Buffalo Springfield
Encyclopedia
Buffalo Springfield is a North American folk rock
band renown both for its music and as a springboard for the careers of Neil Young
, Stephen Stills
, Richie Furay
and Jim Messina. Among the first wave of North American bands to become popular in the wake of the British invasion
, the group combined rock
, folk
, and country
music into a sound all its own. Its million-selling song "For What It's Worth" became a political anthem for the turbulent late 1960s.
Formed in April 1966, Buffalo Springfield was plagued by infighting, drug busts, and line-up changes that led to the group's disbanding after just two years. Three albums were released under its name, but many demos
, studio outtakes and live recordings remained and were issued in the decades that followed.
Despite the band's short tenure and limited output it was one of the most influential of its era, earning Rock and Roll Hall of Fame recognition and spawning fellow Hall honorees Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and Poco
, as well as popular acts Loggins and Messina
and Crazy Horse
.
, Ontario
. Young was there with The Squires, a Winnipeg
group he had been leading since February 1963, and Stills was on tour with The Company, 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.
When The Company broke up at the end of that tour, Stills moved 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 bass player Ken Koblun
to come join him in California. Both agreed, although Koblun chose to leave before very long and rejoined the group 3's a Crowd
.
In early 1966 in Toronto, Young met Bruce Palmer
, a Canadian who was playing bass for a group called the Mynah Birds. In need of a lead guitarist, Palmer invited Young to join the group, and Young accepted. The Mynah Birds were set to record an album for Motown Records
when their singer Ricky James Matthews (later known as Rick James
) was tracked down and arrested by the U.S. Navy for being AWOL. With their record deal canceled, 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, Furay and Friedman, sitting in their white van, recognized Young’s black 1953 Pontiac hearse, which happened to be passing by in the opposite direction. After an illegal u-turn by Furay, some shouting, hand-waving, and much excitement, the four musicians realized that they were united in their determination to put together a band. Drummer Dewey Martin
, who had played with country
artists such as Patsy Cline
and The Dillards
, was added to the roster less than a week later after contacting the group at the suggestion of the Byrds' manager, Jim Dickson.
Taking their name from the side of a steamroller, made by the Buffalo-Springfield Roller Company, that had been parked on the street outside Friedman’s house (where Stills and Furay were staying), the new group debuted on April 11, 1966 at The Troubadour in Hollywood
. A few days later, they began a short tour of California as the opening act on a bill featuring the Dillards and the Byrds.
persuaded the owners of the Whisky a Go Go
to give the band an audition. Buffalo Springfield essentially became the house band at the Whisky for seven weeks, from May 2 to June 18, 1966. This series of concerts solidified the band’s reputation for exhilarating live performances and attracted 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. In turn, Davis sought advice from Sonny & Cher
’s management team, Charlie Greene and Brian Stone. They eventually struck a deal with Ahmet Ertegün
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.
The first Buffalo Springfield single, “Nowadays Clancy Can’t Even Sing”, was released in August but made little impact outside of Los Angeles, 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 and in stereo in December 1966. A revamped version (see below) issued both in mono and stereo with a different track order, came in March 1967.
In November 1966 Stills composed his landmark song, "For What It's Worth", after witnessing police actions against the crowds of young people who had gathered on the Sunset Strip
to protest the closing of a nightclub called Pandora's Box. The song was performed on Thanksgiving night at the Whisky a Go Go, recorded within the next few days, and on the air in Los Angeles on radio station KHJ
soon after. By March 1967 it was 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. "For What It's Worth" sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc
.
would also play. It was at this time that Palmer was first arrested for possession of marijuana
and summarily deported back to Canada.
The band moved back and forth between recording sessions and live appearances on both coasts. A number of different bassists were used, such as Mike Barnes and Jim Fielder
of the Mothers of Invention. In one instance - a live performance on the television show Hollywood Palace - Springfield's non-bass-playing road manager held a bass with his back to the camera while the band mimed to a prerecorded track. An appearance on the The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
was taped on Feb. 17, 1967, airing on Feb. 26.
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 between themselves, and each insisted on producing the recording sessions for his own compositions. Furay, who had sung and played guitar on the first album but had not contributed any songs, also stepped forward and equaled Young's number for the group's second album.
Although Palmer returned to the group at the beginning of June, Young had already left and as a result missed the celebrated Monterey Pop Festival
, at which the band performed with former Daily Flash and future Rhinoceros
member Doug Hastings on guitar and guest David Crosby
. Young eventually returned on October 7 or 8th at the Third Eye in Redondo Beach, California, and after bidding adieu to Greene and Stone (Ertegün convinced the duo to release the band from production and management agreements), the band divided its time between playing concert gigs and putting the finishing touches on its second album, ultimately titled Buffalo Springfield Again
, produced by Ertegün himself.
