It was my generation.
And I’m not quite sure how I feel about that.
It’s not like the old days, there’s so much activity in the mountains in the summer you’d almost think you were living in the city. Subsidized performing arts centers, name talent, and a ton of semi or non-talent, you open the “Vail Daily” and there’s an endless list.
And there’s a free concert series in Beaver Creek every week, Andy said he went to see Asia there, without one original member.
Richie Furay is the genuine article. With a pedigree. The only guy with that high a profile who didn’t break through to stardom. You had Stephen Stills and Neil Young and Jim Messina in Buffalo Springfield. The Eagles expanded on that sound. Furay ultimately teamed with Chris Hillman and J.D. Souther in the ill-fated Souther-Hillman-Furay Band, but the act broke up because Richie’s wife told him it was either her or the band, and Richie chose her. The scuttlebutt was that it was J.D. who broke up the act, but Richie told me he was checked out during the recording of the act’s aptly-named second LP, “Trouble In Paradise,” which was released with a whimper.
But that first Souther-Hillman-Furay Band album, I played the sh*t out of it. I recorded it for a cross-country drive. I remember this fisherman singing “Border Town” as he skied the bumps at Alta, I was stunned he knew it, I thought it was more of a secret, then again, the album did go gold.
And in the middle, of course, there was Poco. Richie’s band that never lived up to its rep commercially until he left.
And there you have it. Rock history, FROM FIFTY YEARS AGO!
That’s right, Richie Furay is eighty. Doesn’t look it, but the stunning thing is he still has his voice. And he played acoustically with his daughter on backup vocals and a young guitarist and the harmonies…were better than Crosby, Stills & Nash’s ever were. Oh, those albums were sweet, but live, at Woodstock, on “4 Way Street,” I thought it was nearly impossible to get three part harmony right live until I saw Yes, which wasn’t known for harmony, but nailed it nonetheless.
I mean all these years later, Richie still has it.
But it is all these years later.
Now the thing about these free shows, on the ice rink in the village of Beaver Creek, is people get there early, to set up chairs, to be close.
And they were all of my vintage.
And they knew who Richie Furay was.
I saw a woman dancing and singing to the heavens along with “A Good Feelin’ to Know” and that’s when I realized, they’d lived through the era just like me, when music was everything, when of course you knew the hits, but also the music of the quality acts you heard occasionally on FM, but never on AM.
The initial Poco album is a classic, “Pickin’ Up the Pieces,” which got great reviews when it came out but was dwarfed by Crosby, Stills & Nash. There was a trade, Epic got Richie and Atlantic got Crosby and Nash and…Furay believes if Poco had been on Atlantic things would have worked out differently. Then again, Leslie West believed if his manager didn’t nix his appearance in the Woodstock movie, he would have become legendary. And the truth is Mountain was pretty big in its era, but now the band is almost completely forgotten, I don’t hear about young people streaming Mountain songs.
And I don’t hear about them streaming Poco songs either.
2
I initially stopped after “From the Inside.” It was clear, the band was never going to break through. I was stunned when it ultimately did, when it moved over to ABC from Epic, but by then Rusty Young was a lead vocalist, which was unfathomable to early fans of the band. And I love “Heart of the Night,” and “Crazy Love” is a staple, but no one ever talks about the opening track on the first ABC album “Head Over Heels,” entitled “Keep On Tryin’,” composed and sung by Timothy B. Schmit with a voice so pure so airy so right sans commercial success it’s no wonder Timothy B. ultimately decamped for the Eagles.
So back in ’65, after a Vermont washout over Christmas, my parents took us to the Concord, where no snow would not nix a good time. I skied three of the four days, the fourth it rained, and one of the perks of the hotel, other than endless food, was nightclub entertainment, and the star was Neil Sedaka, who was by this time a has-been. We had no idea who he was. We were all Beatlemaniacs. This was my first exposure to someone touring after their prime. It was kind of creepy, then again, who would have expected that Sedaka would have a comeback in the seventies!
At the time of that show, Sedaka was twenty five. Over the hill.
And there were all the acts my parents talked about, that they went to see in NYC. They took us to see Ella Fitzgerald… All these acts on late night TV we’d never heard of, which unlike Neil Sedaka, never came back.
And in the eighties, there started to be the comedy circuit in Florida. Aged acts playing to aged fans. Maybe it started earlier, but that’s when I heard about it.
Sad.
But I was young.
And now, the acts that aren’t dead are still out there, playing to us.
Mostly retired. All about lifestyle. Not in the mainstream and not concerned about it. After all, it’s been half a century, more.
