Keep the Fire
title: "Keep the Fire" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1979-albums", "kenny-loggins-albums", "albums-produced-by-tom-dowd", "columbia-records-albums", "albums-recorded-at-wally-heider-studios"] topic_path: "arts/music" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keep_the_Fire" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox album"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Keep the Fire |
| type | Album |
| artist | Kenny Loggins |
| cover | Keep_the_Fire.jpg |
| alt | Kenny Loggins, a long-haired bearded man, holding football-sized glowing sphere, standing in front of fantastic space scene above an ocean. |
| released | September 28, 1979 |
| recorded | 1979 |
| genre | Pop rock |
| length | 40:48 |
| label | Columbia |
| producer | Tom Dowd |
| prev_title | Nightwatch |
| prev_year | 1978 |
| next_title | Caddyshack: Music from the Motion Picture Soundtrack |
| next_year | 1980 |
| :: |
| name = Keep the Fire | type = Album | artist = Kenny Loggins | cover = Keep_the_Fire.jpg | alt = Kenny Loggins, a long-haired bearded man, holding football-sized glowing sphere, standing in front of fantastic space scene above an ocean. | released = September 28, 1979 | recorded = 1979 | venue = | studio =
- Filmways/Wally Heider Recording (Hollywood, California)
- Santa Barbara Sound Recording (Santa Barbara, California)
- Criteria (Miami, Florida) | genre = Pop rock | length = 40:48 | label = Columbia | producer = Tom Dowd | prev_title = Nightwatch | prev_year = 1978 | next_title = Caddyshack: Music from the Motion Picture Soundtrack | next_year = 1980 Keep the Fire is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Kenny Loggins, released in 1979. It is perhaps best known for the hit single "This Is It". The song was co-written by Michael McDonald, who also performed on the track. Michael Jackson sings backup vocals on the track "Who's Right, Who's Wrong".
Reception
| rev1 = AllMusic | rev1Score = |rev2 = Christgau's Record Guide |rev2Score = C+ |rev3 = MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide |rev3score = | rev4 = Record Collector | rev4Score = | rev5 = Record Mirror | rev5Score = Rolling Stone described the album as "the new sound of Southern California: a sophisticated, diffuse, jazz-inflected pop rock performed by an augmented rock band in which guitar and keyboards share equal prominence" and "churning romantic atmosphere constructed around a matinee idol's voice". The Globe and Mail noted that, "occasionally, he stumbles into some of the good-time hokey rockin' fun that made such Loggins and Messina numbers as 'Your Mama Don't Dance' so nauseating."
Film
The award-winning short film "Keep the Fire", by Jake Rice, is a fictionalized "Behind the Album Cover" story.
Track listing
|extra_column=Harmony Vocals | headline = Side one |title1 = Love Has Come of Age | writer1 = Kenny Loggins | length1 = 3:51 |title2 = Mr. Night | writer2 = Loggins, Richard Stekol | length2 = 3:20 | extra2 = George Hawkins, Stekol |title3 = This Is It | writer3 = Loggins, Michael McDonald | extra3 = Mike Hamilton, Hawkins, McDonald |length3 = 3:57 |title4 = Junkanoo Holiday (Fallin'-Flyin') | writer4 = Loggins | length4 = 4:30 |title5 = Now and Then |writer5 = Jeff Bouchard, Loggins |length5 = 3:52
| headline = Side two |extra_column = Harmony vocals |title1 = Who's Right, Who's Wrong |writer1 = Loggins, Richard Page |extra1 = Michael Jackson, Page |length1 = 5:38 |title2 = Keep the Fire |writer2 = Eva Ein, Loggins |length2 = 4:34 |title3 = Give It Half a Chance | writer3 = Stephen Bishop, Loggins |extra3 = Jeff Bouchard, Hamilton, Hawkins |length3 = 4:57 |title4 = Will It Last |writer4 = Ein, Loggins |length4 = 5:50
Personnel
Musicians and vocalists
- Kenny Loggins – vocals, guitars, Sennheiser Vocoder (7)
- Brian Mann – keyboards, accordion solo (5)
- Max Gronenthal – ARP synthesizer programming
- Michael McDonald – acoustic piano (3), harmony vocals (3)
- Mike Hamilton – guitars, backing vocals, harmony vocals (3, 8)
- Fred Tackett – acoustic guitar (8, 9)
- George Hawkins – bass, backing vocals, harmony vocals (2, 3, 8)
- Tris Imboden – drums, percussion
- Milt Holland – percussion (1, 2, 4-9)
- Paulinho da Costa – percussion (3)
- Jon Clarke – tambourine, English horn, flute, oboe, recorder, saxophones
- Vince Denham – cabasa, saxophones, flute
- Michael Brecker – tenor sax solo (6)
- Richard Stekol – harmony vocals (2)
- Michael Jackson – harmony vocals (6)
- Richard Page – harmony vocals (6)
- Jeff Bouchard – harmony vocals (8)
Music arrangements
- Brian Mann – horn arrangements, string arrangements (5)
- Albhy Galuten – string arrangements (2, 8)
- Jon Clarke – horn arrangements (2, 7)
Production
- Tom Dowd – producer
- Steve Gersky – first engineer
- Michael Carnavale – second engineer
- Samii Taylor – second mix engineer
- Mike Fuller – mastering at Criteria Studios
- Wayne Williams – guitar synthesizer technician
- Tony Lane – visual coordinator
- Kenny Loggins – cover concept
- Scott Thom – cover concept, cover painting
- Ed Caraeff – cover photography
- Eva Ein Loggins – sleeve photography
Charts
Weekly charts
::data[format=table] | Chart (1979–80) | Peak position | |---|---| | last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6|page=179}} | 95 | | US Top LPs & Tape (Billboard) | 16 | ::
Year-end charts
::data[format=table] | Chart (1980) | Peak position | |---|---| | US Billboard Top Albums | 16 | ::
References
References
- {{AllMusic. .
- Christgau, Robert. (1981). "[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies]]". [[Ticknor & Fields]].
- (1996). "MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide". Visible Ink Press.
- Pinfold, William. (September 2012). "Kenny Loggins-Keep the Fire".
- Sexton, Paul. (16 February 1980). "Kenny Loggins: ''Keep The Fire'' / Jimmy Messina: ''Oasis''".
- Holden, Stephen. (February 7, 1980). "Album reviews: Keep the Fire".
- (29 Dec 1979). "Keep the Fire Kenny Loggins". The Globe and Mail.
- Rice, Jake. "Keep the Fire".
- Kent, David. (1993). "Australian Chart Book 1970–1992". Australian Chart Book.
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