Whenever seminal LA folk-rockers Buffalo Springfield are written about, sooner or later comes a sentence along the lines of ‘a group who split up before their time….’
So let’s deal with that right away. During their brief, shining moment Buffalo Springfield produced the brilliant single ‘For What It’s Worth,’ while one of their three albums is a landmark recording not just in terms of mid-60s creativity but popular music as a whole.
Indeed, regret they did not stay together longer (from beginning to end they existed barely two years), also stems from where their three songwriting guitarists went next – Richie Furay to form country-rock pioneers Poco, while the respective careers of Stephen Stills and Neil Young would continue to move in and out of sync for eternity.
Furay, Palmer, Martin, Stills, Young;
To varying degrees Furay and Stills went on to scale new heights, Young meanwhile becoming one of the handful of artists to truly shape the course of rock music in the fifty-odd years since.
So, despite the extraordinary collection that is their second album ‘BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD AGAIN‘ (November 1967) is this a case of huge, unfilled potential? Or was David Geffen right when he reflected:
‘No group could hold that amount of talent and expect to survive.’
Which might sound a touch fanciful when you consider The Beatles and The Band both lasted far longer, leaving the best appraisal of what happened to one of the key players:
‘Buffalo Springfield was a mirage,’ Young once said, ‘only those who were there know what happened and we’re not too sure.’
On crossing paths in their late-teens as members of other bands, Toronto-born Neil Young and Floridian Stephen Stills discovered they had a mutual interest in the possibilities of merging folk, country and pop. While Young (withdrawn, detached) and Stills (forceful, abrupt) had distinctly different personalities – there was a ying and yang about them from the start – they were each emboldened with a passionate desire to succeed and do so on their own terms.
As friends they were mutually protective, but when it came to pursuing creative intentions, the coalition took on an intensely competitive edge – hardly the circumstances to co-exist within the confinement of a rock band, but Stills and Young would do it not once, but several times………….
In early 1966, Stills, with Furay in tow after they had both been members of folk ensemble the Au Go-Go Singers, chanced upon Young on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, Young saying to bass-playing travelling companion Bruce Palmer on leaving Canada, ‘let’s go to California and become rock stars.’
Within days a third Canadian, drummer Dewey Martin, was recruited despite being aggrieved at having to audition after previously playing with Roy Orbison and Patsy Cline. No sooner had the quintet decided to call themselves ‘Buffalo Springfield‘ (according to legend that make of steamroller passed when Stills, Furay, Young and Palmer stood chatting at their chance meeting), than they secured management and an LA club residency.
This flurry of activity was maintained as within weeks the group found themselves opening for The Byrds, whose pioneering folk-rock sound had turned LA into a hotbed for emerging talent – Buffalo Springfield quickly touted as ‘the next big thing‘ after a series of dynamic performances driven by the guitar-sparring of Stills and Young. (‘The Springfield blew us off the stage,’ recalled Byrds bassist Chris Hillman, ‘they were young, hungry and had all the goods‘).
While management duo Charles Greene and Brian Stone distinguished themselves as first-rate operators in securing a recording deal with Atlantic, they were far less adept as producers – the safe-titled debut album (November 1966) marred by sterile production, the guitars sounding miles from a rhythm section mixed down to the point of virtual anonymity.
The twelve songs recorded for their first outing are all down to Stills and Young (split 7/5 in favour of the former), the difference in their outlook and approach immediately apparent. For the most part Stills comes up with engaging Beatles-inspired folk-pop, but Young writes from a totally different perspective, ‘Nowadays Clancy Can’t Even Sing‘ an abstract composition even by 1966 Dylan standards.
Initially the album failed to catch on, although when Stills penned the sublime ‘For What Its Worth‘ (rushed out as a 45 in January 1967), the LP was reissued with this superbly drawn evocation of clashes between police and demonstrators on the Sunset Strip, now included.
With a hit single and steadily selling album on their hands it appeared 1967 could be their year, but with a capacity for self-destruction that matched their ability, Palmer was deported for possessing pot – soon followed, if not across the border, then through the exit door, by Young, exhausted by his constant battling with Stills. (His frustration also manifested in not having greater control of his songs, which on the album are sung more or less by other members of the band – a new Young composition ‘Mr Soul‘ had been recorded with Furay singing lead).
While Ken Koblun was soon aboard to replace Palmer, the departure of Young torpedoed the group at the moment of a major breakthrough. It put paid to their chance of becoming the first rock act to appear on the ‘Johnny Carson Show‘ and jeopardized plans to appear at the much-vaunted Monterey Pop Festival of June 1967 – where over three days they would share a bill that also included the Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Otis Redding, the Mamas & the Papas and The Byrds.
