Ever heard of Frankie and the Aliens? First time I read about them was in about 1991, five years after the band ceased to exist. The band toured for a while in Colorado playing the blues, and there were no professional recordings. Surely, surely, somebody out there bootlegged a show with Dan Fogelberg as Frankie and Joe Vitale and other band members as the Aliens. I'd love to hear it. When one Googles "Frankie and the Aliens", this is all the world-wide-web has to offer:
Rocky Mountain News tribute, upon Dan's death -
Fogelberg was greatly misunderstood as a musician and songwriter. He knew he possessed a talent for writing ballads, the kind that had the ability to endure and connect with a certain segment of radio audiences. But behind it all was a talented musician who enjoyed edgy rock and roll and gritty blues. Recording the ballads he wrote afforded him the chance to live a life of solitude in both Colorado and Maine, skiing and sailing during the day and recording the music he loved at night in his home studio. Fogelberg was amazingly versatile, playing every instrument and delving into most every genre of music, including classical and bluegrass. But I think it was the blues which moved him the most. He toured regionally during the 80's with a band of friends called Frankie and the Aliens. It was a straight up blues band featuring covers of songs by Cream and Muddy Waters. It found Fogelberg in his element. I asked him about it during an interview, why he hadn't recorded a complete album of blues. He answered "You know how you make a million dollars with a blues album, don't you? ". "Start with two million" he finished. Good point. So, for him, it was back to writing the ballads. He later released a live record called "Something Old, Something Borrowed and some Blues " which was as close to Frankie and the Aliens as he got. One listen to the song "Statesboro Blues" and you'll never view the man who wrote "Longer" quite the same way.
--------------------------------
From Dan's official site Biography page:
Though his professional life was in great shape, his private life was darkened by the recent breakup of his first marriage. Drummer Joe Vitale said to him, "God, spare me, don't go home and write the ultimate divorce album." Dan promised that he wouldn't, and then proceeded to do just that, spilling all of his pain into the songs that provided the foundation for his Exiles album. He also let off a lot of steam by playing little Colorado bars in a good time rock and roll band he formed with Vitale called Frankie and The Aliens. Having shaved off his famous beard, he went virtually unrecognized, allowing him to reconnect with the spirit of pure anonymous fun he knew when first playing rock and roll in Peoria.
=================================
Lowen and Navarro Discussion Board entry:
I last saw Dan Fogelberg at WolfTrap in I think in 2003. It was the first night of that tour and it was a great, great concert. He could have played all night, but WolfTrap has an 11 PM curfew. I also saw him in the mid-80’s in Denver when he did a few shows performing as Frankie and the Aliens. I think that’s what the name was – and it was a blues band. I also loved the music he did with flutist TimWeisberg. Really talented guy. How sad.
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From a Living Legacy fan letter:
Dan, Do you remember playing the Rainbow Music Hall in Denver as Frankie and the Aliens? The concert was almost over before my friend and I realized you were Frankie - we could hardly believe it! And then you said something about playing something other than that "sugary stuff" (or something to that effect) and my friend burst into tears. I loved it. Seeing you play so many times at Red Rocks and at the opening of the Buell Theater - you opened yourself to reveal the human themes of love, loss, anger, joy, wonder that are within us all. Through your music I learned more about myself, which is the gift that all great poets, songwriters, musicians, and other artists can give. I count your music to be among the greatest gifts I have ever received, and will always hold you in the highest esteem.
----------------------------------------------------
Another Living Legacy fan letter:
Dear Dan, I am one of those your music has touched very deeply. I was in high school in Aurora, Colorado when a friend of mine told me, "Did you know Dan Fogelberg wrote a song about you?" It was "Nether Lands." It truly touched my soul. I never missed a Red Rocks performance after that. I also saw you at McNichols, and the Rainbow as Frankie and the Aliens. I enjoyed when you came out at Red Rocks as another band before your show. Your music, all of it, has meant a lot to me over the years.You are my favorite artist. I wish you the best and send you lots of love.
