Customer Reviews

Again

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Byrds gave us chiming guitars and then, with the addition of Gram Parsons, a pure Country sound that was better than 90% of what Nashville was then cranking out. Buffalo Springfield gave us a rock 'n' roll band that grew from the folk circuit, from Stills, who brought Country and the oldest, most traditional folk, from the South, meeting with Furay, who brought a mild Country sensibility. Richie had met Neil Young, who had been part of the Canadian folk scene, briefly in New York. The Country roots origin of Buffalo Springfield were completed with Dewey Martin, who'd played with The Dillards. Along with Neil's friend Bruce Palmer, this quintet was a rock band simply trying to make the best music, which meant it must avoid teeny bop pop and Tin Pan Alley cliches, musically and lyrically, and that had them reworking Country and folk sources with a rock 'n' roll heart and attitude.

This is the best Buffalo Springfield album, and its importance merits 5 stars. My down ranking to 4 stars is because this should be a remastered version with at least one added cut: the 9 minute jam version of 'Bluebird' that apparently is not available anywhere today. Yes, all things considered, I prefer the 4 minute, originally released version and rank it a Classic, but the 9 minute version is perhaps more important to rock history, for it was an indispensable source for especially Southern rock bands as they forged long, jamming epics such as 'Free Bird' and 'High Tides and Green Grass.'

Beyond that, this album is loaded. In addition to 'Bluebird,' 'Mr. Soul' is an all-time Classic, and 'Broken Arrow, 'Rock 'N' Roll Woman,' and 'Expecting to Fly' are all brilliant. Richie's 'A Child's Claim to Fame' is nearly as good. No song is a throwawy.

But I can't be satisfied until I get the 9 minute 'Bluebird' on CD.

It is not advertised much, but look for this CD as a remaster - the sound is much improved and excellent. The back of the CD states HDCD and "Remastered from Original Source Tapes" Its still 9.99, so either get this new or used from a seller that assures it is the remastered version. This has some of Neil's best songs and with one exception, all the tracks are excellent.

Released the same fabulous year as the Beatles' SGT. PEPPER, BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD AGAIN is, in my humble opinion, is truly its equal, if not even better. Especially when one knows the turbulent circumstances going on behind the music - the conflicts between all of the members of the band. Pick up a copy of Richie Furay's book about the band, it's fascinating. I purchased the HDCD remastered copy of this recording the other day. Yes, it does sound better. Various instruments can be heard much better, however, the bass is really pronounced, whereas, in the original, the bass was diminished. All of these songs are gems. Diverse lyrical subjects; a good mix of barnburner rockers with slower stuff; the three guitar front line - Furay, Stills, and Young are quite dynamic, as well as the bass playing of Bruce Palmer, and drumming of Dewey Martin. Some of the songs feature complex arrangements, especially Young's Expecting To Fly. I was very fortunate to see this band live in 1967. They opened for the Good Vibrations era Beach Boys at the Penn Theater in Pittsburgh one cold rainy evening. Buffalo Springfield blew the Boys from the beach out of the joint. As far as my old copy of the disc, I plan to give it to my son, Neil, and if that sounds coincidental, it isn't.

Despite the fact that Buffalo Springfield was around for no more than a year and a half or so, their impact on American music has been immense. This was the group's second album and by this time their was already dissension in the band. Despite the arguments Buffalo Springfield still functions and sounds like a band. Buffalo Springfield Again is easily the band's best album.

The two dominant musical forces here are Stephen Stills and Neil Young. Most of their songs take up the record leaving only 2 leftover spots for Richie Furay. Furay makes his songwriting debut here. Both of his songs are excellent in my opinion. A CHILD'S CLAIM TO FAME is a catchy country rock classic and SAD MEMORY maybe the ultimate love ballad of the Summer of love (1967). However Furay's tunes although awesome on their own are overshadowed by the musical brilliance of Stills and Young here.

Young's rocker MR.SOUL opens the album with a bang. EXPECTING TO FLY is a spacey love ballad of wonderful beauty. BROKEN ARROW is a very unique tune that discusses the life of the band is some ways. Neil Young's compositions here are some of his finest yet they seem to scream out the fact that a split between Young and the band was emminent and sadly it was.

As for Stills the majority of songs on this album are his own compositions. His classic rocker BLUEBIRD is the album's highlight hit but other energetic rockers like HUNG UPSIDE DOWN (with Furay on lead vocals) and ROCK 'N ROLL WOMAN are almost as good and both tunes definetly had the potential to be big hits. GOOD TIME BOY is easily the weakest song on this album however it's still a great tune and I was quite impressed with drummer Dewey Martin's lead vocal. EVERYDAYS is Stills' most bizarre tune on this album. The tune is very jazzy and has a touch of acid rock to it.

In conclusion Buffalo Springfield is actually one of my personal faves. It truly made Stills and Young stellar songwriters and also proved that Furay had quite a bit of talent also. Sure it may not have FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH but every song here is a classic and this album is one of the defining musical moments of the 1960's. Highly recommended!

A classic. Stills is in top form with the potent "Rock 'n' Roll Woman" and "Bluebird," the latter featuring a cacophony of 11,000 chiming guitars wafting from the speakers. Likewise, Richie Furay shows his strength with the beautiful "Sad Memory," a song that's as haunting as any I've ever heard. And Neil? The Stones-ish "Mr. Soul" captures the uncertainty of fame and all that that entails; the Beach Boy/Spector-esque "Expecting to Fly" glides above the squabbles then encompassing the Springfield; and "Broken Arrow" is, like Neil, layered, incomprehensible and one of a kind.

I was the music critic for my college newspaper. I listened to and reviewed a lot of junk, but the two album I gave my highest ratings two were "Strange Days" by the then little-known Doors, and this album by the Buffalo Springfield. I just have to review it again.

