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Pan American Buffalo Springfield

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Pan American Buffalo Springfield

April 11, 1966
Pan American Buffalo Springfield
Buffalo Springfield (photo from https://rockhallows.wordpress.com/2011/04/21/the-troubadour/) Top L – R: Stephen Stills, Bruce Palmer, and Rich Fury. Bottom L – R: Neil Young and Dewey Martin.

Used to play
in a rock ‘n’ roll band,
But they broke up.
We were young and we were wild,
It ate us up.♥

Neil Young, Buffalo Springfield Again

Singular Comet

Some bands are like comets. They streak brightly but briefly across our musical horizon, leaving behind great memories.

On April 11, 1966, the short-lived Buffalo Springfield made their live debut at The Troubadour in Hollywood, California.

They would release three albums:

  • Buffalo Springfield (1966)
  • Buffalo Springfield Again (1967)
  • Last Time Around (1968)

And then they were gone.

Pan American Buffalo Springfield

Beginnings

The first incarnation of the Buffalo Springfield was an international mix: Richie Furay (Ohio) (vocals, guitar), Dewey Martin (Texas) (drums); Bruce Palmer (Ontario) (bass); Stephen Stills (Texas) (vocals, guitar); and Neil Young  (Manitoba) (vocals, guitar)

Stills had first met Neil Young in Canada while Stills was touring there. Bruce Palmer was also from Canada and met Young there. Richie Fury and Stills met in Los Angeles. And when the four of them formed a band they added Dewey Martin.

Their first single was “Go and Say Goodbye” with “Nowadays Clancy Can’t Even Sing” as the B-side, but radio DJs preferred Clancy and that became the minor hit on the west coast.

Pan American Buffalo Springfield

Nowadays Clancy…

All Music describes Clancy, written by Neil Young, as “a kaleidoscope of emotions and feelings of rejection and alienation that touches nerves in anyone who listens. Young has written 100 other songs that are probably “better” than this, but he’s never written anything else quite like it.”

Clancy was the first song I heard by Springfield. I fell in love with it, but it haunted me because I didn’t even know who it was or the title. When WOR-FM first changed to a rock format they had DJ contract issues and it simply played songs unannounced.

Two years later when I went away to college and had to leave my girlfriend behind, I left her a note to open when she got home from leaving me at the airport. It simply read “I miss you now,” a line I’d borrowed from the Springfield’s “On the Way Home.“

Pan American Buffalo Springfield

Buffalo Springfield departs

Despite its great music, the members often had poor chemistry. The government deported Bruce Palmer for drug possession. Neil Young left for artistic issues. Fill-in members came and went.

The band played its last gig at the Long Beach Arena on May 5, 1968. They played with Country Joe & Fish, Canned Heat, Smokestack Lightnin’,  and The Hook.

Pan American Buffalo Springfield

Buffalo Springfield branches out

Of course members went on to great things. Stephen Still to Crosby, Stills, and Nash (and occasionally Young). Neil Young to a still successful solo career with nearly as many variations as David Bowie. Furay and Jim Messina (a late Springfield member) were founding members of Poco.

Furay later joined J.D. Souther and Chris Hillman to form the Souther-Hillman-Furay Band, and Messina teamed with Kenny Loggins in Loggins & Messina.

In other words, the Buffalo Springfield members have  made a lot of great music beside what they first offered.

On  May 6, 1997, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted them in the first ceremony held at the Rock and Roll Museum in Cleveland.

On November 24, 2010, the Buffalo Springfield got back together at the Bridge School Benefit Concert 2010. Original members Neil Young, Richie Furay, and Steven Stills with Rick Rosas on bass and Joe Vitale on drums

Birthdays, Music of the 60s, Woodstock Music and Art Fair

Guitarist Neil Percival Young

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Guitarist Neil Percival Young

Here’s to you
Neil Young
…and here’s to you, too, the Neil Young

Happy Birthday

November 12,  1945

I didn’t know I’d encountered Neil Young when I first heard “Nowadays Clancy Can’t Even Sing.” It was late July 1966 and New York’s WOR-FM had changed formats to playing rock music. Due to a DJ union issue, the station at first simply had songs and commercials. No DJ chatter. Good and bad. I preferred music to chatter: good. I also wanted to know the names of songs I’d never heard before: bad. And who was this guy Clancy I kept hearing about?

Hey who’s that stomping all over my face?

Where’s that silhouette I’m trying to trace?

Who’s putting sponge in the bells I once rung?

And taking my gypsy before she’s begun?

What I’d later discovered was the Buffalo Springfield and by extension, Neil Percival Young.

Guitarist Neil Percival Young

Neil Young

I didn’t know who this Buffalo Springfield was, but I like them and all their three of their albums. I was also disappointed when they broke up. By then I knew the names of its members and was delighted to find out that Neil Young had released a solo album

Guitarist Neil Percival Young

To this day, Neil himself  is not happy with the album’s production. The explanation I’d heard was that he did not like his singing voice and deliberately had it buried in the mix. Later, when he became successful, the tracks were remixed with his voice more prominent.

It made no difference to me. I loved the album despite it lyrical density. Unlike Dylan, I could understand the lyrics, but like Dylan they I could not translate them.

But the music went inside me and reached great places. He has continued to do so for another half century years and counting. His solo work, expansive and growing, compares to anyone.

Guitarist Neil Percival Young

World Record

Neil Young released “World Record” on November 18, 2022, his 43rd studio album. The album was produced by Young and Rick Rubin

Long May You Run

Anyone would have a pretty good argument if they said that the Neil Young was the most important musician to come out of the 1960’s counter-culture. Of course there is Nobel Laureate  Bob Dylan’s immeasurable contributions and his continued influence. but overall, Neil Young has stayed closer to the roots of those 60s, while Dylan’s musical journey has taken him many more places.

It’s not a competition.

Truly, Neil, Long May You Run!

Guitarist Neil Percival Young

Neil Young Archives

NYA contains the complete archives of Neil Young. The site is designed for a chronological exploration of artist output including music, books, films, & videos and is available via subscription.

Guitarist Neil Percival Young