Firefall

Legendary band…

History with excerpts from the liner notes of “Firefall’s Greatest Hits” on Rhino Records by Stephen K. Peeples

As dusk enveloped the spectacular vistas of Yosemite Valley in Yosemite National Park, California, a huge pile of wood lay stacked at the edge of a high cliff. Nature lovers from far corners of the world gathered on the valley floor, waiting till dark when the woodpile was torched and slowly pushed off the cliff, the burning logs forming a blazing cascade down the mountain’s stony face. The image of the primitive light show, staged at Yosemite for tourists, stuck in Florida-born Rick Roberts’ mind for a long time. Then in l973, as he and his new Colorado based band were about to play their first gig but still needed a name, the image flashed back: Firefall. That seems an especially dead-on handle for the country flavored rock’n’roll band that carried the torch of musical forebears such as The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, and The Flying Burrito Brothers into the mid-’70s and beyond.

For the better part of the next decade, Firefall burned brightly it at both ends, musically and personally, and then appeared to flame out, at least on record. By 1982, they’d cut eight albums (scoring gold for the first three, with the third going on to platinum-plus), and put 11 singles on the charts. FIREFALL GREATEST HITS satisfied many fans who’d been asking for a collection of the band’s best known songs – all their hit 45s and a handful of the choicest LP tracks, plus a new, previously unreleased Firefall recording penned by co-founder Jock Bartley –“Run Run Away.”

R E D – H O T   P R E – H I S T O R Y

Firefall’s connection to the pioneering country rock bands is at once direct, convoluted, and fascinating. The group’s roots can be directly traced back to middle ’60s to The Byrds and Buffalo Springfield, who were themselves influenced by folk luminaries like Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie. In late l967, country rock godfather Gram Parsons bailed out of his International Submarine Band and took off with Roger McGuinn, Chris Hillman, Michael Clarke and The Byrds. At around the same time Richie Furay broke away from Stephen Stills, Neil Young and The Buffalo Springfield to form Poco with Jim Mesina, Rusty Young, Randy Meisner and George Grantham. These two groups gave birth to the musical genre that would soon be called ‘country rock.’

In October l968, after recording The Byrd’s prototypical country rock LP “Sweetheart of the Rodeo” (Columbia), Gram Parsons refused to tour in segregated South Africa, and flew the coop. A few months later, McGuinn and Hillman discovered their manager had been ripping them off, and Hillman split, too. By December ’68, Parsons and Hillman were airborne once again, this time piloting The Flying Burrito Brothers. The new experimental fivesome also featured occasional Byrds steel guitar player Sneaky Pete Kleinow, and the bassist and drummer from Parsons’ old International Submarine Band, Chris Ethridge and John Cornea. Within a few months, the Burritos boasted a third ex-Byrd when Corneal was replaced by drummer Michael Clarke, who’d most recently been with Doug Dillard and Gene Clark’s band. Later in ’69, guitarist Bernie Leadon, ex-Hearts & Flowers and Dillard & Clark, became a Burrito.

After bank rolling the first two Burritos albums, Parsons decided he’d had his fill; he exited and dropped out of sight for a while, heading to the south of France to hang with Keith Richards and the other members of the Rolling Stones. Gram was replaced in the early 1970s by singer/writer/guitarist Rick Roberts, who had sung (uncredited) on The Byrds “Untitled” LP (Columbia) earlier that year. With Roberts in the Burritos fold, they recorded “The Flying Burrito Bros.,” their album (released in June ’71 by A&M), and “Last of the Red Hot Burritos,” the fourth and final new LP (February ’72, A&M). But like the first two, the last two were praised to high heaven by the critics and ignored like hell by record buyers. So after three years and four stiff albums, the band members were fed up with the whole Burritos enchilada.

Most of the key players on the West Coast/Colorado country rock circuit had crossed paths many times by then. They’d jammed and sung informally, sat in with each other’s groups, and written songs together. They’d caroused with the womenfolk, told many a tall tale, and shared mass quantities of controlled substances (thus making “Rocky Mountain High” a double entendre). Career-wise, they also shared the acute frustration of repeated, unconsummated flirtation with the Success Goddess. The whole scene was taking on incestuous undertones. To paraphrase the summer ’71 Stephen Stills hit, it was time to change partners.

