Kenny Loggins With Jim Messina* – Sittin' In

There’s absolutely no reason for me, or anyone else not to like this album (stay with me). The historic references for a game of ‘Connect the Dots’ are endless, with Kenny Loggins who at the time was a bright young and gifted singer/songwriter (god, I hate that phrase), who’s sparkling dark eyes caught the attention of Jim Messina, who had previously been with Buffalo Springfield, and later rode with Poco ... two groups who spawned a linage a mile long. The pair were cute as buttons, soft features, feathered hair, with a clean outlaw look, backed by songs filled with layered guitar work, harmonies, and a bright convincing attitude ... sort of a new Crosby, Stills & Nash, which is like the line from the song, ”Same ol’d wine, in a brand new bottle.”

Actually Sittin’ In was supposed to be a solo album with Jim Messina sittin’ in, instead the duo found themselves gathered around the table for another five years, and a reunion some forty years off in the future. The album’s been around forever, it’s been re-released on Master Vinyl, then compact disc, gold disc, and now on 180 gram reprocessed, revamped, reworked, and remastered virgin vinyl ... and it’s been sold to all the same people who bought it the first time around; more of the same ol’ wine, in a brand new bottle. Back in the 70's this album floated into everyone’s home like a free liquid bottle of Tide ... you got up and went to work one Wednesday morning, and when you got home, there it was, just sittin’ there in the warm afternoon sun on your doorstep with it’s creamy vocals just oozing out all over the sidewalk.

So while I can’t really fault this album I do have to sidestep it and the mess it created, as this release marks a line of demarcation, a place on the map where one can place their finger and say, ”Here it is, this is where it all began.” And what was that place on the map? Why it was the beginning of Adult Contemporary Music and Radio, the point where those of my generation grew up and gave in, hoping to forget the rebellion and anxiety of the 1960’s, the acid, the weed, the street-fighting, the war in Vietnam, and settle into an adult life with safe prescription drugs like Valium, Quaalude, and Tuinal ... which is just more of the same ol’ wine in a brand new bottle, except this was a prescription bottle, and your doctor made it available, so it wasn’t only safe and legal, it was good for you.

(Deep long extended exhale, my head on the desk ...) The album was rather pointless, like white bread, not even toasted, it just sat there on my turntable, the music flowing out and washing over me as I downed my evening pill, slipped my 38 safely in the drawer next to my bed, adjusted the curtains, and before I knew it, it was 9 o’clock and time for dreamland. So, while the album is as safe and enjoyable as a Doctor prescribed bottle of barbiturates ... give me something fresh, something that will kick me upside the head, something that will let me dance on the tables or slip into the nether regions of my subconscious, anything but this unholy underbelly white music that so many young vital people got old to.

Yes, I'm sure that when taken out of its historic context, Sittin' In sounds delightfully wonderful and intoxicating, but I was there then, and you're here now to take it on any level you wish.

Review by Jenell Kesler