The Singers and The Songs

Dave Burgess

Dave...is still startled that this is actually happening, and is not sure how Jeannie thought that he could sing! All this is really down to her as she must have seen that we could do this. I was a choirboy at Hereford Cathedral but had not sung 'properly' since leaving the choir at the age of 14. So when Jeannie asked me to sing at the Martin House Rememberance Service the first thing I did was to find out if I could sing! From the Yellow Pages I found Sam Payne and she assured me that I could and prepared me for that first performance. Sam has helped through the whole process as it was also through her that we came into contact with Skip McDonald, who produced the music, and Julian Wellington at Hall Place Studios where we mixed the tracks. So thanks Sam. It has taken just over two years to get to this point, each time that the project has slowed down, someone else has come along and moved things on. There have been times that it has felt that this wasn't going to be completed, that it would have been possible that we just couldn't do this.Singing the songs was the easy bit - how do we actually make a record? At these times it was Edward that kept me going and wanting to keep the project alive. Also Jeannie would say to me 'You're not going to have another chance to make a record with Nils Lofgren!' Of course as Nils had given his time freely how could we not finish it! Making these recordings is not about becoming a 'singer', just like running in the London Marathon would not make me an athlete. I have just been privileged to have a world-class musician alongside me who has been prepared to share in this project.

Nils Lofgren

Nils Lofgren is an American rock music singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Famous as a solo artist, he is also a long-time member of The E Street Band.

Nils first appeared on the international stage when as a 17 year old he was one of the musicians on Neil Young's classic After The Goldrush album. He was part of the first Crazy Horse band and then went onto form his own band Grin, which also featured his brother Tom. We could talk about him forever...but here's what his impressive Wikipedia entry says...

In 1974 Grin disbanded and Nils recorded his first solo album which was a success with critics; (a 1975 Rolling Stone review by Jon Landau labeled it one of the finest rock albums of the year), it was number 5 in the NME list of albums of the year. Throughout the 1970s Lofgren continued to release solo albums and toured extensively with a backing band that again usually included brother Tom on rhythm guitar. Lofgren's concerts displayed his reputation for theatrics, such as playing guitar while doing flips on a trampoline.

In 1984, he joined the E Street Band as the replacement for "Miami Steve" Van Zandt on guitar and vocals, in time for their massive Born in the U.S.A. Tour. The E Street Band toured again in 1988 on the Tunnel of Love Express. In 1989 the E Street Band broke up but Nils continued with his solo career and also recording and peforming with other musicians. both he and Van Zandt rejoined when the E Street Band was revived in 1999 for their Reunion Tour, followed by The Rising and another massive tour in 2002 and 2003 then again for the Magic album and world tour of 2007/2008.

Nils continues to record and to tour as a solo act, and has also recorded and toured with Patti Scialfa, Neil Young, and as a two-time member of Ringo Starr's All-Starr Band. During the 2000s he got his own "Nils Lofgren Day" in Montgomery County, Maryland (August 25). In 2006 Lofgren released Sacred Weapon, featuring guest appearances by David Crosby, Graham Nash, and Willie Nelson.

In June, 2006, Lofgren performed at the Benefit For Arthur Lee concert at New York's Beacon Theater, along with Robert Plant, Ian Hunter,and others performing Love's classic song "Alone Again Or". And in 2007, he appeared playing guitar as part of Jerry Lee Lewis' backing band for Lewis' Last Man Standing concert.In 2008 Nils celebrated his long time collaboration with Neil Young by releasing "The Loner - Nils Sings Neil" an album of acoustic covers of Young songs.

Other Appearances
In 2007, the novel The Chase by Clive Cussler featured Lofgren as a locomotive engineer who helped the protagonist to chase the villain across the American West. Cussler lives close to Lofgren in Arizona, and recorded a song with him, written by Lofgren and Cussler, titled "What Ever Happened to Muscatel?"

Nils Lofgren photographs courtesy of Jan M Lundahl.

Four Strong Winds

"Four Strong Winds" is a song written by Ian Tyson in the early 1960s.

It was first recorded by The Brothers Four in a version that "Bubbled Under" the Billboard Hot 100 in October 1963. Subsequently, it was recorded by Ian and Sylvia on an album of the same name released in 1964. The song is based on the life of transient farm workers, forced to move where work can be found, but its theme is the sometimes temporary nature of human relationships.

This folk classic has been recorded by many artists including Neil Young on his 1978 album Comes a Time (Young also performed the song with The Band at the famous The Last Waltz concert, and in his 2005 documentary Neil Young: Heart of Gold), Sarah McLachlan, Hank Snow, The Seekers, Judy Collins, Bob Dylan, Marianne Faithfull, The Searchers, Teenage Fanclub, John Denver, Bobby Bare, The Brothers Four (in an album by the same name), The Kingston Trio, Waylon Jennings, Chad and Jeremy, Ulf Lundell, The Tragically Hip, Joan Baez, and most recently, Johnny Cash. It was a hit by Bobby Bare in 1964. It was also a big hit in Norway in 1966 in a Norwegian version: "Mot ukjent sted" by The Vanguards and a big hit in Sweden in 1967 in a Swedish version: "Mot okänt land" recorded by The Hep Stars.

And of course...by Dave and Nils.

Shine Silently

Shine Silently was first released on Nils Lofgren's album entitled 'Nils' in 1979. It was a single from this album and was a Top 40 hit in the UK and in Europe. It still receives regular radio play and is probably one of Nils' best known songs. As far as we know it has only been previously covered by The Hollies. We have two 'mixes' available. When we heard Nils' acoustic guitar we felt it was too good just to be in the backing, so we have one mix with just acoustic guitar and vocals and given it a 'live recording' feel.