Bernie Leadon had been the first of the last red-hot Burritos to burn out in mid-’71, after the third album’s lukewarm reception. He joined forces with Glenn Frey (ex-Longbranch Pennywhistle with J.D. Souther), Don Henley (ex-Shiloh), and Randy Meisner (ex-Stone Canyon Band with Rick Nelson) in Linda Ronstadt’s band. A few months later, the guys mutinied, jumped ship, and re-christened themselves Eagles. Pedal steel player Al Perkins (another Shiloh alum) and Hillman went from The Burritos on down the road to Manassas, Stills’ post-Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young monster blues/rock/country/Latin party band. After that, Perkins and Hillman teamed up with J. D. Souther and Richie Furay (ex-Buffalo Springfield, ex-Poco) in The Souther, Hillman, Furay Band. Michael Clarke, after eight nearly non-stop years flying with The Byrds, Dillard & Clark, and The Burritos, bagged the whole business and headed to Hawaii for an extended vacation.

T H E   F I R E F A L L   I G N I T E S

By the early ’70s, RICK ROBERTS moved to Colorado and signed with one of Stills’ song publishing companies, celebrating his post-Burritos freedom by recording a solo album on A&M Records, “Windmills” in 1972. That May, a song he’d written with Stills and Hillman, ‘It Doesn’t Matter,’ became a #61 solo 45 for Stephen. Earlier that year, Chris Hillman and Rick had seen the phenomenal undiscovered singer, Emmy Lou Harris, perform in a tiny club near Washington D.C. Knowing he was looking for a female singer partner, Chris called Gram. Soon Gram, Emmy Lou and a number players from Elvis’ backup band went into a studio in L.A. to make his brilliant solo album, “G.P.” on Warner Bros. They hit the road with a new band, The Fallen Angels. After their first show in Boulder, they realized the guitarist originally hired for the tour, wasn’t cutting it. Kansas-born JOCK BARTLEY auditioned and was hired as lead guitarist for The Fallen Angels. Jock was the local hot guitarist who’d just come from a stint with the Boulder band, Zephyr, having replaced Tommy Bolin as lead guitarist on the album “Sunset Ride” on Warner Bros. (Bolin would go on to play with the James Gang, replacing Joe Walsh, and then join Deep Purple before his untimely death in 1977). During the second concert after Bartley joined the Fallen Angels at Houston’s Liberty Hall, Neil Young and Linda Ronstadt made a surprise appearance on stage (it was the first time Emmy Lou and Linda had met and sang together); in the crowd for that show was Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. As fate would have it, coincidentally, Gram and the Fallen Angels played two nights in New York City at the infamous venue, Max’s Kansas City, followed a night later by a solo performance of Rick Roberts, his Burrito replacement. It was there Rick and Jock first met. Like Parsons, Roberts was impressed by Bartley’s lead and slide work. In mid September 1973, a few days after finishing his 2nd solo LP, “Grievous Angel,” (months before it was released), Gram Parsons died in a motel out the Joshua Tree desert, supposedly of heart failure. The circumstances remain shrouded in mystery.

Back in Boulder, Bartley ran into Roberts, who by then had cut another solo album, “She Is A Song” on A&M. The duo began practicing and performing together. Jock’s innovative guitar style added a rock edge to Rick’s melodic folky tunes. Encouraged by their audiences and peers – and vowing to avoid the mistakes made with their previous outfits – the two decided to build a better rock’n’roll band. Roberts and Bartley rounded up Philadelphia- born bassist/singer MARK ANDES, who’d been a major figure on the SoCal (Topanga Canyon) rock scene during the late ’60s and early ’70s with the bands Spirit (‘I Got A Line On You’ and ‘Natures Way’) and Jo Jo Gunne. Andes had plugged out and was living in the mountains outside Boulder, but was coaxed out of semi-retirement. He brought jazz as well as progressive rock elements to the new band’s sound.

LARRY BURNETT was a Washington, D.C.-based singer/writer/guitarist Roberts had met while performing at the Cellar Door club in the Nation’s Capital a few years earlier. When Roberts contacted him in ’73 to see if he was free to join Firefall, Burnett had been driving a cab to make ends meet. Rick sent him a one-way plane ticket west; Larry parked the hack, packed his sack, and never looked back. He brought a number of soulful original songs with him that would soon contrast and compliment Roberts’ more commercial ones.

