OPO: Buffalo Springfield

re stills - i know he's a mega-douche and his oeuvre is riddled with crap, but i've been really enjoying that first manassas record and his buffalo springfield stuff the last couple of weeks.

how are those first couple of solo records?

whenever possible, I blame Stills

i haven't heard all of the stills records from the 70s, but yeah, manassas is good. my friend was telling me a recent thing of demos from the late 60s/early 70s was great but i haven't heard it.

you know, i kind of like his voice! it took me a while to get there though. most likely due to hearing "love the one your with" 1 million times and hating it from day one.

he can be a great vocalist, and also horribly annoying -- his gruntier stuff is awful a lot of the time.

"Uno Mundo" is the worst

awww, I love "Uno Mundo" -- but I admit I would love it more if it were an instrumental

ditto

stills seemed like the kind of songwriter who thought he could do ~anything~ and be brilliant -- like "i'm the best blues/country/pop/rock/salsa/folk songwriter EVER". if he'd stuck to folk rock, he'd probably be better regarded now.

I mean, if it were an instrumental; as it is it is an abomination

cocaine's a helluva drug

lol i was literally posting the same tinh

thing

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/ab/Just_Roll_Tape_Stephen_Stills_2007.jpg
this is that demo session thing, i guess it's immediately post-buffalo springfield. seems like it could be cool.

he's kind of a walking embodiment of narcissistic, self regarding self mythologizing baby boomerism

guess you could pin the same on Crosby though.

Stephen Stills:USA::Roger Waters:England

yeah but that voice! I'll forgive Crosby anything (provided he stays away from my children)

i've been really enjoying that first manassas record

I love that record.

Stills obviously isn't Neil, but I think his singing on "Go and Say Goodbye," "Rock and Roll Woman," "Special Care," and "Four Days Gone" is pretty great, ditto some CSN(Y) songs.

yeah there's a solo version of "four days gone" on the BS box set that is pretty amazing, super ominous.

> http://bigozine3.com/rarities/?p=4305

I would have thought Buffalo Springfield (in Jan. 1968) could score a better gig than a high school auditorium....

My high school couldn't even afford to hire a local wedding band, much less Neil Young....

Oh and my one pick: "Sad Memory"

pref of vocalists in the Springfield:

Furay > Neil > Martin > Palmer (yeah I know) >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Stills

who's singing mr. soul at the beginning of "broken arrow" anyway -- is that stills or martin? sounds wild, sort of hoped a full version would show up, but maybe it doesn't exist.

this just popped up on my facebook feed
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbXKEjIApac&feature=player_embedded
costarring flip wilson? i think?

crowd shots are kind of hilarious. unimpressed with the BS's lip syncing prowess, i guess.

Brilliant song--probably my favorite from them.

yeah, i imagine it must've sounded pretty unique at the time?

Flip calls it the "Western Sound," and credits it to them. The '60s (nostalgic sigh).

Wow at first I thought they just played the studio recording and asked the band to fake playing & singing along to it, but the 3rd verse definitely has a few differences from the record so maybe it's not lip-synched. Whatever, that's definitely one of their best songs, and everyone hating on Stills should listen to it and reconsider.

huh, maybe stills is the only one actually playing/singing? i mean, the studio version is definitely present in that clip, right?

Yeah, I think that's a mix of canned/live.

That's what I thought at first too, but it's definitely not the familiar studio recording without the vocal(s) removed. Guitars have a different sound, and the Hammond organ in the studio version (on the bridge and outro) isn't in the "live" clip. Maybe it's really live or semi-live. Not sure what the norm was back then for these sorts of performances.

After a 2nd look, I think Stills' vocal may be the only live element, and the canned portion has a different mix, with the organ removed -- maybe an attempt at verisimilitude since there's obv no keyboardist on stage.

yeah, Dewey's drumming in video doesn't even come close to matching what I hear

!!!

