Sittin' In
Jimmy Messina was a recording engineer and producer for the Buffalo Springfield. When their bass player, Bruce Palmer was arrested for drug possession and deported (twice) Jim Messina stepped in to play bass as a permanent member of the group. Neil Young was also threatening to, and eventually did, leave the group and Messina was also an accomplished electric and acoustic guitar player, so his requirements in the band were often stretched. Eventually the group, comprised of all 5 type-A personalities folded for good on completion of the 3rd and last album, Stills and Young moved on to their super-group and solo careers, and Richie Furay and Jim Messina went on to form Poco. Poco itself was a band of type-A's including Rusty Young and future Eagle, Randy Meisner. Again after 3 albums there was a group shake-up and Jim abandoned the group (as well as others). Once again a producer and engineer, Jim came across a talented young songwriter, Kenny Loggins, trying to become a performer. They began recording in Messina's living room and with Jimmy actually "sitting in" but what began as a producer assisting a new artist in releasing a debut album, turned into the launching of a new group:
Loggins & Messina.
SITTIN IN was not an instant commercial success but over the next year '71-'72, us college kids (and the more adventurous high schoolers) got our hands on it through word of mouth and by L&M engaging in a lot of campus touring. The personnel line up which Jimmy assembled, originally for Loggins studio and touring efforts, were some of the best unknown talent he could find. These musicians would propel Loggins & Messina through all of three critically praised albums and through most of three more studio and one live album. SITTIN IN is the beginnings of another super-group story which recently (2005) toured again to sell-out crowds.
This album is a powerhouse of simple yet complex, acoustic yet electric, country-folk yet rock with a splash of jazz, lyrical yet instrumental-jam, songs and ballads. SITTIN IN, like the follow-up LOGGINS & MESSINA, and FULL SAIL after that, have no clunkers, no weak tracks, no filler, no poor efforts. Every song gives us 100% of pure unadulterated talent and hours of listening pleasure. If you like gentle acoustic love songs, and post-psychedelic lead-exchanging music jam sessions, and thoughtful introspective lyrics, and grass-roots feel-good music, and even a little protest-music, then this album is for you. Ditto for the two follow-on albums. SITTIN IN was a pioneer in the early 70's period as a pioneer of the burgeoning progressive rock, album oriented rock, and all-encompassing classic rock genres. Don't miss this one!
Undoubtedly "Sittin' In" was one of the seminal albums for the singer-songwriter genre of the 1970s, and was also highly typical (and yet influential) of the growing California sound. Kenny Loggins's pairing with Jim Messina was one of those magical happenstances you look back on years later with wonder, like Crosby & Nash inviting Stills over one afternoon.
Although the achingly beautiful "Danny's Song" (with which Anne Murray had a big hit later) is worth the entire purchase price of the CD, there are other standouts as well, including the popular "House at Pooh Corner," "Back to Georgia," and the trilogy of "Lovin' Me," "To Make a Woman Feel Wanted," and "Peace of Mind."
Though their other albums together may not have been as strong, "Sittin' In" is a clear and enjoyable demonstration of the potential they had and the songwriting gifts they both possessed
Loggins & Messina.
SITTIN IN was not an instant commercial success but over the next year '71-'72, us college kids (and the more adventurous high schoolers) got our hands on it through word of mouth and by L&M engaging in a lot of campus touring. The personnel line up which Jimmy assembled, originally for Loggins studio and touring efforts, were some of the best unknown talent he could find. These musicians would propel Loggins & Messina through all of three critically praised albums and through most of three more studio and one live album. SITTIN IN is the beginnings of another super-group story which recently (2005) toured again to sell-out crowds.
This album is a powerhouse of simple yet complex, acoustic yet electric, country-folk yet rock with a splash of jazz, lyrical yet instrumental-jam, songs and ballads. SITTIN IN, like the follow-up LOGGINS & MESSINA, and FULL SAIL after that, have no clunkers, no weak tracks, no filler, no poor efforts. Every song gives us 100% of pure unadulterated talent and hours of listening pleasure. If you like gentle acoustic love songs, and post-psychedelic lead-exchanging music jam sessions, and thoughtful introspective lyrics, and grass-roots feel-good music, and even a little protest-music, then this album is for you. Ditto for the two follow-on albums. SITTIN IN was a pioneer in the early 70's period as a pioneer of the burgeoning progressive rock, album oriented rock, and all-encompassing classic rock genres. Don't miss this one!
Undoubtedly "Sittin' In" was one of the seminal albums for the singer-songwriter genre of the 1970s, and was also highly typical (and yet influential) of the growing California sound. Kenny Loggins's pairing with Jim Messina was one of those magical happenstances you look back on years later with wonder, like Crosby & Nash inviting Stills over one afternoon.
Although the achingly beautiful "Danny's Song" (with which Anne Murray had a big hit later) is worth the entire purchase price of the CD, there are other standouts as well, including the popular "House at Pooh Corner," "Back to Georgia," and the trilogy of "Lovin' Me," "To Make a Woman Feel Wanted," and "Peace of Mind."
Though their other albums together may not have been as strong, "Sittin' In" is a clear and enjoyable demonstration of the potential they had and the songwriting gifts they both possessed
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