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!