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An unofficial news blog for Neil Young fans from Thrasher's Wheat with concert and album updates, reviews, analysis, and other Rock & Roll ramblings. Separating the wheat from the chaff since 1996.
"'We're from the past,' Young pointed out to sustained cheers, just after joking that 'rumors of our breakup have been greatly exaggerated.' The fleeting reality of this return, however, is not. This magical moment is already drifting back into the past; it will be something I'll treasure as the years go by and these heroes fade away.
Right now, though I can't help but wonder if this indescribable, sustaining sensation is what I would have felt if I'd seen the Beatles or the Velvets just once.
Neil Young (middle right), Richie Furay (middle left) and drummer Joe Vitale (left, background) -- sitting in for the late Dewey Martin -- perform in a reunited Buffalo Springfield. Credit: Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times
"I usually have something clever to say," Neil Young told the audience between songs Saturday night at the Wiltern theater. "But not tonight -- we're too close to home."
"'Rumors of our breakup have been greatly exaggerated,' Young cracked at one point, and his joke got at the appealing no-big-deal-ness of the 100-minute show.
Thankfully, though, the musicians telegraphed zero interest in the rock-canonical nonsense that weighs down so many reunion acts. Indeed, several times at the Wiltern they seemed determined to undermine their collective reputation as jingle-jangle forebears.
After Young introduced it as a song he wrote on his bathroom floor one night upon returning home from the Whisky, Buffalo Springfield gave "Mr. Soul" a stomping, fuzz-encrusted reading that was almost comical in its intensity. In its encore, the band remade "For What It's Worth" -- "Our Top 10 hit," Young sniffed -- as a low-slung swamp-soul jam with growling lead vocals from Stills.
"Nice to see you again," Young said after that number, again resisting the urge to say anything clever. Was he overpowered by the significance of the moment?
But the presence of a bygone era was most prominent in the night's performances. One and after another, Springfield unveiled short, tight, exceedingly well-crafted songs, the kind that seem effortless but require a gift for melody, structure and communication. And though the group did little to update the arrangements, the integrity of the compositions kept them fresh. Early in the set, Mr. Furay sang the Neil Young tune 'Do I Have to Come Right Out and Say it?' It was three minutes of laid-back country-flavored pop. Later, Mr. Stills delivered his obscure 'Hot Dusty Roads,' from the first Springfield album—another compact gem. And with Mr. Stills on piano, Mr. Young gave a flawless rendition of 'Broken Arrow,' a melodramatic curiosity in its day.
All three original members were in fine voice, including Mr. Stills, who can wander from pitch. Mr. Young dug deep into the band's catalogue, offering 'Crash' as his first solo vocal, a song he may not have performed in decades. As a way of addressing a source of tension in the original Springfield—a producer insisted Mr. Furay sing Mr. Young's compositions, calling the latter's voice off-putting—the two shared the lead on several Young tunes, including 'Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing.' Mr. Furay was in terrific form, his reading of the quiet, jazzy 'Sad Memory' a high point. Another treat: the opportunity to hear Mr. Young sing harmonies, which, of course, he can't do when he's handling all the lead vocals during his solo shows.
Tonight, the Buffalo Springfield Reunion Concert Tour will perform at the Wiltern Theater, Los Angeles. Special guest Gillian Welch will open concert.
Fans Carrying Signs That Say: "Hooray For Our Side!!!" in anticipation of Buffalo Springfield Reunion Tour
PLEASE NOTE: We are very interested in any photo of an actual sign at the concert that reads "Hooray For Our Side!!!"... especially if captured while "For What It's Worth" is playing and really especially if both the band and sign are in the photo.
Anyone able to obtain such a photo and/or provide a link or source we would be happy to work out some sort of arrangement. Enjoy the concerts!
Having grown up with Neil Young, literally, I was old enough to know and appreciate Buffalo Springfield, but too young to ever see them perform. My formative years were spent watching Neil's solo career blossom in addition to seeing CSNY on many an occasion. When I found out that the surviving members of Buffalo Springfield were going to hit the road, I had to be there.
So last night, I make the pilgrimage to the Bay Area for the opening night of their 6 show stint in California. The Fox Theater is a great venue. There's not a bad seat in the house. Having a 5th row seat doesn't hurt either. I saw Neil's shows at this venue last year, so I knew where to go, where to park, and what to expect.
