Anyone who's heard "Longer" and "Same Auld Lang Syne" has had only a glimpse of Dan Fogelberg.

Listen to the four-disc set "Portrait: The Music of Dan Fogelberg 1972-1997" (1997) from beginning to end, and watch the man materialize before you.

Each of the four chapters, "Ballads," "Hits," "Rock & Roll" and "Tales and Travels," gives a peek at the songwriter until a complete portrait emerges: the loves, losses, pains and joys, hopes and fears.

"(My albums) usually encompass a certain time in my life, about three or four years," Fogelberg said in a recent interview from his home in Colorado.

"If you look at 'Home Free' (his 1972 debut) to the present, you can get a pretty good picture of me, my life and philosophies."

But he shows no embarrassment for putting himself so much into the spotlight.

"I love good songwriting," he said. "I like songwriting that goes beyond the pop norm, (which is) pretty banal."

He admits, though, that he hasn't been writing much lately. The days of closing himself up, away from the world, with only the smell of the mountains to guide him, aren't completely gone, just a less-consuming part of his life.

"Songwriting's one of the hardest things to do," Fogelberg said. "I've never been one who could write while traveling on the road. (To write) I close myself up for a long period of time. I'll experience things and they won't come out for a few years. But it stays there, germinates. Then it comes out . . . and I wonder, 'Where did that come from?'

"I've never been able to do that while I'm doing the show-biz part. It's just so pervasive."

This may explain why Fogelberg has put his latest project on the back burner.

Originally scheduled to be released this spring, the latest studio CD should be finished this fall or winter when the tour is over, he said.

Although the upcoming album is his first collection of new songs, Fogelberg said the projects he has released in the past few years, including "Portraits," a live album and a Christmas album, have nonetheless taken dedication and time.

"Portraits," for example, took remastering, compiling and editing 27 years of music, including two platinum albums, four double platinum and one triple, not to mention numerous gold. Plus, Fogelberg drew and painted all the artwork for the book that comes with the set.

"I have been a painter in my life, so I suppose the two have a tendency to work the same way," he said. "You complete something on a canvas. But it's not just a scattered set of thoughts; it's cohesive in both mediums.

"There's nothing abstract about my writing. I like songs that have a more literary basis, more prose-oriented, more novelistic."

Which explains how some of his most personal songs, including his tribute to his father, "Leader of the Band," tell stories of his life. Add to his miniature novels the orchestration - strings, flute - and the full picture comes into view.

Fogelberg credits the Beatles for showing him and his generation how to stray from pop norms of "just four young musicians in a studio." They took control and said, "There are no rules. They showed us anything goes," Fogelberg said. "They showed us we could put strings (on our albums). They freed our generation of musicians and producers.

"Bless them," he added with a laugh.

Fogelberg said he stays pretty much to himself these days, but he's looking forward to heading back on tour, which includes a sold-out concert Friday at the Beau Rivage.

"There are long days, but there are worse things to do," he said.

"At my age, at 50, it's come to mean more to me. It's a very special thing to do. It's great fun . . . and they pay us all this money," he laughed.

"And isn't that what we all want? Do what we love and make money at it?"

Lisa Damiano can be reached at 896-2190 or at lmdamiano@sunherald.com.