But all that music of my parents’ generation, it was disposable. Sure, not Sinatra, some of the big bands, but really, it was music of the time, there’s always popular music, but that’s different from…
The British Invasion.
The San Francisco Sound.
Singer-songwriters.
Prog rock.
Bob Dylan, the Beatles, the Stones…
Our acts were icons. Untouchable. We played their records in our bedrooms, in our dorm rooms, you went to the gig on a regular basis, it was a religious experience, all about the music, no one shot selfies and many of the venues did not sell beer, although that did not mean we were not high.
Musicians were the new baseball stars. But with brains. We idolized them. We listened to what they had to say. They were beacons in a tumultuous era.
But then it became all about the money, music once again slid back into entertainment as opposed to art.
Which leaves us with our memories.
3
“Kind Woman.” Do you know that one? If you were more than a casual fan, you do.
And the aforementioned “A Good Feelin’ to Know” resonated with me for the first time ever.
I was a Poco fan, but when Epic sent me the two CD “Forgotten Trail (1969-74)” package in 1990 I became a devotee, long after the band’s status had been set in stone, listening to the music with no context, context was created, it was a really good band. Actually, I recommend two two CD compilations, this Poco one and “Free – Molten Gold: The Anthology.” You’ll be stunned how good Paul Kossoff was. Free was much more than “All Right Now,” never mind featuring possibly the greatest rock singer of all time, Paul Rodgers.
Richie was not a nobody. Like failed singer-songwriters singing down in Florida, at the Villages, other retirement communities, this guy was right up front and center when we were all paying attention. And he’s just as good.
Not that you know all the material. The solo stuff…
And Richie got deep into Jesus, and if that bugs you, you’re going to wince when he goes on about God during the set.
But I stood up to take a look. The first two-thirds of the space were all people my age, there were no youngsters up front, only in the back.
Now nobody likes a deal like a retiree. Especially free.
And the set started at 5:30. You could call it an Early Bird Special.
This is what it’s come to.
But even after waiting for half an hour for the crowd to thin out to say hi to Richie, people were still lined up to talk to him, to buy merch, to get a photo, to get an autograph. These are the same people who won’t go to the grocery store during rush hour, whose line up days are through, even though they lined up for tickets way back when.
And I look as old as they do. I’m no different from them. I couldn’t square it, made me want to go back to L.A. and sit in the Forum, go to a theatre show, hang with the insiders, anything but this.
It’s just like my parents’ generation. We had our acts, they meant so much to us and they won’t mean much to anybody after we’re gone. Most of rock history, kaput!
And the funny thing is most of rock history is now being written by people who weren’t there in the first place, in some cases not even born. Not only do they often get the facts wrong, the nuances they miss completely. They rely on the charts from an era where Top Forty meant nothing and some of the best acts were rarely heard on the radio.
And if you try to tell anybody younger how it used to be different, they laugh and say it’s the same as it ever was. Then again, if that’s so, why is there such hoopla over the re-release of “Stop Making Sense”?
This ain’t no party, this ain’t no disco, many are past being able to fool around.
You had to go to the Mudd Club, CBGB’s, being home was death, it all happened outside, at the club, whereas today the entertainment at home is nearly always superior to that outside.
It’s fading away. It’s on its last gasp. Do you embrace it or stand up and protest like the Nazi in “The Producers,” telling everybody they don’t understand how it was, what it meant.
I don’t know.
Responses from Bob’s readers. These comments are not edited for grammar or content, and may not reflect the views of CelebrityAccess or its staff.
Hi Bob,
It was nice to see you and Andy up at Beaver Creek on Thursday. Yea, the big wheel keeps on turning and I keep going out to play if someone says there are people who want to take a trip down memory lane and hear a few new tunes as well. It’s fun playing with my daughter, truthfully I wouldn’t be doing this if she wasn’t along for the ride- (she has four daughters of her own) and her husband is really supportive for the few shows we do.
Anyway, thanks for the nice article, you have a great way of taking people along on your personal journey as you observe the music. Thanks for coming out and for stopping by to say hello!!!
Richie
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I produced, engineered and mixed Richie’s “Still DELiverin’ Return to The Troubadour“ a few years back, which was the 50th anniversary concert at the Troubadour of the iconic Poco record “DeLiverin.'”
Richie is a good man and a consumate pro and can still bring it live. It was a pleasure getting to hear those iconic Poco songs after all these years.
One never knows what makes one a star but I got the impression that Richie probably didn’t care in the end about that.