Although more of an amalgam of individual work than an integrated group effort, Buffalo Springfield Again is considered by many critics and fans to be the group’s finest record. Released in November 1967, it includes "Mr. Soul" (the version of which that appears as the B side of the edited "Bluebird" has a completely different guitar lead than the stereo LP version and has yet to be issued on CD), "Rock & Roll Woman", "Bluebird", "Sad Memory", and "Broken Arrow." The group was featured playing "Bluebird" in an episode of the television series Mannix
called "Warning: Live Blueberries", which aired on October 28, 1967.
For many Buffalo Springfield fans it is "Bluebird", a Stephen Stills composition, that was then and remains the band's peak. Unlike the studio version - which winds down after the instrumental break with a plaintive rendition of the third verse, accompanied by a banjo - in live performances the opening verses of "Bluebird" served as a springboard for an extended jam session
, during which Stills, Young and Furay intertwined guitars for minutes on end. One such "live jam" version which was officially released on the 1973 compilation Buffalo Springfield had become a staple of FM radio in the late '60s and early '70s.
but of the band’s performance as part of the Beach Boys Fifth Annual Thanksgiving Tour, things were looking up.
However, in January 1968 Palmer's second deportation for drug 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 the lead guitar parts at concerts. Recording sessions were booked, and all the songs that appeared on their final album were recorded by the end of March, usually with Messina producing, but the group was clearly on the verge of disbanding. In April 1968, after yet another drug bust involving Young, Furay, Messina and Eric Clapton
, the group decided to break up.
The final 20th century concert appearance was at the Long Beach Arena on May 5, 1968. After the band played many of its best-known tunes, an extended version of “Bluebird” became the group's swan song
. Buffalo Springfield disbanded a little more than two years after it had begun.
After the group’s breakup, Furay and Messina compiled various tracks recorded between mid-1967 and early 1968 into a third and final studio album, titled Last Time Around
. Although it featured Furay's touching ballad "Kind Woman", Young's classic "I Am a Child" and Stills' subtle political "Four Days Gone", only a few of the songs included more than two or three members of the group at a time. Even the cover photo was a montage, with Young's image added to a group profile of the other four members. Stills and Furay appeared on more tracks than any of the others, essentially dominating the album, but it did not light up the charts.
Stills went on to form Crosby, Stills & Nash with David Crosby
of The Byrds
and Graham Nash
of The Hollies
in 1968. Young launched a solo career, but in 1969 also reunited with Stills in Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, which saw the beginning of his sporadic relationship with that trio. Furay and Messina were founding members of Poco
. Furay joined J.D. Souther and Chris Hillman
to form the Souther-Hillman-Furay Band
, and Messina teamed with Kenny Loggins
in Loggins & Messina.
Palmer was CSNY's first choice to play bass, but due to various personal problems was replaced by Motown prodigy Greg Reeves
. After recording a commercially unsuccessful jam-oriented solo album in 1970, Palmer faded into obscurity, although he did briefly play that same year with Toronto blues band Luke & The Apostles
. In the early 1980s he appeared on Young's Trans
album and then played with Martin in the "Buffalo Springfield Revisited" tribute band in the mid-1980s.
' stand-in in The Monkees
) and Gary Rowles (son of jazz pianist Jimmy Rowles
), bass player Bob Apperson, drummer Don Poncher and horn player Jim Price
, who later became a top session musician for Delaney Bramlett
,
The Rolling Stones
, Joe Cocker
and others.
The new band toured extensively and appeared at the highly publicized "Holiday Rock Festival" in San Francisco on December 25–26, 1968, but soon fell afoul of Stills and Young, who took legal action to prevent Martin from using the band's name.
In February 1969 Martin and Dave Price formed a second version of New Buffalo Springfield with guitarist Bob "BJ" Jones and bass player Randy Fuller, brother of the late Bobby Fuller
. The band made some recordings with producer Tom Dowd
overseeing, but they were scrapped. Another guitarist, Joey Newman, was added in June 1969, but two months later Martin was fired and the remaining members carried on as Blue Mountain Eagle
. Martin then formed a new group called Medicine Ball, which released a lone album in 1970 for Uni Records. Martin also released two solo singles, one for Uni and one for RCA, which didn't appear on the album. During the 1970s he retired from the music industry and became a car mechanic.
In 1984 Bruce Palmer teamed up with Frank Wilks and Stan Endersby to form the "Buffalo Springfield Revisited" Band. Dewey Martin was brought up to Toronto, Canada to join in the band and off they went on tour for the next 4, almost 5 years under this band name. Neil Young and Steven Stills gave the BSR permission to tour with this name.