Gillian Welch was the opening act. I knew that I was in for good times as her music held my attention with every note. She is a great musician, and whoever selected her to open for Buffalo Springfield is a true genius. (Probably Neil). Gillian Welch was so good that I was disappointed when her set was over. But the anticipation of what to expect going forward was compelling.
Around 9:15, the lights dimmed, and our man walked out onto the stage with Stephen Stills, Rick (the bass player) Rosas, Richie Furay, and Joe Vitale. Stephen Stills looked great. He's lost a lot of weight, and he just had his act together. Neil was wearing a vintage leather jacket with fringes hanging off it, Buffalo Springfield era. The crowd was on our feet, and for good reason. The opening notes, and right into it with On The Way Home!
This is where things got really interesting and exciting. As a long standing fan of Neil's, I was thinking he would be singing On The Way Home. To the contrary, Richie Furay did. If you have Buffalo Springfield's 3 albums, which I would recommend all three, you would know that Neil wasn't singing this song. Richie Furay was. The band was concerned about Neil's vocals back then, so Richie Furay would from time to time sing for Neil on Neil's songs.
The entire set was phenomenal, but so were Richie Furay, Neil, and Stephen Stills! Richie Furay impressed me the most. He was just on target, and seemed to be holding the entire show together with his vocals and rythm guitar. Throughout the entire gig, I was waiting for Neil to breakout. It never happened. That's what made this show incredible. I saw a side of Neil Young in concert I had never seen before. He wasn't acting as a solo artist. He was part of a band of equals. As much as I wanted Neil to break away from the band and get into one of those incredible Neil solos, he didn't do it. This made the performance all the better.
The coordination of their music was just impeccable. The selections were great. There was a song Richie Furay did after Clancey that I had never heard before, but aside from it, all the tunes were old Buffalo Springfield until the very end, Rockin' In The Free World. Broken Arrow was stunning, as was A Child's Claim to Fame, Rock n Roll Woman, and Burned. There were so many great tunes that I have never heard done live, and they were done right by Buffalo Springfield.
The crowd was a little foreign to me. I didn't see anyone I knew, but that was OK. I wasn't there to socialize, only to take it all in. My greatest regret was not having a ticket for this evening's show. Had I known how good Buffalo Springfield were going to be, I would have gone both nights. My advice to anyone who has an interest in their music - do what it takes to see them perform. This is a side of Neil Young you have never seen before, and you may not see again.
But original member Richie Furay revealed on Friday that the group has plans for a more extensive tour this fall, beginning in September. Furthermore, he says, all of the shows are being recorded, leaving the possibility of a live album on the table. As for recording new music in the studio, Furay allows that it's anyone's guess -- but even that is a possibility.
That said, Buffalo Springfield's current set -- the one they'll perform at Bonnaroo next weekend -- sticks strictly to the band's popular back catalog, save for a cover of group member Neil Young's 'Rockin' in the Free World' as their encore. It's a back catalog taken from just three albums which, by the way, Furay says will be rereleased on vinyl soon. [A vinyl box set of the group's 3 albums, titled "Buffalo Springfield Complete”]
'We're not trying to recreate or make anything different than we are,' Furay told Spinner in a press conference for Bonnaroo on Friday. 'We are Buffalo Springfield. We're not 'Neil Young and Buffalo Springfield'; we're not 'Stephen Stills and Buffalo Springfield' ... This is who we were and we're just privileged to be here today and to be able to make the same music today as what's in people's hearts and minds.'
From Billboard.com:
"There will be a fall tour -- September, October, November," Furay told Billboard.com. "We have a bunch of cities for the fall that we're looking at right now to just logically put together."
01. On The Way Home (acoustic guitar Guild) 02. Rock & Roll Woman (acoustic guitar Guild) 03. Burned (acoustic guitar Guild) 04. A Child's Claim To Fame (acoustic guitar Guild) 05. Do I Have To Come Right Out And Say It? (acoustic guitar Guild) 06. Go And Say Goodbye (electric guitar Gretsch) 07. I Am A Child (acoustic guitar Guild) 08. Hot Dusty Roads (electric guitar - Old Black) 09. Kind Woman (piano) 10. Mr. Soul (electric guitar - Old Black) 11. Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing (acoustic guitar Guild) 12. My Kind Of Love (electric guitar Gretsch) 13. Everybody's Wrong (electric guitar - Gretsch 14. Sad Memory (piano) 15. Bluebird (electric guitar - Old Black) --- 16. Broken Arrow (acoustic guitar Guild) 17. For What It's Worth (electric guitar - Old Black) 18. Rockin' In The Free World (electric guitar - Old Black)
Wednesday's sold-out concert -- the first half of a two-night stand at the venue -- was superior in many ways to what was witnessed nearly eight months ago at Shoreline. Topping the list, however, was that the band was able to "plug in" at the Fox, instead of having to adhere to the "acoustic only" Bridge School format.
