buffalo springfield

History

Origins

Although Buffalo Springfield was formed in early 1966, the group’s genesis might very well be attributed to a chance meeting nearly a year earlier, when Neil Young and Stephen Stills first crossed paths at a folk club in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Young was playing as an opening act with his band The Squires, a band he had been leading since February 1963, and Stephen Stills was on tour with The Company (Roy Michaels, Rick Geiger, Michael Scott, Jean Gurney & Stills), a spin off from the Au Go Go Singers. Although the two would not see each other again for almost a year, the encounter left both with a strong desire to work together.

Some time later, when The Company broke up at the end of that tour, Stills made the move to the West Coast, where he worked as a studio musician and auditioned unsuccessfully for, among other things, The Monkees. Told by record producer Barry Friedman that there would be work available if he could assemble a band, Stills invited fellow Au Go Go Singers alumnus Richie Furay, and former Squires bassman Ken Koblun to come join him in California. Both agreed, although Koblun chose to leave before very long.

In early 1966, Young met Bruce Palmer, who was then playing bass for a group called the Mynah Birds. In need of a lead guitarist, Palmer invited Young to join the group, and the offer was accepted. The Mynah Birds were set to record an album for Motown Records when Rick James, their singer, was arrested for draft evasion. With their record deal cancelled, Young and Palmer decided to head for Los Angeles, where they hoped to hook up with Stills. Roughly a week later, discouraged at having been unable to locate Stills and ready to depart for San Francisco, they were stuck in traffic on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles when Stills and Furay, who just happened to be sitting in the opposite lane, recognized Young’s 1953 Pontiac hearse. After an illegal u-turn by Furay, some shouting, hand-waving, and much excitement, the four men realized that they were united in their determination to put together a band. Less than a week later, drummer Dewey Martin, who had played with country artists such as Patsy Cline and The Dillards, was added after contacting the group at the suggestion of the Byrds' manager, Jim Dickson.

Taking their name from a steamroller parked outside of Friedman’s house, where Stills and Furay were staying, the new group debuted on April 11 at The Troubadour. A few days later, they began a short tour of California as the opening spot on a bill featuring the Dillards and the Byrds.

The Whisky A Go Go, a recording contract, and the Sunset Strip riots

No sooner had the Byrds tour ended than Chris Hillman persuaded the ownership of the Whisky A Go Go to give the band an audition. As a result, the Buffalo Springfield essentially became the house band at the Whiskey for a seven-week period from May 2 to June 18. This legendary series of concerts solidified the band’s reputation for exhilarating live performances as well as attracted immediate interest from a number of record labels. It also brought an invitation from Friedman to Dickie Davis, who had been lighting manager for the Byrds, to become involved in the group’s management. Davis, in turn, sought advice from Sonny & Cher’s management team, Charlie Green and Brian Stone, who eventually struck a deal with Ahmet Ertegun of Atlantic Records and arranged for the band to start recording at Gold Star Studios in Hollywood.

Young, Stills, and Furay would all record demos for the album, but Greene and Stone, who had installed themselves as the album's producers, deemed Young's voice "too weird," and assigned lead vocals on the majority of Young's songs to Furay.

Their first single, “Nowadays Clancy Can’t Even Sing,” was released in July but made little impact outside of L.A., where it reached the Top 25. The group was dissatisfied with and reworked some of their early recording efforts for the rest of the album. In fact, Young and Stills have long maintained that their own mono mix was superior to the stereo mix engineered by Greene and Stone. The album (eponymously titled Buffalo Springfield) was originally released by Atlantic’s subsidiary Atco in mono in October 1966 while a stereo version and different track order came in March 1967.

In November 1966, Stills wrote the landmark song "For What It's Worth" after observing the Sunset Strip riots. The recording of this song was in December, and by March 1967, the Buffalo Springfield had a Top Ten Hit. Atco took advantage of this momentum by replacing the song "Baby Don't Scold Me" with "For What It's Worth", and re-releasing the album, which eventually reached the number 7 spot in the charts.

A stampede of line-up changes

In January 1967, the group took an advance from the record company and flew to New York to perform at Ondine’s. It was at this time that, at their hotel, Palmer was first arrested for possession of marijuana and summarily deported back to Canada.

The band now moved back and forth between recording sessions and live appearances on both coasts, using a number of different bassists, including Koblun—who was unable to cope with the pressure and soon quit—and Jim Fielder of the Mothers of Invention.

Under these conditions, work on the new album, tentatively titled Stampede, was markedly tense. Ever distrustful of Greene and Stone, Young and Stills also bickered among themselves, and each insisted on producing the recording sessions for his own compositions. Furay, who had not contributed anything to the first album save for his guitar and voice, also stepped forward, equaling Young's number of contributions for the group's second album.