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from Murmurs (a discussion board) -
A sad day indeed. While Dan had numerous radio friendly hits, it was the other lesser known songs that I liked the best. His performances whether in a large arena or a 500 seat hall were always sincere and passionate. He had an undying love for the blues that most fans didn't know. He had a short tour in the mid eighties where he played nothing but blues music under the name Frankie and the Aliens much to the disdain of the fans who wanted to hear "Longer". What a talent and his bluegrass album was sensational. Thanks for the great memories Dan. - Jerry
Jerry, I couldn't agree more Jerry, that his lesser know stuff was the best. Captured Angel is my all time fave. I did not know about his blues tour. I'll have to research that, is there a recording somewhere? It was during his tour for High Country Snows (the bluegrass album) that I got the chance to meet him. I will never forget it. He had a presence! Thanks for your reply. - Annie
Annie, No known recordings of Frankie and the Aliens I could find, however, I did not search with much fervor. Captured Angel is my fave as well. "The Last Nail" hits home. (no pun). I'm glad you got to meet him. I was just able to tell him 'great show' once and he responded generously. Listening to the older stuff last night was so bittersweet. And it still sounds fresh and timeless. My biased opinion perhaps. Have a pleasant day. - Jerry
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el semenal digital -
Realizó sus primeros escarceos en grupos de pubertad: The Clan, a los catorce años, The Coachmen, con los que llegó a editar un par de sencillos en Ledger Records. Transitó por la banda de blues Frankie and the Aliens , que le dejaría cierta huella en grabaciones y actuaciones posteriores (Greetings From The West y Something Old, New, Borrowed and Some Blues)
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That's all the web has to offer.
In 1987, Dan released Exiles, his divorce album. It was a different project, and, after a while, I began to believe that Dan had stopped recording for commercial distribution. Several factors led me to this belief, including, but not limited to:
(1) Exiles' final track, on LP and cassette, was "The Last Farewell", and he went so long without a new project, I thought that was his last farewell. It would be three years until another release, and Dan had never made his fans wait that long.
(2) His solo acoustic tour, Summer of `88, was the best concert I ever saw. I knew when I was experiencing it, and I knew when I left it, there would never be a better concert by anyone, anywhere. So far, I've been right.
As a result of thinking Dan had ceased to issue recordings to the public, I began to put together projects of my own mixing/finagling of Dan's work, including both studio and concert (bootleg) recordings.
The first was "Soaring with Eagles", which included all Dan's songs on which members of the Eagles sang backup.
One of the projects was "Blues and Bluegrass", with Blues on one side and hard-driving bluegrass on the other.
My current project will be called "Frankie and the Aliens" and some of the songs will be:
1. Road Beneath My Wheels
2. Nature of the Game
3. Over and Over Again
4. Don't Let that Sun Go Down
(Chattanooga bluesy version)
5. Statesboro Blues
6. Blow Wind Blow
7. What You're Doin'
8. Rhythm of the Rain
(Live bluesy version)
9. She Don't Look Back
10. Holy Road
11. What in the World
12. All Night Long
13. Layla
14. Can't Find My Way Home
(Hartford, `82)
15. Merry Christmas, Baby
and, of course,
16. The All Night Laundry Mat Blues
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
Dan Fogelberg had a voice, and a stratocaster, made for the blues.
Lots of people write "I miss Dan."
So far, I don't. The music is still there. As long as the music's there, Dan's there too.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Parker had something to prove
Candace Parker, the 4.0 academic average student, graduating after her Junior year of eligibility, and the 2006-2007 NCAA women's Player of the Year, was snubbed by SEC coaches who voted Sylvia Fowles of LSU as the SEC Player of the Year for 2007-2008. When asked about the vote, Candace replied: "Right now, we're all about winning the SEC championship. There's nothing subjective about that, and I'm not worried about who the other coaches voted for as player of the year. If we win the championship on the court, no one can argue with that."
Tonight, #2 seed Tennessee played #1 seed LSU on a neutral court. I watched as much of the game as I could. There were 16 lead changes and 5 ties during the game. With less than 4 minutes left in the game and LSU leading 54-51, my patient called, and I trotted dutifully down the hall to do what needed to be done. When I returned, the game was over, and the channel had picked up another game. In the final three or so minutes while I was away from the TV, the Lady Vols outscored the Bengalettes 10-2 to win the game and the SEC tourney championship by 61-56.
