Buffalo Springfield “Buffalo Springfield Again”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#209 in the Series) is Buffalo Springfield, Buffalo Springfield Again.
Buffalo Springfield didn’t last too long, but did pretty darn well when they were around. How many other bands released just three albums yet make it into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
Those three albums were Buffalo Springfield, Buffalo Springfield Again and Last Time Around.
Today we’re going to look at that middle album.
This album featured well known tracks written by the three main front men. Those songs would remain part of their individual live shows until today. They would be Neil Young with ‘I am a Child’ and ‘Mr. Soul,’ Richie Furay with ‘A Child’s Claim to Fame’ and Steven Stills with ‘Bluebird’ and ‘Rock and Roll Woman.’
The band was known for its many issues that nearly broke them up many times. Richie was probably the glue that held things together. I recently read his autobiography called Pickin’ Up The Pieces. He explained how he wrote ‘A Child’s Claim to Fame’ about some of the bands arguments. Most of which he called petty, and childish.
Here are the lyrics from that song.
Well there goes another day / Now I wonder why / You and I / Keep telling lies. // I can’t believe that what you say ’cause tomorrows lullaby / can’t pacify / my lonesome crying
Make believe that’s all you know And to make believe is a game / A child’s rein / You’ve changed your name
So sadly I watched the show I watched you became / Truth is the shame / Yeah, too much pain
Here’s what he has to say about the song…” I was commenting on the interpersonal dynamics within the band. I looked at the childish escapades that were going on among the five of us, with some thinking they were better or more important than the group as a whole, so I vented my frustrations in a song.”
It was really hard to find any live videos from the 60s of The Buffalo Springfield. So I added some not audio only videos of many of the tracks on this album. As a bonus I was able to find nearly the complete reunion show that they did a little over a month ago. The camera was a little shaky but it’s still a great watch!
Buffalo Springfield, Buffalo Springfield Again peaked at #44 on the Billboard Top 200 Album chart.
‘Bluebird’ peaked at #58 on the Billboard Top 100 Singles chart.
NEIL YOUNG OFFICIAL WEBSITE: www.neilyoung.com
RICHIE FURAY OFFICIAL WEBSITE: www.richiefuray.com
STEVEN STILLS OFFICIAL WEBSITE: www.stephenstills.com
The Buffalo Springfield were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.
Track Listing
- “Mr. Soul” (Young) – 2:35
- “A Child’s Claim to Fame” (Furay) – 2:09
- “Everydays” (Stills) – 2:38
- “Expecting to Fly” (Young) – 3:39
- “Bluebird” (Stills) – 4:28
- “Hung Upside Down” (Stills) – 3:24
- “Sad Memory” (Furay) – 3:00
- “Good Time Boy” (Furay) – 2:11
- “Rock & Roll Woman” (Stills/Crosby[uncredited]) – 2:44
- “Broken Arrow” (Young) – 6:13
Personnel
Buffalo Springfield
- Stephen Stills – organ, guitar, piano, rhythm guitar, keyboard, Vocals
- Neil Young – guitar, harmonica, vocals
- Richie Furay – guitar, rhythm guitar, vocals
- Dewey Martin – drums, vocals
- Bruce Palmer – bass
Additional personnel
- Norris Badeaux – baritone saxophone on “Good Time Boy”
- Hal Blaine – drums
- Merry Clayton – vocal
- James Burton – Dobro, guitar
- Charlie Chin – banjo
- David Crosby – backing vocal on “Rock & Roll Woman”
- Jim Fielder – bass
- Jim Gordon – drums
- Doug Hastings – guitar
- Brenda Holloway – vocal
- Patrice Holloway – vocal
- Jim Horn – clarinet
- Gloria Jones – vocal
- Carol Kaye – bass
- Shirley Matthews – vocal
- Harvey Newmark – bass
- Gracia Nitzsche – vocal
- Jack Nitzsche – electric piano
- Don Randi – piano, harpsichord
- Chris Sarns – guitar
- Russ Titelman – guitar
- Bobby West – bass
VIDEOS: Videos from their reunion show last month at a benefit for Neil Young Bridge School. If you’re not familiar with the Bridge School here is their mission: “The Bridge School is a non-profit organization whose mission is to ensure that individuals with severe speech and physical impairments achieve full participation in their communities through the use of augmentative & alternative means of communication (AAC) and assistive technology (AT) applications and through the development, implementation and dissemination of innovative life-long educational strategies. The Bridge School is an internationally recognized leader in the education of children who use augmentative and alternative communication and has developed unique programs and trained highly skilled professionals in the use of state of the art assistive technology.
OFFICIAL BRIDGE SCHOOL WEBSITE: www.bridgeschool.org
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