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The Souther = Hillman = Furay Band (The SFH Band) - Trouble in Paradise

Sometimes the anticipation and mystery of the unknown are greater than the reality once it's revealed. I found this album the same day I found the debut album by The Karroll Brothers, and at the time I mentioned I was pretty stoked to find this one. The Karroll Brothers album was a wonderful surprise. This one was a surprise too, but for different reasons.

Let's get a couple of things out of the way right up front. I'm a casual J.D. Souther fan. I have a couple of his albums and, aside from his "hit" "You're Only Lonely," they were rather forgettable. However, his contribution to the 1988 movie Permanent Record (where I became a fan of Keanu Reeves), "Wishing on Another Lucky Star," is one of the finest pop songs EVER written. For that alone, I consider myself a fan.

Chris Hillman is another guy I know more about than I actually know. I do have one of his albums, and I remember enjoying it, but I can't actually remember any of the songs. For me, I remember him more for guesting on The 77s' "The Lust, the Flesh, the Eyes & the Pride of Life," where he provided backing vocals and played bass.

Then there's Richie Furay, who I actually know very little about other than that he was in Buffalo Springfield and Poco.

From a pedigree perspective, The Souther Hillman Furay Band was filled with guys who circulated in the top tier of rock's who's who. David Geffen features prominently in the thank-you section as the last name mentioned in large print, and the album was released on Asylum, so it's not like these guys were lacking support. The band also included the incredible Al Perkins on lead guitar, pedal steel, and dobro. Trouble in Paradise was the band's second album and ultimately their swan song.

Of the songs here, it's J.D. Souther who connects more often than not. That may simply be a function of the numbers, as he wrote four of the album's nine tracks, but truth be told, they're the strongest songs on the record. The album kicks off with "Trouble in Paradise," a pretty solid mid-tempo opener. The problem is that J.D. Souther's voice often bears more than a passing resemblance to Glenn Frey's, which can be either a blessing or a distraction.

Chris Hillman's songs are enjoyable enough while they're playing, but once they're over they're just as quickly out of mind. I do wonder if he had some pull with the mixing engineer, as the bass sits pretty far forward throughout the album. Not a bad thing - just saying.

Considering this was released in 1975, and given the other bands in their orbit - thinking of Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, or even America - I'm surprised they didn't lean further into the country-rock side of things with more vocal harmonies that played to their inherent strengths. Of course, as I write this, Richie Furay's "For Someone I Love" is playing, and it's filled with lush harmonies. Well, that'll teach me to write before actually listening to the album. To be fair, this was only the second pass through before I noticed.

"Mexico" jumped out the first time through as a decent song, and on the second listen it's even better. I'm not sure if the warble on the "mariachi" guitars was intentional, but it sounds old-timey. I know that may not make sense, but it does to me. This isn't meant as a criticism - the song is really good - and it makes me wonder whether Jimmy Buffett ever heard it before expanding on a similar vibe with his 1977 hit "Margaritaville."

Another J.D. Souther song, "Prisoner in Disguise," is a really strong track that makes me think it would have been killer on an Eagles album with Glenn Frey handling the lead vocal. It's not like J.D. didn't have tremendous success writing for other artists.

"Somebody Must Be Wrong" closes the album and is one of the stronger songs here. It also features Glenn Frey and Don Henley on backing vocals, which is a bit like adding a secret sauce that unfortunately highlights the inevitable comparisons to another high-flying band.

In all, the album feels like the whole is less than the sum of its parts. The band released a pretty solid, if ultimately forgettable, record that never quite escapes feeling derivative. There's nothing terrible here, and it's an enjoyable listen while it's playing. As I finish writing this, I've spun it several times, and it does get a little better with each pass. But once it's over, there's not much compelling me to put it back on, and I suspect that given a couple of weeks I won't remember much of what was on it.

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