So tough he doesn't have to prove it.
I think if someone tells me they like rock and roll but not this album I'm gonna either laugh, turn up my nose, or spit.
I first ran across Nils Lofgren on an educational tv documentary, of all places. The show was about Roy Buchanan, the certified legendary Maryland guitarist, and it chronicled his return to the little California okie town he�d split from years ago, showcasing his impeccable, brilliant playing with Johnny Otis, Merle Haggard, a bible-thumping white church chorus, a jazz group, and the third rate rock band Buchanan uses. Well, Buchanan is superb, and he could cut the floor boards out from under just about everyone you�d care to name, and they�d all admit it, but when it all comes down, I�d rather hear Bob Dylan warbling about �Genghis Khan and his brother Don.� Buchanan is no rocker and he�s not much fun. There�s only so much you can do with virtuosity. Still, he�s an eloquent, moving musician, and I was sitting in front of my tv being moved when Bill Graham appeared like the tooth fairy to introduce Nils Lofgren, a friend of Buchanan�s, for a guitar duet on �Shotgun.�
Lofgren promptly blew Buchanan off the stage. After two minutes the legend broke a string and he never caught up. Lofgren burned for a good ten minutes, pulled back into a chorus, let the band end it, and then split.