The head-to-head stats for this year's SEC player of the year Fowles and last year's player of the year Parker:
Field Goals: Parker 12-22=54.5% Fowles 9-17=52.9%
Free Throws: Parker 4-8=50% Fowles 1-4=25%
Offensive Rebound Baskets: Parker 1, Fowles 0
Rebounds: Fowles 10, Parker 6
Assists: Parker 1, Fowles 0
Fouls: Parker 1, Fowles 3
Points: Parker 28, Fowles 19
Turnovers: Parker 3, Fowles 5
Blocked Shots: Parker 3, Fowles 2
Steals: Parker 3, Fowles 1
Both athletes had a fine night. Parker had an edge in statistics overall, but Fowles was unstoppable when she got the ball under the basket.
LSU won the regular season with a 14-0 record. Tennessee was 13-1 with a home loss to LSU.
Tonight, #2 seed Tennessee played #1 seed LSU on a neutral court. I watched as much of the game as I could. There were 16 lead changes and 5 ties during the game. With less than 4 minutes left in the game and LSU leading 54-51, my patient called, and I trotted dutifully down the hall to do what needed to be done. When I returned, the game was over, and the channel had picked up another game. In the final three or so minutes while I was away from the TV, the Lady Vols outscored the Bengalettes 10-2 to win the game and the SEC tourney championship by 61-56.
The head-to-head stats for this year's SEC player of the year Fowles and last year's player of the year Parker:
Field Goals: Parker 12-22=54.5% Fowles 9-17=52.9%
Free Throws: Parker 4-8=50% Fowles 1-4=25%
Offensive Rebound Baskets: Parker 1, Fowles 0
Rebounds: Fowles 10, Parker 6
Assists: Parker 1, Fowles 0
Fouls: Parker 1, Fowles 3
Points: Parker 28, Fowles 19
Turnovers: Parker 3, Fowles 5
Blocked Shots: Parker 3, Fowles 2
Steals: Parker 3, Fowles 1
Both athletes had a fine night. Parker had an edge in statistics overall, but Fowles was unstoppable when she got the ball under the basket.
LSU won the regular season with a 14-0 record. Tennessee was 13-1 with a home loss to LSU.
SEC Women's Player of the Year
Congratulations to SYLVIA FOWLES of LSU, named, by a vote of SEC coaches, as the SEC women's player of the year. Broad Beam's Basketball Bulletin had named Candace Parker of Tennessee as player of the year with Bonner of Auburn placing second. Fowles was third. The editor explained to me that the staff of BBBB generally bases its player of the year votes on (1) statistics and (2) team MVP considerations. Based purely on statistics, the vote would have been Parker, Bonner and Fowles 1-2-3, but perhaps the time-honored publication failed to consider this:
For years and years, well, forever, in the Southeastern Conference, Tennessee seems to win all the awards. Year after year after year, it's Tennessee. Seven national titles, too many SEC titles and Coach of the Year awards to tally on my computer, and a whole bunch of Player of the Year awards. I guess this phenomenon, this year, is sort of like the Heisman Trophy (formerly an award to be cherished) situation the year Peyton Manning of Tennessee seemed to be a hands-down favorite. Peyton had all the statistics and all the MVP considerations, yet the Heisman voters had, for some time, been maligned for never giving the award to a defensive player. Pretty much as the result of one spectacular performance on a nationally-televised game, Charles Woodson was awarded the Heisman. Manning went on to receive every other player of the year award in football, and, frankly, it is disappointing, but true, the Heisman lost most of its luster that day. Manning had won awards as a freshman, a sophomore, a junior and throughout the year as a senior, but he was riding the wrong bubble on that wave of history.
This year, in SEC Women's basketball, LSU was undefeated in SEC play and Tennessee lost one. The Lady Vols had (have) a better overall record, but one horrible night can just about ruin a season for awards, if its as bad as the night the Lady Vols had when LSU came to town. In a situation which still seems unimaginable, the Bengal Tigerettes came into Knoxville and trailed the Lady Vols by 21-2 at one point. That's when I turned the game off and did something else. Ho-hum. Another Tennessee home blowout of a nationally-ranked opponent really seemed old hat - I've seen it so many times before - and I wanted to spend my time elsewise. Imagine my disbelief when I read the morning paper's account of a double-digit blowout of the Lady Vols on their home court.
Biggest Meltdown in Basketball History? I don't know, but I still wonder what happened. Oh, yeah, I read the account in the paper, but I still can't figure out how a super-talented team could lose a 19-point lead and lose by double digits at home!
That game resulted in LSU's having the player of the year and the coach of the year, and, frankly, I think I can understand the coaches voted the way they did.