, although Young did not appear at the induction ceremony. In 2001 an eponymous, career-spanning, four-disc box set
was assembled by Young and released. The first three discs feature many alternate takes, demos and alternate mixes of the band's material, with the fourth containing the group’s first two albums. The third album, never a favorite of Young’s, was relegated to highlights on the third disc.
, Young sang of his desire to reform the group and to “see those guys again and give it a shot” ("Buffalo Springfield Again"). A full reunion is no longer a possibility with the October 2004 death of Bruce Palmer, and the January 2009 death of Dewey Martin. Surviving Buffalo Springfield members Neil Young, Stephen Stills and Richie Furay reunited at the annual Bridge School Benefit
concerts on October 23 and 24, 2010 in Mountain View, California. Rolling Stone called the performance "nostalgic, blissful, and moving."
Buffalo Springfield has reunited for six concerts starting in Oakland on June 1, 2011, followed by dates in Los Angeles
, and Santa Barbara
before moving on to play the 2011 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee. The band consists of Richie Furay, Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Rick Rosas and Joe Vitale
. According to Richie Furay and a band spokesman, the band will also do a full tour in 2012
Folk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
band renown both for its music and as a springboard for the careers of Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
, Stephen Stills
Stephen Stills
Stephen Arthur Stills is an American guitarist and singer/songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash . He has performed on a professional level in several other bands as well as maintaining a solo career at the same time...
, Richie Furay
Richie Furay
Richie Furay is an American singer, songwriter, and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member who is best known for forming the bands Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Bruce Palmer, and Dewey Martin, and Poco with Jim Messina, Rusty Young, George Grantham and Randy Meisner...
and Jim Messina. Among the first wave of North American bands to become popular in the wake of the British invasion
British Invasion
The British Invasion is a term used to describe the large number of rock and roll, beat, rock, and pop performers from the United Kingdom who became popular in the United States during the time period from 1964 through 1966.- Background :...
, the group combined rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, and country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
music into a sound all its own. Its million-selling song "For What It's Worth" became a political anthem for the turbulent late 1960s.
Formed in April 1966, Buffalo Springfield was plagued by infighting, drug busts, and line-up changes that led to the group's disbanding after just two years. Three albums were released under its name, but many demos
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
, studio outtakes and live recordings remained and were issued in the decades that followed.
Despite the band's short tenure and limited output it was one of the most influential of its era, earning Rock and Roll Hall of Fame recognition and spawning fellow Hall honorees Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and Poco
Poco
Poco is an Southern California country rock band originally formed by Richie Furay and Jim Messina following the demise of Buffalo Springfield in 1968. The title of their first album, Pickin' Up the Pieces, is a reference to the break-up of Buffalo Springfield. Highly influential and creative,...
, as well as popular acts Loggins and Messina
Loggins and Messina
Loggins and Messina are an American rock-pop duo consisting of Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina who achieved their success in the early to mid 1970s...
and Crazy Horse
Crazy Horse (band)
Crazy Horse is an American rock band best known for its association with Neil Young. It has been co-credited on a number of albums throughout Young's career and has released five albums of its own.-Early years:...
.
Origins
Neil Young and Stephen Stills first crossed paths in 1965 at the Fourth Dimension in Thunder BayThunder Bay
-In Canada:Thunder Bay is the name of three places in the province of Ontario, Canada along Lake Superior:*Thunder Bay District, Ontario, a district in Northwestern Ontario*Thunder Bay, a city in Thunder Bay District*Thunder Bay, Unorganized, Ontario...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
. Young was there with The Squires, a Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
group he had been leading since February 1963, and Stills was on tour with The Company, a spin off from the Au Go Go Singers
Cafe Au Go Go
The Cafe au Go Go was a Greenwich Village night club located in the basement of 152 Bleecker Street. The club featured many well known musical groups, folksingers and comedy acts between the opening in February 1964 until closing in October 1969. Originally owned by Howard Solomon who sold the club...
. Although the two would not see each other again for almost a year, the encounter left both with a strong desire to work together.
When The Company broke up at the end of that tour, Stills moved to the West Coast
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
, where he worked as a studio musician and auditioned unsuccessfully for, among other things, The Monkees
The Monkees
The Monkees are an American pop rock group. Assembled in Los Angeles in 1966 by Robert "Bob" Rafelson and Bert Schneider for the American television series The Monkees, which aired from 1966 to 1968, the musical acting quartet was composed of Americans Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork,...
. 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 bass player Ken Koblun
Ken Koblun
Ken Koblun is a Canadian musician best known for his work with Neil Young, performing with Young in the Jades, the Squires, the Stardusters, and briefly with Buffalo Springfield...
to come join him in California. Both agreed, although Koblun chose to leave before very long and rejoined the group 3's a Crowd
3's a Crowd (band)
3's a Crowd was a folk rock band from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, that existed from 1964 to 1969. The group is particularly notable for its association with Cass Elliott, who co-produced the group's sole album release...