In the event Buffalo Springfield did appear, joined by David Crosby who ‘guested’ in place of Young – much to the annoyance of his ‘Byrd’ bandmates (who fired him shortly afterwards).
Despite untold damage to their status and momentum, before summer was out the contrary nature of the band was underlined when Young and Palmer both returned to the fold. Sessions for a new album, however, developed a fragmentary feel as Young and Stills took sole charge of their respective contributions – their seven songs now augmented by three from Furay.
Although moments when Stills, Young and Furay all play on the same track are fleeting (the appearances of Martin and Palmer are also sporadic), the subsequent ‘Buffalo Springfield Again‘ turned out to be a masterpiece – an album rich in ambition and artistic merit.
The songs may reflect the differing intent of their composer, but the absence of collective purpose does not distract from a record that encompasses psychedelic rock, jazz, country, soul – with two of Young’s three songs impossible to categorize.
Such is the range of influences and styles, those working under the Buffalo Springfield banner manage to create a record so textured and deeply resonant it becomes a West Coast version of ‘Sgt. Pepper.’
Leading off with the aforementioned ‘Mr Soul‘ the first voice heard is that of Young, evidence he has triumphed in this particular battle of wills (he sings all three of his songs).
Over a souped-up Rolling Stones riff, Young covers a topic that would become elemental in his work during the coming years, namely disaffection with fame, the subject becoming more prominent as his ‘star‘ status was to grow.
After a number of stinging electric guitar breaks the song comes to a conclusion with some tape-played-backward effects to place it emphatically in the psychedelic-rock era, although no other band ploughing this furrow had two guitarists (Young and Stills) of comparable virtuosity.
Neither however is detectable on ‘A Child’s Claim to Fame,’ Furay announcing his arrival in the songwriting stakes with two minutes of innovation, contributing a country-rock song of huge originality.
In the absence of Stills & Young, the prominent sound is made by the dobro of Elvis Presley sideman James Burton, the instrument used in a rock context a full twelve months before The Byrds used banjo, pedal steel, fiddle and mandolin on country-rock foundation stone album ‘Sweetheart of the Rodeo.’
Given how many fine songs he would write for Poco, it may be unfair suggesting Furay peaked with his very first offering, but he would never again sound this authentic.
Authenticity was not an issue for Stills either – who announces his arrival with the audacious, jazz-infused ‘Everydays.’ The droning guitar roots it firmly in 1967 but the smokey-barroom piano licks, played impressively by the composer, are superbly atmospheric and provide a timeless feel. That Stills could produce something so nuanced at barely 22 years of age make it a remarkable piece.
No less extraordinary is ‘Expecting To Fly‘ where Young creates a soundscape in the vein of those conjured by Brian Wilson on ‘Pet Sounds.’ The track was built in conjunction with producer Jack Nietsche – using top-notch LA session players while Young was on tour with the Springfield – whose haunting string arrangement gives it a panoramic sweep.
As far removed from folk-rock as it was possible to go, Young refuses to be restricted by the confines of a group, his opening line of ‘There you stood on the edge of a feather, expecting to fly,’ begins the first in a series of dream-like sequences for which his fragile, quivering voice is perfect.
More traditional in construction but equally effective, on ‘Bluebird,’ Stills moves back into rock territory. The mesh of acoustic and electric guitars – playing them all himself – proves a heady mix and, in the wider context of his career, closer to the brilliant flourishes associated with ‘Manassas‘ than anything he produced with CSN (or Y).
Stills is no slouch either when it comes to a sharp lyric, ‘do you think she loves you/do you think at all‘ having the sting of a Lennon line.
In a rare display of collaboration, Furay sings lead on the Stills-written ‘Hung Upside Down,’ a surging, uptempo rocker used to open side two. The trading of vocal lines in the chorus is testament to Stills’ ability as an arranger, while the expressive electric guitar sounds way ahead of its time.
In his lengthy (and highly readable) ‘Shakey‘ biography of Neil Young, writer Jimmy McDonough takes every opportunity to lambaste Stills, but even he makes the concession:
‘Hung Upside Down’ is one of Stills’s finest moments; a guitar-laden reverie about one helpless to overcome self-destruction that in retrospect seems to foretell his own tortured future.’
For his second song Furay offers ‘Sad Memory‘, a gently poetic ode to lost love, that he performs solo on acoustic guitar save for some distant electric guitar decoration from Young. Although Stills is nowhere to be seen, the track would surely have come to mind when he heard Graham Nash perform ‘Lady of the Island‘ for the CSN debut album.