From their very first practice, the band had 20-25 original songs to play! Roberts, Bartley, Andes, and Burnett auditioned several local drummers, playing a few local gigs, but none had world class chops or experience. Finally, Roberts called up his former Burritos bandmate and ex-Byrd, MICHAEL CLARKE, who was hired on the spot, over the phone. When Clarke landed back in Colorado and assumed Firefall’s drum throne, the lineup was set.

The band woodshedded in Colorado clubs for more than a year, mainly in Boulder and Aspen. They worked on writing new tunes and honing a powerful, guitar driven rock/pop/country style, which put equal emphasis on strong melodies, sophisticated multi-vocal harmonies and fiery musical interludes. In early 1975, FIREFALL recorded a three song demo tape produced by Chris Hillman and began shopping it to several major labels. At the same time, the new group’s members pursued other musical avenues. After CSNY’s mammoth 1974 tour and latest divorce, Stills put a new group together, and signed a solo deal with Columbia. Stills cut his solo album at Caribou Studios near Nederland, Colo., and for the six week supporting tour that summer, Stephen added Roberts to the band on backing vocals and guitar. During the set, Rick sang his song, ‘Colorado,’ a Burrito tune that Linda Rondstat had made famous.

THE COMET RIDE – 1976-1978

Firefall’s big break came unexpectedly, at around the same time. A few months after splitting up with Richie Furay and J. D. Souther, Chris Hillman hit the road with a backup band that included Firefall’s Bartley, Andes, and Roberts. By the time they were scheduled to play The Other End in NYC, Hillman became ill and could not complete the tour. Firefall flew in it’s other two members from Colorado to finish the engagements. Atlantic A&R reps, who’d been impressed by their demo, caught the show and quickly offered the group a multi-album contract. They signed on and made plans to record their first record in the winter of 1975. Wanting more color and texture to their music, Firefall called upon DAVID MUSE, a high school buddy of Rick’s in Bradenton, Fla., who played sax, flute, harmonica and every imaginable keyboard. It was the final musical piece Firefall would need. With ex-Poco Producer Jim Mason at the helm, the band went into rehearsals in Boulder.

Though Caribou Studios was available and nearby, it was quite pricey and would probably be ‘too close’ to home, families and all the distractions that might take away the needed focus. So Firefall flew to Miami, Florida to record at one of the top studios in the country, Criteria Studios, who had hosted many artists including The Bee Gees, Eric Clapton, The Allman Bros., CSN and Stephen Stills. The band got down to focused work and the magic flowed. The first album, engineered by Karl Richardson (Bee Gees), took one month to record and mix and was made on 16 track tape. It was released by Atlantic Records in the spring of 1976 and became Atlantic’s quickest album to sell gold status (500,000) in it’s storied history. Sparks flew with the album called “FIREFALL” and the group’s sound caught fire on record, radio and on-stage. While the first single, ‘Livin’ Aint Livin,’ climbed into the top 40, songs like ‘Mexico,’ Robert’s original version of ‘It Doesn’t Matter’ and Burnett’s ‘Cinderella’ took off on album oriented rock (AOR) stations. The group toured with Leon and Mary Russell, The Doobie Brothers and The Band (on their final tour before making their farewell documentary movie, ‘The Last Waltz’). The second single, ‘You Are The Woman,’ raced into the Top 10, becoming an overnight mega-hit with pop and mellow rock audiences. Firefall continued to tour the summer of ’76 with Fleetwood Mac, who’d recently added Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham to their lineup for their groundbreaking “White Album.” Firefall cemented relationships with Mick and the band that would last a year and a half. A rare (for the era) third single, ‘Cinderella,’ though having received saturation FM airplay, fared less well on AM radio, hindered, as they would later learn, by a few influential woman’s organizations on the east coast who didn’t like the ‘message’ of the (fictional) lyrics. But Firefall blazed very brightly in 1976 and 1977, making a sizable mark during their first year in a crowded industry with their fresh and melodic music.

