Firefall - 1976-05-05 - Paul's Mall, Boston, MA

Firefall
May 5, 1976
Paul's Mall, Boston, MA
Audience master recording, very good quality
available as both lossless (FLAC)
and mp3 @ 320 kbps versions

Here's another rare, previously uncirculated audience master recording from our friend David, available excusively here at the BB Chronicles! Here we have Firefall, on the last night of a 3-day run at Paul's Mall in Boston, opening for J.D. Souther. This represents the first set of shows from Firefall right around the time of the release of their first album. Thus, they are just on the brink of stardom, but not yet well-known, as their album has just been released. However, within a few short weeks, their first single 'Livin Ain't Livin' would be a major hit, and their album would be the fastest album to achieve gold record status ever. The band is loose and casual, but play a very tight and impressive set, supplementing their 1st album tracks with Rick Roberts' songs from his solo albums and the Flying Burrito Brothers (it's interesting that the FBB songs get the most enthusiastic audience response, because most of them did not yet know any of the Firefall songs). Thus, although it might at first seem odd for Firefall to open for J.D. instead of the other way around, this is at the very beginning of the band's career. And it's great to hear them at this stage, with the songs new and fresh (and before a more 'pop sound' encroached), playing more diverse songs and styles (showing more of their 'country-rock' chops), and being just a great bar hall band. This is also a very fine recording, clear and having a full range of sound (David told me he knew one of the roadies on their crew and they let him set up his recording equipment right on stage). Great Stuff. Included are all the songs from the first set, as well as the songs that were different from the second set. Once again, I have done some minor editing to correct some problems (volume fluctuations, speed correction, etc.) and enhance the overall sound and show (One note: There is a very brief minor tape glitch/cut at around 2:40 in track 13 (She is a Song) but lasts less than a second. If you like this show, you may be interested to know that previously available recordings (good quality, too) also exist for the first 2 nights of this gig, and may still be available through Rocking'byrd's blog (rocking-byrd.blogspot.com). To round out this show, I have also added 2 bonus tracks (of different songs) from the first night (5-3-76) to this collection (mp3-only, however). I will also be posting J.D. Souther's set from this same night (5-5-76) very soon. So, enjoy, and stay tuned for more.
 
First set
01. It Doesn't Matter
02. Diamond Cut Diamond
03. Cinderella
04. Love Isn't All
05. Livin' Ain't Livin'
06. In Her Eyes
07. Colorado
08. Do What You Want
09. Mexico
Additional songs from second set
10. You Never Know
11. No Way Out
12. Sunny Day
13. She Is A Song
14. She Made Me Lose My Blues
Bonus tracks (from 1976-05-03 show [mp3-only])
15. Four Days of Rain
16. Two Lovely Women

Rick Roberts - vocals, guitar
Larry Burnett - vocals, guitar
Jock Bartley - lead guitar, vocals
Mark Andes - bass
Michael Clarke - drums
David Muse - keyboards, saxophone, percussion, flute, harmonica

---------------------------- a BB Chronicles Exclusive Presentation -----------------------------


mp3 version: Firefall_1976-05-05_Boston_mp3 link here
New Link (Updated (10/5/21)

FLAC version:  Firefall_1976-05-05_Boston_FLAC.rar

Up next, J.D. Souther's show from the same night!

Chris Hillman & Friends - 1983-05-05 - Cotati, CA (both sets)

Chris Hillman & Friends
(Bernie Leadon, Al Perkins, Herb Pedersen & Bill Bryson)
1983-05-05 (both sets)
Cotati Cabaret, Cotati, Ca
Soundboard - Very Good Sound Quality
mp3 @ 192

