Buffalo Springfield
Buffalo Springfield was a rock band formed in Los Angeles by Canadian musicians Neil Young, Bruce Palmer and Dewey Martin and American musicians Stephen Stills and Richie Furay. The group, widely known for the song "For What It's Worth",[1] released three albums and several singles from 1966 to 1968. Their music combined elements of folk music and country music with British Invasion and psychedelic rock influences. Like contemporary band the Byrds, they were key to the early development of folk rock. The band took their name from a steamroller parked outside their house.
This article is about the band. For their debut album, see Buffalo Springfield (album).
Buffalo Springfield
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
- 1966–1968
- 2010–2012
Buffalo Springfield formed in Los Angeles in 1966 with Stills (guitar, keyboards, vocals), Martin (drums, vocals), Palmer (bass guitar), Furay (guitar, vocals) and Young (guitar, harmonica, piano, vocals).[2] The band signed to Atlantic Records in 1966 and released their debut single "Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing", which became a hit in Los Angeles.[3] The following January, they released the protest song "For What It's Worth", which became their only US top 10 hit and a counterculture anthem.[1] Their second album, Buffalo Springfield Again, marked their progression to psychedelia and hard rock[1] and featured other songs such as "Bluebird" and "Mr. Soul".
After several drug-related arrests and line-up changes, the group disbanded in 1968. Their third and final album, Last Time Around, was compiled and released shortly after their dissolution. Stephen Stills went on to form the supergroup Crosby, Stills & Nash with David Crosby of the Byrds and Graham Nash of the Hollies. Neil Young launched his solo career and later joined Stills in Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young in 1969. Furay, along with Jim Messina, went on to form the country-rock band Poco.[4] Buffalo Springfield was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997,[3] and briefly reunited for a comeback tour in 2011.
History[edit]
Origins[edit]
Neil Young and Stephen Stills met in 1965, at the Fourth Dimension in Thunder Bay, 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. When Stills' band broke up at the end of that tour, he moved to the West Coast, where he worked as a session musician and auditioned unsuccessfully for, among other bands, the Monkees.[5] Told by record producer Barry Friedman 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 joined the group 3's a Crowd.
While in Toronto in early 1966, Young met Bruce Palmer, a Canadian who was playing bass for 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—James Ambrose Johnson, Jr., later known as Rick James—was tracked down and arrested by the U.S. Navy for being AWOL.
With their record deal cancelled, Young and Palmer pawned the Mynah Birds' musical equipment and bought a 1953 Pontiac hearse, which they drove to Los Angeles.[6] Young and Palmer arrived in L.A. hoping to meet Stephen Stills, who, as Young had learned, was living in the city. However, after almost a week of searching clubs and coffeehouses, the pair had been unable to find Stills. Consequently, on April 6, 1966, Young and Palmer decided to leave Los Angeles and drive north to San Francisco. While the two were stuck in traffic on Sunset Boulevard, they were spotted by Stills and Richie Furay, who were heading the other direction down Sunset. Stills and Furay managed to switch lanes and maneuver behind Young's hearse, at which point the musicians pulled off the road and reunited.[6]
Drummer Dewey Martin, who had played with garage rock group the Standells and with country artists such as Patsy Cline and the Dillards, joined at the suggestion of the Byrds' manager, Jim Dickson. The group's name was taken from a brand of steamroller made by the Buffalo-Springfield Roller Company. The new group debuted on 11 April 1966, at The Troubadour in West Hollywood, five days after the chance encounter on Sunset Boulevard. A few days later, they began a short tour of California as the opening act for the Dillards and the Byrds.
Management and first recordings[edit]
Chris Hillman of the Byrds persuaded the owners of the Whisky a Go Go to give Buffalo Springfield an audition, and they 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 live performances and attracted interest from a number of record labels. It also brought an invitation from Friedman to Dickie Davis (who had been the Byrds' lighting manager) to become involved in the group's management. In turn, Davis sought advice from Sonny & Cher's management team, Charlie Greene and Brian Stone; unbeknownst to Davis and Friedman, Greene and Stone then aggressively pitched themselves to the band to be their new managers. Friedman was fired, and Davis was made the group's tour manager. Greene and Stone made a deal with Ahmet Ertegun of Atlantic Records for a four-album contract with a $12,000 advance, following a brief bidding war with Elektra Records and Warner Bros. Records, and arranged for the band to start recording at Gold Star Studios in Hollywood.
2010–11 reunion[edit]
On his album Silver & Gold (2000), Young sang of his desire to re-form the group and to "see those guys again and give it a shot" in "Buffalo Springfield Again". Palmer (2004) and Martin (2009) later died, preventing a reunion of the original lineup.
Young, Stills and 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".[16]
The band reunited for six concerts starting in Oakland on 1 June 2011, followed by dates in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, before moving on to play the 2011 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee.[17] The band consisted of Furay, Stills, Young, Rick Rosas and Joe Vitale.[18][19] According to Furay and a band spokesman, the group planned a full tour in 2012, but this was delayed because Young was recording two new albums with Crazy Horse.[20] On 27 February 2012, Furay announced that the band was on indefinite hiatus.[21]
Legacy[edit]
In 1968, Stills went on to form Crosby, Stills & Nash with David Crosby of the Byrds and Graham Nash of the Hollies. Meanwhile, Furay and Messina formed Poco, and Young launched his solo career. In 1969, Young reunited with Stills in Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. After Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Stills joined with another former Byrd Chris Hillman (after his stint with the Flying Burrito Brothers) and others to form the group Manassas (1971–1973). Later, Furay joined J.D. Souther and Chris Hillman to form the Souther-Hillman-Furay Band, and Messina teamed with Kenny Loggins in Loggins & Messina.
In 1982–1983, Palmer was a bassist on Young's album Trans and toured with him in America and Europe, as seen on Neil Young in Berlin, filmed in 1982.
In 1997, Buffalo Springfield was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[22] A four-disc box set assembled by Young, Buffalo Springfield, was released in 2001.[23] A further box set What's That Sound? Complete Albums Collection was released in 2018 by Rhino Records.
Additional musicians