Dan Fogelberg’s 1972 debut album finds the singer/songwriter using country, bluegrass, and light singer/songwriter rock to spin little narratives, mining the poetic and the introspective. Big, swooning string arrangements back many of the spare songs, often heightening drama. The mournful piano-and-strings ballad “To the Morning” rises and falls on deceptive optimism, and its songwriterly acumen resembles solo Carole King. “Wysteria” could’ve been David Crosby, and “Be on Your Way” soothes like Cat Stevens. None of this is to say Fogelberg isn’t his own man here; he is. This album just fits in perfectly with the aforementioned song troubadours.
- Pure Prairie League
- Loggins & Messina
- Jackson Browne
- JD Souther
- Karla Bonoff