After the extended reunion tours and albums with Gene Clark and Roger McGuinn (McGuinn, Clark, and Hillman, McGuinn/Hillman) had run their course (by end of 1981), Chris Hillman decided he wanted to get back to his country and bluegrass roots. So, he once again turned to old friends and FBB alums Bernie Leadon (who had left the Eagles) and Al Perkins, as well as his old bluegrass buddy Herb Pedersen and bassist Bill Bryson (both formerly of the bluegrass group, the Dillards). With this lineup, he recorded 2 bluegrass-oriented albums for Sugar Hill Records (Morning Sky, 1982 & Desert Rose, 1984), as well as toured together throughout 1983-84. Around this time, Hillman and Pedersen were also asked by Dan Fogelberg to join him on his new all-star bluegrass-oriented album and tour, High Country Snows, in 1985. This union eventually lead Hillman and Pedersen to form the Desert Rose Band, which was a very successful traditional country band for the next several years. In this fine soundboard recording (featuring both sets from from their Cotati Cabaret show) near the beginning of this next phase of Chris Hillman's career, Chris primarily features some FBB tracks with mainly new or traditional songs with a a definitely more bluegrass sound and feel, and highlighting the expertise of his band.

Tracklist
Set 1:
1. Instrumental (1:07)
2. Tomorrow Is A Long Time (2:25)
3. Last Thing On My Mind (2:53)
4. You Don't Know My Mind (2:02)
5. Burrito Breakdown (2:17)
6. God Loves His Children (2:43)
7. Running The Roadblocks (2:03)
8. Desert Rose (2:32)
9. Love And Wealth (2:25)
10. The Christian Life (2:18)
11. Don't Let Your Sweet Love Die (2:05)
12. Why You Been Gone So Long (2:23)
13. Hollywood Is Making Me Blue (2:41)
14. How Mountain Girls Can Love (2:07)
15. Children Are Crying (2:04)
Set 2:
16. Fallen Eagle (2:00)
17. Wheels (2:49)
18. Devil In Disguise (2:46)
19. You Don't Know My Mind (2:04)
20. Sin City (3:44)
21. Burrito Breakdown (2:11)
22. Love And Wealth (2:25)
23. Don't Let Your Sweet Love Die (2:09)
24. Instrumental (2:13)
25. God Loves His Children (2:50)
26. Instrumental (2:56)
27. Children Are crying (2:46)
28. Take Me In Your Lifeboat (2:40)
29. How Mountain Girls Can Love (2:06)
30. Desert Rose (2:27)

New Link! (Updated 08/27/21)
Hillman_Leadon_Perkins_Bryson__Pedersen_-_Cotati_Cabaret_1983-05-05.rar

Chris Hillman with Kim O'Kelly - 1978-03-02 - Roslyn, NY (acoustic)

Chris Hillman with Kim O'Kelly
Acoustic duo performance
March 2, 1978
My Father's Place, Roslyn, NY (early show)
Very good quality audience recording
Mp3 @ 192 kbps

A couple more Chris Hillman shows I want to post. This one is a unique acoustic duo show featuring Chris and Kim O'Kelly, who was a back-up singer in his band at that time. This was a rarity for Hillman, who up to this point at least, had always performed with a band. These acoustic versions of many of his songs, as well as the addition of a female voice, provide some interesting highlights to Hillman's songs. Hillman released fine solo albums in 1976 and 1977 (Slippin' Away and Clear Sailin'), and primarily toured with his own band, the Chris Hillman Band (although a completely different band than the 1975 CHB, because now Firefall was a hit band on it's own) in support of those albums. This acoustic show was a bit of a change, then, but still featured many songs from those solo albums ('Step On Out', 'Witching Hour', 'Lifeboat', 'Love is the Sweetest Amnesty', 'Fallen Favorite', and 'Nothing Gets Through'), as well as a healthy selection of tracks from his previous FBB, Manssas, and SHF Bands. Shortly after this (in June 1979), Hillman would join former Byrd-mates Roger McGuinn and Gene Clark, who had been performing and touring together for awhile, to form McGuinn Clark and Hillman (MCH), which was not quite a Byrds reunion, but something similar. MCH would become quite successful both as a touring act, and eventually recording 2 albums of new material (although many Byrds fans objected to the slick style and production of those albums). Clark once again would leave the group early (in 1981), and McGuinn and Hillman continued for some time longer as a duo (and another album). But here, we have Hillman, on his own, singing and playing a casual acoustic show with singer Kim O'Kelly at My Father's Place in Roslyn, NY. Again, thanks to Rocking-byrd for making this and many other Byrds-related shows available through his blog (rocking-byrd.blogspot.com). 