The group went back to Miami and Criteria Studios with Jim Mason to make their second album. It was to be called “TROPICAL NIGHTS” and included a number of songs that would later be dropped. Instead of a hotel, they rented one of the ‘Home At Last’ mansions that Eric Clapton made famous on his “461 Ocean Blvd.” album. Percussionist JOE LALA, (ex Manassas and CSN percussionist and an occasional touring Firefall member) and the legendary Memphis Horns added punch to the record. But in L.A., Atlantic C.E.O., Ahmet Ertegen, listened to the playback of the final mix and stated, “You boys need to go back in the studio and re-do this record (as Fleetwood Mac had with the White Album). It must be stronger to follow up your great first album. Write more songs, go back on tour, take your time.. no problem.” And so the band hit the road again and prepared to rework a few existing songs and add a number of newly written ones, including the future single, ‘So Long.’ The new album was renamed “LUNA SEA” with a new cover and released in early 1977. The debut single, ‘Just Remember I Love You,’ re-recorded with ex-Poco and future Eagle, TIMOTHY SCHMIDT singing background vocals, shot up the charts into the Top Ten. The album was certified gold on Oct. 3, after less than two months on the Billboard charts, where it peaked at #27. The song however, reinforced Atlantic’s – and radio’s – perception of Firefall as a soft-rock ballads band. The group on the other hand, saw itself as a smokin’ rock unit who happened to have a few mellower hits that got lots of pop and adult contemporary airplay. As a result, the second single off ‘LUNA SEA,’ the more rock’n’roll ‘So Long,’ didn’t get the major push or airplay the first single had. Non-stop touring, managerial problems, alcohol and drug abuse by some of the band and internal friction began to tear at the group – but it was the ‘big time’ and they were enjoying ‘star status.’ All differences were swept under the table. The band toured extensively with Fleetwood Mac during their Rumors Tour (playing sold out stadiums nationwide) and also played with The Doobie Bothers, Chicago, The Marshall Tucker Band, The Beach Boys and Lynard Skynard (frequently playing with them right up to Skynard’s terrible plane crash).

Firefall came back stronger than ever in 1978 with their third album, “ELAN,” recorded first at Criteria and later at L.A.’s Record Plant. The band brought in heavyweight producer Tom Dowd (Aretha Franklin, The Rascals, Cream, The Allman Bros., Eric Clapton) to make the record. But band and producer, though getting along fine, had different musical visions. Atlantic was poised to release Dowd’s effort, when Firefall’s new manager, Mick Fleetwood and Limited Mgmt., demanded the group be allowed to ‘beef up’ the record. And so, for a second time, the band re-worked an album (and greatly increased their on-paper debt with the label). And again, their dark luck with managers continued – Limited Mgmt. and Firefall soon parted ways. The production team of Ron and Howard Albert (The Allmans, Clapton, Stephen Stills/Mannassas, Crosby, Stills & Nash) were brought in to finish the project. Don Gehman, who engineered the Miami dates and mixed the whole record with the Alberts would go on to produce John Mellencamp in the ’80s. Industry anticipation was so high for “ELAN” that it shipped gold, meaning half a million copies were in stores on release day. Hoping to put any identity issue to rest, the band and Atlantic chose ‘Strange Way’ as the album’s first single. The Roberts tune was a ballad and a rocker rolled into one, alternating mellow, plaintive verses with angry, ballsy choruses and featuring a smokin latin-flavored flute solo at the end. Not surprisingly, it went over big with both Top 40 and AOR radio during the autumn and winter of ’78, and the band embarked on another series of concert dates, this time as the headliners. ‘Strange Way’ and other oft played tracks like ‘Sweet And Sour’ (with future Traveling Willbury’s/Little Village drummer Jim Keltner on drums), helped boost “ELAN” past the million mark in sales as 1978 gave way to ’79. It was certified as Firefall’s first platinum album in mid January, just as ‘Goodbye, I Love You’ was saying hello to the Hot 100. Three months later, ‘Sweet And Sour’ was issued as a single, continuing the long hot run.

