Who's a Fan of Dan Fogelberg?  

Hi there, and welcome to mylot!

I had a similar response. My name is Dan as well, and you can find my music website at www.soundclick.com/danmatheny I couldn't believe he died at such an early age. But, his music lives on. He certainly did sing Rhythm of The Rain. In fact, I think I'll find it on youtube. Got it.

The most amazing thing about Fogelberg was that, like myself, he was equally good on either piano and guitar. He also knew music theory. His father truly was, "Leader of the Band". Dan could write songs for the Kentucky Derby, "Run for the Roses", or he could make it as personal as needs be. He was the consumate musician, but he never saw a dollar he didn't like. Somehow he found that balance, as I hope to someday.

I cried and cried over his demise. I'm still crying. As the Kansas song goes, like Dan Fogelberg, I am nothing more than "Dust in the Wind". We are such a paltry excuse for a life. All we do comes to nothing. Then again, I'll cry because my cat can't catch this stupid bird that lands in our yard. I'm way too emotional for this forum, but I've some time to kill. I'm waiting for my wife and daughter to come home from church. I should have gone, but chose to clean the kitchen instead.

Think I'll listen to some more tunes, and finally get up out of this chair and get some work done.

Blessings, and fare thee well friend, Dan

You are most welcome. Music is my life, and you can hear mine at www.soundclick.com/danmatheny I finally got around to uploading almost all of my songs. You won't be so impressed with my voice, I'm sure. I was nowhere near the artist that Fogelberg was. But he was an influence, as was Neil Young and Gordon Lightfoot. Perhaps Willie Nelson. I'm just your average guy.

I think you got "Same Old Lang Syne" correct, though I'd have to look it up. A great song by him is "Illinois". Check that one out.

Welcome to mylot! I wanted to meet people like you. Sincere, honest, and finally ready to give it all up. Once we're friends, we can PM each other and trade e-mails. This is such a big world. There are so many who are ready to be helpful and kind. Giving and compassionate. This is the day. This is the time. Let's make it happen!

While Mr. Fogelberg influenced me, he didn't live the life that I want to live. He had money. He had parents that were supportive. I want to live the life of the outcast. The pariah. Few friends, though I have many. A wife that doesn't want me around at least half the time, and then can't live without me. A daughter that doesn't accept me as a parent, and then decides she does. A music career that is always just about to take off, and then nothing happens. You see, we have that ability to say as was the old Chinese proverb, "Do nothing, and accomplish everything." We have that ability to understand, "Success is the last step on the ladder of failure."

Be well, and keep listening, Dan

I saw Dan at the Myriad in OKC when I was 20. I had been in Shreveport, and Bryan Carlton asked me to come up and see the concert. Bryan and I were such good friends! We hung out together, laughed together, and even and went out and tried to pick up girls. He did a lot better than I did - that smooth talking guy. I was too serious for girls.

Anyway, there we are at the concert, and who ends up sitting in front of me but my old girlfriend, that I wrote many a song for - Jamie Adams. She's there with another guy - her latest kill. She was a fox. Jamie turns around and hands me a joint, of which I was quite the indulger of that kind of thing at the time, and so Bryan and I shared it. It wouldn't have mattered, because the second hand smoke was rather heavy. Everything that Mr. Fogelberg played blew us away. He was just the best of the best. Quite the professional. So, some of the people up front start heckling him as he's playing, "Same Old Lang Syne". You know what ol' Dan did? He walked away from the piano, and off the stage. Sometimes, you just can't deal with ignorant people.

They finally got him back on the stage. He played "The Reach" and we went into oblivion. We lost it. He was just too good for words. And then we fought the crowd, and made our way home. I'll never forget that night. It was better than all more words can say. He made Christmas good that year. He brought us more than one concert with a famous person and old girlfriend. He showed love in a very different kind of way. Do it! Make it happen!

Blessings, and thanks for responding. Dan

I saw from someone else's reply that he did sing Leader of the Band. The song always reminds me of my high school band director...

My senior year was his last year. He retired. I had hoped we would do something for his retirement and I had hoped we would play that song for him. I think they started to plan something for him. If they did it, I must have been sick and missed it. I can't think of any other reason why I wouldn't remember it.

"Leader of the Band" was one of his most most famous songs.

Hey, Miami, thanks for responding. I've been very much into music lately, as you might expect. I feel we need to remember these great artists. I don't care if I'm ever remembered, but I sure want Dan Fogelberg and John Denver to be remembered. They lived honestly. They gave it their all. Dan died of prostrate cancer, I think. Too young. John decided to land his plane in the Catalina Bay in a power dive he could have gotten out of.

One of my next posts is going to be about John Denver, but he is just so legendary that I hesitate to even mention his name. These were innocent and average guys. They're nothing special, except they were born musicians. They couldn't help it. They had to play. They had to make music. It's kind of hard to explain. In my case, my mother and my father were both musicians. My father was a songwriter that could play by ear, and my mother played strictly by note. That left me ever so wanting to play both piano and guitar. Because I had no one to talk to, I started writing songs. I had one friend in high school. Now, I have a number of them, and they very much want me at the high school reunion on the 20th.