Tracklist:
1. Step On Out (2:29)
2. Nothing Gets Through (4:09)
3. Rise And Fall (2:52)
4. Wheels (2:45)
5. Ring Of Love (3:13)
6. Do For The Others (3:05)
7. Witching Hour (3:54)
8. Fallen Favorites (2:53)
9. Do Right Woman (4:37)
10. (Take Me In Your) Lifeboat (3:10)
11. Sin City (2:30)
12. Safe At Home (2:33)
13. Love Is The Sweetest Amnesty (2:55)
14. Bound To Fall (2:03)
15. It Doesn't Matter (2:36)
16. Both Of Us (3:46)
17. So You Want To Be A Rock 'N' Roll Star (2:30)

New Link! (Updated 08/27/21)
Chris_Hillman__Kim_OKelly_-_1978-03-02_-_Roslyn_NY.rar

Chris Hillman Band - 1975-09-22 - Main Point, Bryn Mawr, PA

The Chris Hillman Band
1975-09-22
The Main Point, Bryn Mawr, PA
Very Good Quality Audience Recording
mp3 @ 192 kbps

Here's Chris Hillman and his band in 1975, which could have been called something like the 'Firefallin' Burrito Brothers'. After the SHF band wrapped up their tour in late 1974 and head back into the studio to work on their 2nd album, it was clear that the personal differences within the band had become a major problem. Ritchie Furay's recent conversion and burgeoning enthusiasm for evangelical christianity (aided and abetted by Al Perkins) was an annoyance to Souther and Hillman, who formed the 'Heathen Defense League' in response to repeated efforts to 'save' them. They each wrote their own songs and only came together to record them. When the album, the aptly titled Trouble in Paradise, was finished and released in 1975, to generally lackluster reviews and sales, and a planned tour was cancelled (supposedly due to an injury to Furay's hand, but possibly also because the principals had just lost interest), the group quickly disbanded. Actually, although Trouble in Paradise couldn't match the excellence of their 1st, it is still a quite solid album, containing gems such as Souther's title track and 'Mexico' and Hillman's 'Follw Me Through'. After SHF, the 3 stars quickly returned to solo careers and each released a new solo album in 1976 (Souther's Black Rose, Hillman's Slippin Away, and Furay's I've Got a Reason). After the breakup of SHF, Hillman, in particular wasted no time getting back out on the road. He called up friend and former FBB alum Rick Roberts, who by now had formed a new band, called Firefall, which was practicing and playing together but did not have a record deal or any recordings yet. So, Roberts, along with his Firefall mates guitarist Jock Bartley (who also earlier played with Gram Parsons) and bassist Mark Andes (formerly of Spirit) joined Chris to form the temporary and hastily put together band dubbed the Chris Hillman Band for a series of concert dates in the fall of 1975. Actually, it was towards the end of these show dates, when Chris became ill, and had to dropout of the tour, that Firefall continued the shows on their own, and attracted the Attention of Atlantic record execs, who offered them their recording contract, and they almost immediately began recording their first album. But in this show, earlier in the tour, Chris was definitely in charge, playing a mixture of tunes from his various bands, from the Byrds, Burritos, Manassas, and SHF Bands, as well as a few new tunes (such as 'Step On Out', 'Take it on the Run', and 'Down in the Churchyard') that would later appear on his 1976 solo album, Slippin Away. Here are both sets from his excellent Main Point show, and a very fine recording it is. Thanks to the excellent Rocking-byrd blog (rocking-byrd.blogspot.com) for this one, as well as so many other fine Byrds-related shows.