The statistics with all games, and SEC games, if different than all games:
(from official SEC statistics, Atlanta Constitution - Top 15 in all categories)
1. Parker, 2. Bonner, 3. Fowles - Scoring
1. Parker, 2. Bonner, 4. Fowles - SEC Scoring
1. Bonner, 2. Fowles, 5. Parker - Rebounds
1. Fowles, 2. Parker, 5. Bonner - Field Goal Pct.
2. Bonner, 6. Parker, 8. Fowles - Free Throw Pct.
3. Bonner, 11. Parker, 12. Fowles - SEC Free Throw Pct.
7. Parker, 12. Bonner - Steals (Fowles unranked)
5. Parker, 10. Bonner - SEC Steaks (Fowles unranked)
1. Parker, 5. Fowles, 11. Bonner - Blocked shots
2. Parker, 3. Fowles, 6. Bonner - SEC Blocked shots
13. Parker - SEC Assists (Bonner and Fowles unranked)
In the BBBB statistical individual player power ratings, where 11 is the top possible score
and in which 100 is the top RPI (Ratings Percentage Index), the three rank as follows:
Parker - 16 (95 RPI)
Bonner - 22 (89 RPI)
Fowles - 27 (84 RPI)
From blogs and boards, readers will find that Tennessee fans are disgruntled and the rest of the SEC fans are pleased with the selection of Fowles as player of the year. Sylvia was also named defensive player of the year, and so many times, statistics are geared heavily towards offensive statistics, so the RPI ratings above are not automatically indicative of the best player in the SEC. One thing we do know for sure is that tonight at the Sommet Center in Nashville (not the Summit in Knoxville where LSU already won decisivelly), #2-seeded Tennessee and #1-seeded regular season conference champ LSU square off for the tournament championship, and we can all see for ourselves who's the best, at least for this one game! Tennessee fans are accustomed to being #1 in the country, but, Vols, you can't be #1 in the country if you're only #2 in your conference.
Or can you?
For years and years, well, forever, in the Southeastern Conference, Tennessee seems to win all the awards. Year after year after year, it's Tennessee. Seven national titles, too many SEC titles and Coach of the Year awards to tally on my computer, and a whole bunch of Player of the Year awards. I guess this phenomenon, this year, is sort of like the Heisman Trophy (formerly an award to be cherished) situation the year Peyton Manning of Tennessee seemed to be a hands-down favorite. Peyton had all the statistics and all the MVP considerations, yet the Heisman voters had, for some time, been maligned for never giving the award to a defensive player. Pretty much as the result of one spectacular performance on a nationally-televised game, Charles Woodson was awarded the Heisman. Manning went on to receive every other player of the year award in football, and, frankly, it is disappointing, but true, the Heisman lost most of its luster that day. Manning had won awards as a freshman, a sophomore, a junior and throughout the year as a senior, but he was riding the wrong bubble on that wave of history.
This year, in SEC Women's basketball, LSU was undefeated in SEC play and Tennessee lost one. The Lady Vols had (have) a better overall record, but one horrible night can just about ruin a season for awards, if its as bad as the night the Lady Vols had when LSU came to town. In a situation which still seems unimaginable, the Bengal Tigerettes came into Knoxville and trailed the Lady Vols by 21-2 at one point. That's when I turned the game off and did something else. Ho-hum. Another Tennessee home blowout of a nationally-ranked opponent really seemed old hat - I've seen it so many times before - and I wanted to spend my time elsewise. Imagine my disbelief when I read the morning paper's account of a double-digit blowout of the Lady Vols on their home court.
Biggest Meltdown in Basketball History? I don't know, but I still wonder what happened. Oh, yeah, I read the account in the paper, but I still can't figure out how a super-talented team could lose a 19-point lead and lose by double digits at home!
That game resulted in LSU's having the player of the year and the coach of the year, and, frankly, I think I can understand the coaches voted the way they did.
