Jim Messina
By All Music Guide
By All Music Guide
Born in Texas, Jim Messinas life was divided between his mothers home in Texas and his fathers home in California. His father was a semi-professional guitarist and greatly influenced his sons musical career. Messina began playing the guitar at the age of five. As time progressed, he became interested in the guitar parts on Elvis Presley and Ricky Nelson records. Living in California, he eventually developed an interest in 60s surf tunes, including hits by Dick Dale and the Deltones and the Champs. Messinas career began at the age of 17 when a deejay heard him and asked him to produce two albums. The albums were unsuccessful but launched Messina into a producing and engineering career. He stayed with the deejay as his assistant, producing and recording albums for new artists. With his new knowledge of producing, he eventually became the second engineer at Hollywoods Sunset Sound. His work involved producing albums for music legends such as the Doors, Lee Michaels, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass -- and, in the mid-60s, Buffalo Springfield.
Messina produced Buffalo Springfields second album, Buffalo Springfield Again, and joined the group as its bass player. He also played and produced on the groups final album, Last Time Around. In 1968, when the group disbanded, three members of the band -- Messina, Richie Furay and Rusty Young -- formed Poco, a band known for combining country and rock. Messina left the band in the early 70s to again pursue a producing career.
His first producing job was a six-album contract with Columbia Records to produce the albums of singer Kenny Loggins. Messina produced Loggins debut album, Sittin In. Messina had already made a name for himself in the music business and began touring with Loggins until he too made a name for himself. The combination of Loggins and Messina released nine albums in seven years with a sales figure of more than two million copies. Their style encompassed folk, country-rock, jazz and classical, with hit songs like Watching the River Run, Travelin Blues, Your Mama Dont Dance and Pathway to Glory,
With a few years off for rest and relaxation, Jim Messina re-entered the music industry, this time concentrating on a solo singing career. During the 80s, he released three solo albums, Bustin Surfboards, Superjammin and Pop Classic of the 70s. His revival included singing and touring again with Poco on their 1989 reunion release, Legacy. Messina tours and performs new songs on a regular basis; the recent album River North is all new material but still features Messinas signature country-rock sound.
