Customer Reviews

Retrospective

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Buffalo Springfield was a band more known for what it's members did after they left, than the great music they made as this short lived group. Although only together 18 months, they were the blueprint for some of the most successful country rock bands to come, such as CSN, Poco, and the Eagles, along with about every other west coast rock group. The songs on this retrospective, which originally came out in 1969, just after their breakup, were written by either Steven Stills or Neil Young. The lone exception being "Kind Woman", which was penned by Richie Furay, who later recorded it again with his band Poco. The first song here, and probably their most famous single "For What It's Worth", established Steven Stills as a great songwriter. It also had that catchphrase in it, "There's something happening here/what it is ain't exactly clear", which was a popular line in 60's counterculture at the time. Another great Stills song is "Bluebird", which features some nice guitar work. It starts out as an all out rock song, then comes that famous guitar interlude, and then switches gears and becomes a banjo driven country song. Absolutely brilliant! Not to be outdone is Neil Young. He pens 3 great tunes in a row, starting with "On The Way Home". I love this song. With it's horn arrangements, it's different than any other Buffalo song. "Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing" is a beautiful folk rock song with CSN type harmonies. His masterpiece here is "Broken Arrow". A unique song that has a bit of everything in it, from full orchestration with a bolero type of drumbeat, mixed with a countryrock sound with numerous rhythm changes. This song rivals anything those boys from Liverpool were doing at the time. There may not have been a better songwriter around than Neil Young during the Springfield period leading up to his first 2 brilliant albums "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere", and "After The Goldrush". Although this is a relatively small retrospective, every song here is a gem. Buffalo Springfield was one of the most creative bands of the 60's, but because of their strong individual writing and performing talents, this was also the reason for their breakup. This is an excellent historical document of the band that started the whole folk, country rock movement. Highly recommended!

1. For What It's Worth
2. Mr. Soul
3. Sit Down, I Think I Love You
4. Kind Woman
5. Bluebird
6. On the Way Home
7. Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing
8. Broken Arrow
9. Rock and Roll Woman
10. I Am a Child
11. Go and Say Goodbye
12. Expecting To Fly

Now that we've stopped guffawing over the Limp Bizkit remark, let's get serious :-). Buffalo Springfield was a great mid-sixties band from Los Angeles that embodied the tendency of talented rock groups to provide listeners with a taste of greatness, only to end up splitting apart into offspring bands that in most cases are not as musically satisfying. Buffalo Springfield included some of the truly creative artists of sixties rock: Steven Stills, Neil Young, Richie Furay, and Jim Messina. The tension between their distinctive talents and styles led the band to achieve a fresh, original sound that today, over thirty years later, is still incredible to hear. The progeny of this highly original group, which included Poco, Crosby, Stills, and Nash, and Neil Young With Crazy Horse, all produced great recordings in their time, but I still wonder longingly what Buffalo Springfield might have achieved musically had the band been able to stay together longer.

Fortunately, Buffalo Springfield did leave us with three terrific albums, which provide the basis for this "best of" collection, which includes twelve selected tracks. It's likely that most Buffalo Springfield fans will have at least one objection to the track selection here. That's nearly always the case with "best of" albums. However, I think that whoever made the choices did about as well as anyone could do. Any album that includes sixties political classic "For What It's Worth," hot rockers like "Mr. Soul" and "Rock and Roll Woman," gorgeous pop compositions like "On the Way Home," and the short Neil Young composition that is nearly perfect in its heartfelt simplicity, "I Am A Child," has got to be considered a winner.

I love the Buffalo Springfield and all of the songs on this CD... however it is an OLD analog recording which I did not realize when I bought it. The sound quality is not good. So trying to mix it in with other music it sounds flat and the recording volumes are lower. So now I will be surfing to find something by them that has been digitally remastered. It sucks to get such great music and have it in the old analog format. So while I highly recommend the songs on the CD, I would try to find them on something that has been digitally remastered to avoid disappointment.

Buffalo Springfield was neither the first vehicle for nor the first group to record and release works by founding members Richie Furay, Stephen Stills, and Neil Young. Rather, it was a sounding board and a starting point for a new direction in rock and the beginning of stardom for its aforementioned members (and even later, Jim Messina of Loggins and Messina fame). Stephen Stills would emerge as the group's main songwriter but, as with Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, he would soon be surpassed for quality of work by peer and colleague Neil Young. The dynamics between the two are simultaneously famous and infamous, yet the mutual admiration and inspiration is evident on this and all future Stills-Young projects.

