Nils Hilmer Lofgren is an American rock music singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist.
Famous as a solo artist, he has marked 25 years as a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band as well as a former member of Crazy Horse.
Lofgren was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1951 to Swedish/Italian parents. Moving to the suburban town of Garrett Park, Maryland, on the northern border of Washington, D.C. as a child, Lofgren's first instrument was classical accordion, beginning at age 5, which he studied seriously for ten years.
After studying classical music and jazz, throughout his youth, Lofgren switched his emphasis to rock music, and focused on the piano and the guitar.
By 1969, Lofgren formed the band Grin, with bassist Bob Gordon, and drummer Bob Berberich, and the group played in the venues throughout the Washington, D.C. area.
Lofgren had been a competitive gymnast in high school, a skill that popped up later in his career. Lofgren joined Neil Young's band at age 17, playing piano on the album After the Gold Rush.
Young gave him this role despite his having virtually no experience on the instrument; Lofgren worked on his parts around-the-clock when recording was not in session. Lofgren maintained a close musical relationship with Young, appearing on his Tonight's the Night album and tour among others.
He was also briefly a member of Crazy Horse, appearing on their 1971 LP and contributing songs to their catalogue. Grin Lofgren used the Neil Young album credits to land his band Grin a record deal in 1971.
There was just a enormous amount of good music coming out in the early '70's and it was a shame that great albums like this were getting buried underneath the hype.
Tracklisting:
01.Like Rain
02.See What Love Can Do
03.Everybody's Missin' The Sun
04.18 Faced Lover
05.Outlaw
06.We All Sung Together
07.If I Were a Song
08.Take You to the Movies Tonight
09.Direction
10.Pioneer Mary
11.Open Wide
12.I Had Too Much (Miss Dazi)
13.Nobody
14.Sing for Happiness
Grin:
Nils Lofgren - guitar, keyboards, vocals
Bob Berberich - drums, vocals
Bob Gordon - bass, vocals
Jerry Willians: scat vocals on track 2
Harmony vocals on tracks 2, 5 & 10 by:
Danny Whitten
Neil Young
Ralph Molina