THE FIRE BEGINS TO FALL

Publicly, Firefall was burning hotter than ever. Behind the scenes, the band members were toast. They’d spent more than five solid years gigging, writing, recording, and touring and had finally made it. Yet their financial situation was in doubt. Relationships – both personal and business, inside and outside the band – were in shambles. One or two band members weren’t on speaking terms. The six-headed democracy, with no one in charge, was splitting at the seams. Their bodies, minds, and souls suffered the effects of touring, self abuse, and neglect, typical of the era’s booze’n’blow rock’n’roll lifestyle. And the creative muse (sorry, Dave) proved harder to find. In short, Firefall needed a break.

Attempts to straighten out all the above and more added up to the lengthy delay in getting the next album out. With Joe Lala again as an unofficial member of the group, sessions for album #4 were spread out over several months and both coasts. The Albert brothers produced the first attempt to complete the record, but again the band need a second effort, produced by Kyle Lehning in Boulder and L.A., to finish the album. There was much wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth by the band, the producers and the record company. The resulting “UNDERTOW” album was finally launched over a year after “ELAN.” The lead single, ‘Headed For A Fall’ (a folky tune re-arranged as a power rock song by the Alberts, with ex-Manassas and ex-Souther, Hillman, Furay member Paul Harris on electric piano), put the band back in the Top 40. They kept touring, sometimes headlining, sometimes playing shows with groups like Heart, Kenny Loggins and Marshall Tucker, and appeared on national TV shows. But much momentum had been lost. The second 45 single, ‘Love That Got Away’ (with Little Feat’s Billy Payne playing organ) stalled on the charts during the summer of 1980. Firefall’s gold and platinum streak was over. Financial troubles increased with a growing Atlantic debt and a lawsuit settlement with their first manager.

After the band completed a Japanese tour, Mark Andes and Michael Clarke left the band; Andes would later join the Wilson sisters for great success in Heart. Opting to carry on, Roberts, Bartley, Burnett and Muse quickly replaced them with Kenny Loggins’ Grammy winning rhythm section: bassist GEORGE HAWKINS and drummer TRIS IMBODEN (currently drummer of Chicago). They got busy recording another album right away in Boulder and Nashville with producer/engineer, Kyle Lehning (England Dan and John Ford Coley). Out at year’s end, “CLOUDS ACROSS THE SUN” hit the the charts in January 1981, followed a few weeks later by the single, ‘Staying With It,’ which, unbeknownst nor agreed to by the band, ended up featuring a duet between Roberts and Lisa Nemzo. After TV appearances on American Bandstand and Solid Gold, Hawkins left the band to join the party animals in Mick Fleetwood’s ill-fated solo band, the Zoo. Boulder bassist KIM STONE (later with Spyro Gyra) was his replacement. Then, just after Firefall hit the road to support the new record, Larry Burnett bowed out of the band due to ill health. On the charts, ‘Staying With It’ moved into the Top 40 but “CLOUDS ACROSS THE SUN” never caught on. Negotiations for a new record deal with RCA were in progress, but after a final concert on Maui with Pure Prairie League (Vince Gill’s last gig with them), Rick Roberts told his band mates he was history, and Firefall went into limbo. Later in ’81, Atlantic Records, as an afterthought, released “THE BEST OF FIREFALL” before Christmas, then turned the page and dropped the band from it’s roster..

THE PHOENIX RISES

As the months went by, co-founder Jock Bartley felt increasingly dissatisfied with the way things had ended. He was the only original member who hadn’t quit the band. Finally he called Ron Albert, hoping he’d have some ideas about replacing Roberts and re-lighting the Firefall flame. Ron suggested Jock get together with JOHN SAMBATARO and CHUCK KIRKPATRICK. Sambataro was a versatile Miami based singer/guitarist/keyboardist/songwriter who sang on record with Stills, Clapton, Dave Mason, McGuinn, Clark & Hillman, and Barry Gibb, among others. John and Jock had actually met back in ’78 when they both played on the Criteria sessions for Andy Gibb’s platinum album, ‘Shadow Dancing.’ Kirkpatrick was a local Miami singer/guitarist who sang with Johnny on a number of the aforementioned sessions and had worked as an engineer at Criteria on such albums as Derek & The Dominos’ “Layla.” Albert then talked to Alan Jacobi, a Miami entertainment lawyer who had a relationship with Atlantic; Jacobi convinced the label to help fund Firefall’s rekindling. Atlantic sprung for some new demos, which led to a new album deal and the spring of 1982 Criteria sessions for the “BREAK OF DAWN” LP, with Ron and brother Howard producing once again. Backing Bartley, Sambataro and Kirkpatrick were an number of Miami session players. The album featured special appearance by Stephen Stills (vocals, guitars, piano), David Sanborn (alto sax), plus former band mates Rick Roberts (additional background vocals) and David Muse (flute, harmonica and vocoder). The first “Break of Dawn” single, the power ballad ‘Always,’ penned by Sambataro and frequent collaborator Paul Crosta, hit the airwaves in late January ’83 – two years after the band’s last single, ‘Staying With It.’ ‘Always’ topped local charts in several markets around the country, but nationally didn’t quite break the Top 40. The album, out in March, made few industry waves.

