The CD opens with “Good Friend,” a fun, kind of funky
rock tune written by Jim Messina, featuring some good percussion as well as
some nice work on saxophone. “I had a
good friend some time ago/We had a good thing/And we let it show/Oh, I was a
fool/I let him go/Oh, how I miss him so.” That’s followed by “Whiskey,” a
pretty and short folk tune about the Whiskey A Go Go in which they sing, “Don’t sing anything pretty at The Whiskey.”
I appreciate that sense of humor. And that line is followed by these: “’Cause the stony little crowd will get to
talking even louder/And they’ll smother you in hissin’/And if they do, your
musical insurance better be paid up.” I wonder if that still holds true at
that venue (I’ve never been there).
This wonderful tune is followed by the album’s big hit, “Your
Mama Don’t Dance,” which reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. That guitar hook
is so catchy, and I love the piano part to this rock and roll tune. Michael
Omartian is on piano and organ on this album. Plus, this song features
saxophone. And that “Out of the car,
Longhair” line always makes me laugh.
“Long Tail Cat” is the tune that features Rusty Young on
steel dobro. Rusty Young and Jim Messina had been founding members of Poco. “Long
Tail Cat” was written by Kenny Loggins, and is another of my favorites from
this album. It has a fun back porch country vibe, and features Al Garth on
fiddle. “Your daddy’s getting older and
your cows are going dry/You gotta go bye, go bye bye/On a Dixie holiday.”
“Thinking Of You” was the album’s other single, and it
reached #18 on the Billboard chart. This is such a sweet, positive song. “Something about your eyes/Won’t let me look
away/Something about your smile/That’s making it hard to say/Whenever you’re near
me/You’ve got me thinking of you.” And I’ve always liked the harmonica in
this song. “Thinking Of You” was written by Jim Messina, and it’s followed by a
country instrumental tune titled “Just Before The News,” also written by Jim
Messina. That’s the album’s only instrumental number.
This album concludes with “Angry Eyes,” another of the
duo’s most loved songs. It is the shorter version that was included on the
compilation The Best Of Friends, but
here you can find the full-length version, which is nearly eight minutes (more
than five minutes longer than the other version). This is an excellent song,
written by Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina. I love the way their voices blend
here. Here is a taste of the lyrics: “You
try to defend that/You are not the one to blame/But I’m finding it hard, my
friend/When I’m in the deadly aim/Of those angry eyes.” And I totally dig
the bass and saxophone in the instrumental section a couple of minutes in. The
short version of this song is really good, but this full-length version is
fantastic.
CD Track List
- Good Friend
- Whiskey
- Your Mama Don’t Dance
- Long Tail Cat
- Golden Ribbons
- Thinking Of You
- Just Before The News
- Till The Ends Meet
- Holiday Hotel
- Lady Of My Heart
- Angry Eyes
This limited edition SACD of Loggins And Messina was released on September 25, 2015 through
Audio Fidelity. By the way, this disc will play in all CD players.
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