Dan Fogelberg’s First Top 40 Hit Received a Boost From an Eagle in Waiting

Dan Fogelberg became one of the leading lights of the singer-songwriter scene by the time the late 70s rolled around. Known for his yearning melodies and eloquent lyrics, he epitomized the sensitive side of the movement.

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Like anybody else who makes it big, Fogelberg needed a breakthrough to get to that point. In this case, it came with an uptempo rambler of a song that was a far cry from some of his softer triumphs down the road.

Dan the Man

Dan Fogelberg was pointed towards music from an early age. His father, later immortalized in Fogelberg’s 1981 hit single “Leader Of The Band”, conducted both high school and college bands in Illinois. By the time he was a teenager, Fogelberg was in cover bands and heading towards a career in music.

Soon, Fogelberg was making a name for himself playing his own songs at a local Illinois coffeehouse. It was there that his first break came along when he met Irving Azoff. Azoff was just starting out a career that would see him manage some of the biggest acts in music. He made Fogelberg one of his first signings.

With that backing behind him, Fogelberg nabbed a deal with Columbia Records. He recorded his first album, Home Free, in 1972. But that first record failed to make any kind of impact on the public at large, although folks would return to it once he gained fame. That came soon enough.

Walsh’s Wisdom

Clive Davis, Columbia’s legendary record executive, felt Fogelberg had been failed by the production on his first record, which took him in more of a country direction. Azoff ensured that wouldn’t happen again, convincing Fogelberg to relocate to California for his next album.

By the time that happened, however, Fogelberg received a boost from an unlikely source. A Jackson, Mississippi radio station began playing songs from Home Free with regularity. Soon, Fogelberg was like an adopted son in that area, playing a packed concert there in 1974 at a time when he was still mostly a support act everywhere else.

In the meantime, Azoff’s clientele list was growing by leaps and bounds. His most important get came when he signed on to oversee the Eagles. Another soon-to-be Eagle also entered Azoff’s orbit around that time, an event that turned into a major positive for Fogelberg’s second album.

The Master “Plan”

Azoff suggested Joe Walsh as producer for the album that Fogelberg titled Souvenirs upon its release in 1974. Fogelberg didn’t think at first that Walsh was the best fit for the project, considering his reputation as more of a hard rocker as a member of bands like James Gang and Barnstorm.

But Walsh engendered trust in Fogelberg by telling him to make a wish list of players he might want on the album. To Fogekberg’s surprise, Walsh secured many of these aces. In addition, the producer proved amenable to Fogelberg’s input. Even though he was a guitar ace in his own right, Walsh encouraged Fogelberg to lay down the guitar solo on “Part Of The Plan”, which became the album’s lead single.

One more special guest sealed the deal for “Part Of The Plan”, which jacked up the tempo from what most people associate with Fogelberg. Graham Nash added harmony vocals on the track. And it landed at No. 31 on the charts in 1975, Fogelberg’s first of many hits of that magnitude.

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