The new Firefall nonetheless got the go-ahead to record another LP – and fast. Adding SCOTT KIRKPATRICK (Chuck’s bro) on drums and backing vocals, and Colorado bassist, GREG OVERTON, the group cut their seventh studio LP, “MIRROR OF THE WORLD,” named after Bartley’s song about the effects of violent TV on children. The album had a much harder edge than it’s predecessors, which many programmers thought reflected too great a departure from the classic Firefall sound. Though the first single, the rockin’ ‘Runaway Love,’ written by Bartley, Sambataro and Crosta, briefly appeared in video on MTV and received only limited radio airplay, “MIRROR OF THE WORLD” quickly disappeared.

The band remained a popular live act, continuing to tour without a record deal or current hit throughout the 1980’s, playing fairs, festivals, theaters and bigger clubs, and occasionally joined their friends The Doobie Brothers, The Beach Boys, Little River Band and Bob Seger on bigger stages. Firefall’s original singles were still faves with pop and A/C radio audiences, and as the classic rock radio format evolved, a number of the band’s songs enjoyed renewed exposure. For much of the decade of the ’80s, JOCK BARTLEY was the only original member left, although DAVID MUSE would return to the touring unit for stints sometimes lasting a year or more. Different musicians and singers joined into the touring band over the decade of the 80’s – including STEVE HADJOUPOLOS on woodwinds and keyboards (who tragically died of cancer in 1986) and BOB GAFFNEY on bass and vocals and briefly, EDDIE GLEASON on bass and vocals. As the decade grew to a close, RICK ROBERTS returned to front the group once again. In 1992, Rhino Records responded to the clamor to put out all on CD all the great Firefall music, and so released “FIREFALL: THE GREATEST HITS” which featured all of the singles and AOR favorites, and included one previously unrecorded new song, Bartley’s ‘Run Run Away,’ about the adult victims of past child abuse.

THE PHOENIX FLIES HIGHER

As bandleader, Jock Bartley put it, “In the ’80s and early ’90s, the musical landscape we had been playing on changed dramatically underneath us. By in large, multiple acoustic guitars and three part harmonies became a thing of the past (except in country music). They were a number of great groups and artists out there – The Police, Genesis, John Cougar Mellencamp, Peter Gabriel, Talking Heads – but there also was huge amount of crap. The craft of songwriting took somewhat of a nose dive. Sure, the songs on the radio sounded like hits (because of great production and the use of new studio technologies), but many of the singers couldn’t sing very well and the lyrics were often sophomoric or down-right bad. When so many music fans in the 30 to 50 age group didn’t like many songs on rock and pop stations, they started turning their radio dials. That’s why Classic Rock and also, I think, the boom in country music happened. People still wanted to hear melodic rockin’ songs with interesting and/or meaningful lyrics that spoke to them. There just wasn’t as much of it around in the 1908s.” Firefall gave their old fans that and more, gaining new support from the younger crowd. Though their music was growing and evolving, the band stayed close to it’s roots.

