Twin Sons of Different Mothers

With instrumentals making up most of its tracks, this is a somewhat unconventional choice for this book. Yet I chose it because it offers such concentrated glimpses of Dan Fogelberg's natural sincerity, his high musical quality and breadth, and his emotional character, which can feel rather excessive on his usual albums.

Here a singer-songwriter who symbolizes the heyday of West Coast rock joins jazz/fusion flautist Tim Weisberg. Rather than the fashionable fusion of the day, however, the album consists of modest, lovely acoustic pieces. Only three tracks have vocals; two are covers, ‘Tell Me to My Face’ by the Hollies and ‘Since You Asked’ by Judy Collins. These too are modest and, as ever, pleasing song choices. His own ‘The Power of Gold’ was issued as a single and reached No. 24, while the album reached No. 8, both career highs to that point. Sometimes called an experimental album, it is much more than that. Here Fogelberg's essential virtues find expression.