Have you heard this song?
What's the story behind it?

Nils Lofgren has been a critics' favorite for half a decade. Some learned about him in 1970 when word that he was one of the true rockers dribbled out of his Maryland stomping grounds. He picked up more points when Neil Young met him at Washington's Cellar Door and asked him to play on what became Young's finest moment, After the Goldrush. He recorded with Crazy Horse and then made several albums with his own group, Grin, on his own label, Spindizzy. But because the records were never quite right and because he was never the subject of an organized media campaign and major tour, he has remained a cult figure in search of a mass audience.

Nils Lofgren is the album to change that. It is a complete, self-contained work that defines a specific and enjoyable stance. Lofgren—who sings, plays guitar and keyboards (but no synthesizer, thank God), writes and coproduces — is a special kind of romantic. He concentrates on songs about the teenage feelings that were such a significant part of the rock ballads of the Fifties and the English pop of the mid-Sixties. The lyrics revive memories of high-school dances, making out, male possessiveness and a lifestyle in which sex roles were clear and unambiguous—all without ever becoming sentimental or nostalgic. He spins one narrative after another that tells of adolescent jealousies, hurts and loneliness but does it with a disarming casualness that keeps him from ever sounding self-pitying. He redefines the rock styles that he loves in terms of the Seventies, but without ever giving in to Seventies cynicism, vulgarity or decadence.

Lofgren has sacrificed some of the powerhouse hard-rock style that gave him his underground reputation in order to achieve consistency of mood and greater control. He presents the album's 11 songs (plus a prelude) inside a small sound that makes use of only two other musicians, bassist Wornell Jones and drummer Aynsley Dunbar — the latter especially complements Lofgren. This conservative approach makes a strength out of what had been a flaw, his hard-rock singing. The new material and style are contoured to the lightness of his singing touch. The melodies and dynamics don't demand anything that he can't handle and he further covers himself by mixing the voices down.

"Back It Up," which sounds like a hit single, is the most representative example of the album's content. The verses sound like light Byrds music except for the propulsive quality of Dunbar's drumming; the chorus takes the song into some more imaginative and catchy syncopated guitar riffing; the interludes between chorus and verse are sharply focused; the ending varies the melody just enough to confuse the listener. Best of all, the lyrics are simple and convincing: "I found out/Love is not enough/I need devotion to back it up."* Lyrically, Lofgren is living in the world of the Beatles' "She Loves You"; musically his calmness and measured tone stand in contrast to the franticness of many songs in the genre.

"One More Saturday Night," a gem, is lyrically reminiscent of Charlie Rich's "Lonely Weekends." "I Don't Want to Know" is one of the great rock'n'roll jealousy songs, with a smooth little chorus: "I don't want to know your boyfriend's name/I don't want to know all the men you claim/I don't want to know where you slept last..."*

Musically, Lofgren still rocks when he wants to. He unleashes some fine slide on "Can't Buy a Break" and turns downright cocky on "Duty." But he presses hardest on two of the album's three songs about rock music. His "Keith Don't Go (Ode to the Glimmer Twin)" is an amusing and touching tribute to Keith Richard. Richard was the hero of most of the Sixties'true rock guitarists — people who spurned folk rock, psychedelia and heavy metal. He still is the foremost champion and developer of the greatest of all rock guitar traditions—the one begun by Chuck Berry. On "Keith Don't Go" Lofgren articulates his identification with a powerful and mysterious musician in the album's typically innocent terms.

He plays just as hard on the weird "Rock and Roll Crook" in which I make out, over the screaming guitars and mixed down voice, such lines as "... It's so expensive to grow older" and "Gotta message for the In Crowd/I'm bringing in a new look/I ain't no rock and roll crook."*

The third song about rock is not set in so hard a context. "The Sun Hasn't Set on This Boy Yet" has a lovely lilt and is autobiographical in the style of Neil Young's masterful "Don't Be Denied." It tells of going to New York where "... every wound just made me stronger," and going west where "... I found out/That hope was all around me and that's what life is all about."* If Lofgren is a major talent—I obviously think that he is—it's at least in part because he can make those almost ordinary lines resonate so forcefully.

