I remember hearing ‘As The Raven Flies’ from Dan Fogelberg’s second release which was ‘Souvenirs’ and coincidentally, was produced by Joe Walsh. This guy was a genuine talent and going somewhere. A multi-instrumentalist and who had an unbelievable range of vocals, all comfortably tied to straightforward musical compositions. Several artists made guest appearances on this recording, such as Rick Derringer of Derringer, Don Henley, Glenn Frey, and Randy Meisner of the Eagles, Graham Nash, first of The Hollies (He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother), then part of Crosby, Stills, & Nash (he wrote ‘Our House’ while in The Hollies and had it rejected by the band) and Joe Walsh, then of The Barnstormers… my favorite guitar character.

‘Part of the Plan’ became a hit single, although ‘Changing Horses’ and ‘Souvenirs’ struck a chord of tenderness and beauty. Every song told a story and the music was following that folksy-pop thing that the radio took to nicely. Not unlike Firefall with Rick Roberts, CSNY, Pure Prairie League, and such. The record went double platinum, so apparently it was not only me who noticed.

Randy Meisner of the Eagles was originally in Poco (It’s a Good Feelin’ To Know) which featured Jim Messina (later of Loggins & Messina) and Richie Furay of Buffalo Springfield (Mr. Soul), which also included Stephen Stills. Timothy B. Schmidt also of The Eagles was ALSO in Poco. His is that high thin reedy voice doing all the killer backup harmonies! Rick Derringer was singer-guitarist in the band The McCoys who recorded ‘Hang On Sloopy’ (the lineup included Randy Jo Hobbs, who played with Stevie Ray Vaughn). Then known as ‘Rick Zehringer’ (his real name) you knew when you heard Rick, that he was going somewhere. Derringer later played with the band ‘Johnny Winter And’ and wrote ‘Still Alive and Well’  and ‘Rock and Roll Hoochie Coo’ for Winter (played here with The Edgar Winter Group… remember ‘Frankenstein’?). Randy Jo Hobbs also played with Johnny Winter for years until Johnny’s alcohol and heroin got in the way.

Years later, after hearing Fogelberg on ‘Souvenirs’ I realized how easily The Eagles added Joe Walsh to their lineup. ‘Hotel California’ screams Joe out loud. Walsh’s Barnstormers included Joe Vitale on drums (Rocky Mountain Way). Vitale got his first break playing with Ted Nugent in The Amboy Dukes (Journey To The Center of Your Mind) The Eagles brand of countrified pop rock speaks for itself. ‘Witchy Woman’ was their first hit and still resonates in my mind. Few people know that The Eagles were originally Linda Ronstadt’s backup band (You’re No Good). Bernie Leadon (original guitarist in The Eagles) was a member of The Flying Burrito Brothers (which also featured ex-Byrds member, Gram Parsons of ‘Turn, Turn, Turn’ fame).

Dan Fogelberg is no longer with us, but his music is still with us.