Kenny Loggins

Released: July 12, 1978

Songwriter: Joe South

Producer: Bob James

Down in the boondocks
Down in the boondocks
People put me down 'cause that's the side of town I was born in

I love her and she loves me
But I don't fit her society
Lord have mercy on a boy from down in the boondocks

Every night I will watch the light from the house upon the hill
I love a little girl that lives up there, I guess I always will
But I don't dare knock on her door
Her daddy is my boss man
So I'll just have to be content
To see her whenever I can

Down in the boondocks, down in the boondocks
People put me down 'cause that's the side of town I was born in

I love her and she loves me
But I don't fit her society
Lord have mercy, on a boy from down in the boondocks (harmony)

Down in the boondocks, down in the boondocks

One fine day I'll find a way to move from this old shack
I'll hold my head up like a king - I never, never will look back
Until that morning I'll work and slave
And I'll save every dime
But tonight she'll have to steal away
To see me one more time

Down in the boondocks
Down in the boondocks
People put me down 'cause that's the side of town I was born in

I love her and she loves me
But I don't fit her society
Lord have mercy on a boy from down in the boondocks
Lord have mercy on a boy from down in the boondocks
Lord have mercy on a boy from down in the boondocks

Singer, songwriter, and guitarist Kenny Loggins has enjoyed more than three decades of success in the music business, as a songwriter and performer, mostly in a soft rock vein. He was born Kenneth Clarke Loggins in Everett, WA in early 1948, and the family later moved to Detroit, and finally to Alhambra, CA when he was in his teens. He initially turned to music as a way of compensating for his extreme shyness, and found that he was, indeed, a talented guitarist and had a voice. For a time in the late ‘60s he was based in Pasadena, studying at Pasadena City College. At the end of the decade, Loggins passed through the lineup of a band called Gator Creek, who were good enough to get signed to Mercury Records. The group recorded one self-titled album, which was issued in 1970 and included an early version of “Danny’s Song,” a track that he later recorded again as part of Loggins & Messina. He also spent time with a short-lived group called Second Helping, and was a member of the stage incarnation of the Electric Prunes during a later phase of that group’s history.

Loggins was proficient on the guitar and piano, but it was his songwriting that allowed him to make his first lasting impression on the music industry. He took a job as a staff writer for Wingate Music, for $100.00 a week, and later that year four of his songs ended up on the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band album Uncle Charlie & His Dog Teddy. This event was particularly fortuitous, as that album was the first release by the newly reconstituted version of the group, and included what proved to be their biggest hit, “Mr. Bojangles.” The presence of the latter helped make Uncle Charlie one of the group’s biggest selling long-players; and the exposure generated a second hit in the form of Loggins’ own “House at Pooh Corner.”

The success of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s recordings brought Loggins to the attention of former Poco member Jim Messina, who was working as a staff producer at CBS. It was Messina’s intention to produce Loggins' debut album, but he also ended up playing and singing on the record, and it worked out so well that the two ended up in a duo. Loggins & Messina were among the most popular folk-based soft rock acts of the first half of the ‘70s and enjoyed a four-year string of successful albums.

more tracks from the album

Nightwatch

From the album

Nightwatch (1978)

Kenny Loggins popular songs

Down in the BoondocksKenny Loggins

Kenny Loggins

Nightwatch