Chris Hillman
Rick Roberts
Jock Bartley
Mark Andes
Michael Wootten

Early Show
01 - Lazy Days
02 - Hot Burrito #2
03 - It Doesn't Matter
04 - Follow Me Through
05 - Heavenly Fire
06 - Sin City
07 - Fallen Eagle
08 - Step On Out
09 - Colorado
10 - Can't You Hear Me Calling
11 - Wheels
12 - The Race Is On
13 - Rise And Fall
14 - Mystery train
15 - So You Want To Be A Rock 'N' Roll Star

Late Show
01 - Safe At Home
02 - Down In The Churchyard
03 - High Fashion Queen
04 - Four Days Of Rain
05 - White Line Fever
06 - Devil In Disguise
07 - Take It On The Run
08 - She Is A Song
09 - Step On Out
10 - Do Right Woman
11 - Bound To Fall
12 - Things Will Be Better
13 - Time Between
14 - Six Days On The Road
15 - Lies
16 - So You Want To Be A Rock 'N' Roll Star
17 - Can't You Hear Me Calling

New Link! Updated 08/27/21
Chris_Hillman_Band_1975-09-22_Main_Point_Bryn_Mawr_both_sets.rar

Souther-Hillman-Furay Band - 1974-10-11 - Boston, MA

The Souther-Hillman-Furay Band
1974-10-11
Orpheum Theater, Boston, MA
Good quality audience master recording
available as both Lossless files (FLAC)
& mp3 @ 320 kbps

To finish off this run of rare, previously uncirculated audience master recordings of the SHF Band graciously provided by David of MA, here is a great, full-length (17 song) set from near the very end of their only tour. It features several songs that have not yet been heard in any of the previous shows posted, including Hillman's 'Heavenly Fire' (a classic from the 1st album that was not played at earlier shows) and a new song that would appear on their 2nd album, Souther's 'Mexico'. Also new to this show are a few gems from their past groups, such as Furay's 'A Good Feeling to Know', and Hillman adding multiple songs from the Flying Burrito Brothers ('Hot Burrito #2', 'Christine's Tune', and 'Dixie Breakdown'). In fact, this show features more of Hillman's songs (6) than any previous show (as wella a longer Bluegrass segment with both 'Christine's Tune' and the instrumental 'Dixie Breakdown'). It's a great show, probably the best of the bunch (considering the expanded set), and the recording is quite good, although the vocals are a bit muffled and not as prominent as they should be. Once again, I have gently tweaked the recording amd smoothed over some rough spots and glitches where I could.  This recording, at least for the time being, is available exclusively here at the BB Chronicles. I hope you've enjoyed this rare glimpse at the live shows from this legendary, but unjustly ignored and short-lived band. I know I feel truly honored to have been able to hear these shows at all, of which I never knew any recordings existed, let alone to be able to present these rare gems to you for the first time anywhere and finally make them available to the public. Thank you David. I will try to continue to periodically provide some more of David's exclusive recordings as I get them and as they become available. But for now, please enjoy this last dose of the SHF Band before they each went their separate ways.

Lineup:
J.D. Souther
Chris Hillman
Richie Furay
Al Perkins
Paul Harris
Jim Gordon

Tracklist:
01 Safe at Home (Hillman)
02 A Good Feeling To Know (Furay)
03 The Heartbreaker (Souther)
04 Heavenly Fire (Hillman)
05 Hot Burrito #2 (Hillman)
06 Believe Me (Furay)
07 Pretty Goodbyes (Souther)
08 Fathless Love (Souther)
09 Christine’s Tune (Hillman)
10 Dixie Breakdown (Hillman)
11 Border Town (Souther)
12 Let’s Dance (Furay)
13 Rise And Fall (Hillman)
14 Mexico (Souther)
15 Fallin’ In Love (Furay)
16 How Long (Souther)
17 Trouble In Paradise (Souther)

---------------------------- a BB Chronicles Exclusive Presentation -----------------------------

mp3 version: SHF_Band_-_1974-10-11_-_Boston_mp3.rar
FLAC version: SHF_Band_-_1974-10-11_-_Boston_FLAC.rar

Souther-Hillman-Furay Band - 1974-08-23 - Springfield, MA

The Souther-Hillman-Furay Band
1974-08-23
Civic Center, Springfield, MA
Good quality audience recording
available as both Lossless files (FLAC)
& mp3 @ 320 kbps