On Nils Lofgren, the singer sounds sincere but never whining, forceful but never belligerent, vulnerable but never weak. With the exception of Blood on the Tracks, this is the only recent album I've heard that sounds like it's the product of a single person's imagination. I'm convinced not only that it's the best rock album so far this year; I'm also convinced that if Nils Lofgren gets up off his ass and tours the United States, a lot of people will wind up hearing it and agreeing. As far as I'm concerned, this is one boy whose time has come.

*©1975, Irving Music/Hillmer Music. (RS 184)


JON LANDAU

I was a huge Nils fan in the 70s. I saw him do Keith Don't Go at the BottomLine NYC in 1977... trampoline and all. He's got some great early albums.






Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009-04-10 03:00 by custom55.

I read somewhere that Nils had heard around 1975 that Keith Richards wanted to leave the Stones. He wrote that song as a fan's plea asking Keith not to go.
Rock and Roll,
Mops

Been discussed here many times. The general consensus: It's a little embarrassing.

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tatters
Been discussed here many times. The general consensus: It's a little embarrassing.

As I remember it well Nils din't get an audition.
Big blunder.What's the embarrassing part?

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Amsterdamned

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tatters
Been discussed here many times. The general consensus: It's a little embarrassing.

What's the embarrassing part?

The words.

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tatters

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Amsterdamned

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tatters
Been discussed here many times. The general consensus: It's a little embarrassing.

What's the embarrassing part?

The words.

?

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Amsterdamned

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tatters

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Amsterdamned

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tatters
Been discussed here many times. The general consensus: It's a little embarrassing.

What's the embarrassing part?

The words.

?

Well, for a start, they don't seem to really even say anything relevant to Keith.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009-04-10 16:28 by tatters.

This is a right-away letter, I've got to mail it today
Straight to my main inspirer, says urgent from the USA
Its got this heart inside it, the postage is my soul
Contains a message from millions, says Keith don't go

10000 guitars wailin', but it ain't quite the same
You've got a knack for sailin', and it's stamped with your own brand name
We's all sailors, as captain you must know
You bring a message to millions, says Keith don't go

I said Keith don't go; Don't take my fun
Keith don't go; Keith don't go
We miss our father Jimi, it's hard to breathe with that loss
But I still got you brother, don't nail yourself to a cross
I watch you lead the pack, you put the drive into my soul
You bring a message to millions, says Keith don't go

Thank you all!
Specially you Voja.

I heard it was written asking Keith not to return to Canada for the drugs trial....fearing he may be sent to prison and......well we can all imagine.



Happy to be here....Happy to be anywhere.....

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Fingers
I heard it was written asking Keith not to return to Canada for the drugs trial....fearing he may be sent to prison and......well we can all imagine.

highly unlikely as it was released about two years BEFORE Keith's Toronto bust.

Musta heard rong then!



Happy to be here....Happy to be anywhere.....

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[www.facebook.com]

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sweetcharmedlife
This is a right-away letter, I've got to mail it today
Straight to my main inspirer, says urgent from the USA
Its got this heart inside it, the postage is my soul
Contains a message from millions, says Keith don't go

10000 guitars wailin', but it ain't quite the same
You've got a knack for sailin', and it's stamped with your own brand name
We's all sailors, as captain you must know
You bring a message to millions, says Keith don't go

I said Keith don't go; Don't take my fun
Keith don't go; Keith don't go
We miss our father Jimi, it's hard to breathe with that loss
But I still got you brother, don't nail yourself to a cross
I watch you lead the pack, you put the drive into my soul
You bring a message to millions, says Keith don't go

Note the first line of the third verse. "Don't take MY fun". This song really has nothing to do with Keith. What it's about, really, is NILS, and how Keith's untimely death would have made NILS'S life less enjoyable. Can you imagine the selfishness these lyrics imply? I can. I felt much the same way about Keith Moon and John Entwistle.

I don't find the words embarrassing at all. In the context of their time the words were prescient and symbolized a lot of Keef fans' worst fears...that he would soon die from his excesses. I remember the time well and the song captured a vibe that not few of us were feeling. We were really scared that Keef would soon go...