.
In early 1966 in Toronto, Young met Bruce Palmer
Bruce Palmer
Bruce Palmer was a Canadian musician notable for playing bass guitar in the folk rock band Buffalo Springfield.-Early years:Palmer was born and raised in Toronto Ontario, Canada...
, a Canadian who was playing bass for a group called the Mynah Birds. In need of a lead guitarist, Palmer invited Young to join the group, and Young accepted. The Mynah Birds were set to record an album for Motown Records
Motown Records
Motown is a record label originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit...
when their singer Ricky James Matthews (later known as Rick James
Rick James
James Ambrose Johnson, Jr. , better known by his stage name Rick James, was an American singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. James was a popular performer in the late 1970s and 1980s, scoring four number-one hits on the U.S. R&B charts performing in the genres of funk and R&B...
) was tracked down and arrested by the U.S. Navy for being AWOL. With their record deal canceled, 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
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, they were stuck in traffic on Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard is a street in the western part of Los Angeles County, California, that stretches from Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific Coast Highway at the Pacific Ocean in the Pacific Palisades...
in Los Angeles when Stills, Furay and Friedman, sitting in their white van, recognized Young’s black 1953 Pontiac hearse, which happened to be passing by in the opposite direction. After an illegal u-turn by Furay, some shouting, hand-waving, and much excitement, the four musicians realized that they were united in their determination to put together a band. Drummer Dewey Martin
Dewey Martin (musician)
Dewey Martin was a Canadian rock drummer, best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield.-Career:Martin was born Walter Milton Dwayne Midkiff in Chesterville, Ontario in 1940. He was raised there and the surrounding Smiths Falls and Ottawa...
, who had played with country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
artists such as Patsy Cline
Patsy Cline
Patsy Cline , born Virginia Patterson Hensley in Gore, Virginia, was an American country music singer who enjoyed pop music crossover success during the era of the Nashville sound in the early 1960s...
and The Dillards
The Dillards
The Dillards are an American bluegrass band from Salem, Missouri, consisting of Douglas Flint "Doug" Dillard The Dillards are an American bluegrass band from Salem, Missouri, consisting of Douglas Flint "Doug" Dillard The Dillards are an American bluegrass band from Salem, Missouri, consisting of...
, was added to the roster less than a week later after contacting the group at the suggestion of the Byrds' manager, Jim Dickson.
Taking their name from the side of a steamroller, made by the Buffalo-Springfield Roller Company, that had been parked on the street outside Friedman’s house (where Stills and Furay were staying), the new group debuted on April 11, 1966 at The Troubadour in Hollywood
West Hollywood, California
West Hollywood, a city of Los Angeles County, California, was incorporated on November 29, 1984, with a population of 34,399 at the 2010 census. 41% of the city's population is made up of gay men according to a 2002 demographic analysis by Sara Kocher Consulting for the City of West Hollywood...
. A few days later, they began a short tour of California as the opening act on a bill featuring the Dillards and the Byrds.
Management and first recordings
No sooner had the Byrds' tour ended than Chris HillmanChris Hillman
Christopher Hillman was one of the original members of The Byrds which in 1965 included Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby, and Michael Clarke....
persuaded the owners of the Whisky a Go Go
Whisky a Go Go
The Whisky a Go Go is a nightclub in West Hollywood, California, United States. It is located at 8901 Sunset Boulevard, on the Sunset Strip.-History:...
to give the band an audition. Buffalo Springfield essentially became the house band at the Whisky for seven weeks, from May 2 to June 18, 1966. This series of concerts solidified the band’s reputation for exhilarating live performances and attracted 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. In turn, Davis sought advice from Sonny & Cher
Sonny & Cher
Sonny & Cher were an American pop music duo, actors, singers and entertainers made up of husband-and-wife team Sonny and Cher Bono in the 1960s and 1970s. The couple started their career in the mid-1960s as R&B backing singers for record producer Phil Spector....
’s management team, Charlie Greene and Brian Stone. They eventually struck a deal with Ahmet Ertegün
Ahmet Ertegun
Ahmet Ertegün was a Turkish American musician and businessman, best known as the founder and president of Atlantic Records. He also wrote classic blues and pop songs and served as Chairman of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and museum...
of Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
and arranged for the band to start recording at Gold Star Studios
Gold Star Studios
Gold Star Studios was a major independent recording studio located in Los Angeles, California, United States. For more than thirty years, from 1950 to 1984, Gold Star was one of the most influential and successful commercial recording studios in the world....
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.