The statistics with all games, and SEC games, if different than all games:
(from official SEC statistics, Atlanta Constitution - Top 15 in all categories)
1. Parker, 2. Bonner, 3. Fowles - Scoring
1. Parker, 2. Bonner, 4. Fowles - SEC Scoring
1. Bonner, 2. Fowles, 5. Parker - Rebounds
1. Fowles, 2. Parker, 5. Bonner - Field Goal Pct.
2. Bonner, 6. Parker, 8. Fowles - Free Throw Pct.
3. Bonner, 11. Parker, 12. Fowles - SEC Free Throw Pct.
7. Parker, 12. Bonner - Steals (Fowles unranked)
5. Parker, 10. Bonner - SEC Steaks (Fowles unranked)
1. Parker, 5. Fowles, 11. Bonner - Blocked shots
2. Parker, 3. Fowles, 6. Bonner - SEC Blocked shots
13. Parker - SEC Assists (Bonner and Fowles unranked)
In the BBBB statistical individual player power ratings, where 11 is the top possible score
and in which 100 is the top RPI (Ratings Percentage Index), the three rank as follows:
Parker - 16 (95 RPI)
Bonner - 22 (89 RPI)
Fowles - 27 (84 RPI)
From blogs and boards, readers will find that Tennessee fans are disgruntled and the rest of the SEC fans are pleased with the selection of Fowles as player of the year. Sylvia was also named defensive player of the year, and so many times, statistics are geared heavily towards offensive statistics, so the RPI ratings above are not automatically indicative of the best player in the SEC. One thing we do know for sure is that tonight at the Sommet Center in Nashville (not the Summit in Knoxville where LSU already won decisivelly), #2-seeded Tennessee and #1-seeded regular season conference champ LSU square off for the tournament championship, and we can all see for ourselves who's the best, at least for this one game! Tennessee fans are accustomed to being #1 in the country, but, Vols, you can't be #1 in the country if you're only #2 in your conference.
Or can you?
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Oh, Brother!
Leo's Lyrics site:
http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:EMVHatK8Py8J:www.leoslyrics.com/listlyrics.php%3Fhid%3D3TScqIo0jvk%253D+Old+and+in+the+Way,+High+Country+Snows,+Oh+Brother&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=10&gl=us
indicates that Dan Fogelberg's 1985 High Country Snows is the third all-time best-selling bluegrass album, still behind Old and In the Way, as always, and now behind the soundtrack for Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou?
http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:EMVHatK8Py8J:www.leoslyrics.com/listlyrics.php%3Fhid%3D3TScqIo0jvk%253D+Old+and+in+the+Way,+High+Country+Snows,+Oh+Brother&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=10&gl=us
indicates that Dan Fogelberg's 1985 High Country Snows is the third all-time best-selling bluegrass album, still behind Old and In the Way, as always, and now behind the soundtrack for Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou?
Dan Fogelberg - Big Cheer at Grammys
11:02 p.m. - "Other than Pavarotti, the only big cheer during the dead people segment comes for Dan Fogelberg. Huh? Really, hardly anyone makes a peep during the whole thing, even for Lee Hazlewood or Pimp C."
Rarely will I blog about someone else's blog, but this was pretty funny. Tom Breihan blogged on 2/11/08, The Grammy Awards: A Running Diary which included a minute-by-minute (more or less) account of what happened on Grammy Night, 2008. Do yourself a favor and read it, in its entirety, at:
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/statusainthood/archives/2008/02/the_grammy_awar_4.php
The blog was interesting, even entertaining, mostly, but I began to laugh aloud at the 10:49 entry, where Tom writes that Tony Bennet trips on a line while presenting an award and comments that "it is almost reassuring that the guy is finally beginning to show signs of aging." Then the "dead people segment" followed by the 11:13 "depressing old people" segment. Having finally attained the age and position in life of what some people would undoubtedly call "old" (in my sixties, retired and receiving Social Security checks), I was particularly amused by the readers' comments on the theme of "why don't these old people just crawl off somewhere and die?" and that readers would actually be honest enough to publish such ideas on the internet! I'm laughing now!
Dan Fogelberg didn't wait until he was old. At 56, he was still sailing the treacherous waters off the coast of Maine and still apparently productive at the many forms of art at which he excelled. Funny thing that Dan should receive such thunderous applause by the Grammy audience, but by no means surprising. Dan Fogelberg never received a Grammy. Arguably the finest "singer songwriter multi-instrumentalist" ever to grace the face of the earth, Dan was nominated only once, that being for his song "Times Like These" for its inclusion on the "Urban Cowboy" Soundtrack, but awards and promotion of his music were not important to Dan. He wrote for the sheer joy of the art, and he once said something to the effect of "If one song says something to one person who hears it, then I've done my job. I'm happy," but then he went on to say he'd do what he did, the way he did it, regardless of whether it reached anyone.