As expected, that change paid huge dividends, providing Stills and Young -- both of whom made Rolling Stone magazine's much-discussed list of "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" -- with ample opportunities to light up the frets. Watching these two studs lock horns on the live stage -- be it with Buffalo Springfield or with their other signature band, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young -- never fails to impress.
The group, which also features Crosby, Stills and Nash drummer Joe Vitale in place of the late Dewey Martin and Young's regular bassist Rick Rosas filling in for the late Bruce Palmer, sounded quite convincing as it filled the 90-minute show with selections from Buffalo Springfield's three-album-strong songbook.
After a 14-song set that veered from 'Hot Dusty Roads' and 'Everybody's Wrong,' a pair of gritty Stills numbers from deep inside the 1966 debut LP, Buffalo Springfield, to Furay's great lost ballad 'Sad Memory' from 1967's Buffalo Springfield Again, Young opened the encore by leading the group through 'Broken Arrow,' his epic frontier daydream at the end of Again. A complex studio creation, it was recorded by Young as a solo piece, with session men, and never performed live in the Springfield's first lifetime. Tonight, the song featured Stills at the piano, Furay flying next to Young in the chorus harmonies and its original honky-tonk country coda.
This was more than exciting resurrection – it was a kind of justice, the way the Springfield would have played and recorded Young's suite if they hadn't been so busy falling apart at the time.
Stephen Stills, from left, Richie Furay and Neil Young of the Buffalo Springfield perform their set at the Fox Theater in Oakland, Calif., Wednesday, June 1, 2011 Photo by D. ROSS CAMERON/Oakland Tribune
One of the most interesting byproducts of seeing Buffalo Springfield in concert is being able to instantly hear why they could not last. Any Furay tune announces his soft-rock future in Poco. Hear Young sing I Am A Child and you sense the inevitability of his solo career. And when Stills blasts out Bluebird, you know that his melding with David Crosby and Graham Nash (and later Young) was pre-ordained. But mostly, one is amazed at the sheer quality of music from a bunch of guys in their 20s who, for the most part, were in their first band.
...
Afterward, backstage, a joyful Furay said the show was nothing short of a time machine.
'I felt I was back at (Los Angeles') Whiskey-a-Go-Go forty-odd years ago, singing to my wife,' he said. 'What amazes me is that the songs still hold up so many years later.'
Furay said the trio rehearsed 'for a solid week.' For Stills, that was enough. 'At a certain point we all felt like, let's just get out there and do it,' he said.
There were no Whiskey flashbacks for Stills, though. 'Nah, back then we were young and small and we just hoped people wouldn't leave the show,' he said with a laugh.
Nearby, Young, nursing a cold beer, grinned. 'Sometimes,' he said, 'it's good to be from the past.'
Critic's Notebook Underrated: Neil Young singing harmony.
Overheard: Boomer in a Hawaiian shirt: "I dunno why we're smoking grass in the bathroom..."
Historical Note (for the kids): Buffalo Springfield have perhaps the best origin story in all of rock history. It involves Rick James gone AWOL, a canceled record contract for Motown, and a furtive roadside meeting following Stills and Furay chasing down Young's hearse on Sunset Blvd.
Onstage Banter:
NY: We're the Buffalo Springfield. Wait. No 'the,' just Buffalo Springfield, right? We'll have to decide that.
...
NY: Whatta you use THAT for? (at Furay's guitar pedal)
SS: It's a wayback machine.
...
NY: I didn't get the jokes for tonight. They didn't send me the jokes.
Crowd member: Just tell the ones from last night!
NY: I don't remember last night. I remember 44 years ago like it was yesterday, but I don't remember last night.
Spotted: J Mascis (or a convincing lookalike), in purple hoodie, in the crowd exiting the show.
