Buried Treasure: Dan Fogelberg - High Country Snows (1985)

We have a double shot of forgotten music this month. Today's is a week earlier than usual.

One of my favorite music blogs, The Hits Just Keep on Comin', is mostly a look at Top 40 radio's colorful history but publisher J. A. Bartlett's highly entertaining and informative site frequently detours into other musical topics too.

More than once Bartlett challenged the late Dan Fogelberg's legacy proclaiming how "dorky" much of the singer-songwriter's music was and I can't say that the Wisconsin disc jockey's views are totally off the mark. Some of Fogelberg's records do cross the line but as my tastes have mellowed over the years I've come to appreciate him more.

Despite how I may feel about much of Fogelberg's over the top balladry that's not all the man was about because when his muse finally took him down a different path he made an album for the ages. On High Country Snows (1985) he combined his singer-songwriter gifts with a genuine love of bluegrass and country music (strains of these two genres were already incorporated into his work regularly) to give birth to the best, most intelligent, and heartfelt album he ever released.

You can tell Fogelberg was serious about his explorations into more traditional music by the company he kept during the sessions for the eleven song record. He not only covered Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs on the very brief "Down the Road" he was joined in the studio by a full lineup of all-stars schooled in the genre: Jerry Douglas on dobro, David Grissman and Chris Hillman on mandolin, Vince Gill, Herb Pederson, Ricky Scaggs, Al Perkins (steel guitar), Doc Watson, and more. There are harmonicas, banjos, tambourines, and fiddles.

Highlights include "Sutter's Mill," a moving tale about the fate of many of the adventurers who traveled West to seek their fortunes during the California Gold Rush. Douglas plays some top notch dobro while Fogelberg tells the tale of the mostly sad endings many of the pioneers experienced once they arrived in the so-called promised land. For my money, it's the best song he ever wrote.  He sings in the chorus:

"Some would fail and some would prosper
Some would die and some would kill
Some would thank the Lord for their deliverance
And some would curse John Sutter's mill."

Another very good story is "The Outlaw," one of two tracks on the album by Jay Bolotin (a woodcut artist who also writes songs) about a man who becomes the title of this song in order to win the girl of his dreams (or so it appears).

The instrumental, "Wolf Creek," features both Fogelberg and Watson as acoustic guitar pickers with a flair and you can't help but tap your feet to the relentlessly upbeat "Shallow Rivers."

You can't blame Fogelberg for going to the bank with his usual fare but he should be credited for branching out and taking a risk, especially when the experiment is very successful.

Comments

  1. Anonymous8:20 PM, March 20, 2014

    I hate when people just judge Dan by his popular ballads! The man had so much more talent! He did rock country rock, country, smooth jazz, soaring instrumentals, and did them all superbly! His fans know, as we listen beyond the hits, which highlight his talents so much more! He was an excellent songwriter, musician and his voice was wonderful too! No other music hAs ever touched me like his does!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous12:12 AM, March 21, 2014

    Well said, Anonymous. Fogelberg's music has always been much more than ballads. Take the time to delve into all his music -- not simply the Top 40 hits -- and you'll discover what a truly gifted, intelligent and imaginative lyricist, composer and musician he really was.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Todd Mason11:01 AM, March 27, 2014

    I like this a lot, on the strength of "Sutter's Mill" above, it is much more substantial than what I tend to think of when I think of Fogelberg...

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

WHAT'S HOT TODAY!

Chicago: An Album By Album Analysis Of The Terry Kath Era (1969 - 1977)

Image
The original lineup of Chicago has always been one of my all time favorite bands. My affection for this great horn band is such that I want to discuss all of the albums they recorded before Terry Kath's unfortunate and accidental passing. Their debut album is now forty years old, and it's followup is not far behind, yet their music endures to this day. * * * * * Everyone Must Own * * * * Excellent * * * Good * * Fair * Poor * * * * * Chicago Transit Authority (1969) - Whether they were playing screaming psychedelic hard rock, jazz, blues, or love songs, everyone in the band proved they were worthy of the huge mass success that followed CTA 's release. The band's ability to play anything and play it well is the hallmark of their debut album. The stars are Robert Lamm, Terry Kath, and the horns, and even Peter Cetera demonstrates he can be a rock and roll animal when he wants to be. The standout tracks are Lamm's "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It...
Read more

The Band - Christmas Must Be Tonight (1977)

Image
In 2006 Hall and Oates released Home For Christmas , their one and only holiday album, an extremely good set of music that immediately became one of my favorite seasonal listens. I wrote then that I was stunned at how many overtly religious songs the famous duo put on the the disc considering the very politically correct climate of the new millennium. One of them was a cover version of a song that alluded me for almost thirty years, "Christmas Must Be Tonight." I liked the new, upbeat track sung by Daryl Hall and it made me go out and search for Robbie Robertson's never-to-be classic. Sung by Rick Danko, it appears on the great American band's last album, Islands (1977). It's a surprise that a group whose members were not known to have any specific or powerfully strong religious beliefs would release a song that tackled the subject of Jesus's birth as blatantly as our most loved Christmas carols. It's not about a reckless reinde...
Read more

Slower Than Slow: 16 RPM Records

Image
Have you ever heard of a long forgotten vinyl format, the 16 2/3 RPM record? They were half the speed of the 33 1/3 RPM albums that were the traditional standard for recorded music. Most record players in the 1950s and 1960s came with a speed setting to play these long forgotten discs that were considered novelties even during the years they were available. Because most, but not all, 16s had big holes and were 7" in diameter many of them were mistaken for 45 RPMs and at that size the speed allowed for up to 20 minutes of playing time per side. However, there was no true standard size and they were also manufactured to be 9, 10, or 12 inches in diameter, and these larger records played even longer. Just like the other speeds and formats 16s could be played one record at a time or stacked on a changer for continuous play. Radio stations often used the discs for pre-recorded radio shows containing interviews, dramas, and documentaries. More frequen...
Read more

The Chieftains With Jackson Browne - The Rebel Jesus (1991)

Image
"The Rebel Jesus" is a Christmas song composed by Jackson Browne and performed with The Chieftains, the eclectic, veteran Irish folk band on  The Bells of Dublin,  their 1991 holiday album. Browne wrote the song specifically for his guest appearance on this record. The singer-songwriter, who is deservedly in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, can be a bit preachy when he wants to be, and he is again here, but no one can dispute what the man is saying.  The last two verses are the key to the song. Browne points out that people often feel more generous at Christmas so they'll give to those who were less fortunate than themselves during the holidays. But, if anyone tries to dig deeper and root out the poverty that envelops the downtrodden they are often scorned like Jesus was. This message is coming from a man who is admittedly a "heathen and a pagan," but on this occasion he is "on the side of the rebel Jesus." At the same time Browne doesn't want to sp...
Read more

The Beatles - Christmas Messages (1963 - 1969)

Image
For seven straight years beginning in 1963 - even before they were famous in America - The Beatles recorded annual Christmas messages exclusively for their fan club members as a holiday thank you. They were issued on seven-inch, vinyl records that were very thin, very bendable, and easily damaged. These flexi-discs, as they were called, could not be stacked on record changers. Over the years the tracks have been bootlegged in countless ways, and until a few years ago the only legal release was sent to fan club members in 1970 on 33 RPM vinyl records after the boys from Liverpool went their separate ways. The LP cover shown here is from that album. Finally, in 2017, a limited edition box set  on colored vinyl was released and is now an expensive collector's item. Many Beatles fans managed to hear these records over the years, and with the Internet being what it is, there are several websites where anyone can easily listen to all of them.  Archive.org ...
Read more