Loggins & Messina

Loggins and Messina was a pop / folk duo founded in California by singer / songwriters Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina. The duo came together when former Buffalo Springfield and Poco member Messina met songwriter Loggins in 1970. The duo wrote several songs together and Loggins signed to Columbia Records as a solo artist. Since Messina had been a producer for Columbia, he helped Loggins land his record deal. However, both artists had worked so closely together that the album Sittin’ In (1971) was released and credited to Kenny Loggins with Jim Messina. The album reached number 70 on the Billboard 200 and was eventually certified platinum. Sittin’ In contained the tracks “Danny’s Song” and “Welcome to Pooh Corner,” both of which have become two of their most popular songs even though they were not hit singles at the time. The duo’s second album, Loggins and Messina (1972), was the first to equally credit both artists and featured “Your Mama Don’t Dance,” which was their commercial breakthrough. The single reached number 4 while the album hit number 16. Loggins and Messina’s next two albums landed in the Top 10 – 1973’s Full Sail (number 10) and 1974’s Mother Lode (number 8) – and they scored two more Top 20 singles with 1973’s “Thinking of You” and “My Music.” Remaining a popular live act, they released a covers album – So Fine (1975) – before deciding to amicably split after the release of the 1976 album Native Sons. At the end of ’76, Loggins and Messina issued a compilation – The Best of Friends – before going their separate ways. Kenny Loggins went on to have a remarkably successful solo career throughout the 1980s into the 1990s. In 2005, the duo came together to compile a new collection entitled The Best: Sittin’ in Again. Strong sales inspired the duo to undertake several live tours before parting ways again in 2009.