Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCCXXVIII--Loggins and Messina: Danny's Song

This week we're going to head down the Sappy Highway...though as far as overly sentimental singles go, thanks to its folk roots it's a cut above the standard top forty ballad fare....

Loggins and Messina formed quite by accident, when in 1971 Jim Messina (of Poco and Buffalo Springfield fame) gave Kenny Loggins a leg up and was helping to produce Loggins' first solo album...but did so much work on it that the two decided to become a duo.  Loggins and Messina would be together through 1976 before splitting amicably and going solo (which was a commercial boon for Loggins, whose otherwise uninteresting solo work was given a boost by appearing in such popular movies as Caddyshack, Footloose, and Top Gun).  For their career together, Loggins and Messina released six studio albums (four of which hit the top 20), three live albums (with one of them giving the duo their highest chart position at number five), and four compilations.  They also released ten singles, enjoying one peaking at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100, and two others reaching the top twenty.  They have reunited twice, in 2005 and 2009, and both musicians are still working in the music industry to this day.

"Danny's Song" was on Loggins and Messina's debut album, Sittin' In, released in 1971.  The song was not released as a single, though thanks to generous airplay on the radio became well known for the duo.  The album was the lowest charting of their career, hitting #70 on the Billboard 200.

Fun Fact:  In what I believe is a Friday Night Jukebox first, "Danny's Song" actually went on to be a top ten single for another artist--Canadian (so many cool kids in Canada) country crooner Anne Murray took the song to #7 (with a bullet!) in 1972.  She was also nominated for a Grammy for her version.

Kenny Loggins wrote "Danny's Song" for, amazingly enough, his brother Danny after the birth of his brother's first child.  The song is a celebration of the love that created the child, as well as the joy that comes (most of the time) with the birth of a child.  Loggins' vocals capture the grace and blessings that are often felt by a couple in the throes of sharing such a magical moment.  Messina adds some wondrous acoustic guitar, and Loggins is accompanied by a twinkling piano.  Loggins and Messina came to be known for their harmonies, but they don't sing together until the final chorus on this one but you can see the inkling of what would become a hallmark of their time together.  Every now and again a pop song comes along with a simple tale shared by so many, and when a catchy chorus is thrown in it becomes the sum of its parts--and a hell of a tune, too.

Lyric Sheet:   "Love the girl who holds the world in a paper cup/Drink it up/Love her and she'll bring you luck..."

Enjoy:

It's Not Just an Infrastructure Bill, It's a Jobs Plan, Too

Peace,

emaycee