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mahatmakanejeeves

(65,234 posts)
Tue Jun 24, 2025, 12:06 PM Tuesday

On June 21, 1951, Nils Lofgren was born.

Nils Lofgren


Nils Lofgren playing in 2019

Background information
Birth name: Nils Hilmer Lofgren
Born: June 21, 1951 (age 74); Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Genres: Roots rock, heartland rock, blues rock, hard rock
Website: nilslofgren.com

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 member of Crazy Horse, and founder/frontman of the band Grin. Lofgren was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the E Street Band in 2014.

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Nils Lofgren: The Formative Years

As a teaser for our forthcoming Family Album feature on NILS LOFGREN’s classic 1975 self-titled debut album, we present some excerpts of Nils’s conversation with MARTIN RUDDOCK about his formative years, his long association with NEIL YOUNG, and his future plans


Nils Lofgren Archive

Nils Lofgren: I was a classical accordionist, I started playing aged five in Chicago. Bless my Mom and Dad, they paid for nine years of classical accordion lessons and I just took to it.

It was a great musical backdrop for me. At maybe ten or eleven, somebody played me a Jerry Lee Lewis or Chuck Berry record.

At the time I wasn’t emotionally mature enough to understand the guttural street soul of it. It’s three chords, it’s quite repetitive. I didn’t get it. But fast forward a couple of years and all of a sudden there’s The Beatles with minor chords and incredible melodies, really interesting harmonies with that street soul of rock ’n’ roll. It just floored me. Literally it possessed me. Literally overnight almost, between The Beatles and the Stones I fell in love with the entire British Invasion, of course the American counterpart – Buffalo Springfield, The Byrds, Moby Grape.

I got to open for The Hollies in a high school band called The Crystal Mesh when I was a teenager. They were extraordinary. All of a sudden through The Beatles I discovered Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Little Richard, Stax-Volt, Motown. Within a couple of months there were hundreds of these incredible pieces of music I was completely oblivious to. It was kind of like a possession. My brother Tom started teaching me some guitar. I started playing in teen club bands but it was always a hobby. Nobody thought you could do it for a living, it was just beautiful music that inspired us all

At Constitution Hall I went to see The Blues Magoos, Herman’s Hermits, and The Who.



It was extraordinary. The Jimi Hendrix Experience was playing the late show over at The Ambassador Theatre so we all rushed over there after being blown away by The Who. We went to see Jimi and Pete Townshend was in the audience, that was the big buzz, this murmur through the crowd. That night Jimi came out, he completely blew our minds. I’d never been so mesmerised by a musician in my life. It was really The Beatles and the Stones that got me off the classical accordion and into rock ’n’ roll, but it was that night I became almost uncomfortably possessed with this notion that “You need to be a professional rock musician.” It grew and it festered, and became an uncomfortable haunting, if you will… but sure enough in my senior year

I dropped out of high school and ran away to Greenwich Village and officially began my professional career at 17. I’d look up record companies in the Yellow Pages and I’d subway up to an address, walk in, not knowing what the hell I was doing and say “Hey! I need a job.”

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{snip}

Let's take a Monkees break. You'll see why.


The Monkees at the Circus

MeTV

63.7K subscribers

3,475 views Aug 18, 2019
This hilarious clip may be more than meets the eye!

Read about Mickey Dolenz singing the theme song to 'Circus Boy' on 'The Monkees.'
https://www.metv.com/stories/micky-dolenz-made-one-quick-cute-reference-to-his-tv-past-in-a-monkees-episode

Want more MeTV?
Download our app & go to metv.com for stories, quizzes and more!

Find a MeTV station near you: metv.com/wheretowatch


The Monkees at the Circus | Retro TV Episode Review

Enchanted Essays

1.58K subscribers

684 views Jul 28, 2023
Welcome to Monkee Madness, the series where I watch and review every episode of the Monkees in preparation for a full series ranking whenever I've finished.

Buy me a coffee on Ko Fi: https://ko-fi.com/enchantedessays

Follow me on Twitter: / enchantedessays https://x.com/EnchantedEssays

Follow me on Instagram: / enchantedessays https://www.instagram.com/enchantedessays

{snip}

This has to be Nils Lofgren's most often heard tune:


Jhoon Rhee Taekwondo Nobody Bother Me Commercial

parkerbros

2.04K subscribers

689,332 views Oct 15, 2006
Jhoon Rhee, a killer jingle, and two kids who could NEVER be bothered!! yes indeedy do folks, here it is, THE finest local commercial to ever grace a television in the history of... television (or at least the Metro Washington DC area)!!!!

