Souther, Hillman, Furay Band – Fallin’ In Love

I was searching for bands to cover and ran across this one. I’ve heard of them a lot but never really listened to their music. The minute I played this one, I remembered it. This song has a bite to it, with that intro guitar. They keep an edge over the Southern California style of that time. It’s catchy without being too sweet. It works as a nice pop song.

They were formed in 1974 when J. D. Souther, Chris Hillman, and Richie Furay joined together after their earlier bands had already helped shape country rock. Furay had come from Buffalo Springfield and Poco; Hillman had been in The Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers; and Souther was already becoming known as a songwriter closely tied to the Southern California music scene. This song appeared on their 1974 debut album and became the group’s biggest single.

J. D. Souther wrote the song, and his style is all over it… a polished sound, different from what Furay and Hillman did earlier. The recording sessions were handled with producer Tom Sellers. Top Studio players helped give the record a commercial sound, but with some edge still in there as well.

Even though this song gave the band a hit, Souther-Hillman-Furay Band never fully broke through the way many expected. The music business was changing quickly, and country rock was becoming more polished and corporate by the mid-1970s. The group released two albums before splitting up in 1975. Still, this remains a good snapshot of that California country-rock era.

This song peaked at #27 on the Billboard 100 in 1974.

Fallin In Love

Here I go again, it’s all right
Full moons grown to brighten the night
I’ve been lookin’, now seein’ the light
It’s sure shinin’ bright, yea

Well, honey, believe in it, it bein’ free mm
Nothin’ to love’s like nothin’ to be
You’ve got once a lifetime
To see just how much of your dream

Honey, to feel like fallin’ in love, just to know
Honey, to feel like fallin’ in love

Turnin’ home, runnin’ free as the wind
Stretchin’ my stride, wanna hold you again
Well, it’s time to be taken in
Let me know where I’ve been, yea

Honey, to feel like fallin’ in love, just to know
Don’t you know what it feels like fallin’ in love

Honey to feel like fallin’ in love

Turnin’ home, runnin’ free as the wind
Stretchin’ my stride, wanna hold you again
Well it’s time to be taken in
Let me know where I’ve been

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

25 thoughts on “Souther, Hillman, Furay Band – Fallin’ In Love”

  1. Geez Max these guys would have been massive in the 90s into the 2000’s when country rock really became polished and corporate. All about timing.

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  3. Pingback: Souther, Hillman, Furay Band – Fallin’ In Love – MobsterTiger

  5. I had run across a reference to this super band some time back. I never followed up on so I am very happy to see you did it for me! That’s a shame things did not go better for them, though I think two albums is farther than most of these types of collaborations get.

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  6. For a second, there I had the Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds “Fallin in love” song. This is new to me, despite loving J. D. Souther. Souther had a big thing for Stevie, as did Walter Egan & Bob Welch.

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  7. I sure don’t remember it! Sounds pretty decent though as I’d expect from those three. The sound seems a blend of the Eagles (I know JD wasn’t a real Eagle but he was the next closest thing) and the more country or lo-fi of the Burritos and Buffalo S.

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  8. I was lucky enough to see JD and Karla Bonoff in Vancouver decades ago. two artists that I think we thought were our little secret, special, but not part of the star making machinery…

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  9. Never heard this one, Max. I know Hillman from The Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers. I like it. I’ve got nothing against the California sound, The Eagles (though the Classic Rock radio format burned me out on them) or Americana–polished or patina.

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  11. Now I remember a different story. Souther, Hillman and Furay were a part of the hit making machinery. They were put together by one David Geffen, in the dust that the first couple of Eagles albums left behind. They were professional, but they never gelled as a band. All are or were capable of great things, but when somebody tries to create magic with nothing more than professionalism and talent, without the mix, the results are not always what was desired.

    No comment on the music. I remember it being exactly what it was supposed to be, and what one would expect from Souther, Hillman and Furay, individuallly and together.

    Ah memories

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  13. Pretty much on the button with your description of the music Max; there’s a kind of a subdued effort at rocking out in the solos between 1.50 to 2.30 or so but I can almost hear the producer saying ‘waoah guys, ease back a little, smooooooth is how I- we want this to sound.’ Again, no real criticism, it was just the sound o’ the times.

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