What a spectacular explosion of talent this group had! And a spectacular amount of clashing egos, but that didn't stop them from making one of the most listenable albums of all time. Briming with ideas, technique, harmony, melodies. A high production album with ten things happening at the saem time. I go back and listen to it today and the consistent quality of each cut just blows me away. Young, Stills and Furay would go on to dominate rock/folk-rock/country-rock music for the next decade and Neil Young is still a major figure today.

Carefully parsing the voices and credits shows me there was a lot more Neil Young in this than I had previously thought. And Bruce Palmer, the mystery man. What wonderful driven bass lines he provided. These songs, "Mr Soul", "Rock & Roll Woman" could have been much worse without his beat propelling them!

I always thought there was a sad sub-meaning behind "R&R Woman", a compulsive macho search for a new woman to replace an old one, like interchangeable parts. "She's no longer mine/ she's just hard to find...", maybe that's just me, but all in all it's a great song. The melody, the words, the driving beat and listen to that three-part harmony.

Groups today should take the time to learn to sing harmonies like this. Like Fountains of Wayne. It is melodies and harmonies, as much as the words, that will make this music live forever! Despite the tug of war between Stills and Young, there are no less than four lead singers in BufSpr, a different one on nearly every song. Complex guitar parts with two lead guitars, Stills and Young palying off each other, and Furay on rhythym. You won't get tired of hearing the same voice on every cut. Four of the members were Canadians, and four of five used to be folksingers!

Heartfelt Ballads - "Sad Memory". Riffs used to allude to American Indians are everywhere (like the beginning of "Bluebird"). Otis Redding type Soul sounds with Dewey Martin singing on "Good Time Boy". (not Jazz! - note the 4/4 beat).Otis Redding, was a sixties R&b Soul artist, with much crossover appeal among college kids, who used to appear at The Whiskey Au GoGo with BufSpr - "GAH-ta-ga-ta-ga-ta-gah".

The hangover quality of the Stills masterpieces "Hung Upside Down", & "Everydays" and the production masterpiece "Bluebird". The way all BuffSpringers provide exquisite harmonies for each others tunes. Listen to Young and Furay sing backup for Stills on "Hung Upside Down"!

The insights Young shows to the ego trips of a big name rock performer in "Mr Soul" are mind boggling when you realize he wasn't yet 21 when he wrote it.

By the way, "His mother had told him a Trip was a fall/ and don't mention babies at all" in "Broken Arrow" is a allusion to the government anti-drug propaganda from the sixties that LSD was so strong, if someone took one "Trip", they would destroy their genes and have mutant babies with three heads or something. If that had been true, 60% of the people alive now are mutants!

It's all good from beginning to end. Deserves 10 stars!

Now if I could only get my hands on the full live version of "Mr Soul" which Neil Young quotes in the first eight bars from in "Broken Arrow", (that's Dewey Martin singing lead, in the style of Otis Redding) I would be truely happy...

Why did you guys break up!? And don't give me that Yoko Ono lala. Although maybe that Eastman chick had something to do with it. No, wait. Wrong band. You guys were almost as good, tho.

I bought this on 8-track in high school as an outgrowth of my fascination with the music of Neil Young. However this is the one instance in their long fractured partnership when Stephen Stills stood as an equal to him. Here he is at the peak of his songwriting ability and considering the the three songs that Neil added to this album (Mr. Soul, Expecting To Fly and Broken Arrow) that is saying alot. The two Richie Furay songs are nice additions in the George Harrson filler vein (think of A Child's Claim To Fame as If I Needed Someone and Sad Memory as Think For Yourself). Dewey Martin's hayseed funkiness actually carries Good Time Boy. Of Steve's songs Bluebird contains some amazing acoustic guitar and the harmonies on Rock & Roll Woman are supurb. Upside Down is a truly great group effort and Everydays sounds the closest to the things he would do later with CSN and sometimes Y. This cd really deserves a remaster and they could include the long "freakout" version of Bluebird. A very elusive track to find. One last note; in my review of Moby Grape's first album I compared them to Springfield. It has just occured to me, Springfield had Mr. Soul and the Grape did Mr. Blues hmmmm.

bookended by a pair of neil young classics ("mr soul" and "broken arrow"), this is a stunning album, one of the very best that was american made in the 60's. this is such an ambitious piece of work. there is country-rock (a child's claim to fame), jazz-tinges (on "everydays"), a gorgeous ballad with heavenly strings (expecting to fly), and soul music with horns & all (good time boy). "bluebird" is one of the strongest melodies here, with great electric & acoustic guitar workouts and some banjo picking that takes the song on out. "rock & roll woman" is also a fabulous melody with electric & acoustic guitar textures. catchy harmonies too. "hung upside down" sports more great electric guitar work, and is a fine stephen stills composition. it is the closing track "broken arrow," however, that is the real highwire act of a song here. six minutes and thirteen seconds of supreme musical ambition that works wonders. the song is a great neil young vocal with a fantastic arrangement of strings with circus sounds and jazz touches included. one of my favorite song compositions of the 60's. the whole album is magic. everyone should have a copy of this masterpiece.

This is the peak album from a band that disbanded long before its time. There are no weak cuts here (despite what you may have heard from other reviewers), just varying degrees of excellence. The disparity of songs on this album is its great strength - these guys can be tender and lush (Neil Young's "Expecting to Fly"), exhilarating (Steve Stills' "Bluebird"), soulfull (Dewey Martin singing the r&b "Good Time Boy"), and psychedelic (Neil's "Broken Arrow"). The members have been unable to top this album, regardless of whoever else they joined up with in the years since.