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29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very Unique Album Fueled By Trademark Power and Energy, November 4, 2004
On this album Richie Furay and Jim Messina literally pick up the pieces of their former band Buffalo Springfield and create a landmark in the history of music. Furay and Messina rounded out their band with pedal steel guitar great Rusty Young (whose great steel solo on Kind Woman, the finale of the last Springfield album, helped set the direction for what would later become Poco), the great Randy Meisner (who would later become famous to a generation of country-rock fans as the high harmony voice of the Eagles), and George Grantham, whose steady drumming and fantastic harmonies were a perfect fit for what would become a very tight band. The term "soaring harmonies" never fit as well as with Furay/Meisner/Grantham on this album. For fans of great guitar and steel guitar, the interplay that developed between Young and Messina on this album will truly amaze you. On this album, perhaps more than any other Poco album that was to come, Furay took center stage as the #1 songwriter, contributing to almost all of the tunes on this set. He truly set the stage for Poco's trademark upbeat music.
If there is a downside to this album it may be the fact that it actually could have been even better. A rift developed between Meisner and the band during the completion of the album and his lead vocals and some of his other contributions were erased from the final product. Messina was also never particularly happy with the fact that his hands were somewhat tied from a production/engineering perspective. There is also a noteworthy lack of anything even remotely resembling a candidate for hit status on AM radio, a fact that would haunt the band for years. There are also a couple of weaker tracks, but the power and energy of the title track, Calico Lady, Consequently So Long, What a Day, Make Me a Smile, and Rusty Young's instrumental Grand Junction more than make up for them.
This album is also interesting from the standpoint that nobody had ever really created a full-length album of rock music infused with the elements of country music prior to this album's release. The Byrds's Sweetheart of the Rodeo and the International Submarine Band's Safe at Home came close, but they both lacked the down home rock foundation of this album. Poco spent months perfecting the sound that you will hear on this work, and it stands out as a true milestone in the history of music.
I wouldn't recommend starting with this album if you are new to Poco (check out Good Feelin' to Know instead), but it definitely ranks up there among their best and if nothing else they should offer a money back guarantee if listening to these songs doesn't brighten up your day.
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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Poco Debuts With A Bang, November 15, 2004
Poco debuts with a bang on PICKIN' UP THE PIECES. This wonderful album proves that Crosby Stills Nash & Young weren't the only great country-rock-folk band to come out of California in the late 60s. This album deserved to do much better commercially than it did, and now that it's been remastered, it just might get its day in the sun. As it was, in 1969 this album was just too country for rock radio and too rock for country radio.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good feelin', November 12, 2005
Poco was the most uplifting band I ever saw and their debut album was the most joyful record of the sixties. From the ashes of The Buffalo Springfield Ritchie Furay and Jim Messina formed the definitive country rock band. The uniqueness of the band centered around the innovative steel guitar playing of Rusty Young and the almost ethereal high harmonic vocal blend of Ritchie, Jim, drummer George Grantham and bass player Randy Meisner. This was the only album to feature this lineup before Randy was replaced by the talented Timothy B. Schmit and though not as well produced as some of their later albums there is an innocence and overall good feeling that was never equaled.
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