Jim Messina talks hits, Loggins and tour headed here

The script flipped a long time ago. Now, when evenings come around and it's time to go to town, mamas DO dance and daddies DO rock and roll.

But that never diluted the rebellious fun of Loggins and Messina's "Your Mama Don't Dance," that beloved early 1970s ode to teenagers eager to stay out late on a date.

Jim Messina will perform that hit, his other co-written gems with Kenny Loggins, songs from his days with trailblazing country-rock band Poco and smart, breezy solo singles when he entertains March 28 at The Oaks Theater in Oakmont. Tickets are $45 to $90 at oakstheater.com

After a Midwest swing, the tour heads east and includes dates like April 12 at the Count Basie Center for The Arts in Red Bank, N.J.; April 13 at Musikfest Café in Bethlehem, Pa.; April 14 at Suffolk Theater in Riverhead, N.Y.; April 15 at the Newton Theatre in Newton, N.J.; April 16 at Levoy Theatre in Millville, N.J.; April 19 at Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club in Portsmouth, N.H.; April 20 at Infinity Hall, Hartford; April 21 at Paramount Hudson Valley Theater in Peekskill, N.Y.; and April 22 at Grand Opera House in Wilmington, Del.

"It'll be pretty much my songs, including 'Mexican Minutes' that I wrote and Brooks & Dunn recorded," Messina said. "That's a fun song about getting out of your everyday hustle and bustle and heading south of the border to enjoy tequila and chips. And I'll play 'She's Gotta Rock,' that's another fun one. And, of course the important songs fans grew up with, several in the acoustic set, like 'Thinking of You,' 'House at Pooh Corner,' and 'Danny's Song.' Then I'll introduce more of the country songs like 'You Better Think Twice' and 'Listen to a Country Song' which Lynne Anderson recorded, and 'Holiday Hotel.'"

Fans will recognize Loggins & Messina vinyl cut "Watching The River Run," which Messina said also turns up in the acoustic set.

His five-piece Nashville band features Jack Bruno, who's drummed for Tina Turner and Joe Cocker; Steve Nieves on saxophone and woodwinds; Jim Frazier on keyboard and Guitar; and Ben King on bass.

"I like our music to be exciting but not too loud," Messina said,

His road to fame began as a recording engineer in Los Angeles. Driving home after a long night of work, he flicked on the radio and found himself mesmerized by a song called "Bluebird."

"I thought wow that's really good. It resonated with me as a musician and as a person."

Months later, he was stoked to discover his next recording project for Atlantic Records was the band that recorded "Bluebird," the influential fok-rock group Buffalo Springfield. Amid recording, Messina replaced Bruce Palmer as Buffalo Springfield's permanent bassist, also adding vocals on a few tracks for what would become the group's last studio release. Messina toured with Buffalo Springfield until the group disbanded in 1968.

What busted up the band?

"You'll have to ask (bandmates) Stephen Stills and Neil Young," Messina said.

He and fellow Buffalo Springfield member Richie Furay rebounded nicely by forming Poco (originally named“Pogo” after the famous comic strip character). Poco's appropriately titled 1969 debut "Pickin’ Up The Pieces" is the only rookie album ever to receive a perfect rating from Rolling Stone magazine, boasts Messina's bio, and remains widely lauded as a seminal country-rock release, carving a path for future mega-selling band The Eagles.

Fans of 1970s music debate to this day if Poco got the full credit it deserves.

"I think we got our due," Messina said. "We did what we did, and audiences loved to come see us and we sold out everything."

He ended up on the cover of Rolling Stone several years later after mentoring a young songwriter named Kenny Loggins.

They met in 1970, with Messina initially skeptical if Loggins had the essentials to succeed.

Loggins was a folk singer; Messina felt the music industry had gravitated more toward the soulful rock led by artists like Leon Russell, Joe Cocker, Dave Mason and Delaney & Bonnie.

"Kenny was a project. There were a lot of creative challenges," Messina recalled in a March 3 phone interview. "He hadn't worked with anyone like that before. He had never played in a band, but there was something there I wanted to record. I wanted to see how well he could play."

He recalled their initial meetup, arranged by Columbia Records, starting out something like this:

Messina: Where's your band?

Loggins: I don't have one.

Messina: Well, grab your best guitar.

Loggins: I don't own one.

"I thought really ... are you guys putting me on?" Messina recalled.

Messina handed Loggins a Nylon stringed guitar.

"I had a tape recorder, I pressed the record button and said 'Lay it down.' And out came 'Danny's Song' and 'House on Pooh Corner.'"

Both were future classics.

"I mean, he had his hair parted funnily on one side, braces on his teeth, was kind of lanky. I still needed to think about it," Messina said. "My wife said, 'Well what did you think?' I said I liked the sound of his voice and though the songs he sang weren't rock, they weren't bad. There was potential."

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He decided to record Loggins.

"If I was going to be a successful producer I needed an artist I could record who was diversified, and he was willing to work, he was playful, he enjoyed singing immensely and he was open to trying different kinds of music."

Messina convinced Columbia president Clive Davis to let him sit in with Loggins as jazz artists had done with proteges in the past.

That spawned the title of their November 1971 debut "Kenny Loggins with Jim Messina Sittin' In" featuring "Danny's Song" and a "House at Pooh Corner" given baroque touches by Messina.

The duo found instant success, going on to sell 16 million albums in the next six years, amassing 16 million in sales.

There'd be the fiery "Angry Eyes," an FM radio hit that originated from a soundtrack score Messina was working on, where he needed an ominous sound coinciding with the film's outlaws rolling into town.

Loggins and Messina's biggest hit would be "Your Mama Don't Dance," a song about freedom-craving young adults clashing with over-protective parents and other authority figures.

It's a literary subject that dates as far back as Socrates and Plato, Messina said.

"But we managed to capture it in a way that resonated with a lot of people," he said.

Messina could relate from experience.

"My stepfather was very strict, always telling me I couldn't do this, or I couldn't do that," he said. "My mother stood up for me if there was a dance I wanted to go to from 8-11 p.m., and my stepfather didn't want me out past 10. I'd want to be home at midnight. That's a tough negotiation. It's tough being a teenager dealing with parents who don't trust you."

Did his stepdad grow to appreciate "Your Mama Don't Dance"?

"Eventually," Messina said.

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As demonstrated with his most recent album, 2016's "In the Groove," a live album featuring the late Rusty Young of his Poco, Messina brings an easygoing storytelling style to the stage.

"I'll do a little bit of that on this tour," he said. "I hate to talk too much in the set, but I know people enjoy hearing a few stories. The acoustic part of the show is more casual."

Scott Tady is entertainment editor at The Times and easy to reach at stady@timesonline.com.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Jim Messina talks hits, Loggins and tour that's headed here soon