''The Souther-Hillman-Furay Band'' is the debut

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by the

supergroup Supergroup or super group may refer to: * Supergroup (music), a music group formed by artists who are already notable or respected in their fields * Supergroup (physics), a generalization of groups, used in the study of supersymmetry * Supergroup ...

, The Souther-Hillman-Furay Band, released in 1974 on

Asylum Records Asylum Records is an American record label, founded in 1971 by David Geffen and partner Elliot Roberts. It was taken over by Warner Communications (now the Warner Music Group) in 1972, and later merged with Elektra Records to become Elektra/As ...

. It peaked at number 11 on the ''Billboard'' albums chart.Whitburn, Joel (1995). ''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Albums, 3rd Edition'', p. 289. Billboard Books, New York.

History

The Souther-Hillman-Furay Band was a

country rock Country rock is a genre of music which fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal s ...

supergroup led by singer-songwriters

Richie Furay Paul Richard Furay (born May 9, 1944) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member (with Buffalo Springfield). He is best known for forming the bands Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Bruc ...

Chris Hillman Christopher Hillman (born December 4, 1944) is an American musician. He was the original bassist of and one of the original members of the Byrds, which in 1965 included Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby and Michael Clarke. With frequent ...

, and

J.D. Souther John David "J. D." Souther (born November 2, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He has written and co-written songs recorded by Linda Ronstadt and the Eagles (band), Eagles. Souther is probably best known for his songwriting ab ...

. The band was formed in 1973 upon the request of

David Geffen David Lawrence Geffen (born February 21, 1943) is an American business magnate, producer and film studio executive. He co-created Asylum Records in 1971 with Elliot Roberts, Geffen Records in 1980, DGC Records in 1990, and DreamWorks SKG in 199 ...

, then head of

. The group had a substantial hit with the 1974 self-titled first album and the single "Fallin' in Love" reached No. 27 in the U.S. It was reissued on CD by the Wounded Bird label in 2002.

Reception

In his review for

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, critic Brett Hartenbach wrote "despite high expectations along with the history of their members, the Souther-Hillman-Furay Band's 1974 eponymous debut never quite lived up to its promise. The trio... delivers a collection of ten pleasant, if overall unremarkable tunes in the singer/songwriter, country-rock vein. There are glimmers of past glories by each, but only Furay really connects solidly... there should be enough here—thanks especially to the Furay tracks—that will at least be of moderate interest to most fans."

Track listing

#"Fallin' in Love" (Richie Furay) – 3:31 #"Heavenly Fire" (Len Fagan, Chris Hillman) – 3:46 #"The Heartbreaker" (J. D. Souther) – 2:57 #"Believe Me" (Furay) – 5:03 #"Border Town" (Souther) – 3:54 #"Safe at Home" (Hillman) – 2:54 #"Pretty Goodbyes" (Souther) – 3:43 #"Rise and Fall" (Fagan, Hillman) – 3:08 #"The Flight of the Dove" (Furay) – 4:08 #"Deep, Dark and Dreamless" (Souther) – 5:37

Personnel

- vocals, guitar *

- vocals, bass, mandolin, guitar *

- vocals, guitar * Jim Gordon - drums, percussion * Paul Harris - keyboards *

Joe Lala Joseph Anthony Lala (November 3, 1947 – March 18, 2014) was an American musician and actor. In 1966, he co-founded the rock band Blues Image. Life and career Lala was born in Ybor City, Tampa, Florida, to parents from Contessa Entellina (an e ...

- percussion on "Border Town" and "Rise and Fall" *

Al Perkins Al Perkins (born January 18, 1944) is an American guitarist known primarily for his steel guitar work. The Gibson guitar company called Perkins "the world's most influential dobro player" and began producing an "Al Perkins Signature" Dobro in ...

- pedal steel guitar, guitar and bass on "Heavenly Fire"; dobro on "Rise and Fall" Production notes *

Richard Podolor Richard Allen Podolor (January 7, 1936 – March 9, 2022) was an American musician, record producer and songwriter. His career started as a session musician in the 1950s, and he was best known as the producer of Three Dog Night. Life and career ...

- producer, mixing *

Elliot Roberts Elliot Roberts (born Elliot Rabinowitz,Tom King, ''The Operator: David Geffen Builds, Buys, and Sells the New Hollywood'', p. 54, Broadway Books (New York 2001). February 25, 1943 – June 21, 2019)''The Guardian'' article:Lady of the Canyon" ...

- direction *Doug Sax - mastering *Bill Cooper - engineer, mixing *

Jimmy Wachtel Jimmy Wachtel is an American photographer, art director and designer based in Los Angeles. He has designed album covers for big artists such as Joe Walsh, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Michael Stanley, Jo Jo Gunne, John Cougar, and Buckingham Ni ...

- design, artwork *Amanda Flick - assistant to artwork *Lorrie Sullivan - photography

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Souther-Hillman-Furay Band J. D. Souther albums 1974 debut albums Albums produced by Richard Podolor Albums with cover art by Jimmy Wachtel Asylum Records albums