In 1971, Palmer released his lone solo record, The Cycle Is Complete, on Verve Records. Primarily consisting of three long jams, "Alpha-Omega-Apocalypse", "Oxo", and "Calm Before The Storm" (with an "Interlude" between the first two numbers), the album featured Palmer playing with the remnants of fellow L.A. psychedelic group Kaleidoscope, Toronto keyboard player Ed Roth and Rick James contributing jazzy scat vocals. The record has been described[citation needed] as a jazzier version of Skip Spence's Oar or Syd Barrett's two solo records—an aural, drug-induced nervous breakdown. The album was a commercial disaster, and Palmer seemingly retired from music.

Has anyone here heard this?

yes, this is a great record!!!!

there is an affordable reissue of dubious quality on LP via Scorpio... there is maybe a CD too, i dunno. but i like this record a lot. maybe i should put it now now!

Collector's Choice did the cd, which is now OOP (like all CCM product).

The CD release of Palmer's only album was totally borked by Collectors' Choice, with alternate mixes / takes released as the album, instead of the original album tracks. It's not a great album anyway, but the CC version is inferior to the real one. They didn't even notice the mistake themselves, which says a lot.

To get back to OPO, that's really tough - so many great songs - but I think 'Bluebird' just about shades it from 'Broken Arrow'.

The 12 minute version of Bluebird that's either Whittier High School or Dallas is awesome, quite breathtaking.

It was great when the ban on circulating their live material was lifted a couple of years back. I think I probably now have most of the extant live stuff by them

Bluebird extended studio - Stills finest moment.

Dear Stephen, funny how some things that start spontaneously end that way. Eat a peach. Neil.

sometimes i find myself daydreaming about a full version of Mr. Soul as played for a few seconds in the beginning of Broken Arrow.

it could have been such an awesome version...

who is singing on that version?

I used to think Broken Arrow or Expecting To Fly were my favourite Buffalo Springfield songs. But since immersing myself in Neil live boots and the recent Archive live LPs, I'm starting to think On The Way Home is Neil's best song ever.

who is singing on that version?

That's Dewey Martin.

i totally interviewed richie furay for this uncut magazine story

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DWWXqgTUMAEQq1n.jpg:large

i haven't met any other buffalo springfielders but i feel safe in saying that furay is the nicest one.

i've also been digging into later poco more, as one does. this version of jj cale's "magnolia" is super.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zachNKsJDJY

Thanks! Yeah, was thinking of Furay when I commented This 'un is like something unaccountably left off Buffalo Springfield's Last Time Around, but also holds its own--- re this Cowboy vid (over on S/D Southern Rock several others were recently posted---they seem to write songs from experience, but think they like Furay)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=Bsx0_GUJEBc

Youtube threw these at me today...the legendary private BS reunion in 1986.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWMGFnXHk44

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IhUMy4aNnI

Stills w/the headless Steinberger!

haha, when I interviewed Furay a little while back he still sounded dismayed by this reunion.

There's probably an alternate timeline where they kept going and actually made a reunion album that finishes off their careers for good.

I watched that Jakob Dylan thing about Laurel Canyon on Netflix a few days ago. Never was familiar with Buffalo Springfield much outside of For What It's Worth and Mr. Soul, but MY GOD EXPECTING TO FLY I NEEDED THIS SONG IN MY LIFE

oh hell yeah

you know "Out Of My Mind" yeah? and "Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing"?

I heard "On The Way Home" in the wild the other day, and--while I know the band was basically finished when it came out--it still astounds me that it wasn't a huge hit for them or a huge cover for someone else (somebody on Motown perhaps) at the time.

I'm learning them now. xp

Another great Neil penned ballad from his time with Buffalo Springfield - Flying On The Ground Is Wong.

I prefer the Rainy Day cover with Kendra Smith singing.

https://youtu.be/fQDym5QZBX09

^^ yup that one too

Broken Arrow! Kind Woman! Out oF My Mind (esp the demo version from the box)!

A Child's Claim to Fame is a great country-rock tune. One of my favorite songs to sing along to.