The first Buffalo Springfield single, “Nowadays Clancy Can’t Even Sing”, was released in August but made little impact outside of Los Angeles, 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
Monaural
Monaural or monophonic sound reproduction is single-channel. Typically there is only one microphone, one loudspeaker, or channels are fed from a common signal path...
mix was superior to the stereo mix engineered by Greene and Stone. The album, eponymously titled Buffalo Springfield
Buffalo Springfield (album)
Buffalo Springfield is the self-titled debut album by folk rock band Buffalo Springfield, released in late 1966. It was originally released in both mono and stereo versions as Atco 33-200, but when the single "For What It's Worth" became a hit, the album was re-released as Atco 33-200A and added...
, was originally released by Atlantic’s subsidiary Atco
Atco Records
ATCO Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, currently operating through WMG's Rhino Entertainment.-Beginnings:Atco Records was founded in 1955 as a division of Atlantic Records. It was devised as an outlet for productions by one of Atlantic's founders, Herb Abramson, who...
in mono and in stereo in December 1966. A revamped version (see below) issued both in mono and stereo with a different track order, came in March 1967.
In November 1966 Stills composed his landmark song, "For What It's Worth", after witnessing police actions against the crowds of young people who had gathered on the Sunset Strip
Sunset Strip
The Sunset Strip is the name given to the mile-and-a-half stretch of Sunset Boulevard that passes through West Hollywood, California. It extends from West Hollywood's eastern border with Hollywood at Harper Avenue, to its western border with Beverly Hills at Sierra Drive...
to protest the closing of a nightclub called Pandora's Box. The song was performed on Thanksgiving night at the Whisky a Go Go, recorded within the next few days, and on the air in Los Angeles on radio station KHJ
KHJ (AM)
KHJ Radio in Los Angeles, California broadcasts Spanish-language entertainment programming as La Ranchera. It was also one of America's most formidable Top 40 radio stations in the 1960s and 1970s as 93 KHJ before changing its format in 1980....
soon after. By March 1967 it was 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. "For What It's Worth" sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
.
Lineup changes
In January 1967 the group took an advance from the record company and flew to New York to perform at Ondine’s, a club where The DoorsThe Doors
The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger...
would also play. It was at this time that Palmer was first arrested for possession of marijuana
Cannabis (drug)
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...
and summarily deported back to Canada.
The band moved back and forth between recording sessions and live appearances on both coasts. A number of different bassists were used, such as Mike Barnes and Jim Fielder
Jim Fielder
Jim Fielder is an American bassist, best known for his work as an original member of Blood, Sweat & Tears....
of the Mothers of Invention. In one instance - a live performance on the television show Hollywood Palace - Springfield's non-bass-playing road manager held a bass with his back to the camera while the band mimed to a prerecorded track. An appearance on the The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour is an American comedy and variety show hosted by the Smothers Brothers and initially airing on CBS from 1967 to 1969.-History:...
was taped on Feb. 17, 1967, airing on Feb. 26.
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 between themselves, and each insisted on producing the recording sessions for his own compositions. Furay, who had sung and played guitar on the first album but had not contributed any songs, also stepped forward and equaled Young's number for the group's second album.
Although Palmer returned to the group at the beginning of June, Young had already left and as a result missed the celebrated Monterey Pop Festival
Monterey Pop Festival
The Monterey International Pop Music Festival was a three-day concert event held June 16 to June 18, 1967 at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California...
, at which the band performed with former Daily Flash and future Rhinoceros
Rhinoceros (band)
Rhinoceros was a rock band established in 1967 by Elektra Records as that label's intended supergroup. The band, while well respected in many circles, did not live up to the record label's expectations...
member Doug Hastings on guitar and guest David Crosby
David Crosby
David Van Cortlandt Crosby is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. In addition to his solo career, he was a founding member of three bands: The Byrds, Crosby, Stills & Nash , and CPR...
. Young eventually returned on October 7 or 8th at the Third Eye in Redondo Beach, California, and after bidding adieu to Greene and Stone (Ertegün convinced the duo to release the band from production and management agreements), the band divided its time between playing concert gigs and putting the finishing touches on its second album, ultimately titled Buffalo Springfield Again
Buffalo Springfield Again
Buffalo Springfield Again is the second 1967 folk rock album by Buffalo Springfield.-Production:The recording has been stated by some as tense and protracted, because Young was often absent and the band was unable to keep a permanent bass player...
, produced by Ertegün himself.
Although more of an amalgam of individual work than an integrated group effort, Buffalo Springfield Again is considered by many critics and fans to be the group’s finest record. Released in November 1967, it includes "Mr. Soul" (the version of which that appears as the B side of the edited "Bluebird" has a completely different guitar lead than the stereo LP version and has yet to be issued on CD), "Rock & Roll Woman", "Bluebird", "Sad Memory", and "Broken Arrow." The group was featured playing "Bluebird" in an episode of the television series Mannix
Mannix
Mannix is an American television detective series that ran from 1967 through 1975 on CBS. Created by Richard Levinson and William Link and developed by executive producer Bruce Geller, the title character, Joe Mannix, is a private investigator. He is played by Mike Connors...
called "Warning: Live Blueberries", which aired on October 28, 1967.