Fans Carrying Signs That Say: "Hooray For Our Side!!!" in anticipation of Buffalo Springfield Reunion Tour
PLEASE NOTE: We are very interested in any photo of an actual sign at the concert that reads "Hooray For Our Side!!!"... especially if captured while "For What It's Worth" is playing and really especially if both the band and sign are in the photo.
Anyone able to obtain such a photo and/or provide a link or source we would be happy to work out some sort of arrangement. Enjoy the concerts!
After last year's rave reviews, we linked over to The Lefsetz Letter, where Bob Lefsetz explored the reunion's impact and meaning.
From the consummate music industry insider/outsider Bob Lefsetz -- one of the very few music writers today that begins to come close to understanding Neil Young -- on the The Buffalo Springfield reunion in Lefsetz Letter:
For What It’s Worth
It’s kind of surprising that there’s an act yet to get back together, but that’s the case with the Springfield, a band that had one hit and wasn’t recognized for its greatness until its successor act, Crosby, Stills & Nash, broke and everybody hungered for more of this sound and purchased Buffalo Springfield’s greatest hits album 'Retrospective' which included not only the CSN-similar 'Rock And Roll Woman', but Neil Young’s extended 'Broken Arrow' and 'Mr. Soul' and…
Interesting story…
If this were broadcast live on television, it would have been this week’s biggest entertainment story. Or a live show on HBO. Did Neil nix exploitation or did no one even think of it or were they waiting to see how it all turned out before they booked the obligatory tour?
There are a zillion YouTube clips. I’ll link to a few. But none of them are exactly like being there. And that’s what you wanted to be after viewing them. You truly felt like you missed out. And in today’s on demand/DVR/instant replay world you almost never feel that way.
And everybody is owning their age. Stills, in remarkably good voice considering the recent CSN dates, looks like he’s dressed to go to dinner, not play in front of thousands. In other words, it’s about the music, not the trappings.
And that’s a beacon to the rest of the world. Create something great and it lives forever. And you know what is being produced by the major labels is not built to last, hell, even a GM car will outlast one of today’s hits.
So we’re getting back to the garden. This performance was not built on hype. By time it happened, we were not already tired of it. It snuck up on us, passed by word of mouth like the need to attend Woodstock. The mainstream was out of the loop. But those who needed to know did. This is the way it used to be, and this is the way it is right now. Hype is not everything. If this show had been hyped, we’d have already forgotten it. But now people are still discovering it. It feels like we’re in the middle of something. Like Stephen sings, there’s something happening here, what it is ain’t exactly clear.
The surviving trio did their late friends proud. Opening with a slightly slowed version of the Furay-led On The Way Home, Stills and Young dutifully fell into supporting roles as harmony singers. The rendition was tight; close your eyes and you could almost be tuning into an AM station from yesteryear.
The Buffalo Springfield, v. 2010 Joe Vitale, Stephen Stills, Richie Furay, Neil Young and Rick Rosas Photo by Eleanor Stills (via Rick Rosas | Facebook)
Buffalo Springfield - circa 1967 Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Richie Furay, Dewey Martin, & Bruce Palmer
"Like to see those guys again And give it a shot Maybe now we can show the world What we got But I'd just like to play for the fun we had"
"Buffalo Springfield Again" by Neil Young, 2000
The Buffalo Springfield Again lineup consists of original members Stephen Stills, Neil Young, and Richie Furay. Bassist Rick Rosas will fill in for the late Bruce Palmer, and CSN drummer Joe Vitale will fill in for the late Dewey Martin.
Two weeks ago, Buffalo Springfield guitarist Richie Furay got a text message from Neil Young that simply said, “Call me.” “I called and he asked me if I’d be up for a reunion at the Bridge School Benefit,” Furay says. “He said, ‘If you’re into it, I think Stephen [Stills] will be into it.’ The three of us then arranged a conference call, chit-chatted for a few minutes, and planned it all out.
The last time I was onstage with them was the last Buffalo Springfield show at the Long Beach Arena back in 1968. Our lives have gone in different directions and I wouldn’t say that we’re close friends, but we’re friends and its an opportunity for us to get together again for a good cause. I’m very excited.”
For What It's Worth / Mr. Soul at the Hollywood Palace in 1967
The impact of Buffalo Springfield's brief but highly influential career still resonates today. Despite existing for just two years -- the notoriously volatile band folded in 1968 after just three albums -- the seminal Buffalo Springfield are considered one of the most influential groups of their era with their unique melange of melodic folk rock, trippy psychedelia and hip country sound. Along with the Byrds, The Buffalo Springfield country-rock sound spawned an entire genre from Poco to Loggins & Messina to Jackson Browne to The Eagles -- arguably the most successful American band of the last 40 years.
