Smoke From A Distant Fire

Sanford Townsend Band

In response to the dense smoke from wildfires that has drifted down from Canada into Michigan and many other states in the country, a friend posted a YouTube link to a live version of the song "Smoke From A Distant Fire" by the Sanford Townsend Band. It reminded me of how I became familiar with the group way back in 1976. FIFTY YEARS AGO!

I was shopping for records (vinyl LPs in those days, if you somehow wouldn't have known that) at Boogie Records on Central Avenue on the west side of Toledo. Boogie was my go-to record store despite that it was on the other side of town from where I lived. It was a locally owned small business, with an oldish dog that roamed the store looking for places to lie down. I had gotten to know one of the co-owners, Pat O'Connor, pretty well as he and I seemed to have similar interests in music. Knowing I was a huge Dylan fan/collector at the time, he even gave me a couple of items of swag that Boogie had received to promote a couple of Dylan records. One was a long-john-type shirt memoralizing the first leg of Dylan's Rolling Thunder Tour; the other was a large burlap material wall hanging with a screen-printed representation of Dylan, which promoted the Hard Rain LP, released after the second leg of that same tour.

Anyway... I was shopping for records one Saturday or Sunday, and looking through the alphabetically organized bins. As I recall, I had been taking a look at Pete Townshend's records when I flipped through those nearby. I came across the above record album‚ and the cover photograph intrigued me. I gave the back of the record jacket a look, but only recognized Kenny Loggins (he provided some vocals) amongst the band members and contributors. I also recognized the producers, Jerry Wexler and Barry Beckett, who would later produce a couple of Dylan's records. I took it up to the counter and asked the person (I don't believe it was Pat) if he knew anything about it. He said yes, then pointed up towards the ceiling, indicating that the music playing was that very record. I liked it, so I bought it. There is something particularly gratifying about having a whimsical purchase of an unknown band pay off.

"Smoke From A Distant Fire" is the opening track and it's wildly catchy, but the record has numerous gems, "Squire James" being another favourite, along with "Sunshine In My Heart Again" and the bluesy "Rainbows Colored In Blue". It's very much a pop record, which is somewhat contrary to the type of music I bought and listened to at the time—I suppose it still is—but the lyrics were strong and refreshing, a little off the beaten path.

I recorded the album to cassette and played it a lot during my commutes back and forth between Toledo and Bowling Green, where I would enroll for school later that year. Also during that time, I was still working at Commercial Aluminum Cookware (later renamed Calphalon after its signature product), and sometime in 1977, "Smoke From A Distant Fire" became a Top 40 hit, and was played on regular rotation on the local pop FM station. At first, I felt validated for having bought the record months before the single was released, but the more and more I heard it—as much as I liked it—I got sick of hearing it. (I didn't bother to buy Sanford and Townsend's subsequent records, Duo-Glide and Nail Me to the Wall.)

The single rose to #9 on the Billboard charts, and the record company, Warner Bros., re-released the LP with Smoke From A Distant Fire as its title. The band's name was changed to simply Sanford and Townsend and the cover art was revamped.

Sanford And Townsend

It would be years before I listened to the record again. I still have the LP but as I no longer have a turntable or decent stereo system, I've resorted to listening to it on YouTube, where I've created a playlist should I ever feel like listening to it again.

 

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Unless otherwise noted, all writings and photographs on this blog are copyright Patrick T. Power. All rights reserved.

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