Jhoon Rhee Taekwondo

CALL USA-1000

JHOON RHEE MEANS
MIGHT FOR RIGHT!!!

NOBODY BOTHERS ME and NOBODY BOTHERS ME EITHER... WINK!!

music by Nils Lofgren

Now let's go to that rock and roll that the kids all like.

Crazy Horse (album)


Studio album by Crazy Horse

Released: February 1971
Recorded: 1970
Studio: Wally Heider (San Francisco), Sunset Sound (Los Angeles), A&M (Hollywood)
Genre: Country rock, roots rock, hard rock
Length: 38:59
Label: Reprise
Producer: Jack Nitzsche, Bruce Botnick

Crazy Horse is the debut album by Crazy Horse, released in 1971 by Reprise Records. It is the only album by the band to feature Danny Whitten recorded without Neil Young, and it peaked at No. 84 on the Billboard 200 album chart.

Background

Members of this band had already released an album in 1968 as The Rockets and had appeared on record twice with Neil Young as Crazy Horse. The core trio from the Rockets, Danny Whitten, Billy Talbot, and Ralph Molina, provided instrumental backing for Young's 1969 album Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, and performed on some songs from Young's 1970 album After the Gold Rush. Producer/keyboardist Jack Nitzsche, who had been a member of Phil Spector's Wrecking Crew and played on records by the Rolling Stones, had worked with Young on his debut solo album and on tracks for Buffalo Springfield. He was drafted into Crazy Horse to back up Young on their short tour in early 1970. During sessions for Gold Rush, they met teenage multi-instrumentalist Nils Lofgren, who joined the band in time for this album. The band got a contract with Reprise Records after the exposure garnered from their association with Young.

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Beggars Day

Crazy Horse - Topic

7.71K subscribers

50,697 views Nov 28, 2014
Provided to YouTube by Warner Records

Beggars Day · Crazy Horse

Crazy Horse

℗ 1971 Warner Records Inc.

Bass: Billy Talbot
Background Vocals: Billy Talbot
Engineer, Producer: Bruce Botnick
Guitar, Vocals: Danny Whitten
Engineer: David Briggs
Fiddle, Violin: Gib Guilbeau
Mixer: Henry Lewy
Keyboards, Piano, Producer, Vocals: Jack Nitzshe
Engineer: Jackson Schwartz
Producer: Kirby Johnson
Digital Masterer: Lee Herschberg
Engineer: Leslie Foster
Guitar, Vocals: Nils Lofgren
Drums: Ralph Molina
Engineer, Producer: Richard Heenan
Pedal Steel Guitar: Ry Cooder
Slide Guitar: Ry Cooder
Producer: Spellbound Kelly
Arranger: Crazy Horse
Writer: Nils Lofgren

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Grin - White Lies

Rick Yon

20.4K subscribers

109,983 views Jan 6, 2009
From the 1971 album 1+1.

Nils Lofgren - Guitars, Lead Vocals
Bob Gordon - Bass, Vocals
Bob Berberich - Drums, Vocals

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Fri Jun 21, 2024: On this day, June 21, 1951, Nils Lofgren was born.

Wed Jun 21, 2023: On this day, June 21, 1951, Nils Lofgren was born.

2023 was the year I split up the Joey Molland and Nils Lofgren posts. In previous years, you saw these:.

Tue Jun 21, 2022: On this day, June 21, Joey Molland (1947) and Nils Lofgren (1951) were born.

Mon Jun 21, 2021: On this day, June 21, Joey Molland (1947) and Nils Lofgren (1951) were born.

Sun Jun 21, 2020: On this day, June 21, Joey Molland (1947) and Nils Lofgren (1951) were born.

Thu Jun 21, 2018: Happy birthday, Joey Molland and Nils Lofgren.

Nils Lofgren tweeted remarks when Representative Raskin's son died.

Sat Feb 13, 2021: So many heartfelt thank-yous are pouring in to Rep. Raskin

Thank you to all who fought the good fight.
@RepRaskin
You are a man amongst men. Thank you.


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