Loggins and Messina
Encyclopedia
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
".
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. 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.
Supporting musicians
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
-pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
duo consisting of Kenny Loggins
Kenny Loggins
During the next decade, Loggins recorded so many successful songs for film soundtracks that he was referred to as, King of the Movie Soundtrack.He began with "I'm Alright" , "Mr. Night", and "Lead the Way" from Caddyshack...
and Jim Messina who achieved their success in the early to mid 1970s. Among their well-known songs are "Danny's Song
Danny's Song
"Danny's Song" is the title of a song written by the American singer-songwriter Kenny Loggins. It was written as a gift for his brother Danny for the birth of his son Colin. It first appeared on the album Sittin' In, the debut album by Loggins and Messina...
", "House at Pooh Corner
House at Pooh Corner (song)
"House at Pooh Corner" is the title of a song that was written by Kenny Loggins, based on the popular children's book of the same name. The song was first performed by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band on their 1970 album Uncle Charlie & His Dog Teddy and then performed by Loggins and Messina on their...
", and "Your Mama Don't Dance
Your Mama Don't Dance
"Your Mama Don't Dance" is a hit 1972 song by the rock duo Loggins and Messina. Released on their self-titled album Loggins and Messina, it reached #4 on the Billboard pop chart and #19 on the Billboard adult contemporary chart as a single in early 1973."Your Mama Don't Dance" was covered in 1985...
".
History
Jim Messina, formerly of PocoPoco
Poco is an Southern California country rock band originally formed by Richie Furay and Jim Messina following the demise of Buffalo Springfield in 1968. The title of their first album, Pickin' Up the Pieces, is a reference to the break-up of Buffalo Springfield. Highly influential and creative,...
and Buffalo Springfield
Buffalo Springfield
Buffalo Springfield is a North American folk rock band renown both for its music and as a springboard for the careers of Neil Young, Stephen Stills, Richie Furay and Jim Messina. Among the first wave of North American bands to become popular in the wake of the British invasion, the group combined...
, was working as an independent record producer for Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
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
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
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. Their work was covered by other artists such as Lynn Anderson
Lynn Anderson
Lynn Rene Anderson is an American country music singer and equestrian known for a string of hits throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, most notably her Grammy Award-winning, worldwide mega-hit, " Rose Garden." Helped by her regular exposure on national television, Anderson was one of the most...
who recorded "Listen to a Country Song" released in 1972 and reached #3 on the charts. Perhaps most notably Anne Murray
Anne Murray
Morna Anne Murray CC, ONS is a Canadian singer in pop, country and adult contemporary styles whose albums have sold over 54 million copies....
, who reached the U.S. top ten with "Danny's Song
Danny's Song
"Danny's Song" is the title of a song written by the American singer-songwriter Kenny Loggins. It was written as a gift for his brother Danny for the birth of his son Colin. It first appeared on the album Sittin' In, the debut album by Loggins and Messina...
" in early 1973, and again with "A Love Song
A Love Song
"A Love Song" is a song written by Kenny Loggins and Donna Lyn George. It was first released by the folk-rock duo Loggins & Messina in 1973 on their album Full Sail. Pop / country artist Anne Murray recorded the song the same year....
" the following year. A greatest-hits album, The Best of Friends
The Best of Friends
The Best of Friends is a compilation album by singer/songwriter duo Loggins and Messina, released in late 1976 ....
, 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
Native Sons
Native Sons is the sixth, and final studio album and by singer/songwriting duo Loggins and Messina, released in early 1976 .-Track listing:Side One#"Sweet Marie" – 3:04...
. 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
The Best: Sittin' in Again
The Best: Sittin' In Again is the 10th release by singer/songwriter duo Loggins and Messina, a compilation album released in mid-2005. This release was timed to preview the duo's subsequent reunion tour. It contains most of their hits and provides a retrospective view of their music from 1971 to 1974...
, 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.