Having worked with lots of stars there is something intangible that divides the “star” from the one that has sh*t gobs of talent but maybe doesn’t really care about that specific part of one’s career. I am not going to get in the secular religious piece of his or anyone’s career but I have quite a few musician friends that have set off on that path and it doesn’t really intersect with wanting to play the game.
Anyway, Richie’s music will be in the DNA of American music forever regardless.
Best back
Ross Hogarth
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Hi Bob,
It was nice to see you and Andy up at Beaver Creek on Thursday. Yea, the big wheel keeps on turning and I keep going out to play if someone says there are people who want to take a trip down memory lane and hear a few new tunes as well. It’s fun playing with my daughter, truthfully I wouldn’t be doing this if she wasn’t along for the ride- (she has four daughters of her own) and her husband is really supportive for the few shows we do.
Anyway, thanks for the nice article, you have a great way of taking people along on your personal journey as you observe the music. Thanks for coming out and for stopping by to say hello!!!
Richie
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I still stream Poco. I first met them at an outdoor gig I booked for them in 1971, I think, for the Simsbury (CT) Youth Center. Loved Pickin’ Up the Pieces album so much. It was an exciting time to be around live music.
Tony D’Amelio
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Poco. Central Park, Summer ’72. Powered mescaline. It started to drizzle during “Good Feeling to Know (with an extended jam at the end.) The stage lights lit the raindrops. Richie’s voice and Paul Cotton’s lead guitar turned the Manhattan night into one of the greatest musical moments of my life.
Matt Auerbach…
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One of the joys of producing concerts in the early days was the ability to make friends and keep them as they came through on tour. Every group had its own personality, created by its music, musicians and crew. Some you couldn’t wait to see, others not so much. You always looked forward to working with Poco. Not only was the music sublime, but they could sell tickets, and were a pleasure to hang out with. If every group has a public face, Poco can credit then-road manager Denny Jones. I hope some of your readers with similar backgrounds feel the same way.
Alan DeZon
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But anyway bye bye..fave Richie vocal,thx Bob
Woody Price
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Nicely written, I saw Richie as the opener for one of the final Ronstadt tours, understated excellence.
About the origins of the LA sound epitomized by the Eagles I had the same conversation with Christian Nesmith at my house several years ago which included Furay but also Christian’s Dad Michael and Rick Nelson’s Stone Cyn Band. It was a great blender at the right time that all birthed some great music.
Don Adkins
SoCal Photographer
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As good as anything today:
“Starlight (Richie Furay Band: I’ve Got a Reason) (1976)”
Tom Lewis
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Oh boy! What a great column! A few years back, I had the chance to see Richie Furay at the Turning Point in Piermont NY. A wonderful small venue that still attracts the road warriors like Steve Forbert, and many others in the tri-state musician community. The Buffalo Springfield, for me, was just the coolest band ever. Stills with that hat, and Neil with his fringed leather jacket. But I was always captured by their guitars, Neil played a Gretsch White Falcon…a guitar to die for in 1965, but it cost a thousand bucks. No wonder I bought a Hagstrom III for $129. Richie played a covet-worthy Gibson electric 12-string. Couldn’t afford a Fender Telecaster for $179 at the time…Anyway, Richie signed my copies of Poco albums, the first Buffalo Springfield LP…vinyl mind you…I bought the first version of the Buffalo Springfield’s first LP…it didn’t have For What It’s Worth as the first cut…It was Baby Don’t Scold Me. I brought the LP back to exchange it for the new version. That first LP without For What it’s Worth, became a collector’s item in the Buffalo Springfield saga. Richie signed my copy of Picking Up the Pieces and you could not have asked for a better meet and greet. Thanks for the report. I’ve been up at Vail and Beaver Creek when they get the music going and hey, rocky mountain high colorado!
Chip Lovitt
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I saw Jim Messina at Ridgefield Playhouse on the Thursday night before the Friday COVID shut live music down. A friend had extra tix and I was a little leery.
He was great. His band was like the Loggins and Messina bands, versatile with woodwinds and a lot of coloration and textures.
His voice and guitar were excellent and the songs were familiar and amazing. Acts from back in the day can be hit or miss when they reach a certain age but the Buffalo Springfield alums have done better than most.
William Nollman
Silvermine
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Saw Buffalo Springfield in 1966(?) when they toured with The Beach Boys. Became life-long fan of all the members of the band. Saw Poco in its original configuration at a local college. Last saw Richie Furay at Birchmere in Northern VA in with a band that included his daughter. He will always be among my favorite musicians.
William Hultman
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Once again, you nailed it.