Amused. That's how I always felt when I would read the critical reviews trashing Dan's artistry, like the reviews routinely written by rags like Rolling Stone and music critics like Robert K. Oermann (is that name correctly "spelt"?). It was like these writers didn't have the good sense to recognize class, style and talent! What is so amusing is that the people who bought music always seemed to have a far different opinion than the critics and that after Dan's first album, Home Free went gold, he had a consecutive string of eight albums, released from 1974 through 1984, to go platinum or multi-platinum. Dan took off on his own, ignoring music trends, and in 1985 did, of all things, a bluegrass album. I was so irritated I could have eaten my socks, but, since it was Dan, I listened, and guess what? I started liking bluegrass! Well, wait a minute - I liked Dan's bluegrass and some other new-fangled bluegrass and even the old standards, so long as they were instrumental. Try as I might, I was never quite able to listen to Bill Monroe's vocals, but I loved his "Jerusalem Ridge", probably his most famous instrumental hit. Dan's bluegrass album, though it did not achieve platinum status, became the second best-selling bluegrass album of all time, right behind the classic "Old and In the Way" project by Jerry Garcia (The Grateful Dead), David Grisman (Dawg music), Peter Rowan, Vassar Clements and John Kahn. Last year, someone told me they thought that another bluegrass album had recently knocked Dan's "High Country Snows" down into third place, but I never could find confirmation of that fact on the web or anywhere else.
Next, Dan did a divorce album, Exiles, which didn't go platinum. Nor did his subsequent studio albums from the `90's and into this century. But, by golly, he sure had a helluva run for the decade of the mid-`70's through the mid-`80's. No one else matched it then; no one did it before Dan did, and no one has matched it since.
But I digress.
My point, several paragraphs ago, about the applause for Dan at the Grammys, was about to be this: Singer-songwriters like and appreciate Dan. They understand what he did. Artists in all genrae of music were/are Dan fans. In my single-again period which covered most of the `80's, I was a frequent concert goer, perhaps, in part, to my son being a musician, in part to both my children loving to go to concerts, and in part, my love of music and enjoying the concerts myself. From Denver to Atlanta, from San Antonio to Chicago, and numerous points in between, I've seen Dan Fogelberg in concert, and, almost without exception in the big-city venues, I would see famous, and/or currently popular, musicians in attendance. Having lived in middle Tennessee for 57% of my life, at least half the concerts were in or around Nashville, and lots, I mean lots, of new country artists went to Dan's concerts. Garth Brooks wouldn't miss one if he was in the area. Same with Suzy Bogguss and numeous others. So, with this in mind, it is not at all surprising that the announcement of Dan's name at the Grammys resulted in a substantial reaction from the crowd, which would have been comprised largely of people who knew at least a little something about music. The author of the blog, Tom Breihan, probably was not in a position to be aware of this, thus his "Huh?" in his article.
Dan was loved. Loved by his legion of fans, which included musicians. Lots of musicians.
From Ferranti and Teicher in the `50's to Peter, Paul and Mary, Ray Charles, and Andy Williams in the `60's, and on to Anne Murray, Gary Morris, James Taylor, Jimmy Buffett, Rod Stewart, Bad Company, Crosby Stills & Nash, and too many more to mention in the `70's, `80's and `90's, I have never seen one other musician attending all the other concerts, just Fogelberg's.
As the e~Town commentator said on the air, after thunderous audience applause for Dan's performance:
"He's good, isn't he?"
Rarely will I blog about someone else's blog, but this was pretty funny. Tom Breihan blogged on 2/11/08, The Grammy Awards: A Running Diary which included a minute-by-minute (more or less) account of what happened on Grammy Night, 2008. Do yourself a favor and read it, in its entirety, at:
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/statusainthood/archives/2008/02/the_grammy_awar_4.php
The blog was interesting, even entertaining, mostly, but I began to laugh aloud at the 10:49 entry, where Tom writes that Tony Bennet trips on a line while presenting an award and comments that "it is almost reassuring that the guy is finally beginning to show signs of aging." Then the "dead people segment" followed by the 11:13 "depressing old people" segment. Having finally attained the age and position in life of what some people would undoubtedly call "old" (in my sixties, retired and receiving Social Security checks), I was particularly amused by the readers' comments on the theme of "why don't these old people just crawl off somewhere and die?" and that readers would actually be honest enough to publish such ideas on the internet! I'm laughing now!