In 1984, Florida native, drummer SANDY FICCA joined into the group. The big guy immediately added new strength and power to songs like ‘You Are The Woman,’ ‘Strange Way’ and all of Firefall’s other ‘lighter’ hits. Soon, taking from the recently disbanded Boulder band, Fiction, Jock enlisted the services of bassist and stratospherically high vocalist, BIL HOPKINS, guitarist/vocalist, MARK OBLINGER (who replaced Chuck Kirkpatrick), and DANIEL CLAWSON (ex-Pure Prairie Leaguer) who filled the sax, flute, keyboard slot. Firefall grew increasing tight and wowed audiences nationwide with their musicianship, singing, professionalism and energy – it was very much fun again! Sandy moved out to Boulder, and again, the entire band called Colorado home. The band members were older now, none had alcohol or drug problems, most had children and wives, and for the most part, they were good friends. Though the size and number of gigs the band played had decreased, Firefall found new strength and purpose, found new respect and love for what they were fortunate enough to do for a living. After Mark and Dan left, powerful Denver vocalist and guitarist STEVEN WEINMEISTER joined to take on the lead vocals once sung by Rick or Johnny. Then singer/guitarist STEVE MANSHEL and JIM WADDELL who played that sweet alto sax, flute and keys were added. Other members of the touring band in the 1990s included brief stints by BRAY GHIGLIA, BRUCE CRICHTON, BOB FISHER and STEVE JENKS.

While touring the Midwest in 1993, Firefall encountered first hand the early devastation of the terrible Flood of ’93. In cities like Alton, Illinois, Des Moines, Iowa and St. Louis, the band felt the tragedy and overwhelming impact of the flood. One of their gigs was canceled and a few had to be moved back from danger. The night they returned home to Colorado, a song woke Jock up at 4:00 AM – he sat up in bed in the dark with the hook playing in his head. Getting up, he hurried into his music room and, twenty minutes later, ‘When The River Rises’ was finished. It is a uplifting song with a positive message of gaining strength in adversity. The next day, Steven, Bil and Steve joined him to work out the intricate harmonies. Two days later, the band recorded the song in Colo. Spgs. at Startsong Recording Studio, with engineer/programmer, Tom Gregor, co-producing the song with Bartley. Five days after it was written, ‘When The River Rises’ was taken back to St. Louis where it was played on the radio for the first time. The flood waters had not yet crested. Vowing to give a large portion of the publishing to Flood Relief, the song was sent to numerous radio stations in a dozen flooded states. Soon it was receiving heavy regional airplay and was used by CNN and other TV networks and stations behind coverage of the disaster.

The band parlayed the attention that ‘River’ brought to Firefall into the search for a new record deal. Many smaller companies showed interest but no major labels. They decided to go with a Colorado independent label, REDSTONE RECORDS, who’d had a few impressive successes in the smooth jazz genre. Though Redstone might be out of their league trying to break a band in the piranha tank of rock and pop, the band knew – it was time for a new record. “MESSENGER” was recorded in Denver and Boulder and was released in mid 1994. Bartley had been writing songs for ten years for just this opportunity. Along with the hard edged ‘When The River Rises’ and ‘Secret,’ his songs ‘Love Find A Way,’ ‘Very First Moment’ (co-written with Rick Roberts) and ‘Who Ran Away’ gave the album a familiar but updated Firefall sound. Bil Hopkins’ classy song, ‘Say It’s Over’ (written with Mark Oblinger) and Steve Manshel’s powerful ‘Innocent Victim’ gave depth to the CD. Bartley, Weinmeister, Hopkins, Ficca and Manshel played and sang on the entire CD, with Clawson and Waddell adding most of the keyboards, sax and flute. MARK ANDES and RICHIE FURAY made guest appearances on the sessions. Bartley teamed up again with old friend, Jim Mason to Produce the CD. Lyrically, “MESSENGER” was much more diverse than anything the band had released to date – yes, there were love songs and one or two ballads, but also there were songs about child abuse, environmental catastrophe, and sexual abuse/rape in the chilling, ‘No Means No.’ The first single, ‘Love Find A Way,’ made a respectable showing on the Gavin Radio charts and on the airwaves, but Redstone didn’t have the distribution clout to get the CD into big retail store chains, and consequently sales were disappointing. But the album was critically acclaimed as “their best record since the early days of Firefall” and gave the group a new touring impetus. Manshel left the group around 1998; the band has been a five piece unit ever since. .

