When
David Geffen
convinced
Richie Furay
,
Chris Hillman
, and
J.D. Souther
to join forces to form a
country-rock
supergroup, it seemed like an inspired suggestion.
Crosby, Stills & Nash
's
folk-rock
had scored big with a similar idea, while bands such as
the Eagles
, who recorded for
Geffen
Asylum Records
, had made some waves commercially in recent years. But 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, along with steel guitarist
Al Perkins
, drummer
Jim Gordon
Paul Harris
on piano, delivers a collection of ten pleasant, if overall unremarkable tunes in the
singer/songwriter
vein. There are glimmers of past glories by each, but only
Furay
really connects solidly. His
"Fallin' in Love,"
which opens the record, is a winning,
Poco
-like rocker, while
"Believe Me"
is by far its most beautiful track. On the other hand, with the exception of a pair of modest successes, including the lightly funky
"Border Town"
and the straightforward
rock & roll
of
"Safe at Home,"
Souther
and
Hillman
's contributions are fairly lightweight. Even
"Heavenly Fire,"
's heartfelt tribute to former bandmate
Gram Parsons
, who had died a few months earlier, is a bit lackluster and pales in comparison to
'
"My Man"
from the same year. Still, there should be enough here -- thanks especially to the
tracks -- that will at least be of moderate interest to most fans. Originally released by
Asylum
in 1974,
The Souther-Hillman-Furay Band
was reissued domestically on CD by the
Wounded Bird
label in 2002. ~ Brett Hartenbach