Dan Fogelberg and Tim Weisberg
No Resemblance Whatsoever (Giant)

It's been 17 years since Dan Fogelberg and Tim Weisberg released their first collaboration album, Twin Sons Of Different Mothers. Their careers, both before and after that album, were similar in that each would release an album every year or two and each would tour as much as they cared to.

But there also are differences. Tim Weisberg, playing and recording instrumental music, has had a variety of record companies, producers and materials. He has long approached a reunion with Dan Fogelberg as something he'd love to do. Dan Fogelberg is the consummate singer/songwriter/producer. His records sell well. He makes them only when he's ready, and a Twin Sons... reunion could only have happened if he felt like that's what he wanted to do next.

"I was," says Fogelberg, "pretty much off doing my music, and Tim was off doing his. We saw each other occasionally, but not professionally."

Fogelberg recalls, "After I finished my last album, River of Souls, which was a long, involved personal project, I was kinda sick of writing lyrics. So, frustrated, I decided to go into my music room one day and just play for fun... to just compose and remember why I like music. I started composing piano pieces, and one of them struck me as being a perfect vehicle for Tim to play on. I started looking around and realized I had more of this kind of stuff. Once I knew it wasn't just a 'hit-and-run', well, come-on-to-my-album-and-play-one-of-my-songs'', there was a possibility that we could actually do another one of these projects, I started writing specifically for him, and for his instrument, the flute. This was a great deal of fun for me, and things happened all of a sudden... Bingo!...a burst...and off you go!"

Tim Weisberg recalls, "For me, it's exciting, it's inspiring. I've never worked with anybody that makes me work as hard and makes my play to my fullest capability. That's what happened on The Twin Sons Of Different Mothers album. And, when Dan called me up last November and said, 'Let's do it again,' I was in an airplane [snaps fingers] like that! Because, I knew it would be an exciting experience, and I like him as a friend, and I love making music with him. I've been making albums since 1971 and I've never played with anybody who brings out this particular side of my music.

"I take myself seriously when I write my own music," said Fogelberg, "but I don't the rest of the time. Working with Tim is fun. How can you write dark music for a flute? It's like a banjo... as soon as you hear it, you get happy.

"My songs have been autobiographical... exploring my inner self as opposed to exploring the world outside. That's a natural, becoming an adult impulse. Those sorts of questions become moot points, however, as you're growing up, and the focus on yourself that you had as a child changes once you get to know who you are, and you've settled in and found the right person to live with the rest of your life. Thus, it behooves us, to try to help the rest of this planet and the rest of humanity.

"For me, to write a sad love song these days would be hypocrisy because I'm very happy. I'm happily married, and so, obviously, I have to turn to my own experience and my own feelings, and those concerns now are more for our planet and for our society and for the human race."

No Resemblance Whatsoever was worth the wait. It's an excellent album, with eight new Fogelberg compositions and two classics originally done by Jesse Colin Young.

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