Members
- Kenny LogginsKenny LogginsDuring the next decade, Loggins recorded so many successful songs for film soundtracks that he was referred to as, King of the Movie Soundtrack.He began with "I'm Alright" , "Mr. Night", and "Lead the Way" from Caddyshack...
– Vocals, guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
, harmonicaHarmonicaThe harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes... - Jim Messina – Vocals, guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, mandolin
Supporting musicians
- Al Garth – Bass clarinetBass clarinetThe bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B , but it plays notes an octave below the soprano B clarinet...
, saxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
, violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, percussion and vocals - Jon Clarke (1951–2005) – SaxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
, oboeOboeThe oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
and percussion - Vince Denham (since 1974) SaxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
- Larry Sims – Bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
and vocals - Merel Bregante – Drums - percussion and vocals
- Milt HollandMilt HollandMilt Holland was an American drummer, percussionist, ethnic musicologist, and writer in the Los Angeles music scene who pioneered the use of African, South American, and Indian percussion styles in jazz, pop and film music, traveling extensively on those continents to collect instruments and to...
- Percussion - Steve Forman - Percussion
- Michael OmartianMichael OmartianMichael Omartian is an Armenian-American singer-songwriter, keyboardist, and music producer. He has been a participant in over 350,000,000 albums and CD’s sold worldwide, as a producer, arranger, artist or musician, during a career that has spanned over 38 years...
– KeyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, percussion and concertinaConcertinaA concertina is a free-reed musical instrument, like the various accordions and the harmonica. It has a bellows and buttons typically on both ends of it. When pressed, the buttons travel in the same direction as the bellows, unlike accordion buttons which travel perpendicularly to it...
Albums
- 1971: Kenny Loggins with Jim Messina - Sittin' In
- 1972: Loggins and MessinaLoggins and Messina (album)Loggins and Messina is the second album by singer/songwriters Loggins and Messina, released in 1972.Following on the success of their first album, this album built on the strengths of their debut outing...
- 1973: Full Sail
- 1974: On StageOn Stage (Loggins and Messina album)On Stage is the fourth album by singer/songwriter duo Loggins and Messina, released in 1974 .This album is a live album. It was released as a double album and featured a side-long version of their hit song "Vahevala".-Track listing:...
- 1974: Mother LodeMother Lode (album)Mother Lode is the fourth studio album by singer/songwriter duo Loggins and Messina, released in late 1974 .-Track listing:Side One#"Growin'" Mother Lode is the fourth studio album (5th release) by singer/songwriter duo Loggins and Messina, released in late 1974 (see 1974 in music).-Track...
- 1975: So Fine
- 1976: Native SonsNative SonsNative Sons is the sixth, and final studio album and by singer/songwriting duo Loggins and Messina, released in early 1976 .-Track listing:Side One#"Sweet Marie" – 3:04...
- 1976: The Best of FriendsThe Best of FriendsThe Best of Friends is a compilation album by singer/songwriter duo Loggins and Messina, released in late 1976 ....
- 1977: FinaleFinale (album)Finale is the second live double album by singer/songwriter duo Loggins and Messina, released in early 1977 ....
- 2005: The Best: Sittin' in AgainThe Best: Sittin' in AgainThe Best: Sittin' In Again is the 10th release by singer/songwriter duo Loggins and Messina, a compilation album released in mid-2005. This release was timed to preview the duo's subsequent reunion tour. It contains most of their hits and provides a retrospective view of their music from 1971 to 1974...
- 2005: Live: Sittin' In Again at the Santa Barbara BowlLive: Sittin' In Again at the Santa Barbara BowlLive: Sittin' in Again at Santa Barbara Bowl is a live compilation album by singer/songwriter duo Loggins and Messina, released in late 2005 . It was recorded in Santa Barbara at one of the first performances of their reunion tour...
Top 40 Charting Singles
- 11/1972 "Your Mama Don't Dance" #4 US
- 03/1973 "Thinking of You" #18 US
- 11/1973 "My Music" #16 US
- 03/1974 "Watching the River Run" #36 Adult Contemporary