charge. “The nice thing is I get to work with
Kenny again, but with him having had all his solo success,” Messina says.
“So instead of me being the successful one, now Kenny brings that to this
relationship. Quite honestly, I feel good about it now because I can relax.
This time I’m looking forward to just being an artist. I’m very excited
about playing our music listening to our arrangements and pulling out my
dusty mandolin to see if it still works.

Until a recent series of
low-key benefit performance together, there had been precious little contact
between the two men. “There was just very little bridge left to cross back
during those years,” Loggins admits. “There’s the career and there are the
wives. Wives will tend to take people in different directions – that’s the
cleanest way I can put it.”

When Jimmy joined Kenny at
a benefit at Santa Barbara’s Arlington Theater last year, Loggins noticed
something else. “As soon as we hit the harmonies, I was struck by the fact
that I hadn’t heard that sound in a long time,” he says. “It hit me like the
Everly Brothers hit me the first time they got back together. There was
something that in thirty years I had not been able to duplicate with anyone
else. There’s a spark here that I’ve completely forgotten about.”

Both men see Sittin’ In
Again as a chance to look back at what they’ve achieved.

“This album is about more
than hits,” says Messina. “I think one of the reasons we were successful is
that we spoke to a generation, not just to a radio station.”

“I wanted this new
retrospective to accurately depict who Loggins and Messina was,” adds
Loggins. “I wasn’t too concerned with who we became or what songs spoke
better now than they did then. I want this to be the quintessential element
of who we were then.”

“You know I spent years
trying to forget this crap,” Loggins jokes to Messina. Today, he seems
struck by the harmonic convergence and of the sound of their original band
— Al Garth, Jon Clark, Michael Omartian, Merle Brigante, and Milt Holland.
“All the forces came together to create one hell of a band,” Loggins recalls.
“We were very lucky.”

As for the Sittin’ In Again
tour, both men want to celebrate the past while leaving the future an open
and intriguing question. They want their show to feature a Sittin’ In
segment that will allow other musical associates and possibly former band
members to join them onstage.

As they head back to work
auditioning new band members, Loggins & Messina both sound genuinely excited
and fully engaged.

For Loggins: “There’s a
message of reconciliation here that hearts will heal over time. We’re not
the same people, but in some ways, we’re exactly who we were. Essentially,
I’m still pretty much naïve. I look back on the last thirty years and think,
how the hell did I do that in a world where they try to beat it out of you?
So when people ask, ‘What do you see coming for Loggins and Messina?’ I see
that we have an incredible second chance at actually having fun and dropping
some of the competitive thing. I remember we were so tight at the beginning
we’d walk into a clothing shop and both reach for the same shirt or boots.”

For both men the chance to
be Sittin’ In Again represents what Jimmy Messina calls “a great and
meaningful opportunity.”

“I’m really looking
forward to the audiences,” says Kenny Loggins. “I’m looking forward to
seeing good friends from long ago and, I’m hoping, some of the friends I’ve
picked up along the way. And then . . .well, and then we’ll just see where
it goes from there.”

Kenny Clark Loggins (Everett, 7 gennaio 1948) è un cantante, cantautore e chitarrista statunitense.

Viene tuttora considerato come una delle voci più sorprendenti degli anni 70 e 80. Kenny Loggins
viene anche ricordato, per gli anni migliori della sua carriera, non
solo per la sua meravigliosa voce ma anche per il suo contributo a molte
colonne sonore di successo: con il brano I’m Alright nel film “Caddyshack” 1980, Footloose e I’m Free (Heaven Helps The Man) nella colonna sonora del film “Footloose” di Herbert Ross 1984, Double Or Nothing nel film “Rocky 4” del 1985, Danger Zone & Playing With The Boys dal film “Top Gun” del 1986, Meet Me Half Way dal film “Over the Top” del 1987, Nobody’s Fool nel film “Caddyshack II” del 1988 e la bellissima e romantica For The First Time dal film “One Fine Day” del 1996.

Nel 1969 compone il suo primo brano House At The Pooh Corner, che viene fatto incidere dalla Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Questa canzone, assieme a Danny’s Song, sarà tra le canzoni più famose e più amate (dalla gente) del cantautore statunitense.

