Firefall

It’s appropriate that Firefall’s new album Friends & Family 2 begins with a cover of the hit Stephen Stills song “Love the One You’re With.” Firefall’s roots are in Boulder, Colorado, and, in the early 1970s, Stills took a break from superstardom with Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and moved to Gold Hill where he joined the volunteer fire department in the high mountains up the canyon from Boulder.

Jock Bartley, Firefall’s longtime leader and sizzling electric guitarist, has the utmost respect for his fellow axe slinger. Bartley met Stills four or five times, including joining Firefall on stage decades ago, and Stills played on Firefall’s 1982 album Break of Dawn. Bartley is the only remaining member from those days, though drummer Sandy Ficca, vocalist-guitarist Steven Weinmeister and multi-instrumentalist Jim Waddell have been in the band for several decades. Vocalist-bassist John Bisaha joined the group in 2022.

“Stills set the bar very high for rock guitarists on electric lead guitar and on acoustic fingerpicked guitar,” Bartley tells me. “He’s at the top of any list of great guitarists. He was so innovative with the guitar sounds he got in the studio and the parts he played. He dared to let things just fly in his soloing, while the red lights were on. Stephen is a genius! And he showed the rest of us how to do it. He plays keyboards and other instruments, he’s one of the very best singer-songwriters, he is one of a kind.”

Many other bands and musicians whose songs are on Friends & Family 2 — an album honoring the 1970s performers who shared stages with Firefall —  are also one of a kind. The all-covers album includes songs by the Byrds, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Neil Young, the Beach Boys, Fleetwood Mac, Dan Fogelberg, America, Kenny Loggins, Pure Prairie League, the Little River Band and Eddie Money.

“Some choices were easy — ‘Love The One You’re With,’ ‘I’m Alright’ by Loggins and ‘Christine’s Tune’ by the Burrito Bros — but other choices were much tougher,” says Bartley, who was in Zephyr and the Fallen Angels band of Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris prior to Firefall. “I didn’t consider how the 12 songs would seamlessly work together. I just figured it’s the Firefall band playing and singing all the tunes, sounding like we do making records, and I figured it’d all work together, as it had on the first Friends & Family album.”

I mention to Bartley that the album may lean to artists and groups with Los Angeles roots.

“Firefall’s musical roots are from Southern California with all our Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, Chris Hillman and Gram Parsons connections,” he responds. “But, no, I did not once think about where those bands were from. This is a Colorado album, exclusively recorded in Denver and Boulder studios, with the majority of the band living in the state. Firefall is a Colorado band with a distinctive sound, and we have great musical history and ties to Los Angeles, SoCal, Florida and other places.” 

I ask Bartley how he was influenced by the Byrds, my favorite rock and roll group.

“I was a young guitarist in Colorado Springs, taught by the world-famous jazz guitarist Johnny Smith between the ages of 9-14,” he says. “The Beatles played the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, and everything changed. Having already played for five years, I learned every Beatles, Stones, British Invasion song I could. And then the Byrds’ first album came out! Unbelievably great with the 12-string guitar, their amazing vocals and the new vibe of Southern California. I studied every liner note on their albums and looked at the pictures of the band. They were just one step below the Beatles in my mind, and they were American!”

Bartley began college at the University of Colorado in Boulder in 1968 but dropped out to play music full-time.

“By 1969-70, you started to hear about California rock stars — Stephen Stills, Chris Hillman, Richie Furay, Joe Walsh, Dan Fogelberg, Carl Wilson and others — moving into the mountains above Boulder: Boulder was a magnet. I couldn’t believe it and was fairly stunned when I met and then started playing with people like Chris Hillman and Rick Roberts (a member of the Flying Burrito Brothers and Firefall’s original lead singer). Firefall formed with the help and guidance of Chris Hillman and soon ex-Byrds drummer Michael Clarke was in the band. I was in musical hog heaven!”

I ask Bartley what chapter of Stills’ long career was the strongest and what Stills songs are the best.

“I cannot judge which is his best song,” he responds. “I love Buffalo Springfield with Stephen, Neil Young and Richie Furay and absolutely love ‘For What It’s Worth’ and ‘Bluebird.’ But, in my mind, Stephen’s most stunning work was with CSN and later CSNY. His musical vision, the simplicity, the songs chosen and the amazing vocal blend on the first CSN album is remarkable. Amazing! And that album was Stephen Stills’ baby. My favorite Stills songs on that record? All of ‘em. The totality of that record and it’s timing changed the musical world. Okay, okay — one of my personal favorite Stills songs is ‘Black Queen’ on his solo record.”  

The second cut on the new Firefall album is the classic Fleetwood Mac song “Go Your Own Way,” so I ask Bartley about his interactions with that supergroup. In May 1977, more than 61,000 fans crammed into the University of Colorado’s Folsom Field to see Fleetwood Mac with warmup acts John Sebastian, Firefall and Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band.

“I have only met Mick (Fleetwood) and Stevie (Nicks),” Bartley says. “I wish I would’ve met Lindsey (Buckingham), who was a guitar hero of mine, but, as with most big bands at their concerts, they stayed in their dressing rooms until they played, keeping away from craziness backstage. If I remember correctly, Fleetwood Mac had five dressing rooms, one for each band member, and five limos for their individual travel to and from the hotel.”