In the years between 1996 and 2003, Firefall has toured extensively in the U.S., including three trips to Alaska, Europe twice and Japan twice. They have been involved with a number of social ’causes,’ trying and give a little something back to people – playing concerts for the John Elway Foundation (supporting child abuse victims), Denver Firefighters and Children’s Hospital Burn Victims Camps, Special Olympics fundraising events (hosted by Arnold Swartzenegger and Clint Eastwood in Lake Tahoe) and twice at American Airlines Celebrity Ski Events in Vail for Cystic Fibrosis (where celebrities like former V.P., Dan Quail, Boomer Esiason, Jim Palmer and Dan Jansen sang onstage with them!). In ’97, Jock Bartley was asked to compose a song for Suicide Prevention. He wrote the heartfelt ‘Call On Me’ which became the anthem of the cause and in the process, became a national spokesperson. Working with the Kristin Brooks Hope Center, the (800) SUICIDE Hotline Network and the American Association of Suicidology in Washington D.C., he helped to put on (and was director in) three benefit concerts to raise awareness and save lives – two in Nashville, featuring artists like Michael McDonald, Wynonna Judd, David Pack (Ambrosia), Rusty Young (Poco) and Victoria Shaw, and one in San Francisco where the powerhouse rockers, Journey, headlined with Firefall opening the show. In September 2005 Steve, Chris and Jock twice performed as ‘Acoustic Firefall’ at live benefits and radio fundraisers for Hurricane Katrina victims, helping to raise over $35,000 for the Red Cross. Also in September 2005, Steve and Jock played at a ‘Rockers For Kids’ benefit for Denver Children’s Hospital raising money for teens at risk – three of Jock’s paintings hung in the art exhibit that featured rock & roll artists Paul McCartney, David Bowie, Jerry Garcia, John Entwistle, Ron Wood, John Mellencamp and others.

In April of 2004, while ordering replacement gold records for an ex-Firefall employee who’s original awards had been stolen from his house, Jock inquired as to the status of the sales figures of the first Firefall album, knowing that back in 1977 hard sales figures were nearly at platinum status at over 950,000 units sold. The award manufacturer told him to call RIAA, the certification organization. RIAA told Jock to call Atlantic Records. On that subsequent call, it took the woman at Atlantic Records about thirty seconds to say, “Oh yes, that album has sold 1,300,000 units. We’ll certify if platinum today.” So, over twenty five years after FIREFALL’s first album actually sold over a million copies, it was certified platinum, over one million sales. A “Platinum Party” was held at Denver’s Hard Rock Café on May 16th, JB’s birthday, celebrating primarily the original six-man band’s success.. but also the longevity of the later incarnations of Firefall. On stage at the very beginning of the festivities, Jock said, “This new platinum record was certified decades after it was actually sold a million copies. This party is to honor and acknowledge the six original Firefall band members who created those songs and that distinctive sound that became so successful – Rick Roberts, Mark Andes, Larry Burnett, Michael Clarke, David Muse and I. Together we made music that was magic – songs that still get massive radio airplay nearly 30 years after they first appeared. Sure we had some business and personality conflicts, but the enduring legacy of the band is these wonderful songs and studio performances that still stand the test of time. I respect and love each and every one of those Firefall founding members. This celebration is for them.. and for you, the fans.” The platinum record/CD was the first award to be hung on the Denver Hard Rock Café’s ‘Colorado Hall of Fame.’

JOCK BARTLEY, SANDY FICCA, BIL HOPKINS and STEVEN WEINMEISTER have been playing together in Firefall for over fifteen years. CHRIS BALL joined the band in 2002. In concert they can play over an hour of nothing but hits and radio recognizable tunes. There are plans to record a live CD to capture the fire and fun that sparks from the stage. They are writing songs for a new studio album which will hopefully soon become a reality. On February 5, 2003, the Firefall classic, ‘You Are The Woman,’ was featured on the Fox Network’s hit TV show, ‘That 70s Show.’ The band’s personal manager, Rick Alter of Nashville, Tenn., also manages Poco, Pure Prairie League, and the country artists, Pin Monkey and Chris Knight.

FIREFALL endures because of the strength and integrity of their songs. It flourishes because of the energy and spontaneity that is so evident on stage and in the studio. FIREFALL will continue as long as there are people who want to hear great music and great singers and musicians. Thank you, one and all!!!

Read more about Firefall at his official website.

Discography