On October 21, 2010 – a Thursday night in Seattle – I read online that the Buffalo Springfield were reuniting at the annual Bridge Concerts.
Withing minutes, I bought 2 10th-row tickets, booked a hotel, booked a first-class flight and, on Saturday, a friend and I were walking into the Shoreline to see them.
I patiently sat through an acoustic Billy Idol set, an acoustic Elvis Costello set (replacing an ailing Kristofferson), with Emmylou sitting in, etc.
Then there they were, Steven, Richie, and Neil with what was obviously Neil’s rhythm section.
The whole set was a acoustic, of course (it’s a Bridge Concert) but that didn’t matter.
I couldn’t believe this was happening – I was 12 when I bought Bluebird/Mr. Soul 45, and had everything they ever did on boxes, bootlegs, etc. A dead band. Yet there they were, starting with “On the Way Home”, with Richie on vocals. Richie Furay, flanked by Stills and Young!
I call these events “Lazurus Moments”.
I was close enough to see the looks on their faces and the state of their bodies. It was clear that Richie looked the same but with gray hair, and the other two looked as battle-worn as you’d expect.
Gary Lang
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Missed Furay at BC but I still have the SHF band album, from the cut-out section at Peaches. They tried to be the answer to CSN but no one cared. Richie was always close to stardom but never quite made it. I remember he was a Minister down in Boulder with his own Church years ago. Boulder had a great scene back then when Caribou Ranch was the place to be.
I saw that ASIA ad but there are two ASIA’s touring, the other one with Geoff Downes, the one at Beaver Creek? Like the two Yes’ a few years ago. So sad they can’t just all get along.
I learned to ski at the Concord and at Kutsher’s then went over to Holiday Mountain. They used to have tie-dyed snow at the Concord! Neil Sedaka’s parents I think lived in Monticello and I taught his daughter Dara to ski, or tried to, she was impossible.
A surprisingly good free show at BC last year was Ambrosia who sounded great even without David Pack, who has one of the best and most underrated voices in music. They did have the other 3 original guys and played a mix of the classic Prog stuff, the big ballads and some great covers They even joked about being labeled as Yacht Rock actually playing front of people who likely have Yachts, They really surprised me.
Now I really have to see Gary Puckett and the Union Gap at BC!
Ciao,
Barry Levinson
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Damn, Bob…this brought me to tears several times, had to write.
A guy at my first job in the grocery store in 1975 turned me on to Poco, and I became obsessed. Made special trips to Austin just to buy their albums at one of the then seven record stores within walking distance of The Drag.
The history of it, starting with Buffalo Springfield, was like an occult treasure to a “different” kid in Bumfuq South Texas. Poco was part of the biggest geneaolocial tree of rock and roll there ever was. Who did what, where the others came from…all of it was fascinating to a 16 year kid who saw rock as a sacred thing.
I learned about Illinois Speed Press and found the album on one of the Austin trips. It was like a hidden sub-history, finding out where Paul Cotton came from, and seeing how he changed the sound of the band.
Good Feelin’ To Know, as far as I was concerned, was a masterpiece of an album. THAT record should have broken them through. After that came Crazy Eyes, and you could tell Richie was leaving just by the writing, and the sound of the album itself. Finding out it was about Gram Parsons was like finding another bit of that history…that geneaology.
And the band shouldered on, became even tighter, if that’s at all possible, and put out Seven, Cantamos, and then the album with “Keep On Tryin’.” That song was what I would play people when I was trying to explain Poco to them and get them turned on to the band. I was a Pocovangelist when I was a sophomore in high school…I even did a massive painting of the cover of ‘Seven’ with the horseshoe, for my wall.
Then came Rose of Cimmaron, and when Timothy left, Rusty took over that airy-high vocal spot on the two records that finally “did it ” for them, with covers by none other than Phil Hartman.
I’m just a few years behind you in the chronological scheme of it, in that final section of the Boom called “Generation Jones”: too old to Boom, too young to GenX. I was anachronistic and autistic as a kid, glued to the radio from toddlerhood on.
I did deep dives on every kind of music, and the HISTORY OF IT was always first and foremost. The perspective of when it happened in the timeline, hell, just Historical Perspective in general, just doesn’t exist in people now. And they don’t want to know.
I am sad to see the natural progression. I feel as “cringe” as the old Big Bands my parents loved now. But rock and roll…it did bind kindred souls, no matter HOW old we were. Y’all may have been ten or so years older, but I was just as “there” with the music. The music bonded everyone, especially from ’64 to ’72, what to me were the “Golden Years” of pop music on AM.