Roberts recalls getting drunk two or three times with Mick Fleetwood in a Los Angeles studio — “he’s a hoot” — and Fleetwood managing Firefall for a few weeks and getting the band a new contract with Atlantic Records. Bartley offers a unique Stevie Nicks story.

 “Stevie Nicks came to the Roxy on Sunset Boulevard and sat in with Firefall, singing our hit ’Strange Way’ with Rick Roberts,” Bartley recalls. “She seemed really nice, and I briefly talked to her. What was funny about the Roxy was she came in with two other blonde women dressed exactly like she was! They followed her everywhere backstage. The reason? It was likely because of an out-of-control fan or groupie who wanted to get to Stevie. Which one of those three is really Stevie? She camouflaged herself with two other identical looking blonde women, so they could split apart at any moment if things got weird. Ha!!”

Bartley has another unique story about his interactions with Dan Fogelberg, who also lived in the mountains outside Boulder and sat in a few nights when Firefall played Boulder’s legendary club The Good Earth. Firefall’s original bass player Mark Andes was in Fogelberg’s band, as well as in Spirit and Heart.

“Dan invited Firefall members on stage at Red Rocks Amphitheater (in Morrison, Colorado) to play on ’Strange Way,’ which Mark sang during Dan’s set,” Bartley says. “I have a cool picture of Dan and me jamming lead guitars at that Red Rocks show. One funny experience I had with him: Dan invited Rick Roberts and me up to his house near Nederland, Colorado, for the Halloween party he was having. My costume that year was my malamute dog, Smokey, so I was fully dressed as a black and white dog with a fuzzy black hat with ears. Well, I get up to Dan’s house, and nobody else at the party was wearing a costume. Dan and Rick had a Halloween mask that they didn’t wear for more than a few seconds. And there I was dressed to the hilt as my dog Smokey. Gawd, it was unbearable, uncomfortable — and funny.”

The new album includes “Sail On, Sailor,” a rare Beach Boys hit not sung by an original group member. The song was on the 1973 album Holland and sung by Blondie Chaplin. 

“I think it was a very good choice, though now I think one of the surfing hits might’ve been very cool and fun to do,” Bartley muses. “In the 1970s, Firefall toured a lot with the Beach Boys, even opening for two shows in Japan for them. I got to know Carl Wilson a bit. What a wonderfully warm and down-to-earth rock star Carl was. He moved to the mountains above Boulder for a while during their heyday. I met Brian (Wilson) for about three seconds in Japan, and his handlers didn’t much appreciate me sticking out my hand to shake the great writer-singer Brian’s hand. And, of course, we won’t talk about Mike Love who was a total ____ to everyone. Ha.”

I mention to Bartley that I have a lot of respect for the website allmusic.com, but I noticed that it describes Firefall as “Colorado soft rock standouts.” I know that Bartley loves to rip and jam, and I remember a sensational smoking Firefall club show, including a long killer version of their hit “Mexico,” at The Little Bear in Evergreen, Colorado.

“I’ve been battling that misnomer for decades,” Bartley says. “Firefall has always been a rock band with me being the fiery hot lead guitarist. But after ‘You Are the Woman’ was a smash pop hit in ’76, and the next year ‘Just Remember I Love You’ a big hit, much of the public thought Firefall was simply a soft rock band. And we really weren’t. We were a rockin’ band with songs like ‘Mexico’ and ‘Livin’ Ain’t Livin’ that had a few big ballads as hit singles.  Hell, Atlantic Records really wanted eight to 10 ‘You Are The Woman’ songs per record, but no! We had a wide variety of songs from Rick and Larry (Burnett) and only had a softer ballad side with a few of Rick’s songs that became monster hit records. So, I’ve been battling that misperception of the band for decades. Oh well, I’m glad we had such big hit records, but there are still concerts we play where I can tell parts of the crowd are surprised by our really rockin’ side. Hell, as an opening act for Lynyrd Skynyrd, 38 Special or Fleetwood Mac, we would not have been able to hold our own with their rock crowds if we only were a soft-rock ballads band.”

A few years ago, Bartley told me Eric Clapton is his favorite guitarist, so this time I ask him who is the best rock vocalist he has ever heard.

“Hmm,” he responds. “Lou Graham of Foreigner was the best lead rock and roll vocalist in the business back in the day. Mickey Thomas of (Jefferson) Starship! Also, the late, great Levon Helm of the Band was a standout — a funky singer and drummer.” 

Another famous singer joins in on “Love the One You’re With” on the new Firefall album, and there’s a fun story behind it.

“Stephen Stills’ version has no drums on it, just lots of Joe Lala’s percussion and Stephen’s jangly acoustic guitars,” Bartley says. “It’s a great original version! As soon as I picked that song and really listened to his original, I knew I wanted some kicking drums on our version. I immediately thought of Cactus Moser, whom I’d played a lot with in our early Boulder days.

“I called him in Nashville,” Bartley continues, “knowing he and Wynonna (Judd) have a studio in their house, and asked him if he’d play on that song and on ’Shakin’’ by Eddie Money.  He said ‘sure,’ so I emailed him our unfinished recordings. A few weeks later, he sent me a drum track he’d done; I listened, made a few minor suggestions and he finished with a real kicking but tasty drum part. It was great! I then asked him if his wife, Wynonna, would sing on ‘Love the One You’re With’ too. He immediately said, ‘That’s a great idea. I’m sure her producer will say yes.’ I thanked him, and he quickly responded, ‘Of course, I’m her producer!’ Ha — good ole Cactus.”