The Sanford-Townsend Band was a

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

band who scored a

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from ''Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust or HIT, a fictional organization i ...

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

in 1977 with "

Smoke from a Distant Fire Smoke is an aerosol (a suspension of airborne particulates and gases) emitted when a material undergoes combustion or pyrolysis, together with the quantity of air that is entrained or otherwise mixed into the mass. It is commonly an unwanted b ...

History

The Sanford-Townsend Band featured

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instru ...

s Ed Sanford (from

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama. Named for Continental Army major general Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River on the Gulf Coastal Plain. The population was 2 ...

) and Johnny Townsend (from

Tuscaloosa, Alabama Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal Plain, Gulf Coastal and Piedmont (United States), Piedm ...

), who previously worked together in a Tuscaloosa-based band called The Heart (not to be confused with the band Heart fronted by

Ann Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie and Ana. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in ...

and Nancy Wilson from Seattle/Vancouver). After reuniting in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, Sanford and Townsend signed a publishing deal with

Chappell Music Warner Chappell Music, Inc. is an American music publishing company and a subsidiary of the Warner Music Group. Warner Chappell Music's catalog consists of over 1.4 million compositions and 150,000 composers, with offices in over 40 countries. ...

and began writing songs, most notably "Peacemaker" for

Loggins and Messina Loggins and Messina was an American pop rock duo consisting of Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina, who achieved major chart success during the early-mid 1970s. Among their well-known songs are " Danny's Song", " House at Pooh Corner", and " Your M ...

, which was co-written by Sanford and Townsend with

Kenny Loggins Kenneth Clark "Kenny" Loggins (born January 7, 1948) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His early songs were recorded with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1970, which led to seven albums recorded with Jim Messina (musician), Jim Mess ...

. Their 1976 self-titled album, recorded at the famous

Muscle Shoals Sound Studio Muscle Shoals Sound Studio is an American recording studio in Sheffield, Alabama, formed in 1969 by four session musicians known as The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. They had left nearby FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals to create their own record ...

in Alabama, started getting attention when "Smoke from a Distant Fire" reached No. 9 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, No. 9 in

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

, and No. 13 in

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

. The album was retitled with the name of the hit song and re-released as just by Sanford & Townsend. The band supported the song by opening for

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1967 by the singer and guitarist Peter Green (musician), Peter Green. Green named the band by combining the surnames of the drummer, Mick Fleetwood, and the bassis ...

on their '' Rumours'' tour, as well as concerts with

The Marshall Tucker Band The Marshall Tucker Band is an American rock band from Spartanburg, South Carolina. Noted for incorporating blues, country and jazz into an eclectic sound, the Marshall Tucker Band helped establish the Southern rock genre in the early 1970s. Wh ...

Charlie Daniels Charles Edward Daniels (October 28, 1936 – July 6, 2020) was an American singer, musician, and songwriter. His music fused rock, country, blues and jazz, and was a pioneering contribution to Southern rock and progressive country. He was ...

Jimmy Buffett James William Buffett (December 25, 1946 – September 1, 2023) was an American singer-songwriter, author, and businessman. He was known for his tropical rock sound and persona, which often portrayed a lifestyle described as "island escapis ...

, Foreigner, and

Heart The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ found in humans and other animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels. The heart and blood vessels together make the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrie ...

. The band's follow-up albums, ''Duo-Glide'' (also credited to Sanford & Townsend) and ''Nail Me To The Wall'' (back to the full band name again), were significantly less successful. Sanford and Townsend returned to their careers as

session musician A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a reco ...

s and

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

s. The band's long-time bassist, Jerry Rightmer, died in 2007 at the age of 57 from

cirrhosis of the liver Cirrhosis, also known as liver cirrhosis or hepatic cirrhosis, chronic liver failure or chronic hepatic failure and end-stage liver disease, is a chronic condition of the liver in which the normal functioning tissue, or parenchyma, is replaced ...

, brought on by

hepatitis C Hepatitis C is an infectious disease caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV) that primarily affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. During the initial infection period, people often have mild or no symptoms. Early symptoms can include ...

. Former lead guitarist Roger Johnson currently works with his wife in publishing. He had spent 25 years in the film industry as a video technician and editor subsequent to his time in the Sanford-Townsend Band. In 2008, John Townsend formed the Toler/Townsend Band with

Dan Toler Daniel Lee Toler (September 23, 1948 – February 25, 2013), known professionally as "Dangerous" Dan Toler, was an American guitarist. Life and career A native of Connersville, Indiana, Toler became popular in the late 1970s as a member of D ...

. Townsend's tenor voice remains substantially unchanged from thirty years prior.

Principal band members

*John Wayne Townsend: lead vocals, keyboards *Ed Sanford: keyboards, vocals *Roger Johnson: lead guitar, backing vocals *Otis Hale: guitar, woodwinds, backing vocals *Jerry Rightmer: bass, backing vocals *Jim Varley: drums

Discography

Albums

* ''Sanford Townsend Band'' (1976) * ''Smoke from a Distant Fire'' (1977) (Credited to just Sanford & Townsend) – US No. 57 * ''Duo-Glide'' (1978) (Credited to just Sanford & Townsend) – US No. 92 * ''Nail Me to the Wall'' (1979)

Singles

References

External links

Allmusic entry AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the data ...

"Smoke From A Distant Fire" Songfacts entry

Johnny Townsend Myspace
* {{Authority control Southern rock musical groups from Alabama American soul musical groups Warner Records artists