Customer Reviews

Outside From the Redwoods

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I managed to hear Kenny Loggins years ago in Cincinnati, and he put on a show which essentially was the benchmark for all live performers to follow. Besides having a serious band which could play, he obviously enjoys playing live.. none of this '7 tunes/40 minutes and thank you for my million' BS that so many artists are into. This CD captures Kenny best, the songs are uniformly excellent, and as a boot, this is one of the best recorded CDs out there, quite impressive as live CDs generally are a pain to get correct acoustically. Bottom line: this CD belongs on any Kenny Loggins fans shelf. It's a 'desert island' CD for sure.

Kenny does some new arrangements of some of his old classics, and a few new songs. I have to praise his imaginative "live" performance here, and this disc proves that Loggins truly has one of the most distinctive and pleasing voices in pop music history. I also have to point out the song "Conviction of the Heart" in particular as one of my favorites here, with more of an acoustic feel, and I think it comes off better than the original. This album also shows off what a great songwriter Loggins is, as he wrote or co-wrote all these songs.

I bought it a few years ago. I wanted my brother to listen. He got it. Now, he refuses to give it back. I'll buy it again!... Perfect sound, perfect vocals, perfect acoustics.

I have the opportunity to see Kenny live every year at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga, CA and this CD captures Kenny the best. What a wonderful collection of live music! Great sound... I play this CD and close my eyes....You can imagine the giant redwoods of California and this great singer belting out what he does best! My favorite is "Angry Eyes" with Chris Rodrigues. Whoa...Perfect.

When Kenny Loogins started his solo quest in the late 1970's, gone were the country tones and back porch flavors that filled his music. Those things left with the departure Of Jimmy Messina. Kenny, discovered that cool pop and soft R & B stylings would put him right on the top of the pop charts next to Michael McDonald & Neil Diamond. Kenny, had a five year ride in the late seventies and early eighties as one of the crown princes of pop.

Kenny, also learned that to sell this music on the stages of the world, you need to entertain the audiences that came to see you and hear the hit songs. As Loggins & Messina would rock, they had little interaction with the kids. Kenny Loggins, the solo star faced adult audiences, that enjoyed the jokes and the vamping. Kenny, had left rock music behind, he was now in the entertainment industry of TV shows, movie soundtracks, duets with every singing star in the business, award shows and package tours that presented him on the biggest stages in the world.

This show near the back of the campus of UC Santa Cruz, was produced as a special event from his normal show in some enormodome that he normally performed. Special guests were brought in {Michael McDonald & Shanice} the band was like quicksilver, as it contained different musicians to suit the needs of each song performed. This is Kenny "Danger Zone" Loggins, but here Kenny isn't trying to be a 80's thrill ride for a bad action-adventure film. Kenny Loggins, has grown up here and it's not all about the flash and boom of the big show, this CD is about the music.

The hits are here: "Your Mama Don't Dance", "What A Fool Believes", "Angry Eyes", "Celebrate Me Home" "Footloose" & "I'm Alright".
What is different about this music is how Kenny has altered the arrangements of many of these well known tunes. "This Is It" is presented as: cool-blooze, with the amazing slide guitar of Sonny Landreth. This song is completly re-invented, and it is miles distant from top-forty pop cousin. "Angry Eyes" is just Kenny with Sonny on slide and Chris Rodriguez on guitar and vocals, it is great as well. "Celebrate Me Home", is for most folks, Kenny's best song, and in the redwoods, he performs the best version of this classic, that I have heard.

"What A Fool Believes" doesn't change much from it's original form, and with Kenny & Michael McDonald singing it, there is no need for change here. "If You Believe" whips out not one but TWO Choirs to bring home it's gospel. And that finger-snaping, gum-poppin' dance classic: "Footloose" is {AAAARRRGGGHHHH!!!} still: "Footloose". This 75 minute disc, raps up with a big, big version of: "I'm Alright" that brings out almost every musician from the entire show on stage. Kenny, plays it up with all he's got, as the music snakes through Cajun, R & B and finally to rave-up rock at the conclusion...get em' up outta the seats, let em' scream and dance...entertainment.

As I don't like everything presented here, there is something that would appeal to just about every taste within the length of this disc. Kenny Loggins, has learned and refined his role in music very well. This artist has had a sucessful career due to his cross-blending of many musicial styles. Kenny, knows what to present in concert to make the girls scream, the blue-haired ladies bop, and the rockers...rock. This is pop music that goes in many different directions and takes on many new shapes and forms. Kenny Loggins, is a master of his craft, like him or loath him, Kenny Loggins IS one of America's best performers, he will be around for awhile.
Four Stars!!!

This CD is the same format that he did at a concert in Phoenix .The best concert out of 7 I've been to. The way he puts together Footloose and I'm Alright is like building up to a orgasm.

This is a perfectionist's dream: the sound of Kenny Loggins with a crackerjack band in a live format with near perfect recording quality. If you didn't hear the applause and the banter, you'd swear it was studio. Kenny even sounds engaged here, there is no flat going-through-the-motions style singing. Along with one notable guest turn when Michael McDonald comes on stage to sing the Doobie Brothers (and co-composition between Loggins and McDonald) "What a Fool Believes," this is one darn fine concert recording.

It also functions as an ersatz "Best Of" by sliding between some of Kenny's best known solo songs and a pair of Loggins & Messina hits. "Your Mama Don't Dance" still is a fiery number, and "Angry Eyes" is probably the darkest song Kenny's ever done. Two of the songs that made Kenny a voice of the soundtrack single, "I'm Alright (Caddyshack)" and "Footloose" are both here as a seamless set closer. Had there been a few more songs of that caliber here, I might have moved this to the 5-star essential rating, but there are a pair of tedious ballads with now forgotten teen R'n'B singer Shanice. I would have taken almost any other uptempo song (or even a better known ballad) in place of either of these show-draggers. ("House at Pooh Corner," "Heart to Heart" or even "Forever" would have been better...or a kicker like "Danger Zone" or "Don't Fight It.")

Be that as it may, "Outside From The Redwoods" is a pleasant pop collection that has Kenny playing in his comfort zone. Just about every song here has a memorable hook and a pleasing, Middle of the Road glow about it, enough so to make this a keeper.

I really enjoyed this cd. The music was interesting, the guest artists are well chosen, it flows well, and for live music, it's done very well. I would have given 5 stars, but in the last song, he yells too much, so I stop the cd at the song before. Otherwise, I love the entire cd from end to almost end. It something you can listen to over and over.

Great turn around from the time of Purchase to when rcieving it..... Please feel comfortable dealing with this vendor******

After his live album from 1980. Kenny Loggins returned with a much better concert and video. Although both lack certain material (the CD omits Will Ackerman's appearance on Will of The Wind, Watching the River Run, Danny's Song and Forever while the DVD lacks I Will Do Anything,
Angry Eyes and Celebrate Me Home) But with a great selection of musicians and guest appearances from the likes of Shanice and Mike McDonald this is the best of his two live albums. He did another one in 2004 at Foxwoods Casino in CT. but it was an internet order only.
Of course Michael McDonald could have done much better with "What a Fool
Believes" he sings but doesn't play keyboards. Of course the sexy duet with Shanice "Love Will Follow" is another highlight (I would love to hear Michael McDonald sing that one day)