Legendary singer-songwriter and cult favorite Dave Loggins passed away on July 10th at the age of 76. He appeared on Jimmy Buffett’s albums and also co-wrote the songs “Treat Her Like a Lady“, “Island“, and “Happily Ever After (Every Now and Then)“.
From Music Row: Celebrated Singer-Songwriter Dave Loggins Dies At Age 76
Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member, CMA Award winner and four-time Grammy nominee Dave Loggins passed away on Wednesday (July 10).
As a recording artist, he is best known for the 1972 pop smash “Please Come to Boston”. As a songwriter, Loggins wrote or co-wrote 14 No. 1 country hits and 25 top 10 successes in various formats.
Born David Allen Loggins, he came from a small hamlet in the Appalachian Mountains of East Tennessee. His father was a country fiddler. Loggins began playing guitar and writing songs when he was in high school in Bristol, Tennessee. He worked as a draftsman and as an insurance salesman before deciding to take his songs to Music City.
He arrived in Nashville in 1970 at age 25. Loggins recalled that his initial progress was slow because his songs were in the troubadour mode of James Taylor or Dan Fogelberg, rather than straight-ahead country compositions. But he got a publishing contract on Music Row, as well as a recording pact with the folk-oriented Vanguard Records.
Loggins moved to Epic Records for 1974’s Apprentice. This album contained his self-composed “Please Come to Boston,” which became a No. 1 AC smash, a No. 5 pop hit and an evergreen radio favorite. The performance earned Loggins a Grammy Award nomination. “Please Come to Boston” has since been recorded by more than dozen other stars, including Glen Campbell, Kenny Chesney and Babyface. Loggins followed that single with “Someday.”
His songs continued to be recorded by such artists as Jimmy Buffett, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Dave Grusin, Tammy Wynette, Rita Coolidge, Vince Gill, Rick Nelson, Marie Osmond, Billy Joe Royal, Sonny James, Loretta Lynn, Nicolette Larson and Johnny Cash, among others. He hit No. 1 on the country charts once again in 1992. This was for Wynonna’s version of “She Is His Only Need.” It resulted in his fourth Grammy nomination.