Sept. 9, 1978 review: Kenny Loggins in Kleinhans Music Hall

Ah-h-h-h, soft rock of the ‘70s from one of its most prominent purveyors.

Sept. 9, 1978 review

Loggins Making It on His Own This Time Around

        What a difference a year has made for Kenny Loggins. Last summer he was the lonesome half of the early ‘70s hit team of Loggins and Messina. This time around he’s well on his way toward making it all over again on his own.

        A year ago he was opening for Fleetwood Mac in Memorial Auditorium. Friday night found him in a more agreeable setting – the well-tailored intimacy of Kleinhans Music Hall – and the sell-out crowd was all his.

        Loggins, like his audience, has evolved from the semi-rustic simplicity of his early days with Messina to a slick sort of maturity.

        Loggins was more showmanship than ever. He lost no opportunity to clasp hands at the edge of the stage. In his silver velour outfit with a wine-colored sash at the waist, he cut a dreamily romantic figure.

        The music followed suit as best it could through a somewhat distorted sound system. Loggins’ Irish tenor became a series of blurry lyrics laced with showy vocal embellishments. He drew cheers for his heavily stylized crooning on the old Ray Charles “You Don’t Know Me.”

        Behind him were the same super sidemen who appeared on his “Nightwatch” album, including three – hornmen Jon Clarke and Vince Denham, and bassist George Hawkins – who have been with him since the days with Jim Messina. They worked out mightily in “Angry Eyes” and “Vahevala,” both old Loggins-Messina rave-ups.

        It was Hawkins who stepped into the lines that Stevie Nicks sings in Loggins’ current hit, “Whenever I Call You Friend,” which he wrote with Melissa Manchester. That was the number which brought the audience to a boil after an introductory round of new Loggins numbers and a medley of old Loggins and Messina favorites.

        Loggins finished with two encores – “Easy Driver” off the new album and “Celebrate Me Home.”

        Opening the evening was guitarist Larry Carlton. Carlton was a cheerful, unassuming figure in front of his three backup players as he took an occasional vocal and demonstrated why he’s such a sought-after session player. His riffs were quick and tasty with a strong melodic sense that drew the Loggins crowd into his music. They rewarded him with an encore.

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IN THE PHOTO: 1978 photo of Kenny Loggins by the legendary concert photographer Joe Sia.

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FOOTNOTE: Although he had placed four songs on that wonderful Nitty Gritty Dirt Band album, “Uncle Charlie & His Dog Teddy,” Kenny Loggins was still struggling to break through as a songwriter when he met Jim Messina in 1970.

Messina, who did stints with Poco and Buffalo Springfield, at the time was an independent record producer for Columbia Records. He got Loggins signed to the label and worked so long and so hard on debut Loggins album that it wound up with the title, “Kenny Loggins with Jim Messina Sittin’ In.” They went on to become the most successful duo of the early ‘70s, releasing six albums of original songs, a collection of cover tunes and two live albums until they went off on solo careers after a final concert in September 1976.

Loggins’ first album on his own, "Celebrate Me Home," produced by Phil Ramone and jazz keyboardist Bob James, completed his transmogrification into what's now called "yacht rock." "Nightwatch," released in July 1978, would be his biggest album. The duet with Stevie Nicks hit No. 5 on the Billboard charts.

It also includes that yacht rock classic, "What a Fool Believes," which Loggins co-wrote with Michael McDonald of the Doobie Brothers. The Doobies' version, the one we hear all the time, went to No. 1. Loggins' only chart-topper turned out to be the title track from the film "Footloose," which got him nominated for an Oscar and a Grammy in 1985.

He got back together with Messina for a 50-year reunion in the Hollywood Bowl in 2022. What he proclaimed to be his final tour ended Nov. 4, 2023, in Santa Barbara, Calif., where he has a house in the hills. He also showed up in 2023 with the Yacht Rock Revue. It’s unlikely that he will be part of the Revue in person when it comes to Artpark in Lewiston on July 19, but some of his music will.

The account of that night in Kleinhans on setlist.fm is incomplete. For instance, it doesn't include the aforementioned "You Don't Know Me" and "Celebrate Me Home." Here's what they have:

Why Do People Lie

House at Pooh Corner

Danny's Song

A Love Song

Whenever I Call You Friend

I Believe in Love

(unknown)

Lady Luck

Angry Eyes

(encores)

Easy Driver

Vahevala

At the Landmark Theater in Syracuse 11 days later, setlist.fm has him performing "Celebrate Me Home" and "What a Fool Believes."

Larry Carlton's discography is so lengthy that if you printed it out, your printer would run out of ink. He's currently on what's called his 2023-2024 Final World Tour. If you can't catch him in Honolulu April 20 and 21, he'll be at the Norfolk, Va., Jazz Festival on Aug. 16.