OFF: Kerry Livgren

[Craig Shipley]

>
> >> (BTW who is Kerry Livgren?).
> >
> >He is (or was) a member of Kansas. I don't remember what he plays.
>
Was is correct...

> And you don't remember for a very good reason : he used to play of
> practically every instrument. He was, I think, the main creative element in
> the band (not unlike Al in BOC ;-) and Kansas wasn't quite Kansas anymore
> after he left...
>
Well, IMHO, they started the slide to mediocrity with the POINT OF KNOW RETURN
release, which was when Livgren was still with 'em...

> On "Masque" (one of their best albums), for instance, Kerry Livgren is
> credited for all of the following :
>
> Lead and rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar, piano, clavinet, moog and ARP
> synthesizers.
>
> In addition to all this, he was also the main composer & lyricist (along
> with Steve Walsh) of the band and wrote some of their best songs. OTOH, I
> don't think he ever sang any Kansas song... not to my knowledge, anyway, but
> I may be wrong on this one. Anything's possible with Livgren ;-) Jerry might
> know - I know he's a Kansas fan too ;-)
>         BTW, he's also released a number of solo albums and has become a
> Christian some years ago.

He was a Christian for _years_, even in the early days of Kansas (go back and
listen to the lyrics. _HEAVY_ religious themes...although the band indicates
that they weren't "preaching" back then...) After leaving Kansas, Livgren
formed the Christian rock band A.D. (with one Ronnie James Dio guesting on
vocals on one or two tracks!!!) He released a solo instrumental work in the
early '90's called ONE OF SEVERAL POSSIBLE MUSIKS, which is a very nice, if
somewhat mellow (not quite New Age, but close...). He took a hiatus from
recording due to loss of hearing (I don't think it was permanent, but here is
a perfect example of why you should PROTECT YOUR HEARING (sorry for shouting,
just wanted to get it across to those of you who can't hear well...). He
released a CD last year (instrumental, I think) titled something like WHEN
ECLECTIC BECOMES ELECTRIC, which bodes well for some dynamic playing. Haven't
heard it, so don't know for sure...If you want to check out his post-Kansas
work, try his double CD DECADE, which has the RJDio cuts, along with a track or
two from OoSPM. I think he lives around the greater Atlanta area, although I've
never run into him at the local Waffle House...:-)

SONG FOR AMERICA would have to be one of my Desert Island disks, having seen
that (or was it the LEFTOVERTURE?) tour...
>
>
>
> Alex S. Garcia.
>
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