For many Buffalo Springfield fans it is "Bluebird", a Stephen Stills composition, that was then and remains the band's peak. Unlike the studio version - which winds down after the instrumental break with a plaintive rendition of the third verse, accompanied by a banjo - in live performances the opening verses of "Bluebird" served as a springboard for an extended jam session
Jam session
Jam sessions are often used by musicians to develop new material, find suitable arrangements, or simply as a social gathering and communal practice session. Jam sessions may be based upon existing songs or forms, may be loosely based on an agreed chord progression or chart suggested by one...
, during which Stills, Young and Furay intertwined guitars for minutes on end. One such "live jam" version which was officially released on the 1973 compilation Buffalo Springfield had become a staple of FM radio in the late '60s and early '70s.
Last Time Around
With strong reviews appearing all over the country, not only of Buffalo Springfield AgainBuffalo Springfield Again
Buffalo Springfield Again is the second 1967 folk rock album by Buffalo Springfield.-Production:The recording has been stated by some as tense and protracted, because Young was often absent and the band was unable to keep a permanent bass player...
but of the band’s performance as part of the Beach Boys Fifth Annual Thanksgiving Tour, things were looking up.
However, in January 1968 Palmer's second deportation for drug 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
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
. With Palmer gone for good, Young also began to appear less and less frequently, often leaving Stills to handle all the lead guitar parts at concerts. Recording sessions were booked, and all the songs that appeared on their final album were recorded by the end of March, usually with Messina producing, but the group was clearly on the verge of disbanding. In April 1968, after yet another drug bust involving Young, Furay, Messina and Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
, the group decided to break up.
The final 20th century concert appearance was at the Long Beach Arena on May 5, 1968. After the band played many of its best-known tunes, an extended version of “Bluebird” became the group's swan song
Swan song
"Swan song" is a metaphorical phrase for a final gesture, effort, or performance given just before death or retirement. The phrase refers to an ancient belief that the Mute Swan is completely silent during its lifetime until the moment just before death, when it sings one beautiful song...
. Buffalo Springfield disbanded a little more than two years after it had begun.
After the group’s breakup, Furay and Messina compiled various tracks recorded between mid-1967 and early 1968 into a third and final studio album, titled Last Time Around
Last Time Around
Last Time Around is the third and final album by folk rock band Buffalo Springfield, released in 1968 . The members included Neil Young, Stephen Stills, Richie Furay, Dewey Martin, Bruce Palmer, and Jim Messina.- History :...
. Although it featured Furay's touching ballad "Kind Woman", Young's classic "I Am a Child" and Stills' subtle political "Four Days Gone", only a few of the songs included more than two or three members of the group at a time. Even the cover photo was a montage, with Young's image added to a group profile of the other four members. Stills and Furay appeared on more tracks than any of the others, essentially dominating the album, but it did not light up the charts.
Legacy
Despite their popularity, Buffalo Springfield was never a major commercial success. "For What It’s Worth" was a significant hit and the group’s legend grew stronger after the breakup, increasing with the later successes of its members.Stills went on to form Crosby, Stills & Nash with David Crosby
David Crosby
David Van Cortlandt Crosby is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. In addition to his solo career, he was a founding member of three bands: The Byrds, Crosby, Stills & Nash , and CPR...
of The Byrds
The Byrds
The Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973...
and Graham Nash
Graham Nash
Graham William Nash, OBE is an English singer-songwriter known for his light tenor vocals and for his songwriting contributions with the British pop group The Hollies, and with the folk-rock band Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Nash is a photography collector and a published photographer...
of The Hollies
The Hollies
The Hollies are an English pop and rock group, formed in Manchester in the early 1960s, though most of the band members are from throughout East Lancashire. Known for their distinctive vocal harmony style, they became one of the leading British groups of the 1960s and 1970s...
in 1968. Young launched a solo career, but in 1969 also reunited with Stills in Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, which saw the beginning of his sporadic relationship with that trio. Furay and Messina were founding members of Poco
Poco
Poco is an Southern California country rock band originally formed by Richie Furay and Jim Messina following the demise of Buffalo Springfield in 1968. The title of their first album, Pickin' Up the Pieces, is a reference to the break-up of Buffalo Springfield. Highly influential and creative,...
. Furay joined J.D. Souther and Chris Hillman
Chris Hillman
Christopher Hillman was one of the original members of The Byrds which in 1965 included Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby, and Michael Clarke....
to form the Souther-Hillman-Furay Band
Souther-Hillman-Furay Band
The Souther Hillman Furay Band was a country rock supergroup led by singer-songwriters Richie Furay , Chris Hillman , and J.D. Souther...
