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Keep the Fire
Studio album by Kenny Loggins
Released	September 28, 1979
Recorded	1979
Studio	Filmways/Wally Heider Recording, Hollywood, California; Santa Barbara Sound Recording, Santa Barbara, California
Genre	Soft rock, jazz, pop
Length	40:48
Label	Columbia
Producer	Tom Dowd
Kenny Loggins chronology
Nightwatch (1978) Keep the Fire (1979) Caddyshack: Music from the Motion Picture Soundtrack (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

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Christgau's Record Guide	C+
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide
Record Collector
Record Mirror

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 Can'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

Personnel

• Kenny Loggins – lead and backing vocals, guitars, Sennheiser Vocoder (7)
• Brian Mann – keyboards, horn arrangements (1, 3–6, 8, 9), accordion solo (5)
• Michael McDonald – acoustic piano (3), harmony vocals (3)
• Max Gronenthal – ARP synthesizer programming
• Mike Hamilton – guitars, backing vocals, harmony vocals (3, 8)
• Fred Tackett – acoustic guitar (8, 9)
• George Hawkins – bass guitar, backing vocals, harmony vocals (2, 3, 8)
• Tris Imboden – drums, percussion
• Milt Holland – percussion
• Paulinho da Costa – percussion (3)
• Jon Clarke – tambourine, English horn, flute, oboe, recorder, saxophone, horn arrangements (2, 7)
• Vince Denham – cabasa, saxophone, 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)

Production

• Producer – Tom Dowd
• Engineer – Steve Gersky
• Second Engineer – Michael Carnavale
• Recorded at Filmways/Wally Heider Recording, Hollywood, California, and Santa Barbara Sound Recording (Santa Barbara, California).
• Mastering – Mike Fuller at Criteria Studios (Miami, Florida).
• Guitar Synthesizer Technician – Wayne Williams
• Visual Coordinator – Tony Lane
• Design Concept – Kenny Loggins and Scott Thom
• Cover Painting – Scott Thom
• Cover Photography – Ed Caraeff
• Sleeve Photography – Eva Ein Loggins

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

1. ^ Keep the Fire at AllMusic. Retrieved 2011-06-17.
2. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: L". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 1, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
3. MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1996. p. 417.
4. Pinfold, William (September 2012). "Kenny Loggins-Keep the Fire". Record Collector. No. 405. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
5. Sexton, Paul (16 February 1980). "Kenny Loggins: Keep The Fire / Jimmy Messina: Oasis". Record Mirror. p. 17.
6. Holden, Stephen (February 7, 1980). "Album reviews: Keep the Fire". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on June 30, 2007. Retrieved June 28, 2013.
7. Niester, Alan (29 Dec 1979). "Keep the Fire Kenny Loggins". The Globe and Mail. p. F4.
8. Rice, Jake. Keep the Fire (A/V stream). Retrieved June 28, 2013.
9. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 179. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.

• 1979 albums
• Kenny Loggins albums
• Albums produced by Tom Dowd
• Columbia Records albums
• Albums recorded at Wally Heider Studios