Sanford-Townsend Band: "Smoke From a Distant Fire" (1977)

 
This song has pretty much disappeared from the airwaves. I think you will find the beat, amazingly strong vocals by John Townsend, and a first rate horn arrangement well worth your while. This is another example of a great song birthing a band and it would be their greatest achievement. This is how two Alabama boys working in L.A. made good.

According to Songfacts.com,  This is how the song "Smoke From a Distant Fire" came about (as told by John Townsend).  "In the Spring of 1974, Ed Sanford and I had just signed a publishing deal with Chappell Music. They gave us a nice advance and a weekly stipend and for a couple of unknown writers, this was a rare deal. Ed and our friend Steven Stewart (co-writer on Smoke...) were sharing one half of an old duplex in Hollywood at the time. I used to drop by and hang out, write or whatever, almost on a daily basis. Now Steven was an aspiring classical guitarist at the time. He used to stay up 'til the wee hours, sometimes daybreak, bent over his music stand practicing his scales, or some classical piece."

"Steven was driven to become a great player. I was over one morning as Ed was just waking up and Steven hadn't been to bed yet. Ed was complaining about not getting any sleep and barked at Steven, 'When are you gonna stop wasting your time on that classical crap and write something that will make you some money.' Steven picked up his guitar immediately and started playing what I thought was a really cool R&B type rhythm and replied with 'Anybody can write that crap.' I said, 'Apparently you just did' and went straight to the piano and embellished on his idea. While going through some old song ideas in my notebook I always carried, I found one that actually was the title of a poem that Ed had written while in college. I extracted the title because it seemed to be a perfect fit for the chorus idea I had and that all sort of amalgamated into Smoke From A Distant Fire."

You left me here on your way to paradise
You pulled the rug right out from under my life
I know where you goin' to I knew when you came home last night
'Cause your eyes had a mist from the smoke of a distant fire

Lord, I was stunned shoulda' seen it come a long time ago.
When I realized the reality gave me a roll
If things are the same then explain why your kiss is so cold
And that mist in your eyes feels like rain on the fire in my soul

"Smoke From a Distant Fire" was no fluke. The song was professionally done at the famous Muscle Shoals Studios with the legendary Jerry Wexler producing and members of Loggins and Mesina's band sitting in. Kenny Loggins would lend vocals a track on the same album called "Oriental Gate" The band had also worked with Michael McDonald, so it becomes easy to see how this song seems to be the standard bearer of late '70's blue-eyed soul.

In an Amazon review of the album, consumer review states: "If you took Firefall,Seals and Crofts and Orleans put them into the same studio you would have the same general sound and feeling this album generates. The title track "Smoke from a Distant Fire", is an upbeat tune which tells the story of love rejected and illustrates the old saying "What goes around, comes around". Nothing violent or anything of that nature, more simply stated the grass is not always greener on the other side." 

The Sanford-Townsend Band would open for Fleetwood Mac on their historic Rumors tour and they would also play with The Marshal Tucker Band, Foreigner and Charlie Daniels.

The band would release two more albums after their self titles first album and they would not do well. Sanford and Townsend went back to the studios and played backing for others and continued to write.Ed Sanford would write "I Keep Forgettin'" which would be a big song for Michael McDonald in 1982.

Two versions offered here. The first is their performance on Burt Sugarman's Midnight Special. This version let's you "see" how powerful Townsends vocals are. The second is right off of their 1977 album.