Livin’ Ain’t Livin’ (1976)

Performer: Firefall                                                  Writer: Rick Roberts
Highest US Chart Position: #42                             Label: Atlantic Records
Musicians: Rick Roberts, Larry Burnett, David Muse, Mark Andes and Michael Clark

Firefall was one of the great country-rock units of the seventies. Their breakout self-titled debut album from 1976, Firefall, was one of the defining musical moments of that year and spawned their biggest hit, the number nine “You Are the Woman” that fall. The thing that made the group unique among outfits plying the same trade was the presence of David Muse, who not only provided keyboard support but the distinctive saxophone and flute parts for the group. At this point in the group’s evolution, however, he wasn’t even a full member of the band, but all of that changed by the time the second album was released. The first single off of the album was “Livin’ Ain’t Livin’” which featured Muse on the tenor sax. The song was written by founding member Rick Roberts, who had previously been a member of the Flying Burrito Brothers and had released two solo albums in the early seventies that weren’t able to gain any traction on the airwaves. A series of accidents stemming from demo tapes produced by Chris Hillman, a former Burrito band mate of Roberts’, led to a recording contract with Atlantic and their first album, the quickest in the Atlantic catalogue to reach gold.

The song begins with deep, sliding notes on the guitar by Jock Bartley and a mournful wail on the saxophone by David Muse. This is accompanied by the acoustic guitars of Rick Roberts and Larry Burnett while drummer Michael Clark plays rapid-fire sixteenth notes on the closed hi-hat. The first verse begins immediately with Roberts singing and Mark Andes coming in on the bass. It’s an up-tempo number that deals with the regrets of the narrator about his poor treatment of women in the past. Now he has discovered, perhaps too late, that life isn’t so great being alone. What he wants is someone to share his life with and realizes that livin’ ain’t really livin’ when it’s alone. It’s a nice chorus that is thick with vocals and saxophone backing, and actually ends with the title words. From there Muse goes directly into a saxophone break before the second verse. The verses are punctuated with lead guitar fills by Bartley that seem to sustain and resonate throughout the chorus, but it is actually low-end synthesizer effects by Muse. After the second chorus Muse and Bartley trade off on a guitar and saxophone solo that builds to a break, with Roberts singing the first part of the third verse by himself and his acoustic guitar, backed only by Clark’s hi-hats and congas by percussionist Joe Lala. Muse and Bartley continue to trade off on the exit chorus with Roberts ad-libbing vocal fills, and the same ascending build-up after the solo concludes the song.

While it lacked the sales of their next single, the song was the perfect one to release first from the album as it really captured their sound more accurately than the follow up. One of the aspects of the group that may have been responsible for that unique sound was that they were based in Colorado rather than Southern California where the roots of country-rock were primarily formed. The single entered the Billboard Hot 100 on June 5th at the number 83 spot and made its way up to number 42 by the middle of July before dropping off two weeks later. The B-side is “Love Isn’t All,” medium tempo ballad by the other writer in the group, Larry Burnett, the composer responsible for “Cinderella,” the final single released from the album early in 1977. While the A-side is one of Firefall’s memorable singles, it’s not one that I can specifically recall hearing at the time. That summer I went with my family to Hawaii and with the song not reaching the Top 40 it’s possible that it didn’t get enough of a rotation on radio stations to catch my attention. Nevertheless, “Livin’ Ain’t Livin’” is one of a number of tracks on their debut album that explains its rapid rise in the album charts and the continuing popularity of Firefall.