, and Messina teamed with Kenny Loggins
Kenny Loggins
During the next decade, Loggins recorded so many successful songs for film soundtracks that he was referred to as, King of the Movie Soundtrack.He began with "I'm Alright" , "Mr. Night", and "Lead the Way" from Caddyshack...
in Loggins & Messina.
Palmer was CSNY's first choice to play bass, but due to various personal problems was replaced by Motown prodigy Greg Reeves
Greg Reeves
Greg Reeves is an American musician. He is best known for playing bass on Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's Déjà Vu album in 1969.-Biography and career:...
. After recording a commercially unsuccessful jam-oriented solo album in 1970, Palmer faded into obscurity, although he did briefly play that same year with Toronto blues band Luke & The Apostles
Luke & The Apostles
Luke & The Apostles was a 1960s blues group from Toronto known for their 1967 hit "Been Burnt". Band members included Canadian guitarist Mike McKenna, Luke Gibson, Peter Jermyn, Jim Jones, and Pat Little...
. In the early 1980s he appeared on Young's Trans
Trans (album)
Trans is the twelfth studio album by Canadian musician Neil Young, released in 1982. Recorded partially and released during his notorious Geffen era in the 1980s, Trans baffled many Neil Young fans. Some suggested that the album could be a satirical message that Young was trying to send about the...
album and then played with Martin in the "Buffalo Springfield Revisited" tribute band in the mid-1980s.
New Buffalo Springfield
Martin formed a new version of Buffalo Springfield in September 1968. Dubbed "New Buffalo Springfield", the lineup consisted of guitarists Dave Price (Davy JonesDavy Jones (actor)
David Thomas "Davy" Jones is an English rock singer-songwriter and actor best known as a member of the Monkees.-Early life:...
' stand-in in The Monkees
The Monkees
The Monkees are an American pop rock group. Assembled in Los Angeles in 1966 by Robert "Bob" Rafelson and Bert Schneider for the American television series The Monkees, which aired from 1966 to 1968, the musical acting quartet was composed of Americans Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork,...
) and Gary Rowles (son of jazz pianist Jimmy Rowles
Jimmy Rowles
Jimmy Rowles was an American jazz pianist who was best known as an accompanist. He also released a number of albums under his own name, and explored various idioms including swing and cool jazz. - Biography :Born in Spokane, Washington, Rowles studied at Gonzaga College in Spokane, Washington...
), bass player Bob Apperson, drummer Don Poncher and horn player Jim Price
Jim Price
Jim Price may refer to:*Jim Price , former NFL tight end*Jim Price , former Detroit Tigers catcher and current sportscaster*Jim Price , manager of the New York Gothams...
, who later became a top session musician for Delaney Bramlett
Delaney Bramlett
Delaney Bramlett was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and producer. Bramlett's five decade career reached peaks in creativity, performance, and notoriety in partnership with his then wife Bonnie Bramlett, in a revolving troupe of professional musicians and Rock superstars dubbed Delaney...
,
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
, Joe Cocker
Joe Cocker
John Robert "Joe" Cocker, OBE is an English rock and blues musician, composer and actor, who came to popularity in the 1960s, and is most known for his gritty voice, his idiosyncratic arm movements while performing, and his cover versions of popular songs, particularly those of The Beatles...
and others.
The new band toured extensively and appeared at the highly publicized "Holiday Rock Festival" in San Francisco on December 25–26, 1968, but soon fell afoul of Stills and Young, who took legal action to prevent Martin from using the band's name.
In February 1969 Martin and Dave Price formed a second version of New Buffalo Springfield with guitarist Bob "BJ" Jones and bass player Randy Fuller, brother of the late Bobby Fuller
Bobby Fuller
Robert Gaston "Bobby" Fuller was an American rock singer, songwriter, and guitar player best known for his singles "I Fought the Law" and "Love's Made a Fool of You," recorded with his mid-1960s group, the Bobby Fuller Four....
. The band made some recordings with producer Tom Dowd
Tom Dowd
Tom Dowd was an American recording engineer and producer for Atlantic Records. He was credited with innovating the multi-track recording method. Dowd worked on a virtual "who's who" of recordings that encompassed blues, jazz, pop, rock and soul records.- Early years :Born in Manhattan, Dowd grew...
overseeing, but they were scrapped. Another guitarist, Joey Newman, was added in June 1969, but two months later Martin was fired and the remaining members carried on as Blue Mountain Eagle
Blue Mountain Eagle (band)
Blue Mountain Eagle was a short-lived American rock group that evolved out of New Buffalo Springfield in August 1969 and recorded a lone album for Atlantic/Atco Records, which they were personally signed to by label founder Ahmet Ertegun.-Origins:...