You just rock on, and thanks again for responding, Dan

Yeh, I just took my saw palmetto today. I had a good friend of mine die on the comode, of all things, when he was 47 - about the same age as Mr. Fogelberg. You know, I think we ought to elect him President in 2012, because he'd be a lot better example and spokesman than our current one.

The album he did with Tim Weisberg was awesome! "Twin Sons of Different Mothers" was one of the most courageous things he ever did. I'm trying to get youtube up now, but my computer decided it was just too much info, and so I closed it. I'll listen to my own music instead.

What instrument do you play? I'm into bass players and drummers, personally. Someday, I might have the opportunity to play with another band. There's players around, but I'm wanting a band that is beyond description. Kind of like Phish, or Supertramp, or Steely Dan. Smart, talented, but also looking out for our own interests. Like my song goes, "I think I'll go home now, but there's no place to stay - You've bought out all the rooms with your Melancholy Ways."

I also like really good guitar players and singers. I've played all day long and all night long with them. We've written songs. We've talked until 4 or 5 in the morning until we got it all talked out. We've held hands and prayed together. We've made the best bar-b-que or chili you can imagine. We've drank, smoked, and lived like utterly depraved people. We've decided we were children of God, and then turned around and broke every law in the book. We thought we were already dead in the water, and suddenly something miraculous happened: we found our niche. This is the life of a musician. Of a songwriter. Now, it is all about heath problems and almost an amnesia - we don't remember our first names, much less the names of those who most influenced us. The record companies should don't want those who can't remember who produced the Beatles - George somebody. See, I'm not going to make it.

Thanks, again, for responding, and may you be blessed. Oh crap, I forgot to thank you the first time. I was rather surprised that you did, and it is very much of an honor,

Dan

I guess we share a few interests.
I play guitar and harmonica. I've been playing and writing my own stuff for over 30 years (most of it awful). I'm wanting to learn the mandolin but I picked up one the other day and with these meat cleaver hands of mine I don't think I'm going to be able to pull that one off. Plus, I play lefthanded so in the case of the mandolin I'd play upside down. My guitars are all strung lefthanded.
I love the guitar player and his songs. Those lately are my favorite things to listen to.
I've got Jackson Browne's Solo Acoustic 1 and 2 - those are awesome; James Taylor's One Man Band - same concept; about 27 hours of Dave Matthews concerts, but my favorite is the duet he and Tim Reynolds do at Radio City Music Hall and Live at Luther College; I also have Stephen Stills' Just Roll Tape and Pete Townshend's Scooped. These are just the songwriters and their guitars and it's a simple melody and six string.
So that's pretty much what I do musically... I pick out arrangements that just include the guitar and the song. That's the kind of Unplugged session we'll do this summer.
We also have a couple original songs we're going to throw into the mix. I've got two - Simple Days and 35 Miles.
So, we'll see.

Where do you live, Ryan? Any chance we could get together? You sound like a regular picker like me!

Dan

I know. He may not be passed away, however. He may have faked his own death in order to get away from the crowds. Lots of people can make you nervous, agitated, or whatever. It's very hard to explain, but fame is not necessarily the same as fortune. He had money, but he also had to deal with a lot of other BS that comes with being around people all the time.

When my ex-wife and I first came to OKC, again, I was hit with the total number of consciousnesses that were there. I couldn't turn it off. It has taken me a year to deal with it in San Antonio, and I still have my doubts. Dan Fogelberg was a "sensitive", as a noun. You have to be, as an artist. At the same time, you end up losing your whole sense of "what's yours is yours, and what's mine is mine!". An artist has got to paint or play what he or she feels. We don't always feel what the rest of the world is wanting to hear at that moment. We don't always do what they think we should. We march to the beat of a different drummer.

Of course, I'm always glad for your responses. You keep singing, no matter what the key. Encourage your husband to do the same. Us singers, musicians, and poets are bound to take over the world - someday.

Peace, Dan

Steph! Where have you been? It's so good to hear from you again. If you can get youtube, I want you to watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/wa...

It's actually a series of snap shots in tribute to Mr. Fogelberg's "The Reach" made by a couple who went to Bar Harbor for their honeymoon. It is just awesome. I don't know who these people are, but they must so totally in love. From that site, you can hear a bunch of other of Dan's songs.

You just take care of yourself, and may God bless. Dan

Yeh, prostrate cancer. It affects 40% of all older men. I don't think he was all that old - maybe 50? The guy that more or less got me into painting, David Scobie, died when he was 47. Great guy. That was before we knew about saw palmetto, which greatly reduces the chances of getting it. But, ol' Dan was a talent, for sure. I'm not even sure I could play a cassette - everything is CD or DVD now. It's great that you still have some of his.

Check out my music - as Fogelberg heavily influenced me - www.soundclick.com/danmatheny

We'll talk at you later. Dan