CoronaVinyl Day 387 (G): Kid Blue by Louise Goffin

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Today's CoronaVinyl category is "G."  Among my most recent vinyl haul from my neighbor were two Louise Goffin albums.  Today I went with her debut album, 1979's Kid Blue.

If the name Goffin sounds familiar, yes, she is the daughter of that Goffin.  And that King.  Her parents are the legendary songwriting team of Gerry Goffin and Carole King.  Thus, it should not come as a surprise that daughter Louise would get into music and become a songwriter herself.

Kid Blue was her debut album, released when she was only 19 years old.  It was produced by famed session musician and songwriter Danny Kortchmar, who had collaborated with and/or written songs for the likes of James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, Neil Young, and Warren Zevon (among others), in addition to releasing his own music.

Of the ten songs on the album, Goffin wrote or co-wrote seven.  Kortchmar wrote one, and the other two are covers -- The Beatles' "All I've Got To Do" and The Shangri-Las' "Remember (Walking in the Sand)."  The album is a mixture of pop, power pop, and rock.  All in all, it wasn't bad.  Goffin certainly sings older than a 19-year-old, if that makes sense.  She reminds me of Linda Ronstadt, Patty Smyth from Scandal, and, of course, her mother.

Goffin plays piano and/or guitar The backing musicians on the album are fantastic as well.  Here are some of the musicians who play on the album:

• Kortchmar plays guitar on the entire album, and other guitarists include session musicians Waddy Wachtel and Michael Landau
• Toto's David Paich, Steve Lukather, and Mike Porcaro -- who I feel like had a hand in 75% of the albums released between 1975 and 1985 -- play on a few songs
• Peter Asher of Peter & Gordon plays guitar and percussion on a couple tracks
• King and Don Henley sing backing vocals on one song
• Eagles collaborator J.D. Souther sings backing vocals on two songs
• Drums are provided by veteran session drummers Russ Kunkel, Mike Baird, and David Kemper
• The bassists were session bassist Lee Sklar and future Pablo Cruise member John Pierce
• Pianos, organs, and synthesizers were provided by veteran session musician Don Grolnick, Andrew Gold (who, among many other accomplishments wrote and sang The Golden Girls theme song and "Spooky, Scary Skeletons"), and Bob Mayo (who had been in Peter Frampton's band)

Goffin continued to make music over the past four decades, both her own releases and contributing her talents as a songwriter or side woman.  Among other things, she contributed a song to the Fast Times at Ridgemont High soundtrack, and she and her mother dueted on the Gilmore Girls theme song.

Kid Blue isn't on Spotify, and I didn't find it on YouTube either, so I just embedded the YouTube video of the title track.

Favorite Song on Side 1:  "Kid Blue"
The title track kicks the album off on a rocking note.  It's definitely got a late '70s/early '80s sound, but that's a plus in my book.

Favorite Song on Side 2:  "Jimmy and The Tough Kids"
This song starts out slow, but then quickly picks up, with some mini delicious drum fills from Kemper.  It turns into a pretty good new wavey power pop song, but I guess you'll never know unless you get the album, as this song isn't on Spotify or YouTube.