Mountains

Product Information

This was all last year. I was determined to get it done before the end of the year. Once Bruce said, “We’re going to hit the road in 2023,” I worked a little harder to make sure it was done by Christmas. David said to me, “I want to sing on your record.” I said, “I’d love that, David. Let me wait until I know which song is right for you.” And sure enough, as soon as I started writing that song and I got an inkling of the chorus, I said, “Man, this one’s for David.” And he sang beautifully on it. We’d both test and wear masks unless I was singing to keep it as safe as we could. I got Covid flying home after finishing World Record with Neil Young. I exposed Amy, but she didn’t get it, thank God. So I was very careful not to start having the traditional arrangement of, “Here’s five musicians, and they’re going to move in for three weeks.”

Nils Lofgren: Mountains [Album Review] – The Fire Note Nils Lofgren: Mountains [Album Review] – The Fire Note

Then you got Covid and had to miss the next show in Houston. I’m sure it was weird to not be on stage for one night. You’d never missed a single show, ever.a b Beaudoin, Jedd (July 17, 2023). "Nils Lofgren Is Still Grinning on Mountains". PopMatters . Retrieved July 19, 2023. But, man, I’m deep into this [E Street Band] tour. It’s one of the things I learned with Neil when I was 18. It’s great not to be the band leader every day of your life, because there’s a lot of things that are not musical you need to deal with when you’re the band leader. They all go away when I’m in someone else’s band. Lofrgren continued, “Here’s hoping these stories may bring a smile to your face. The times were heavy and consequential. No internet, no cell phones, Vietnam war lottery, civil rights marches, Cuban missile crisis, assassinations. All during the greatest explosion of music in mankind’s history. And to boot, the greatest parents and brothers a soul could ask for, who kept a spiritual light burning, thank goodness, as I found myself on too many dark roads.” I was really hoping that the whole Crazy Horse band could do it, but that’s Farm Aid. That kind of blew my idea. For his first studio album since 2019’s Blue With Lou, Lofgren has surrounded himself with pals like Ringo Starr, Neil Young, and the late David Crosby. It shows that Lofgren’s talent remains undiminished by time.

Nils Lofgren on Life in the E Street Band, New Solo LP Nils Lofgren on Life in the E Street Band, New Solo LP

Guest musiciansinclude Ringo Starr, who plays on the first single "Ain'tthe Truth Enough" and sings on "We Better Find It."(Lofgren was an All-Starr Band member in 1989 and 1992.) The E Street Band reconvened in Red Bank, New Jersey, in early January. You guys hadn’t done any live work since early 2017. Did it take any time to shake off the rust or incorporate the new band members? You’re pretty busy at the moment, but do you hope to do solo shows at some point soon where you can play this new music?It’s easy to forget that as well as being a stalwart of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street band, Nils Lofgren is a solo artist of great renown.

NILS LOFGREN “MOUNTAINS” LYRICS NILS LOFGREN “MOUNTAINS” LYRICS

Yeah, it broke my heart. Neil called me and said, “Hey, this is the anniversary, can you come and play?” And I’m like, “It’s between two [E Street Band] shows. I can’t travel on a show day. I’m going home to see Amy, though. I got the weekend off. How about we do it Saturday night?”Covid threw me for a loop,” he tells Rolling Stone via Zoom from a hotel room in Vienna the day after an E Street Band show at the Ernst Happel Stadium. “I’d been on the road for 55 years. I loved being home with [my wife] Amy and the dogs. Our son Dylan would come over with his dogs. That was great. But I’d never gone for three years without performing in my professional life. And it kind of took a toll, more than I’d hoped.” Missing that show really messed me up. But I’m an adult, so you call on adult reasoning, you take the medicine, you get well as soon as you can.

Nils Lofgren: Mountains – Proper Music Nils Lofgren: Mountains – Proper Music

One morning as the sun was coming up, lounging with [my dog] Rose on the couch, I came up with this blues riff. I started singing about Charlie and that led to other stuff. It was this fury of, “I’m so disgusted that he’s gone that I’m not going to get upset or cry anymore” And then by the end of the song, I’m crying. It was just a way for me to process something I don’t have the tools for. Even though I’ve lost a lot of friends and family, that one really threw me for a loop. I used that song to kind of help me get through it. Why didn’t we have a camera rolling? That was such a momentous tour. We did this crazy set where Neil had 16-inch glitter boots nailed to the piano, and we’re doing songs no one had ever heard. Neil’s rapping and going crazy. We’re playing this crazy music. People were throwing bottles and yelling at us. They wanted to hear the hits.Angel Blues” is an old, unfinished song, one of the few on this record from the past. But I loved the opening lines, “Lean your weary halo on my wing/And let the peace come/As your darkness dies in my light/Even angels falter now and then.” I stayed at the jam, late at night, sitting up drinking with Ringo. He was very friendly. He gave me his phone number and said, “Stay in touch.” I called him every few weeks, and started a friendship. I was in England every year touring acoustically and he’d come to the shows.