Kenny Loggins inizia la sua carriera da cantante nel 1970 insieme a Jim Messina, un sodalizio forte e ricco di successi che si chiuderà poi nel 1976, per intraprendere (l’anno successivo) la sua carriera da solista con l’album “Celebrate Me Home” del 1977.

Nel 1985 partecipa ad USA for Africa, un supergruppo di 45 celebrità della musica pop tra cui Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder e Bruce Springsteen, cantando We Are the World prodotta da Quincy Jones e incisa a scopo benefico. I proventi raccolti con We Are the World furono devoluti alla popolazione dell’Etiopia, afflitta in quel periodo da una disastrosa carestia. Il brano vinse il Grammy Award come “canzone dell’anno”, come “disco dell’anno”, e come “miglior performance di un duo o gruppo vocale pop”.

Kenny Loggins ha composto lavori memorabili, chiamati masterpiece nella discografia mondiale: “Celebrate Me Home” e “High Adventure”
sono due di quei lavori musicali che fanno parte della categoria
succitata. Un capolavoro degli anni ’90 (1991, per l’esattezza) si
intitola “Leap Of Faith“.
Questo album è una delle opere pop/rock/westcoast più complete e più
belle (nelle composizioni, negli arrangiamenti, negli strumenti usati,
nello stile originale e nell’audio) mai composte negli ultimi 20 anni.

Kenny Loggins, oltre che per memorabili album composti durante la sua
carriera, si può anche ricordare per vari concerti live incisi sia su
VHS che su DVD, in particolare “Alive” (1980), il concerto benefico
“Live AID” (1985) con la partecipazione di tanti altri grandi artisti
del panorama musicale mondiale, “Live From The Grand Canyon” del (1992),
“Return To Pooh Corner – The Concert Video” (1994), “Outside From The
Redwoods” del (1993).

Artista poco noto al pubblico italiano, Kenny Loggins durante gli anni ottanta fu più volte confuso con la figura, ed in particolar modo per la voce, di George Michael, data la somiglianza del timbro vocale tra i due artisti.

Ha scritto e composto canzoni da Grammy Awards, come What A Fool Believes, scritta in collaborazione con il suo amico (cantautore e musicista) Michael McDonald (ex componente dei Doobie Brothers). What A Fool Believes è inserita nell’album “Minute By Minute” dei Doobie Brothers ed è stata pluripremiata: “canzone dell’anno” 1979, “miglior arrangiamento vocale maschile” nel 1980.

Kenny Loggins, nei suoi lavori musicali, ha collaborato con i
migliori musicisti e artisti della westcoast music e non solo della
westcoast, alcuni di questi sono: David Foster, James Newton Howard, Richard Page (Pages & Mr. Mister), Steve George (Pages & Mr. Mister), Toto (Steve Lukather, Jeff Porcaro, Steve Porcaro, David Paich), Bill Champlin (Chicago), Michael Jackson (“Who’s right, who’s wrong” – canzone che si trova nell’album “Keep The Fire”), David Pack (Ambrosia), Michael McDonald, Steve Perry (Journey), Richard Marx, Greg Philliganes, David Sanborn, Michael Ruff, Philip Bailey degli Earth, Wind & Fire nell’album “Vox Humana”, Lee Ritenour, Steve Gadd e tanti altri che si possono trovare sul sito Bluedesert nella zona “artists”.

Il suo nome è stato inserito nella Walk Of Fame.

Kenny dimora a Santa Barbara, nel cuore della westcoastside americana.

Vita personale

Kenny Loggins sposò Julia Cooper nel 1992 e la coppia divorziò nel
2004. Ebbero due figli insieme. Scrissero anche un libro “The
Unimaginable Life” che fu composto da lettere che i due si erano scritti
e aiutavano alcuni con la loro relazione.

Precedentemente Loggins è stato sposato con Eva Ein (1978-1990) con cui ebbe tre figli. Il più vecchio si chiama Crosby Loggins
che incise il suo primo cd nel 2007 dal titolo “We All Go Home”. Crosby
nel 2008 è stato votato come il vincitore del reality show di MTV Rock the Cradle. Loggins ha un cugino,il cantante e comopsitore Dave Loggins.

Che fine ha fatto Jim Messina?