The originals all passing, I feel an urge to make sure all that rock history that got me through a rocky teen-hood doesn’t all disappear and die. Another friend sent me a copy of a book written about the Haight Ashbury, called “We Are The People Our Parents Warned Us Against” by Nicholas Won Hoffman. He wrote it as his Thesis for “Dr. Jolly”…it has given me a whole new window onto the Haight Street scene. This is history that needs to be passed on, to be perpetuated, not to die with those who lived it.
Thanks again for another good one, Bob,
Byron Beyer
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Well, if the lyrics “Colorado mountains I can see your distant sky, bringin’ a tear of joy to my eye” didn’t resonate w/ the folks at Beaver Creek, then it’s unlikely they’d resonate anywhere else.
If I had to choose the most underrated band and artist from the 1970’s, my ballot would likely have Poco and Richie Furay at the very top. I’d probably have to select both as a write-in vote given the shameful lack of recognition of each (beyond Furay’s days w/ Buffalo Springfield), but those in the know certainly know. The Eagle’s get all the accolades as pioneers of country rock, and probably deservedly so, but the quality of Poco’s music isn’t too far behind, and in several instances their work is arguably better. Poco’s writing wasn’t always consistent, (then again, whose is), but the band’s lack of recognition and commercial success is a travesty.
No doubt if Ahmet and the strong promo team at Atlantic records had oversight of Poco’s early releases, they would have had a much better chance of success, but alas, it wasn’t meant to be. For those not familiar w/ Poco’s body of work, check out their 2-disc compilation “The Forgotten Trail.” Serious music enthusiasts are familiar w/ early stage Poco players Jim Messina, Randy Meisner, Timothy B. Schmit and Richie Furay, but the late Rusty Young is arguably one of the best pedal steel players of all-time.
Stuart K. Marvin
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I lived in Boulder and had my first commercial studio there in the 70s. Poco, Firefall, Tommy Bolin, and Boz Scaggs were staples of the times. Glad Richie’s still doing it. As the Mighty Quinn said, “Take care of all your memories because you cannot relive them.” My trash bin will be full of tapes and records and books when my kids clean up after I’m gone. They might keep some actual photos and a few of my instruments, and I’m okay with all that. The satisfaction is that at least some of my story will live on, in whatever form the digital now allows. Your readers will still be quoting you until AI replaces all reading and talking. “Any day now, I (we) shall be released.”
Victor Levine
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I knew I was in trouble when I started seeing ads for bands I liked in junior high playing 4:30pm shows at The Villages. Hopefully rock ’n’ roll never forgets.
Vince Welsh
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This inspired me to see where else he was playing. At first it looked like New Jersey but then saw he’s at the Boulton Center on Long Island in Bay Shore on the 24th. Bought a couple of the few remaining tickets immediately. Looking forward to it.
Thank you!
Michael Williams
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August, Beaver Creek, the Rocky Mountains and Richie Furay… A Good Feeling To Know INDEED!
George Briner
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Bob: Thanks for remembering Poco. They belong in the RR Hall of Fame, as does America. Richie was the lead singer in Buffalo Springfield when I signed them to William Morris. They were a crusty bunch, except for Richie, he always was and has remained a kind hearted soul. The others eventually mellowed out, so kudos to them too.
Harlan Goodman and I managed Poco for eight albums, Poco Seven through Legend which delivered two top five singles and was their first and only platinum L.P.. They had a long string of managers, Green & Stone, Shiffman & Larson, Geffen & Roberts, Hartmann & Goodman, and Peter Golden. The story of their roller coaster career is classic American Rock & Roll.
The move to ABC is what changed the arc of their career. Abandoning one’s catalog was not de rigueur in those days. You lost your leverage. but Epic was too comfortable selling 350K units and never supported a single. Mybrother Phil designed many of their covers, including Poco Seven and Legend, his Horse logo remained their emblem to the end.
Forty years later I was at an ‘Old Timers Luncheon’ and sat next to this guy who informed me that he used to run Epic, and I told him how I sent Epic prexy Ron Alexenburg an original Phil Hartman watercolor of the Poco 7 cover. When we moved Poco to ABC he stomped on it and broke the glass. He sent it to me complete with footprints. I reframed it with the broken glass included. He says to me I’m Ron Alexenburg. I was totally shocked. He had lost a hundred pounds and I didn’t recognize him. He looked real good. We laughed a lot.
Music was our fuel in the sixties, Now it’s just grease to get the young people from screen to screen.
Rock ‘Til You Drop!
As ever,
John Hartmann
