CoronaVinyl Day 343 (E): Not Shy by Walter Egan

For an explanation of CoronaVinyl, click here.

Today's CoronaVinyl category is "E," and among my recent haul of vinyl from my neighbor were two Walter Egan records, so I'm going with his 1978 sophomore album, Not Shy.

Admittedly, prior to today, I thought Walter Egan was one half of early '70s rock band Stealers Wheel, but turns out that was Joe Egan (no relation).  Walter Egan was (and still is, I suppose) a predominantly soft rocker who saw some success in the late '70s and early '80s.

Not Shy was his biggest record, reaching #44 on the Billboard album chart and producing his only Top 40 hit in the U.S., "Magnet and Steel," which went to #8 on the Billboard Hot 100.  The song also found new life in the late '90s, as it was featured in three films:  Boogie Nights (1997), Overnight Delivery (1998), and the inimitable Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (1999).  The song "Hot Summer Nights" was sampled enough on Eminem's 2009 Top 10 hit "We Made You" that Egan got a songwriting credit.

Overall, the album isn't all soft rock, and there are some good regular rock and pop rock songs.  Egan had some famous help on the album, as it was produced by Fleetwood Mac's Lindsey Buckingham, who also played guitar or sang backing vocals on the album.  Buckingham's band mates Stevie Nicks and Mick Fleetwood also contributed, with Nicks singing backing vocals on five song and Fleetwood playing the drums on two tracks.

Egan has continued to make music over the past four decades and even released a new album earlier this year.

Favorite Song on Side 1:  "Sweet South Breeze"
The album starts off with a foot-tapping, guitar-forward rocker with a southern rock feel.

Favorite Song on Side 2:  "Make It Alone"
This is another one of the harder rocking songs on the album.  It's more brooding than the other songs on the album, and Egan has a nice guitar solo on the track.