On ‘Good Time Boy‘ it is tempting to say Buffalo Springfield turn into a soul revue, horns blaring from start to finish. As for the truth, this is a Furay solo track recorded with the Memphis Horn Section and little more than a vehicle (an unexpected one to be fair) for Martin to sing. While as a singing drummer Dewey is no Levon Helm, it proves he can carry a song without causing offence and at just over two minutes does not outstay its welcome.
If there was a drop in quality with ‘Good Time Boy‘ it shoots right back up with Stills’ final effort, the strident ‘Rock & Roll Woman.’ If ‘Bluebird‘ is a forerunner of ‘Manassas‘ than here he sets out the acoustic/electric guitar sound and vocal harmony patterns he would take to CSN (a consequence, perhaps of Crosby making an unaccredited contribution as a background singer). As the song soars and resounds it reveals that at such a tender age, Stills was already a master of the folk-rock composition.
That being the case then what exactly should one make of Young’s closing ‘Broken Arrow‘?
With nothing to compare it with, there is a sense of the song being made up while going along, Martin singing a wrought version of ‘Mr Soul‘ over screams recorded at a Beatles show – which then give way to Young making observations at the end of a Springfield gig, singing them over a lilting acoustic guitar/piano melody that reappears with the vocal sections of the piece:
‘The lights turned on and the curtain fell down/And when it was over it felt like a dream/They stood at the stage door and begged for a scream/The agents had paid for the black limousine.’
Between the verses are spaced all manner of noises (at 6.16 ‘Broken Arrow‘ is by far the longest track on the record), ranging from the roar of a stadium crowd to the sound of military drumming, fairground organ to a vaudeville refrain played by piano and clarinet – the whole thing brought to an end with the sound of a beating heart.
All through they are used as connections to verses, the second and third of which reference (somewhat vaguely at times it has to be said), the passage from youth to adulthood, LSD, teenage pregnancy – some also hearing allusions to the Kennedy assassination.
On the other hand it could just be a gifted young songwriter, blessed with an extremely fertile imagination, playing with words and symbolism rather than producing lines that would stand up to lasting scrutiny. Indeed, only a few months earlier The Beatles in ‘A Day in the Life‘ had wanted to ‘turn you on‘ – and for those who had been (turned on) ‘Broken Arrow‘ must have felt the next stage of the journey.
As for Buffalo Springfield, any notion the monumental album they had just recorded could act as launchpad to the rock stratosphere were quickly dispelled, the group soon beset once more by internal wranglings and external offending – Stills and Young in no time resuming hostilities, 1968 only a few weeks old when Palmer was again deported for drug possession.
Jim Messina, who had engineered a number of ‘Again‘ tracks, was brought in on bass, but recording sessions and live shows turned increasingly chaotic, Young no longer showing for either when the plug was finally pulled in April 1968.
Contractually obliged to release ‘Last Time Around‘ (July 1968), while nowhere near the standard of ‘Buffalo Springfield Again‘, it is an album not without merit despite the afterthought connotations.
Stills, Young and Furay produce enough good material to make the record worthwhile – the emergence of a new band is heard on closing track ‘Kind Woman‘ (another superb country-tinged piece by Furay) that features Messina and pedal-steel maestro Rusty Young, the three coming together in Poco before ‘Last Time Around‘ was in the shops.
(with its cast of thousands)
Young (Reprise) and Stills (Atlantic) were snapped up as solo artists, going on to earn rave notices as individual performers and with the aggregations they flitted in and out of.
Each increase in their profile brought backward glances toward the group from which they emerged and with that came acknowledgement ‘Buffalo Springfield Again‘ was a work of lasting potency – its reputation enhanced again (no pun intended) recently, when in a poll of the 500 Greatest Albums ever made it was listed at 112.
Inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1997, on the night of Buffalo Springfield collecting their award, true to the nature of their brief existence Young, displaying typical cussedness, failed to appear. To his credit Stills made light of the situation, opening his acceptance speech by saying to Furay, ‘looks like he quit again Rich.’
Had Neil turned up he may have repeated comments made in an interview with biographer McDonough, where even he voices the ‘gone before their time‘ theory:
‘You gotta remember Buffalo Springfield was a major force in music and didn’t reach fruition,’ he said, ‘it never happened the way it should’ve. Everything was insane. Everything was blown out of perspective. People were either growin’ up – or blowin’ up.’
BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD AGAIN (Released November 1967):
Mr Soul/A Child’s Claim to Fame/Everydays/Expecting to Fly/Bluebird/Hung Upside Down/Sad Memory/Good Time Boy/Rock & Roll Woman/Broken Arrow;
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