Although Palmer returned to the group at the beginning of June, Young had already left and thereby managed to miss the celebrated Monterey Pop Festival, at which the band performed with former Daily Flash and future Rhinoceros member Doug Hastings on guitar and also with a guest appearance by David Crosby. Young eventually returned in August, and after bidding adieu to Greene and Stone, the band divided its time between concert gigs and putting the finishing touches on its second album, ultimately titled Buffalo Springfield Again.

Although more of a hodgepodge of individual work than an integrated group effort, many critics and fans alike consider Buffalo Springfield Again, released in November 1967, to be the group’s finest record, and it includes a number of unforgettable tracks, including "Mr. Soul", "Rock & Roll Woman", and "Sad Memory."

However, for many Buffalo Springfield fans, it is the Stills' composition "Bluebird" that was then and remains now the band's epiphany. Unlike the studio version, which winds down after the instrumental break with a plaintive rendition of the third verse accompanied by a banjo, in a live performance, the opening verses of "Bluebird" serve as little more than a convenient platform for a headlong jump into an extended and raucous jam session during which no single individual "solos" so much as each member contributes solo passages to a complex and finely crafted ensemble performance. Although no recording of this "live jam" version was ever officially released, bootleg versions of what was supposedly a Stampede recording session were a staple of FM radio in the late 60s and early 70s.

With strong reviews appearing all over the country, not only of Buffalo Springfield Again but of the band’s performance as part of the Beach Boys Fifth Annual Thanksgiving Tour, things were looking up.

Last Time Around

However, In January 1968, Palmer's second deportation for possession once again threw a wrench into the works. This time, guitarist and studio engineer Jim Messina was hired as a permanent replacement on bass. With Palmer gone for good, Young also began to appear less and less frequently, often leaving Stills to handle all of the lead guitar parts at concerts. Recording sessions were booked, and all the songs that were to appear on their final album were recorded by the end of March, usually with Messina producing, but the group was clearly on the verge of dissipating. In April 1968, after yet another drug bust involving Young, Furay, Messina, and Eric Clapton, the group decided to disband.

Their final concert appearance was at the Long Beach Arena on May 5, 1968. After playing many of their best-known tunes, an extended version of “Bluebird” became the group's swansong. Buffalo Springfield disbanded a little more than two years after it had begun.

After the group’s break-up, Furay and Messina compiled various tracks recorded between mid-1967 and early 1968 into a third and final studio album, titled Last Time Around. Only a few of the songs featured more than two or three members of the group at a time, and it is often described as the group’s weakest effort. Stills and Furay appeared on more tracks than any of the others, and essentially dominated the album, but it did not light up the charts.

Legacy and Recognition

Although the Buffalo Springfield was never a major commercial success, "For What It’s Worth" was a legitimate hit, and the group’s reputation would only grow stronger with the later successes of its members. Stills went on to form a band with David Crosby of The Byrds and Graham Nash of The Hollies in 1968; Young launched a solo career but also seemed to take almost perverse pleasure in perpetuating his love/hate relationship with Stills by occasionally showing up to play on Crosby, Stills & Nash albums; Furay and Messina both became founding members of Poco before going on to other things, including Furay becoming one third of the Souther, Hillman, and Furay band and Messina one half of the Loggins & Messina duo.

After recording a jam-oriented solo album in 1970 that was a commercial failure, Palmer faded into obscurity, although he occasionally played with Martin's "Buffalo Springfield Revisited" tribute. He was also CSNY's first choice to play bass, but due to various personal problems was replaced by Motown prodigy Greg Reeves. In the 1980s, Palmer would appear on several of Young's Geffen-era records.

Dewey Martin carried on with The New Buffalo Springfield before forming a new band, Dewey Martin and Medicine Ball and recording an LP with UNI Records. [1]

In 1997, the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, although Young did not appear for the induction. In 2001, an eponymous, career-spanning box set was assembled by Young and released. It features many alternate takes, demos, and alternate mixes over the first three of its four discs, with the fourth disc containing the group’s first two albums. The third, never a favorite of Young’s, was relegated to highlights on the third disc.

On his 2000 album Silver & Gold, Young sang of his desire to reform the group, to “see those guys again and give it a shot.” Unfortunately, with the October 2004 passing of Palmer, that reunion is no longer a possibility.

Discography

References

• Einarson, J. and Furay, R. (2004) For What It's Worth: The Story of Buffalo Springfield Lanham:Cooper Square Press. ISBN 0-8154-1281-9.
• Long, P. (1996) Ghosts on the Road—Neil Young in Concert London:Old Homestead Press. ISBN 0-9526517-1-8
• Additional material from an 80-page booklet included in the 4-CD box set Buffalo Springfield featuring a discography, a concert chronology prepared by P. Long and essays by P. Long and K. Viola.

External links

• Expecting To Fly - The Buffalo Springfield Story
• Buffalo Springfield at All Music Guide