Customer Reviews

Souther/Hillman/Furay

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This album was a terrific debut for what should have been a long list to follow. The talent of all 6 members, 7 with Joe Lala on percussion was incredible. I have NEVER heard another voice in concert as full, pure, and powerful as Richie Furay's. Believe Me is a great tune for Furay as is Fallin in Love. Hillman's Safe at Home and Heavenly Fire show two side of Chris' talent , and Souther shines with Pretty Goodbye, Border Town and Deep, Dark & Dreamless. Listen to the harmonies on Heavenly Fire... WOW! In the vien of CSNY, Eagles, Poco and the Byrds. These guys could sing with the best of them. I saw them in '74 at the Capitol Theatre in passaic,nj. The played everything! SHF's, Byrds', Burritos', Poco's and JD's til they ran out of song they knew.WHAT a NIGHT! and Richie's voice....unmatched! Like the Band and The Allmans, the album doesn't quite give the listener the full power of how they sounded in person.

When David Geffen finished putting his super group together by coaxing Richie Furay to leave Poco, he must have had high hopes for his creation.Although the group never broke through commercially, or jelled as a unit, you would never know it from this sparkling debut album. The album starts off in high gear with Furay's highest charting single Fallin' In Love. Over Al Perkins searing guitar and Jim Gordon's thundering funky drums that fabulous tenor wails clear into your soul. Good Feelin's are his trademark and Richie turns it up a notch for the rest of his bandmates. Fortunately they are up for the challenge. Chris Hillman does a fine turn with Heavenly Fire, a slower country rock tune with Al Perkins turning in a heartfelt performance on Steel guitar. J.D. Souther, the silent Eagle, takes the reins next with a gritty Heartbreaker. When he sings "he's Mr. Deliver, he'll never let you down" he's operating in that territory he knows so well, a mix of swagger and cynicsm set against a California that later was immortalized by the Eagles. All in all, the ten songs here are all gems. Chris Hillman's highlight is the burner, Safe at Home.A cautionary tale, Chris sings of that same Southern California scene, advising a young lady that she'd be "Safe at Home, momma don't you call me on the telephone". Jim Gordon's drumming on this album is nothing short of incendiary , he really puts his stamp on the groups sound. Listen to the band's follow up album Trouble In Paradise. While the title track aptly describes the band's demise the first thing I noticed about the record was Gordon's absence. Replaced by Ron "Crunchy" Grinel the drums are sufficient, but never more than ordinary. Rounding out this debut, Paul Harris' keyboard work shines on nearly every track.Teh album boasts a great mix of dobro, steel guitar and Hammond organ. Two songs near the middle of the stand out, Bordertown and Pretty Goodbyes. The former is kick started by Jim Gordon, laying down a hefty groove for the band to wallow in, and the latter is a beutiful acoustic break up song featuring vocal harmonies that rival the best work of groups like Poco. Furay sounds absolutely anguished when he sings on Flight of the Dove, " If I say to you, I just can't get through apathy, it's killin' me !" Hard to believe that just two years later he would be singing the title track to his first solo album, "I've Got a Reason, for livin' each day, I've got a Reason for makin' it pay ". In short, this album is as good as anything ever put to tape by their better known peers, The Eagles. Joe McSpadden

I moved south from Ohio to Texas at age 18 in 1972. It was a great time for music makers and music lovers. I've done both. Over the next 5 years I compiled 3 crates of records with everything from America to Z.Z. Topp. Out of all of those records, I find myself going back to this one over and over. If you are looking for harmonies, guitar licks, driving drums as well as sweet melodies to soothe the soul, this is a CD you'll find yourself going back to over and over again as well. "Heavenly Fire" will uplift you. "The Heartbreaker" will redeem you and "Rise and Fall" will help you greet another day. I have grieved for years that these guys only cut two albums. The music world deserved more.

As others have written, this album, like "Good Feeling to Know" by Poco, is one of the finest collections of music ever put together. If you don't like this album, you like Led Zeppelin, and that's OK too. The highlight for me is "Border Town" because of the relentless percussion that starts, runs and finishes the fade out. The guitar break in the middle is like three hard, high fastballs at your chin. I really like the Southern California Seventies attitude (I was here then)"Life ain't so easy in this Bordertown, (too much) too much dope and too much running around. And you'd never even hear it if the truth went down". That's it, thats IT! Richie Furay was a genius. This album is an example of that.

This album by Souther Hillman Furay band is a very good album although I think better music is available by all 3 on other projects. JD Southers contributions all pale beside Black Rose and Home by Dawn except Deep Dark and Dreamless, with its soaring harmonies and Pretty Goodbyes. Heartbreaker and Border town were too Tex/Mex - Rockabilly for the rest of the band and the album and just don`t seem to fit. Furay`s Believe Me is a standout, a never released Poco song. Fallin in Love is also a great tune by Richie. Hillman is the weak link, Safe at Home sounding exactly like some of his collaborations with McGuinn later in his career. Heavenly Fire and Rise and Fall are forgettable too. All in all I would look for Poco`s A Good Feeling to Know, the above mentioned Souther albums and Manassas albums before this. Having said that it does seem to creep onto my car CD player with monotonous regularity!?! and its my 2nd copy!?!

The Souther Hillman Furay Band was something of a country rock supergroup featuring J.D. Souther, best known for his association with The Eagles, Chris Hillman, an original member of The Byrds and Richie Furay from The Buffalo Springfield and Poco. Their debut album is in the musical styling of those bands as well as The Flying Burrito Brothers and Gram Parsons. "Fallin' In Love" is the first song and single from the album and their best number. It has a rolling riff with perfect pitch harmonies from the band. In fact it's the dead on harmonies that is the band's strong suit. Other standout tracks include the gorgeous "Border Town", "Safe At Home" and "Heavenly Fire". The band was short-lived as they released only one more album, Trouble In Paradise, and then disbanded.

i couldn't agree more with the review from j.m. of "USA" his review was extremely well-written and accurate. unfortunately, the band had its' troubles with quintessential beat-keeper jim gordon having trouble in paradise. i guess it's to be expected with the drummer of that star-crossed band "derek and the dominoes" he also shares the kit work with aynsley dunbar on the excellent album "cry tough" by nils lofgren. anyway, the percussion, writing, and vocals and well-done for a debut album. frankly, this cd was difficult to find and took a while to get. it should be highly recommended to all. by the way "believe me" by richie furay is very good also. five stars!

I got this one way back in 75 or 76. Cost me a buck in the cutout bin. Ever since I remembered it over the years and then found it on CD here I think. It was as good as I remember. There are some really great tunes, a few clunkers but overall a great sentimental favorite. Drove my friends nuts putting this on when Kiss and Alice Cooper were all the rage. P.S I think it was really only a quarter, not a buck.

Mr. Geffen liked to believe that bringing together the qualities of John David Souther, Chris Hillman and Ritchie Furay would guarantee success. It wasn't to be. Their debut was o.k., but nothing more than that, and they vanished into thin air after their completely mistaken second album, appropriately named 'Trouble In Paradise'. Still, some 25 years later, the debut album of the SHF Band sounds o.k., nothing more, nothing less, but if you really look and listen to it, it's a waste of talent.