Emerging at a time when The Beatles had led the British rock brigade into America, and the US had replied with the Dylan-inspired folk rock of The Byrds and The Mamas and The Papas, The Buffalo Springfield would introduce more of a country flavor to the spectrum (a la The Band, latter-day Byrds, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and The Flying Burrito Brothers). Like The Band, Springfield would include both Americans and Canadians, just as CSNY would add an Englishman and former Hollie to the mix. Not necessarily making this a melting pot, it does bring to the fore different cultural elements and an innovative blend of ideas.

This release serves as an appropriate crash course to the form, both in its advantages and disadvantages, and as an excellent introduction to the musical careers of Stephen Stills and Neil Young (Furay's light not shining quite as brightly even though he would achieve some standard of success with Poco). As the saying goes, "the best is yet to come!"

The reason that Buffalo Springfield only lasted two years was the egos of three men:Neil Young,Stephen Stills,and Richie Furay.Any band that has three lead guitar playing songwriters will undoubtedly hear the clash of egos sooner rather than later.While they were around,not only did they produce four classic sixties albums(BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD,BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD AGAIN,LAST TIME AROUND and the unreleased STAMPEDE),but they paved the way for such acts as Poco,The Eagles,The Flying Burrito Brothers,CSNY plus the solo careers of Stills and Young.This retrospective shows you what comes out of competition betwwen band members.Neil Young lays down foundations for later work with CrazyHorse(MR SOUL),CSNY(EXPECECTING TO FLY,BROKEN ARROW)and the Stray Gators(I AM A CHILD).Richie Furay delivers a country rock classic(KIND WOMAN)and tackles two Young gems(ON THE WAY HOME,NOWADAYS CLANCY CAN'T EVEN SING).Stephen Stills presents straightforward protest(FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH),jangly pop (SIT DOWN,I THINK I LOVE YOU),a multi layered country rock epic written about Judy Collins(BLUEBIRD)anda folk rock masterpiece co-witten by David Crosby and later covered in concert by the Beach Boys(ROCK AND ROLL WOMAN).When in sync,Buffalo Springfield could have claimed the title of the American rival of the Beatles;duelling lead guitars with meshing harmonies and intelligent lyrics.It is a shame that they have never had a full reunion album/tour.Maybe that's just as well.RETROSPECTIVE:BEST OF BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD is and excellent jumping off point for the beginner or the Neil Young fan who just wants to know what the fuss is all about.

Brilliant, and the inspiration for an entire genre of country rock. Such music is timeless, as enjoyable now as forty years ago.

this band just rocks, and they craft wonderful songs that i didn't know I liked before I picked this up. This collection does a terrific job of bringing all of the best from the band onto one cd, not too difficult seeing as they had only 3 albums. If you have just heard the name, or heard only one of the songs, do not hesitate to pick this up; every song is wonderful and really fun to listen to. all are great examples of the best of the country rock movement, ready for you to enjoy. Make it a priority purchase.

The group recorded three albums during their three years together, but one (Stampede) was never officially released. A fourth album (Last time around) was assembled from leftover tracks after the group disbanded. Their second original album (Again) is easily the best of the three officially released and several of its tracks are included here. Within a general acoustic rock style, there is plenty of diversity including folk, pop and country influences and this eclectic mix illustrates the clash of styles within the group.

Stephen Stills and Neil Young provided most of the group's song although they never wrote together. Of Stephen's songs, the highlights include For what it's worth (their only major hit - it made the American top ten), Bluebird (about Judy Collins), Rock and roll woman (about Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane) and Go and say goodbye. Of Neil's songs, my favorites are Mr Soul, Broken arrow and Expecting to fly. The other songs are all great including one by Richie Furay, Kind woman.

Neil Young and Stephen Stills went on to form Crosby Stills Nash and Young with ex-Byrd David Crosby and ex-Hollies Graham Nash. Richie Furay and Jim Messina went on to form Poco, an important country-rock group that survived many line-up changes of its own.

Ultimately, Buffalo Springfield are more famous as the launching pad for the careers of its members than for the music they made together, but their best music, included in this set, is certainly worth a listen.

Buffalo Springfield is a legend. For their too-short time together, they recorded some incredible music and influenced many others. This was also the band that got Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Rich Furay, and (later) Jim Messina their starts. Far from being a little-known sixties obscurity, this was a very prominent and well-respected band. Most everyone has heard "For What It's Worth" at least a few times, but if that is ALL you've heard, you are missing out on some real gems, "Mr. Soul" and "Bluebird" among them.