Here is another rare recording of the great, but short-lived, country-rock 'supergroup', the SHF Band, from their only tour in 1974. This is another previously uncirculated, good quality audience recording from David of MA, available exclusively here at the BB Chronicles. Although this is a shortened set and doesn't feature any songs that are not present on the other 2 posted shows, overall there is good sound quality and strong vocals (especially early in the show). There were a few problems with the recording, however, so once again, I did some editing and tinkering to smooth over some rough patches. Most notably, there was a major cut near the end of Pretty Goodbyes (last 1:30) through the beginning of The Heartbreaker (first 0:30 sec), so I spliced in the missing parts from the Central Park show. It's not a perfect match, but it's better than nothing. As a bonus track, I also added a new song from another show from around this time. It is 'Follow Me Through', A Chris Hillman song that would appear on their as yet unrecorded second album, taken from their Yarmouth, MA show (1974-8-17 - Cape Cod Coliseum). Since this song was not played at any other shows around this time, this might be the first time the song was played live. Unfortunately, the available recording from the Yarmouth show is not that great, so I only included this one song, because this was the only new song not played at the other shows. Anyway, as I said, these recordings are far from perfect, but they are still pretty good, highly listenable, and they appear to be our only musical documents of the live history of this fleeting but impressive band. Hope you like it.

---------------------------- a BB Chronicles Exclusive Presentation -----------------------------
Lineup:
J.D. Souther
Chris Hillman
Richie Furay
Al Perkins
Paul Harris
Jim Gordon

Tracklist
01 Safe at Home (Hillman)
02 Fallin’ In Love (Furay)
03 Border Town (Souther)
04 Let’s Dance (Furay)
05 Pretty Goodbyes (Souther)
06 The Heartbreaker (Souther)
07 Believe Me (Furay)
08 Rise And Fall (Hillman)
09 Trouble In Paradise (Souther)
10 How Long (Souther)
11 Flight of the Dove (Furay)
Bonus track:
12 Follow Me Through (Hillman)
 from 1974-08-17 – Yarmouth, MA


mp3 version: SHF_Band_1974-08-23_-_Springfield_MA_mp3.rar
New link! (Updated 10/02/24)

FLAC version: SHF_Band_1974-08-23_-_Springfield_MA_FLAC.rar

Souther-Hillman-Furay Band - 1974-07-15 - Central Park, NY

The Souther-Hillman-Furay Band
1974-07-15
Central Park, New York City, NY
Very good quality audience recording
available as both Lossless files (FLAC)
& mp3 @ 320 kbps

I am thrilled to be able to present this fine, vintage rare recording, as far as I know for the first time anywhere, here on this blog, and be able to make it available for others to hear and enjoy. As promised, here is the first in a series of rare, uncirculated recordings that I recently received from my new friend, David of Mass. As stated previously, there appear to be very few recordings available from this short-lived, but nonetheless terrific country-rock supergroup, the SHF Band (background info given in last post here). They only made two albums (Souther Hillman Furay Band-1974, Trouble in Paradise-1975), and these 1974 shows were apparently their only tour together. By late 1975, they had already disbanded and gone their separate ways. The Ft. Wayne show (1974-07-07) previously posted was the only live recording of them I had ever heard, until the past couple weeks, when I was contacted by David, an avid fan and collector, who told me about several other SHF shows he has tapes of, most taped by himself. He was gracious enough to send me a few CDR's of these shows, and they are pretty great. This show, although not actually taped by David, was one he received about 30 years ago in a trade (so I don't have any details about the taping circumstances), but has not otherwise appeared or been previously available to others, until now. This show is especially exciting because it features a full set (rather than the shortened 10 song 'opening' set of the Ft. Wayne Show), thus this show features a full 6 more songs than the previous show, enabling the band to feature additional songs from their debut album (such as Souther's lovely 'Pretty Goodbye's), as well as give each each star a chance to highlight some songs from their previous bands (Such as Furay's 'Kind Woman', Hillman's 'Christine's Tune', and Souther's 'Faithless Love' and 'The Fast One'). Although this is obviously an audience recording from less than ideal equipment, the sound is actually quite good, with clean clear sound (of both vocals and instruments) and minimal audience interference (suffering only from limited frequency range common in recordings from this era). I did some minor tweaking and editing to improve sound quality (corrected volume fluctuations, smoothed over rough patches, and boosted the low end a bit. Though far from perfect, it serves as  a fine document of this excellent, but nearly forgotten band. I hope you'll agree that it is great to hear these songs and this band, in all it's glory, once again. Back in the '70's, I used to listen to their debut album over and over. I think it's a classic, with a great sound and great songs by this unique group of musicians. But, until these recordings, I hadn't heard some of these songs in about 20 years (since I put away my vinyl LP's and switched to CD's), and it is just great to hear them again. So, here it is, for all fans of these guys, whether of their individual work or other bands, or the SHF Band themselves, and if you've never heard of these guys, but have any interest in country-influenced rock (Byrds, FBB, Eagles, Poco, Buffalo Springfield, etc.) of any kind, you need to check them out.

