My writing on this blog is usually of a more hortatory nature. These reflections are personal. I am saddened this evening as I’ve just gotten word that Dan Fogelberg—an artist of rare and exquisite musical gifting—has passed away after a three year bout with prostate cancer. Dan was 56 when he died this morning in Maine, his wife Jean at his side.

I am a musician—in fact, a musician long before I ever stepped into the ministry. Dan Fogelberg’s music has molded me as a musician probably more than any other musician living or dead. He played both the guitar and the piano beautifully. He had a lilting voice and an artist’s soul. He was discovered as an art student in Champaign IL playing in clubs. Dan had a way with poetry and lyrics that remind us all just how powerful the spoken word is, especially when set to music.

I first gravitated toward Dan’s music with the Phoenix album, which gave us a number of memorable moments, among them “Longer” and “Face The Fire”—Dan’s powerful rebuke of our dependence upon nuclear power in the aftermath of the accident in 1979 at Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Harrisburg, PA. Dan was never shy about weighing in on political matters with his gifts. He was adamant–as I am–that there are better ways to go about settling our international differences than by killing one another.

But it was when I first heard Dan’s moving tribute to his father—Lawrence Peter Fogelberg—that I became a fan for life. “Leader Of The Band” has been for me the most powerful piece of non-religious music that I have ever known. His father was a jazz musician and orchestra conductor (teaching band in high school). His mother was trained in opera. Dan paid tribute to his parents by thanking his father for his gift of music and his mother for her gift of words. What they passed on to their son has enriched me for nearly 30 years. The Innocent Age, the album that gave us “Leader Of The Band” was a double album when released in 1981. It is called a “song cycle” and is a masterpiece. Fans of the writings of Thomas Wolfe (Of Time And The River) will be very much at home with the material on The Innocent Age. And so will many others.

I’m reminded of a story I heard about Dan when he was young and moderately successful. He was living in a house on Lookout Mountain in Laurel Canyon, outside LA. He rented a grand piano at his home. His photographer and friend Henry Diltz remembers one day hearing some of the most incredibly beautiful music he’d ever encountered floating through the canyon, all night long until dawn. He asked his girlfriend, “Who is this guy?” Dan had been at it, with discipline and beauty, all night long. That was Dan. Vintage Dan.

I was privileged to see Dan in concert once—in June,1985, Pine Knob Music Theatre in Clarkston, MI. The temperature that evening was in the 40 – 50 degree range. Dan came out in that cold, drizzling evening—Pine Knob is an outdoor venue—and played for over two solid hours, first solo and then with the Chris Hillman Band. He’d just released High Country Snows, an intelligent foray into bluegrass, which he loved. It was an outstanding show, one of the best I’ve ever seen.

The world is a little colder, a little lonelier, a little less friendly this evening. I leave you with the lyrics to “Leader Of The Band.” Dan, you will be sorely missed by this middle-aged troubadour. Thanks for the music and the memories.

Leader Of The Band


An only child alone and wild, a cabinet maker’s son
His hands were meant for different work
And his heart was known to none
He left his home and went his lone and solitary way
And he gave to me a gift I know I never can repay



A quiet man of music denied a simpler fate
He tried to be a soldier once, but his music wouldn’t wait
He earned his love through discipline– a thundering, velvet hand
His gentle means of sculpting souls took me years to understand



(Chorus)
The leader of the band is tired and his eyes are growing old
But his blood runs through my instrument and his song is in my soul
My life has been a poor attempt to imitate the man
I’m just a living legacy to the leader of the band



My brothers’ lives were different for they heard another call
One went to Chicago and the other to St Paul
And I’m in Colorado when I’m not in some hotel
Living out this life I’ve chose and have come to know so well


I thank you for the music and your stories of the road
I thank you for the freedom when it came my time to go
I thank you for the kindness and the times when you got tough
And, papa, I don’t think I said ‘I love you’ near enough
(Chorus)
I am a living legacy to the leader of the band

http://christianfahey.wordpress.com/2007/12/17/a-living-legacy-has-passed-an-appreciation-of-dan-fogelberg/

omg, I didn't know he died.
what a sad thing, Dan was a great musician
I am a big fan of the Eagles
R.I.P. Dan

Centerfield~~!!!

so long Dan...lotsa cool songs that guys might not wanna admit they like. "Sometimes When We Touch", an absolute classic.

hey Gypsy...how are you Miss Canadian

i tried to get that song for you
but i couldn't find the words anywhere

oh thank you sweetie

but just fyi

If my memory serves me well,.
which sometimes it does...
You are speaking of Dan Hill
who did
sometimes when we touch

ohhhhhhhhhhhh rap!!! I bet i could find it.......

whoa--ol dan's gone---rest in peace, man--

I remember the first time I heard Dan Fogelberg. I was 18 years old and visiting my sister, who lived out in the boonies (up by Yosemite). She had the Home Free album. Last night, when I heard that he had died, I had to revisit that album, and it immediately brought back the smell, sounds, and feel of that particular day. I remember it as if it were yesterday. Since that time, I have been a fan of Dan Fogelberg. I got to see him one in 1984 in San Francisco, and then again in 2003 in Saratoga. He was a wonderful artist and musical storyteller. I will miss his music greatly. Not only for the sound of it, but for the joy of playing it. I am a guitarist, and I remember being so excited about learning Leader of the Band! A great acoustic piece lyrically and instrumentally.

alrightie

i have to go up in my loft and find some christmas lights

i'll be back later love and hugs to all
and
rest in peace dear Dan
and love and blessings to his wife

good job V

ohh thank you for sharing that

i never got to see him

ooooh i missed out big time

Artist: John Fogerty
Album: Centerfield
Title: Centerfield


Well, beat the drum and hold the phone - the sun came out today!
We're born again, there's new grass on the field.
A-roundin' third, and headed for home, it's a brown-eyed handsome man;
Anyone can understand the way i feel.

Chorus:
Oh, put me in, coach - i'm ready to play today;
Put me in, coach - i'm ready to play today;
Look at me, i can be centerfield.

Well, i spent some time in the mudville nine, watchin' it from the bench;
You know i took some lumps when the mighty casey struck out.
So say hey willie, tell ty cobb and joe dimaggio;
Don't say "it ain't so", you know the time is now.

Chorus

Yeah! i got it, i got it!

Got a beat-up glove, a homemade bat, and brand-new pair of shoes;
You know i think it's time to give this game a ride.
Just to hit the ball and touch 'em all - a moment in the sun;
(pop) it's gone and you can tell that one goodbye!

Chorus
Chorus
Yeah!

thank you dear Don

Yay Gypsy thank you