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tatters

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sweetcharmedlife
This is a right-away letter, I've got to mail it today
Straight to my main inspirer, says urgent from the USA
Its got this heart inside it, the postage is my soul
Contains a message from millions, says Keith don't go

10000 guitars wailin', but it ain't quite the same
You've got a knack for sailin', and it's stamped with your own brand name
We's all sailors, as captain you must know
You bring a message to millions, says Keith don't go

I said Keith don't go; Don't take my fun
Keith don't go; Keith don't go
We miss our father Jimi, it's hard to breathe with that loss
But I still got you brother, don't nail yourself to a cross
I watch you lead the pack, you put the drive into my soul
You bring a message to millions, says Keith don't go

Note the first line of the third verse. "Don't take MY fun". This song really has nothing to do with Keith. What it's about, really, is NILS, and how Keith's untimely death would have made NILS'S life less enjoyable. Can you imagine the selfishness these lyrics imply? I can. I felt much the same way about Keith Moon and John Entwistle.

..and unless you know Keith Richards personally, surely the same standard applies.

If anything happened to a band member or the band dissolved, your sense of sadness is surely based on a part of your OWN life thats ended, not that of the person concerned.

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Gazza

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Fingers
I heard it was written asking Keith not to return to Canada for the drugs trial....fearing he may be sent to prison and......well we can all imagine.

highly unlikely as it was released about two years BEFORE Keith's Toronto bust.

Yeah but in later live versions,he did adlib "Keith don't go to the town called Toronto".

"It's just some friends of mine and they're busting down the door"

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Turd On The Run
I don't find the words embarrassing at all. In the context of their time the words were prescient and symbolized a lot of Keef fans' worst fears...that he would soon die from his excesses. I remember the time well and the song captured a vibe that not few of us were feeling. We were really scared that Keef would soon go...

It just doesn't seem to be ABOUT Keith. He's "got a knack for sailin'"? He "brings a message to millions"? (What message does he bring?) He "leads the pack"? They're just not very good lyrics. And I wonder How much of this was based on Nils's love of Keith and the Stones?, and How much was a calculated attempt on Nils's part to try to have a hit single by writing a song about someone more famous than himself, whose fans would presumably want to buy the record because it was about their hero?

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sweetcharmedlife

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Gazza

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Fingers
I heard it was written asking Keith not to return to Canada for the drugs trial....fearing he may be sent to prison and......well we can all imagine.

highly unlikely as it was released about two years BEFORE Keith's Toronto bust.

Yeah but in later live versions,he did adlib "Keith don't go to the town called Toronto".

That's true and that's why there's some confusion over whether Nils is saying "Keith, don't die" or "Keith, don't go to jail". As originally written, the song IS about Nils's fears that his "main inspirer" is going to die. The 1977 Toronto version is Nils's pathetic attempt to get a little extra mileage out of his non-hit. Talk about beating a dead horse.

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Gazza

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tatters

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sweetcharmedlife
This is a right-away letter, I've got to mail it today
Straight to my main inspirer, says urgent from the USA
Its got this heart inside it, the postage is my soul
Contains a message from millions, says Keith don't go

10000 guitars wailin', but it ain't quite the same
You've got a knack for sailin', and it's stamped with your own brand name
We's all sailors, as captain you must know
You bring a message to millions, says Keith don't go

I said Keith don't go; Don't take my fun
Keith don't go; Keith don't go
We miss our father Jimi, it's hard to breathe with that loss
But I still got you brother, don't nail yourself to a cross
I watch you lead the pack, you put the drive into my soul
You bring a message to millions, says Keith don't go

Note the first line of the third verse. "Don't take MY fun". This song really has nothing to do with Keith. What it's about, really, is NILS, and how Keith's untimely death would have made NILS'S life less enjoyable. Can you imagine the selfishness these lyrics imply? I can. I felt much the same way about Keith Moon and John Entwistle.

..and unless you know Keith Richards personally, surely the same standard applies.

If anything happened to a band member or the band dissolved, your sense of sadness is surely based on a part of your OWN life thats ended, not that of the person concerned.

"The Beatles were most of all a moment. But their generation was not the only generation in history, and to keep turning the gutted latern of those dreams this way and that in hopes the flame will somehow flicker up again in the eighties is as futile a pursuit as trying to turn Lennon's lyrics into poetry. It is for that moment--not for John Lennon the man--that you are mourning, if you are mourning. Ultimately you are mourning for yourself"


--Lester Bangs, December 11, 1980