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Dan Fogelberg

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Dan-Fogelberg
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Artist / Musician
Artist / Performer

Sadly, we lost Dan Fogelberg on December 16 in 2007 after he fought a battle with prostate cancer. Fogelberg grew up in Peoria and went to the University of Illinois. Here’s his Illinois roots story:

Dan Fogelberg grew up in Peoria, Illinois. During his high school years, he first played with a group called The Clan. When they broke up, another local band lured Dan to join them called The Coachmen. Up to that time, The Coachmen were copping the British persona, uniformed with long coats and ruffled shirts doing “Gloria”, “Wild Thing” and “Louie, Louie”.

Once Fogelberg joined, their image changed. The Beatles had just returned from India, and Nehru coats became the style. As keyboardist John Floyd tells the story, “The band was doing renditions of The Beatles ‘Sgt. Pepper’ and ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ material, along with Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Purple Haze’ with Fogelberg throwing flowers to the crowd through the strobe lights.”  But, Floyd continues, “Dan was bored with the music and showed up at rehearsal with a guitar and a banjo. We were learning Steven Still’s ‘Bluebird’. By then the set list was centering around the Buffalo Springfield. We did renditions of ‘Bluebird’ and Neil Young’s ‘Down by the River’ had become one long jam.”

The group headed into the local Golden Voice Studios and cut their one and only single – “Don’t Want to Lose Her” b/w the Fogelberg penned “Maybe Time Will Let Me Forget” (Ledger 18812). Why the A-side was definitively a 60s garage rock track (https://youtu.be/0g65zposnPI), “Maybe Time Will Let Me Forget” was certainly a precursor of Fogelberg’s creativity, a multi-voiced harmony folk-flavored ballad (https://youtu.be/UOTp55gYGxc). And here is a rare unreleased basement tape of Fogelberg with The Coachmen performing Joni Mitchell’s “Woodstock” – https://youtu.be/NHhJywVVjJs

The Coachmen would not survive past 1968. As Floyd says, “It was 1968 and The Coachmen were restless. One was in college and two of us had just graduated high school. One of us was falling hard for a girl. One was writing Love Songs and planning an escape from Peoria. Friends we knew were being sent to Vietnam. The anti-war protests were in full swing across the nation. We witnessed the assassination of King and Bobby Kennedy. Lines were being drawn between generations. The Coachmen like all good bands drifted apart. We did one last show with ‘Give Peace a Chance’ as the last song.”
Fogelberg went off to the University of Illinois to study in the theater department and continued playing in a local coffeehouse on campus and performed briefly with a group called The Noblemen who released one signle “Short Time” (https://youtu.be/kuRYOPwnWtU) b/w “Jeanie” (Orlyn 814O-6421) It was there local agent Irving Azoff of the Champaign-based Blytham Talent discovered Fogelberg. From that point, both Azoff and Fogelberg climbed the ladder to national acclaim with a string of hits through the 70s

Initially managing Fogelberg and REO Speedwagon, Azoff has gone on to become recognized, named “the most powerful person in the music industry” by Billboard magazine with his management company along with involvements in Ticketmaster, Live Nation, MSG entertainment, etc.

Sadly, on December 16, 2007, Fogelberg died at home in Deer Isle, Maine, at the age of 56, having fought a battle with prostrate cancer.

Preserving Fogelberg’s history in central Illinois, an organization called the Fogelberg Foundation of Peoria was formed. They have put together this brief video history of Fogelberg’s days in Peoria, narrated by Hugh Higgins – https://youtu.be/ptqQGd9rv3M

  • Home Free (Columbia KC 31751) 1972
  • Souvenirs (Epic/Full Moon KE 33137) 1974
  • Captured Angel (Epic/Full Moon PE 33499) 1975
  • Nether Lands (Epic/Full Moon PE 34185) 1977
  • Twin Sons of Different Mothers (Epic/Full Moon JE 35339) 1978 (with Tim Weisberg)
  • Phoenix (Epic/Full Moon FE 35634) 1979
  • The Innocent Age (Epic/Full Moon EK 37393) 1981
  • Greatest Hits (Epic/Full Moon QE 38308) 1982
  • Windows and Walls (Epic/Full Moon EK 39004) 1984
  • High Country Snows (Epic/Full Moon FE 39616) 1985
  • Exiles (Epic/Full Moon EK 40271) 1987
  • The Wild Places (Epic/Full Moon EK 45059) 1990
  • Live: Greetings from the West (Epic/Full Moon E2K 469056) 1991
  • River of Souls (Epic/Full Moon EK 46934) 1993
  • No Resemblence Whatsoever (Giant 924626-2) 1995 (with Tim Weisberg)
  • Love Songs (Epic/Full Moon EK 67374) 1995
  • Portrait (Epic Legacy E4K 67949) 1997
  • Promises (Sony Music Special Products A 28450) 1997
  • Super Hits (Epic Legacy EK 65444) 1998
  • The First Christmas Sky (Morning Sky MSPCD 8001) 1999
  • Live: Something Old, New, Borrowed…And Some Bues (Morning Sky MSPCD 8002) 2000
  • The Very Best of (Epic Legacy EK 85280) 2001
  • The Collection (Sony A52283) 2001
  • The Essential Dan Fogelberg (Epic Legacy EK 89066) 2003
  • Full Circle (Morning Sky MSPCD 8003) 2003
  • Love in Time (Epic/Full Moon B0013368-02) 2009
  • The Music of Dan Fogelberg (Epic Legacy 88687778712) 2010 (3 CD box set)
  • Dan Fogelberg: The Box Series (Epic Legacy 88843018232) 2014 (4 CD box set)

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