The Sanford-Townsend Band was a

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

band that scored a

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

in 1977 with "

Smoke from a Distant Fire "Smoke from a Distant Fire" is a song by American duo Sanford-Townsend Band. It was released as a single in 1977 from their self-titled album. The song peaked at No. 9 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on the week ending September 17, 1977, becomin ...

History

The Sanford-Townsend Band featured

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instr ...

s Ed Sanford (from

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...

) and Johnny Townsend (from

Tuscaloosa, Alabama Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal and Piedmont plains meet. Alabama's fifth-largest city, it had an estimated population of 1 ...

), who previously worked together in a Tuscaloosa-based band called Heart (not to be confused with the band of the same name fronted by

Ann Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...

and Nancy Wilson from Seattle/Vancouver). After reuniting in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, Sanford and Townsend signed a publishing deal with

Chappell Music Warner Chappell Music, Inc. is an American music publishing company and a subsidiary of the Warner Music Group. Warner Chappell Music's catalogue consists of over 1.4 million compositions and 65,000 composers, with offices in over 40 countries. ...

and began writing songs, most notably "Peacemaker" for

Loggins and Messina Loggins and Messina was an American rock- pop duo consisting of Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina, who achieved their success in the early to mid-1970s. Among their well-known songs are "Danny's Song", "House at Pooh Corner", and "Your Mama Don't D ...

, which was co-written by Sanford and Townsend with

Kenny Loggins Kenneth Clark Loggins (born January 7, 1948) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. His early songs were recorded with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1970, which led to seven albums recorded as Loggins and Messina from 1972 to 1977. His ...

. Their 1976 self-titled album, recorded at the famous

Muscle Shoals Sound Studio Muscle Shoals Sound Studio is an American recording studio in Sheffield, Alabama, formed in 1969 by four session musicians known as The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. They had left nearby FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals to create their own recor ...

in Alabama, started getting attention when "Smoke from a Distant Fire" reached No. 9 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, No. 9 in

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

, and No. 13 in

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of the three main music industry trade magazines in the United States, along with '' Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 under the name ''Music Vendor'', but in 1964 it was changed to ''Record Wo ...

. The album was retitled with the name of the hit song and re-released as just by Sanford & Townsend. The band supported the song by opening for

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the line-up for their epony ...

on their '' Rumours'' tour, as well as concerts with

The Marshall Tucker Band The Marshall Tucker Band is an American rock band from Spartanburg, South Carolina. Noted for incorporating blues, country, and jazz into an eclectic sound, the Marshall Tucker Band helped establish the Southern rock genre in the early 1970s. Whi ...

Charlie Daniels Charles Edward Daniels (October 28, 1936 – July 6, 2020) was an American singer, musician, and songwriter. His music fused rock, country, blues and jazz, pioneering Southern rock. He was best known for his number-one country hit "The Dev ...

Jimmy Buffett James William Buffett (born December 25, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and businessman. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffet ...

, Foreigner,

Heart The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide t ...

and others. The band's follow-up albums, ''Duo-Glide'' (also credited to Sanford & Townsend) and ''Nail Me To The Wall'' (back to the full band name again), were significantly less successful. Sanford and Townsend returned to their careers as

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

s and

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

s. The band's long-time bassist, Jerry Rightmer, died in 2007 at the age of 57 from

cirrhosis of the liver Cirrhosis, also known as liver cirrhosis or hepatic cirrhosis, and end-stage liver disease, is the impaired liver function caused by the formation of scar tissue known as fibrosis due to damage caused by liver disease. Damage causes tissue repai ...

, brought on by

Hepatitis C Hepatitis C is an infectious disease caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV) that primarily affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. During the initial infection people often have mild or no symptoms. Occasionally a fever, dark urine, a ...

. Former lead guitarist Roger Johnson currently works with his wife in publishing. He had spent 25 years in the film industry as a video technician and editor subsequent to his time in the Sanford-Townsend Band. In 2008, John Townsend formed the Toler/Townsend Band with

Dan Toler Daniel Lee Toler (September 23, 1948 – February 25, 2013), known professionally as "Dangerous" Dan Toler, was an American guitarist. Life and career A native of Connersville, Indiana, Toler became popular in the late 1970s as a member of D ...

. Townsend's tenor voice remains substantially unchanged from thirty years prior.

Principal band members

*John Wayne Townsend: lead vocals, keyboards *Ed Sanford: keyboards, vocals *Roger Johnson: lead guitar, backing vocals *Otis Hale: guitar, woodwinds, backing vocals *Jerry Rightmer: bass, backing vocals *Jim Varley: drums

Discography

Albums

* ''Sanford Townsend Band'' (1976) * ''Smoke from a Distant Fire'' (1977) (Credited to just Sanford & Townsend) – US No. 57 * ''Duo-Glide'' (1978) (Credited to just Sanford & Townsend) – US No. 92 * ''Nail Me to the Wall'' (1979)

Singles

References

External links

* Allmusic entry
"Smoke From A Distant Fire" Songfacts entry

Johnny Townsend Myspace
* {{Authority control Rock music groups from Alabama American southern rock musical groups American soul musical groups Warner Records artists