Fifty years later, are you still "Sittin' In" with Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina?

One of my firm beliefs is your taste in music is set by the time you finish college. When you're done with school real-life sets in; careers, family and other obligations take precedence over finding new bands and artists. Sure, you may occasionally find a new musician that you like/love but it's rare. Changing diapers and making money puts finding new tunes on the back burner.

My college years were the early to mid-1970s. One of my favorite bands was Loggins and Messina. The story of their partnership has been told many times but here are the basics: Kenny Loggins was a new artist looking to start a solo music career. Jim Messina played with Buffalo Springfield and then became an original member of Poco. He wanted to concentrate on producing music. Messina was going to produce Loggin's first solo album. That first solo album turned into "Sittin' In" and led to a successful partnership that lasted more than half a decade.

I loved this grouping from the beginning. They had a nice mix of rock and roll with some Messina bringing in some country influence. Their backing players were excellent studio musicians, who also played great in concert. In the six years of their partnership, L&M put out six studio albums (it was a time when musicians made their money through residuals from records). The first three certified with platinum status, while two others received gold records. Their live album, "On Stage" also received platinum status, while their greatest hits compilation, "The Best of Friends" became a double-platinum album.

This duo sold made a lot of money and fans in their five years together. But, most good things come to an end.

Kenny Loggins still wanted the solo career. You can hear many of his songs on the soundtracks of hit movies. He's also been nominated for an Academy Award, many Grammys and has won an Emmy and two Golden Globes. Jim Messina still wanted to produce music. He continued to do that while still performing.

It's now fifty-five years since Loggins and Messina broke up. Although I occasionally hear one of their songs on the radio, I rarely sit down and listen to one of their albums. Certainly not as much as some of the other bands from that era. With this year being the fiftieth anniversary of "Sittin' In", it was time to rediscover Loggins and Messina. Would I like them as much as I did back in the seventies? In particular, would I still love the original album that put the twosome into the pop music limelight?

Over the last week, I listened to the entire Loggins & Messina studio catalog. After the first three albums, I was bored. I had a hard time making it through "Motherlode" and their final album, "Native Son." I have a feeling they were bored, too. Hmmmm...maybe that was the reason they broke up?

But after making it through the final albums, it brought me back for a second listening session of "Sittin' In." Fifty years later, there's still plenty of highlights on this record.

I found a YouTube video of Loggins with Darryl Hall singing "Danny's Song." Kenny was playfully complaining that he still has to sing the song more than five decades after writing it. Hey Ken....it's still a pretty good tune. We'd much rather hear you sing it than Anne Murray, although I'm sure your bank account thanks Anne every time it's played on country radio.

By the way, that new baby in "Danny's Song" is now in his fifties and is a musician. Who knew?! Thanks, Google!

There are other highlights from the album. I liked the trilogy that ended side one (remember when music had sides of the record?) and also "Same Old Wine" and "Rock and Roll Mood", which closed side two.

Some of the other songs either bored me or I found inane. I still don't get why "House at Pooh Corner" belongs on a rock album, although it does fit well into a live acoustic set. Talking about live music, I listened to all the songs from "Sittin' In" done in concert. I liked those versions much better than the studio versions. Maybe that's why I saw Loggins and Messina five times, including their comeback tour in 2005.

So, I still liked "Sittin' In" in 2021, but not nearly as much as I did in 1971. It holds up fine fifty years later, but not nearly as much as many of the other classic albums from that year. And fifty years later, I'm wondering why for a five year period I liked this band more than the Rolling Stones, The Who, Led Zeppelin and dozens of other classic rock acts that I still love and listen to regularly?

Related Post: Why wasn't the band Poco a bigger success?

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