''Nils'' is the fifth solo studio album by

Nils Lofgren Nils Hilmer Lofgren (born June 21, 1951) is an American rock musician, recording artist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Along with his work as a solo artist, he has been a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band since 1984, a membe ...

Background

With mainstream success continuing to elude Lofgren, A&M brought in Bob Ezrin in 1979, to oversee ''Nils''. Ezrin was known for his successes with

Alice Cooper Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guillot ...

, Pink Floyd, Lou Reed, and

Kiss A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

. Lofgren: "The label said they wanted to bring in co-writers, and I said that I didn't do that. Ezrin said, 'What about Lou Reed?' And I said, 'Well, yeah, okay. That would be cool.'" Lofgren watched a football game at Reed's Greenwich Village apartment and the two struck up a friendship. In the middle of the night Reed would call Lofgren and dictate lyrics over the phone. Their collaborations appeared across ''Nils'' and Reed's '' The Bells'', also released in 1979. Ezrin also brought in contributions from

Dick Wagner Richard Allen Wagner (December 14, 1942 – July 30, 2014) was an American rock guitarist, songwriter and author best known for his work with Alice Cooper, Lou Reed, and Kiss. He also fronted his own Michigan-based bands, the Frost and the Bo ...

, who'd worked with Reed, Kiss, and Cooper ("

Only Women Bleed "Only Women Bleed" is a song by Alice Cooper, released on his debut solo album '' Welcome to My Nightmare'' in 1975. It was written by Cooper and Dick Wagner, and was the second single from the album to be released. Background It is a ballad abo ...

" and " You And Me"). Wagner and Reed co-wrote "I'll Cry Tomorrow" a sequel of sorts to " I Never Cry" (1976) by Wagner and Cooper. With such hit makers at his side, Lofgren felt certain that ''Nils'' would be his breakthrough and that songs like "Shine Silently" would be hits.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Nils Lofgren, except where indicated. # "No Mercy" – 4:06 # "I'll Cry Tomorrow" (

, Lou Reed) – 4:28 # "

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

" ( Randy Newman) – 6:43 # "Shine Silently" (Lofgren,

) – 3:48 # "Steal Away" – 4:08 # "Kool Skool" – 3:17 # "A Fool Like Me" (Lofgren, Lou Reed) – 3:11 # "I Found Her" (Lofgren, Lou Reed) – 3:36 # "You're So Easy" (Lofgren,

Bob Ezrin Robert Alan Ezrin (born March 25, 1949) is a Canadian music producer and keyboardist, best known for his work with Lou Reed, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, Kiss, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Peter Gabriel, Andrea Bocelli and Phish. As of 2010, Ezrin's car ...

, Dick Wagner) – 5:54

Charts

Personnel

*Nils Lofgren - guitar, accordion, keyboards, vocals *Tom Lofgren - guitar, vocals * Bob Babbitt - bass * Stu Daye - guitar, vocals *

- percussion, keyboards, vocals, vibraphone *

Jody Linscott Jody Linscott is an American session musician and percussionist who resides in England and maintains an extended discography. She has two daughters Kachina Dechert and Coco Linscott and has written two children's books which were published by D ...

- percussion, congas *

Doug Riley Douglas Brian Riley, CM (April 12, 1945 – August 27, 2007) was a Canadian musician, also known as Dr. Music. He spent two decades with the Famous People Players as its musical director, besides his participation on over 300 album project ...

- organ on "Baltimore" *

David Sanborn David William Sanborn (born July 30, 1945) is an American alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He released his first solo album ''Taking Off'' in 19 ...

- saxophone on "A Fool Like Me" *

Allan Schwartzberg Allan Schwartzberg (born December 28, 1942) is an American musician and record producer. He has been a member of the rock band Mountain, Peter Gabriel's first solo band, toured with Brecker Brothers' Dreams, B.J. Thomas, Linda Rondstadt, Stan Get ...

- drums *Colina Phillips, Debbie Fleming - additional background vocals *Al MacMillan - orchestration on "Shine Silently" ;Technical *"The indispensable" Ann Martin - production coordination *George Minnis, Ilona Pring, Inez Fridenberg, T. Lawless - production assistants *Brian Christian - engineer *Len Irish - photography Special effects on "No Mercy" recorded at Madison Square Garden

Reception

Before performing an extended version of "Shine Silently" on Dutch TV show ' Lofgren noted that it was a personal favorite and the single a moderate hit in Holland. (November 1, 1995)

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1979 albums Nils Lofgren albums Albums produced by Bob Ezrin A&M Records albums