Dan Fogelberg didn't wait until he was old. At 56, he was still sailing the treacherous waters off the coast of Maine and still apparently productive at the many forms of art at which he excelled. Funny thing that Dan should receive such thunderous applause by the Grammy audience, but by no means surprising. Dan Fogelberg never received a Grammy. Arguably the finest "singer songwriter multi-instrumentalist" ever to grace the face of the earth, Dan was nominated only once, that being for his song "Times Like These" for its inclusion on the "Urban Cowboy" Soundtrack, but awards and promotion of his music were not important to Dan. He wrote for the sheer joy of the art, and he once said something to the effect of "If one song says something to one person who hears it, then I've done my job. I'm happy," but then he went on to say he'd do what he did, the way he did it, regardless of whether it reached anyone.
Amused. That's how I always felt when I would read the critical reviews trashing Dan's artistry, like the reviews routinely written by rags like Rolling Stone and music critics like Robert K. Oermann (is that name correctly "spelt"?). It was like these writers didn't have the good sense to recognize class, style and talent! What is so amusing is that the people who bought music always seemed to have a far different opinion than the critics and that after Dan's first album, Home Free went gold, he had a consecutive string of eight albums, released from 1974 through 1984, to go platinum or multi-platinum. Dan took off on his own, ignoring music trends, and in 1985 did, of all things, a bluegrass album. I was so irritated I could have eaten my socks, but, since it was Dan, I listened, and guess what? I started liking bluegrass! Well, wait a minute - I liked Dan's bluegrass and some other new-fangled bluegrass and even the old standards, so long as they were instrumental. Try as I might, I was never quite able to listen to Bill Monroe's vocals, but I loved his "Jerusalem Ridge", probably his most famous instrumental hit. Dan's bluegrass album, though it did not achieve platinum status, became the second best-selling bluegrass album of all time, right behind the classic "Old and In the Way" project by Jerry Garcia (The Grateful Dead), David Grisman (Dawg music), Peter Rowan, Vassar Clements and John Kahn. Last year, someone told me they thought that another bluegrass album had recently knocked Dan's "High Country Snows" down into third place, but I never could find confirmation of that fact on the web or anywhere else.
Next, Dan did a divorce album, Exiles, which didn't go platinum. Nor did his subsequent studio albums from the `90's and into this century. But, by golly, he sure had a helluva run for the decade of the mid-`70's through the mid-`80's. No one else matched it then; no one did it before Dan did, and no one has matched it since.
But I digress.
My point, several paragraphs ago, about the applause for Dan at the Grammys, was about to be this: Singer-songwriters like and appreciate Dan. They understand what he did. Artists in all genrae of music were/are Dan fans. In my single-again period which covered most of the `80's, I was a frequent concert goer, perhaps, in part, to my son being a musician, in part to both my children loving to go to concerts, and in part, my love of music and enjoying the concerts myself. From Denver to Atlanta, from San Antonio to Chicago, and numerous points in between, I've seen Dan Fogelberg in concert, and, almost without exception in the big-city venues, I would see famous, and/or currently popular, musicians in attendance. Having lived in middle Tennessee for 57% of my life, at least half the concerts were in or around Nashville, and lots, I mean lots, of new country artists went to Dan's concerts. Garth Brooks wouldn't miss one if he was in the area. Same with Suzy Bogguss and numeous others. So, with this in mind, it is not at all surprising that the announcement of Dan's name at the Grammys resulted in a substantial reaction from the crowd, which would have been comprised largely of people who knew at least a little something about music. The author of the blog, Tom Breihan, probably was not in a position to be aware of this, thus his "Huh?" in his article.
Dan was loved. Loved by his legion of fans, which included musicians. Lots of musicians.
From Ferranti and Teicher in the `50's to Peter, Paul and Mary, Ray Charles, and Andy Williams in the `60's, and on to Anne Murray, Gary Morris, James Taylor, Jimmy Buffett, Rod Stewart, Bad Company, Crosby Stills & Nash, and too many more to mention in the `70's, `80's and `90's, I have never seen one other musician attending all the other concerts, just Fogelberg's.
As the e~Town commentator said on the air, after thunderous audience applause for Dan's performance:
"He's good, isn't he?"
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