
I saw Fogelberg doing a solo concert in the late '70s. I think he was touring for his Nether Lands album. He had a grand piano on one side of the stage and about 5 or 6 guitars on the other. There was no band...just him. He went back and forth between piano and guitars playing a nice selection of his tunes. During the concert, he did a song he had worked on with an old high school friend who had gone into a jazz flute career. Dan played a solo version of an instrumental tune that ended up on the Twin Sons album, I think it was Guitar Etude No. 3...it may have been Lazy Susan. Anyway, after the song, Tim Weisberg came out on stage. It was supposed to be a surprise. Dan and Tim hadn't seen each other since high school many years earlier. They hugged and had a nice momentary reunion and promised to get together after the concert. About a year later, Twin Sons of Different Mothers were born. I've often wondered since then if that "surprise visit" from Tim was a publicity stunt that they pulled on a number of concerts during Dan's tour, but I doubt it now, since a publicity stunt would obviously lose steam after a year and the whole thing would have been pointless. Either way, Twin Sons turned out to be a great album. The idea was to revel in the fact that they had gone in entirely different directions when they left school. And it gave them a chance to explore each other's music a little, while also slipping into directions that neither one of them had travelled. It was supposed to be a fun experiment. And it worked out wonderfully! 7 of the 10 tunes are instrumentals, ranging from classical to jazz to just folk or pop rock instrumental stuff. The vocal tunes include a rockin' cover of The Hollies' "Tell Me to my Face" (which got some FM radio play). This song features Fogelberg's best rockin' electric guitar solos on the album. He's no Al DiMeola, but he does a respectable job rocking with the guitar solos. Then, there's also a light pop cover of Joni Mitchell's "Since You Asked" and a pop/rock Fogelgerg tune "The Power of Gold" which got a lot of pop radio play at the time. Fogelberg wrote all the instrumental tunes, showing a surprising diversity that I didn't know he had. But, it was an impressive display of talent by both Dan and Tim and whoever else was involved. This is a pleasant listening experience...bringing you into sincere rock and roll one minute, then taking you into jazz the next, and then moving to classical...as I said, this was an experiment by a couple of reunited school friends who had gone in different directions in their musical careers. It is meant to be a fun journey into each other's music and beyond. It worked very well! It's diverse and a great listening experience. Especially after Dan's untimely death last winter, I'm glad they took this little break from their usual routine to bring us something a little different...and very special!
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