Dan Fogelberg R.I.P.

[Chris D]

Prostate cancer claims another. He was god-awful sappy a lot of the time, but the man did craft one of the all-time great singles.


Your conscience awakes
And you see your mistakes
And you wish someone
Would buy your confessions.
The days miss their mark
And the night gets so dark
And some kind of message
Comes through to you
Some kind of message
Shoots through
And it says to you

Love when you can
Cry when you have to...
Be who you must
That’s a part of the plan
Await your arrival
With simple survival
And one day we’ll all understand...

[Gentle Giant]

I think The Innocent Age is one of the best-written and most cohesive original studio 2-LP concept albums ever produced.



Saw him once in concert. He's a guy that at his best is quite good and at his worst is almost unlistenable. But he always had good players, particularly on his bluegrass album, which features Herb Pedersen (banjo, harmony vocals), Ricky Skaggs (harmony vocals), David Grisman (mandolin, mandola), Chris Hillman (mandolins, harmony vocals), Al Perkins (pedal steel guitar), Charlie McCoy (harmonica), Russ Kunkel (drums), Jerry Douglas (dobro), Emory Gordy (bass), Jim Buchanan (fiddle), David Briggs (piano), Vince Gill (harmony vocals), Michael Hanna (synthesiser) and Doc Watson (acoustic guitar).



Anyway, was shocked to hear the news as I didn't know he'd been battling prostate cancer. RIP


NEW YORK - Dan Fogelberg, 56, the singer and songwriter whose hits "Leader of the Band" and "Same Old Lang Syne" helped define the soft-rock era, died yesterday at his home in Maine after battling prostate cancer.

His death was announced yesterday in a statement by Anna Loynes of the Solters & Digney public relations agency, and was also posted on the singer's website.

"Dan left us this morning at 6:00 a.m. He fought a brave battle with cancer and died peacefully at home in Maine with his wife Jean at his side," it read. "His strength, dignity and grace in the face of the daunting challenges of this disease were an inspiration to all who knew him."

Mr. Fogelberg was found in 2004 to have advanced prostate cancer. In a statement then, he thanked fans for their support: "It is truly overwhelming and humbling to realize how many lives my music has touched so deeply all these years. . . . I thank you from the very depths of my heart."

Mr. Fogelberg's music was powerful in its simplicity. He didn't rely on the volume of his voice to convey his emotions; instead, they came through in the soft, tender delivery and his poignant lyrics. Songs like "Same Old Lang Syne" - in which a man reminisces after meeting an old girlfriend by chance during the holidays - became classics not only because of his performance, but for the engaging storyline, as well.

[Gentle Giant]

DAN FOGELBERG, 1951-2007: Dan Fogelberg, a quintessential soft-rock singer/songwriter who charted a string of platinum albums from 1975 through 1981, died on the morning of Dec. 16 at his home in Maine after a three-year battle with advanced prostrate cancer. He was 56. "Dan left us this morning at 6:00 a.m. He fought a brave battle with cancer and died peacefully at home in Maine with his wife Jean at his side," Fogelberg's PR agency said in a statement. "His strength, dignity and grace in the face of the daunting challenges of this disease were an inspiration to all who knew him." Born Aug. 13, 1951, in Peoria, Ill., Fogelberg was a musical prodigy who composed his first song at age 14. Playing campus coffeehouses at the University of Illinois in Champagne where he studied art, he met future manager Irving Azoff, who at the time handled Midwestern bands like R.E.O Speedwagon and would also go on to manage the Eagles. Moving to Los Angeles in 1971, Fogelberg signed a recording contract with Columbia's Epic label and released his first album, Home Free, in 1972. Fogelberg became very active in the West Coast music scene (guesting on albums by such fellow singer/songwriters as Jackson Browne and Randy Newman) and in Nov. 1974, with future Eagles member Joe Walsh producing, he released Souvenirs, which would eventually go double platinum on the strength of its lead-off single, "Part of the Plan." Fogelberg left Los Angeles around this time and eventually settled in Boulder, Col., where he released five more platinum albums that featured his trademark soft, tender delivery and his poignant lyrics, including 1975's Captured Angel (#23); 1977's Nether Lands (#13); 1978's Twin Sons of Different Mothers (#8, a collaboration with jazz-pop flutist Tim Weisberg); 1979's Phoenix (#3) and the 1981 double-LP The Innocent Age. Four of The Innocent Age's singles -- "Hard to Say," "Leader of the Band," "Run for the Roses" and "Same Old Lang Syne" -- were Top 20 hits, and his last big hit was 1984's "The Language of Love" (#13), an uncharacteristically hard rocker. 1985's High Country was a collaboration with bluegrass artists Doc Watson, Ricky Scaggs and David Grisman, and later in his career he focused on writing music with environmental themes, an issue close to his heart. His last album was 2003's Full Circle, his first album of original material in a decade. Fogelberg received his cancer diagnosis in 2004, which forced him to cancel a planned tour later that year. After his diagnosis, he urged others to get tested. He is survived by his wife, Jean. - Rolling Stone/AP, 12/16/07.

[cookie]

You know, it's only just hit me. "Another Old Lang Syne" was a song I learned when it was getting big airplay on the radio. I was 15 and that was one of a plateload of songs I was obsessed with enough to learn. I still love that song.

I was thinking of it tonight and I went to play it. Before touching the keyboard, I tried to hear the song deep in the heart of my memory to see if I could dredge up the original key by ear, not just plunk it down in a random key. In my head, I heard that great saxophone solo and that greasy blues-lick after the melody of "brought to mind" is quoted. It brought the whole thing back I played it and remembered most of it. Then I found the recording and lo and behold, my memory was right. I played along with it a couple of times. Cool.

That song didn't make me cry tonight, but I remember catching at just the right moment a few times in my life where it dredged up soul tears. Call me sentimental, but that song means a lot to me.

It's sad that Fogelberg died so young. I mentioned to my husband that he might consider a PSA test.... RIP .

[Ron Thorne]

I agree with Chris' sentiments.

R.I.P., Dan Fogelberg~