The Best Of The Friends

Personnel: Kenny Loggins (vocals, guitar, harmonica); Jim Messina (vocals, guitar, mandolin); Merle Bregante (vocals, drums); Jon Clarke (flute, recorders, oboe, soprano, tenor & baritone saxophone); Al Garth (fiddle, recorder, alto & tenor saxophone); Michael Omartian (piano, Clavinet, organ); Larry Sims (bass); Milt Holland, Victor Feldman (percussion).
This collection of Loggins And Messina's hits came out at the end of 1976, after the group's final release earlier that year failed to re-ignite their once red-hot career. Both the title and cover art seem designed to show that, despite the breakup, there were no hard feelings. The liner notes, written by the duo, describe a warm and mutual songwriting partnership. Considering the heights the group had reached, the decision to split up made sense, and at least one of the pair (Loggins) went on to achieve great success as a solo artist. But their legacy of hits is considerable.
Given the limitations of a single record, this collection does a good job of gathering the most essential tracks from Loggins And Messina's five studio albums, from the joyous island fantasy "Vahevala," through the touching "Danny's Song," to the hymn-like "Peace of Mind," as well as hits like "Your Mama Don't Dance." Because of time considerations, a much-shortened radio version of "Angry Eyes" is included instead of the brilliant seven-minute album cut; but the lengthy musical excursions that characterized Messina's contributions to the duo are represented here in the multi-section "Be Free."

• Genre: Pop
• Format: Vinyl
• Released: 07/13/2018