Tracklist
01 Border Town (Souther)
02 Things Will Be Better (Hillman)
03 Let’s Dance (Furay)
04 The Heartbreaker (Souther)
05 Flight of the Dove (Furay)
06 Pretty Goodbyes (Souther)
07 Faihless Love (Souther)
08 Christine's Tune (Hillman)
09 Kind Woman (Furay)
10 Believe Me (Furay)
11 Rise And Fall (Hillman)
12 Trouble In Paradise (Souther)
13 Safe At Home (Hillman)
14 Fallin’ In Love (Furay)
15 How Long (Souther)
16 The Fast One (Souther)

Lineup:
J.D. Souther
Chris Hillman
Richie Furay
Al Perkins
Paul Harris
Jim Gordon

---------------------------- a BB Chronicles Exclusive Presentation -----------------------------

mp3 version: Souther-Hillman-Furay_Band_1974-07-15_NY_mp3.rar
New Link! (Updated 08/13/21)

FLAC: version: Souther-Hillman-Furay_Band_1974-07-15_NY_FLAC.rar

Bruce Hornsby - Great Musician, Great Guy

Ok, so I don't really know Bruce Hornsby, so I don't KNOW that he is a great guy, but he sure seems to be. There's no question that he is a great musician and has been making great, quality music for 25 years now, ranging from his early pop hits, to jamming with the Grateful Dead and other rock icons, to his wide-ranging and ever-roaming forays into all styles of music, from bluegrass, country, folk, rock, pop, jazz, and classical, he has always delivered melodious, insightful, and inspiring songs, and just downright amazing piano and keyboard work. He also has always been good to his supporters and fans, from time to time offering high quality free music downloads (such as his 2007 Christmas present I posted awhile back) . Bruce has been offering high quality downloads of concerts for purchase for some time (through brucehornsby.com and livedownloads.com), but he also often gives away some shows for free. Well, Bruce has outdone himself lately. He recently has set up a separate live download site (brucehornsbylive.com, affiliated with livedownloads.com) as a new home for his live downloadable shows for purchase (in both FLAC and mp3), and over the past few months he also has been adding a new free show from his Bruce Hornsby and the Noisemakers 2009-2010 tour each month. Currently there are 4 full shows and a 3 vol. 'best of' tour compilation (Dagle's Choice, compiled by Bruce's longtime sound engineer Wayne 'Dagle' Pooley), all available as free mp3 downloads. In total, this amounts to a whopping 16 CD's worth of free professionally recorded, mixed, and edited recent live music by Bruce and his band. In fact, at this point, the free music far outnumbers the 'for pay' shows available at the site (currently, 3 shows from 2004 are available for purchase). So, thank you, Bruce. Now, Bruce is not exactly someone who sells a whole lot of records these days (at least, not like his 'hit' days), so for him to offer such a substantial amount of his music for free is monumental.  But, Bruce has always been interested in the music, first and foremost, and having people listen and enjoy it.  And he knows that if more people get a chance to hear his music and concerts, the more likely those people will be to want to buy his albums and see him live (buy concert tickets). Frankly, it's a great way of doing business, and I sincerely hope it works out that way for him. So, go check out Bruce's free music and shows, then, if you like what you hear, by all means, please support him by buying his albums and attending his upcoming concerts. He has recently announced a new tour with the Noisemakers starting this Spring, which will include an appearance at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Tennessee. So, again, thanks Bruce, for thinking about all your fans, and making so much of your music available to everyone.

http://www.brucehornsbylive.com/