. Martin then formed a new group called Medicine Ball, which released a lone album in 1970 for Uni Records. Martin also released two solo singles, one for Uni and one for RCA, which didn't appear on the album. During the 1970s he retired from the music industry and became a car mechanic.
In 1984 Bruce Palmer teamed up with Frank Wilks and Stan Endersby to form the "Buffalo Springfield Revisited" Band. Dewey Martin was brought up to Toronto, Canada to join in the band and off they went on tour for the next 4, almost 5 years under this band name. Neil Young and Steven Stills gave the BSR permission to tour with this name.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
In 1997 the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of FameRock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
, although Young did not appear at the induction ceremony. In 2001 an eponymous, career-spanning, four-disc box set
Buffalo Springfield (box set)
Buffalo Springfield is a career retrospective of the late 60s folk rock band of the same name, released in 2001. Band member Neil Young assembled the tracks in chronological order to show how the band evolved and disintegrated in the span of two years. Of the four CDs, the first three represent...
was assembled by Young and released. The first three discs feature many alternate takes, demos and alternate mixes of the band's material, with the fourth containing the group’s first two albums. The third album, never a favorite of Young’s, was relegated to highlights on the third disc.
Reunion
On his 2000 album Silver & GoldSilver & Gold
Silver & Gold is the twenty-fifth studio album by Canadian musician Neil Young, released in 2000. Many of these songs were written in the late 1990s, though the song "Silver & Gold," which by his own estimation, he had been trying to get "the take" for around ten years, was written in...
, Young sang of his desire to reform the group and to “see those guys again and give it a shot” ("Buffalo Springfield Again"). A full reunion is no longer a possibility with the October 2004 death of Bruce Palmer, and the January 2009 death of Dewey Martin. Surviving Buffalo Springfield members Neil Young, Stephen Stills and Richie Furay reunited at the annual Bridge School Benefit
Bridge School Benefit
The Bridge School Benefit is an annual non-profit charity concert held in Mountain View, California, every October at the Shoreline Amphitheatre. The concerts are all organized by musician Neil Young and his wife, Pegi....
concerts on October 23 and 24, 2010 in Mountain View, California. Rolling Stone called the performance "nostalgic, blissful, and moving."
Buffalo Springfield has reunited for six concerts starting in Oakland on June 1, 2011, followed by dates in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, and Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
before moving on to play the 2011 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee. The band consists of Richie Furay, Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Rick Rosas and Joe Vitale
Joe Vitale (musician)
Joe Vitale is an American musician primarily known as a drummer but also a flautist, keyboardist and singer. He has played with many of the top names in music during a career dating back to the 1970s.-Biography:...
. According to Richie Furay and a band spokesman, the band will also do a full tour in 2012
Studio albums
| Year | Album details | US Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
|---|---|---|
| 1966 | Buffalo Springfield Buffalo Springfield (album) Buffalo Springfield is the self-titled debut album by folk rock band Buffalo Springfield, released in late 1966. It was originally released in both mono and stereo versions as Atco 33-200, but when the single "For What It's Worth" became a hit, the album was re-released as Atco 33-200A and added...
|
80 |
| 1967 | Buffalo Springfield Again Buffalo Springfield Again Buffalo Springfield Again is the second 1967 folk rock album by Buffalo Springfield.-Production:The recording has been stated by some as tense and protracted, because Young was often absent and the band was unable to keep a permanent bass player... |
44 |
| 1968 | Last Time Around Last Time Around Last Time Around is the third and final album by folk rock band Buffalo Springfield, released in 1968 . The members included Neil Young, Stephen Stills, Richie Furay, Dewey Martin, Bruce Palmer, and Jim Messina.- History :... |
42 |
Compilations
| Year | Album details | US | Certifications Music recording sales certification Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,... (sales thresholds) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | Retrospective: The Best of Buffalo Springfield
|
42 |
|
| 1973 | Buffalo Springfield
Warner Music Group Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies... |
104 | |
| 2001 | Buffalo Springfield Buffalo Springfield (box set) Buffalo Springfield is a career retrospective of the late 60s folk rock band of the same name, released in 2001. Band member Neil Young assembled the tracks in chronological order to show how the band evolved and disintegrated in the span of two years. Of the four CDs, the first three represent... (box set) |
194 |
Singles
| Year | Single | US Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 | "Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing" | 110 | Buffalo Springfield |
| "Burned" | — | ||
| 1967 | "For What It's Worth" | 7 | |
| "Bluebird" | 58 | Buffalo Springfield Again | |
| "Rock'n'Roll Woman" | 44 | ||
| "Expecting to Fly" | 98 | ||
| 1968 | "Uno Mundo" | 105 | Last Time Around |
| "Special Care" | 107 | ||
| "On The Way Home" | 82 |
External links
- Expecting To Fly - The Buffalo Springfield Story