Can you believe it's almost two years since I last turned the spotlight on a particular artiste in this section? I can: it's hard, tough, gruelling work, doing all the research and listening to the music, putting the article together and trying to get all the facts, figures and dates right. The last time I attempted this was back in December of 2011, when we looked at the career of a-ha, who are now broken up. This time, I want to concentrate on the music of a man who sadly has passed away, but whose music lives on, even if not that many people are fully aware of it, or him.
Part I: From the River to the Valley: A Song Cycle begins
Despite having hit singles, albums that sold well and virtually writing
the most played song at weddings, few if any of you reading this are likely to know who this man is, much less any of his music. Some of you will probably have heard “Run for the roses”, “Leader of the band” or indeed the perennial Christmas favourite, “Same old lang syne”, if not the song alluded to above, his biggest ever hit, “Longer”. But even then, you probably just like the song, and have no idea who sings it. Let me enlighten you.
Born in Peoria, Illinois to a father who was a bandleader and a mother who trained classically on the piano, Daniel Grayling “Dan” Fogelberg (1951-2007) naturally gravitated towards an interest in music, and taught himself to play guitar and piano before age fourteen. Like most youngsters with a musical inclination, he joined or formed various bands, most of whose material was, inevitably, covers, but he differs from many at this age when two songs he wrote for his second band, The Coachmen, were released as singles. He was only sixteen at the time he wrote these, showing even then his talent for songwriting and musicianship. During this time he would sit by the banks of the mighty Illinois River, write and play his music, and imagine escaping from his smalltown life, out into the great wide world that was waiting for him. The river would remain a huge icon in, and influence on, his songwriting over the years, surfacing most deeply on his debut album.
As you can hear, if you clicked the videos below, the second one shown, “Maybe time will let me forget” is the slower of the two, with a certain Hollies/Bee Gees sound to it, and it was for sweet ballads and songs with a tale to tell that Dan would become best known. I don't think he sang on either of these though, and of course he would always sing his own music, occasionally with someone else but usually solo. Discovered at the beginning of the seventies by Irving Azoff, who had just recently introduced the world to REO Speedwagon, Dan received his parents' guarded blessing to drop out of college and head to California to pursue a music career. After shopping his tape around to various labels trying to get the best deal, Azoff finally announced that he had signed Dan to Columbia, and his debut album was released in 1972.
Although an excellent album, “Home free” is not typical of the sort of music Dan would later play, and popularise. It's very country-oriented, with songs like “More than ever” and “Live in the country” utilising pedal steel, dobro and fiddle, though there are some sumptuous ballads there too, like the opener, the gentle “To the morning”, the beautiful “Be on your way” and “Hickory grove”, and the beginnings of more rocky material with the closer, the powerful “The river”, on which Dan's burgeoning skill on the guitar comes to the fore.
Unsurprisingly though, the album was a flop commercially. It was said that the production didn't suit Dan's music, that it was “too country”, but that's a cheap get-out. The fact is that, tender and gentle and a minor masterpiece as this album was, there was no hit single on it. Nothing lent itself to airplay, and while many people might indeed buy the album and luxuriate in its soft melodies and sweet ballads, no DJ was going to play them on the radio. It would take more commercial, more radio-friendly fare before Dan would manage to make his first big break.
For the next album the help of Joe Walsh, legendary member of the Eagles, was enlisted, and he quickly brought in others to help --- on Dan's request --- people like Don Henley and Glenn Frey, and Russ Kunkel, Graham Nash and of course Walsh himself. The album was a far rockier affair, and as a result of some fevered writing and a work ethic that almost refused to take a break, Dan had his first big hit with “Part of the plan”, which actually opens the album. Even from the sleeve though, you can see a more intense, focussed songwriter; while still relaxed in familar, homely surroundings, Dan looks more determined to make you listen, whereas on the cover of the debut album he looks like some sort of throwback to the sixties folk era, not exactly eliciting excitement and a fresh sound, though in fairness any who passed over the album on the basis of the cover missed out on some great songs. But on “Souvenirs”, he looks young, dynamic, interesting. And indeed, that image is carried through to the music.
It's generally more uptempo, faster, less wistful than a lot of the songs that characterised “Home free”. Much of it sounds airplay-worthy, and though there was only the one single taken from it, there are many tracks on it that could have been released. It's a mixture of heartfelt ballads like the title track and “The long way”, with more upbeat fare like “Someone's been telling you stories” and “As the raven flies”, with even a straight-ahead, hoe-down country bopper in “Morning sky”. But for me the standout is the slow, swaying ballad that closes the album, “There's a place in the world for a gambler”, with its sentimental, almost lounge-bar atmosphere and its evocation of perhaps old western heroes realising their time is up and they must settle down.
Many others vie for the second standout, however, with the title track, “Illinois”, “Song from half mountain” and “The long way” all good contenders. There's a better mix of instruments on this album, with the likes of accordion, sousaphone and twelve-string all featuring, and of course the guest stars on the album certainly didn't hurt its sales. The fact that Joe Walsh could secure such talent to play on Dan's album was a clear indication he was headed for the big time, and his first hit single had already broken the top twenty.
After the success of “Part of the plan”, Dan was not exactly a household name, but he was a star, and he hit the road in 1974 for two years, enjoying his newfound fame. He was suddenly and cruelly brought back to reality however with the news his father was ill, and dropped everything to return to Peoria to be with his family. Luckily, his dad pulled through and while he had been staying at the hospital during the days he was writing in a studio by night, resulting in the production of his third album.
It's a strange little album, almost little more than an EP, with its weirdly cartoonish, almost bondage-related cover, and boasting only a total of eight tracks, running for just over half an hour. In general it seems to float between the more laidback folky country of his debut and the rockier, more uptempo and contemporary feel of “Souvenirs” and indeed later records. There's a lot of pedal steel, fiddle and banjo on it, and while there's nothing wrong with that, it does seem to suggest a sort of step backwards, though he would address this with his fourth album.
It hurts to admit it, but “Captured angel” is an album I've only listened to once or twice, and to be honest I don't really like it. “Home free”, while in something the same style, is miles ahead of it in terms of song quality. It was however the last album that would cling to the country influences here, as his next one would be characterised mostly by big, cinematic, classically-led pieces. It would not yield any more hit singles, and Dan's rise to true fame would be a little slower, but it's a great album with some truly powerful material.