Buffalo Springfield begat CSN, Poco, Loggins and Messina, Crazy Horse, CSNY; inspired the Eagles and the early-Seventies Southern California scene; and, if you look at the roots of bands ranging from Sonic Youth to Son Volt, at least a part of them will stretch back to Buffalo Springfield."
"It was a Stills tune that in March 1967 took Buffalo Springfield to number 7 in the US singles charts and, when tacked on to the debut LP, reinvigorated its hitherto wan commercial performance. In August '66 the local citizenry had tried to clear the area around the Sunset Strip club Pandora`s Box, whose long haired clientele deterred legitimate tourism, by having the police enforce a curfew.
Protests followed, things turning ugly when the police weighed in with the night-sticks. Witnessing this upon return from a trip to Nicaragua , Stills was inspired: 'All the kids on one side of the street, all the cops on the other side - in Latin America that meant there'd be a new government in about a week. 'Both a warning and a barricade-manning counter-culture rallying cry, 'For What It's Worth' owes much of its power to Young's paranoid guitar. This creative contrast was seldom otherwise captured on record to Young's satisfaction.
Stills: 'When we got to our first session,we went into the studio and cut this one song, the voice came over the talk-back saying, 'No, that`s too long. Play it faster.' Neil and I looked at each other and said , 'We better learn how to work this shit ourselves. >From then on it was like a race to see who could learn the most about making records, about electronics and engineering, the whole nine yards.'
As Young told Nick Kent:' The real core of the group was the three Canadians - me, Bruce Palmer and Dewey Martin. We played in such a way that the three of us were basically huddled together behind whilst Stills and Furay were always out front. 'Cos we'd get so into the groove of the thing, that's all we really cared about. But when we got into the studio the groove just wasn't the same. And we couldn't figure out why. This was the major frustration for me as a young musician, it fucked me up so much. Buffalo Springfield should have recorded live from the very beginning. All the records were great failures as far as I`m concerned."
Rock'n Roll Woman at Live Popendipity in 1967 - Flip Wilson Show
In an interview with Stephen Stills by Cameron Crowe (September, 1974) on the Sunset Strip guitar duels with Neil Young:
STILLS: "Neil and I used to have guitar wars on stage that were really stupid.
It was really funny. I wouldn't play the game except every once in a while when I'd get in a mood. It was just pathetic. I started playing lead guitar in the Buffalo Springfield and it was okay. I never played anything that was really bad, other than that I played too loud. The fights started getting really good and I guess that fights started becoming a little too much to take or something.
Buffalo Springfield - For What It's Worth (Monterey 1967)
For What It's Worth
The Buffalo Springfield open for The Rolling Stones Hollywood Bowl, July 25th, 1966 Photo by Sue Michelson
Buffalo Springfield - For What It's Worth - Smother Bros show 1967
"Used to play in a rock 'n' roll band, But they broke up. We were young and we were wild, It ate us up. Now I'm not saying who was right or wrong." "Buffalo Springfield Again" by Neil Young, 2000
On the song “Buffalo Springfield Again”, from his Silver & Gold album [2000], Young sang of how he’d “Like to see those guys again/And give it another shot.” The song was written just after Young had refused to appear at the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame induction of Buffalo Springfield. Later, Dewey Martin remarked on Young's absence that he'd much rather have it that Neil would sing with them rather than about them.
Stephen Stills & Neil Young discuss Buffalo Springfield - Part #2
Stephen Stills & Neil Young discuss Buffalo Springfield - Part #3
The Richie Furay Band performing Neil Young songs that Richie sang on the first Springfield album. The songs include Flying on the Ground, Do I have to come right out and say it, and Clancy.
Buffalo Springfield on TV Program "Mannix" - Broadcast: October 28, 1967
The author of an upcoming book on Neil Young is looking for photos from fans for use in the book.
These would include anything from concert shots, private shots, to any cool memorabilia they might be able to scan and submit as a jpeg. Submissions would be uncompensated, but fans submitting pictures that are used would be fully credited in the book.
If you have something to submit, contact Glen Boyd at alkiguy1@q.com
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