Buffalo Springfield

Though Buffalo Springfield existed only briefly, forming in 1966 and disbanding by 1968, the influence they exerted proved far-reaching. Much of their renown grew in later years once founding members Richie Furay, Stephen Stills, and Neil Young achieved prominence either solo or through bands such as Poco and Manassas, yet the core of their reputation derived from “For What It’s Worth,” the protest song Stills wrote and sang. That single not only delivered their Top Ten breakthrough in 1967 but also became their lasting emblem, ultimately standing in for the entire political turbulence of the 1960s. So dominant did “For What It’s Worth” become that it risked overshadowing how decisively the band’s three original albums helped reshape rock & roll’s sonic landscape by the close of the decade. Although nominally rooted in folk-rock, Buffalo Springfield readily incorporated country-rock, psychedelia, soul, and hard rock while fully exploiting the studio possibilities available in Los Angeles. Their 1967 masterpiece Buffalo Springfield Again especially displayed the group’s wide-ranging ambitions, and even though that musical breadth failed to generate further hits—they never returned to the Top 40 after “For What It’s Worth”—it nevertheless supplied essential groundwork for much of the album-oriented rock that defined the 1970s.

The band’s origins trace to Thunder Bay, Ontario, where Neil Young’s rock & roll outfit the Squires once opened for the Company, a side project tied to the folk revue the Au Go-Go Singers that included Stephen Stills. After the tour concluded, Stills traveled to Los Angeles, California, and began working the session circuit. There he formed a connection with producer Barry Friedman, who urged the singer/songwriter to assemble his own group. Stills brought in Richie Furay, a former Au Go-Go Singers colleague, and the two, accompanied by Friedman, were driving along Sunset when they spotted a hearse they believed belonged to Young. It did.

Neil Young had arrived in Los Angeles with Bruce Palmer, the bassist from Young’s earlier band the Mynah Birds, whose lead singer was the future funk-rocker Rick James. Once that group dissolved, the pair resolved to try their luck in California and were scraping by when they crossed paths with Stills and Furay. The quartet quickly coalesced, adding Dewey Martin—who had previously performed with garage rockers the Standells and progressive country pioneers the Dillards—as drummer. Taking their name from a steamroller manufacturer, Buffalo Springfield made their debut at the Troubadour on April 11, 1966, after rehearsing for barely a week, then began a six-week residency at the Whisky A Go Go on the Sunset Strip a month later. That engagement attracted new managers Charlie Greene and Brian Stone, who also handled Sonny & Cher and soon secured a deal with Atco, an Atlantic Records subsidiary under Ahmet Ertegun.

Atco issued Young’s “Nowadays Clancy Can’t Even Sing” as Buffalo Springfield’s debut single in August 1966, yet it received airplay only in Los Angeles. Their follow-up, “For What It’s Worth,” fared differently. Stills wrote the song after witnessing a riot on the Sunset Strip, and the group recorded and released it swiftly as a single that soon blanketed the country. “For What It’s Worth” ascended into the Billboard Top Ten by March 1967, prompting Atco to revise the band’s self-titled debut—which had originally appeared at the end of 1966—to include the hit.

Despite the sudden success, internal strains mounted. Bruce Palmer’s marijuana arrest in January 1967 resulted in his deportation from the United States. The band cycled through several bassists while attempting to complete a second album tentatively titled Stampede, a project that ultimately collapsed. Friction intensified, especially between Stills and Young, culminating in Young’s departure during the summer of 1967; Doug Hastings filled the guitar chair in his absence, and David Crosby of the Byrds joined when Buffalo Springfield performed at the Monterey Pop Festival. Palmer rejoined during Young’s absence, and the group reconvened in the fall of 1967. After dismissing managers Greene and Stone, they completed Buffalo Springfield Again, nominally produced by Ahmet Ertegun yet largely shaped by each singer/songwriter—including Richie Furay, who contributed original material for the first time—helming his own tracks.

On the ensuing tour Palmer again faced drug charges and deportation, prompting Jim Messina to assume the bass role. Messina also took over production for the sessions that yielded Last Time Around, the summer 1968 album that proved to be their final statement. Several months before its release, Ertegun mediated the band’s dissolution, after which Young signed with Warner while Stills remained with Atlantic. Furay and Messina finished Last Time Around before forming Poco with singer/songwriter Rusty Young. Dewey Martin attempted to preserve the name by launching New Buffalo Springfield, a project that cycled through numerous musicians until Martin was dismissed in 1969 and the remaining members became Blue Mountain Eagle.

Although Buffalo Springfield ended in 1968, its alumni became major figures in the 1970s, with Stills and Young succeeding both as solo artists and as members of Crosby, Stills & Nash. Furay recorded six albums with Poco before embarking on a solo career. Messina left Poco after their third album and later partnered with Kenny Loggins. Bruce Palmer issued a solo album in 1971 and remained largely out of view during the rest of the decade until reappearing in 1982 as a member of Young’s touring band. That engagement revived Palmer’s activity, leading him to form Buffalo Springfield Revisited in 1984 and soon add Dewey Martin. Stills and Young granted their approval for the Revisited project and even considered reuniting the original lineup in 1986, though those plans dissolved after two rehearsals. By the close of the decade the Revisited band gradually ceased operations.

In the early years of the 21st century Young began discussing a possible Buffalo Springfield reunion and even wrote a song titled “Buffalo Springfield Again” for his 2000 album Silver & Gold. He later compiled the complete Buffalo Springfield box set. Attention soon shifted elsewhere. Palmer died in 2004 and Martin in 2009, yet in the aftermath Young, Stills, and Furay performed together at the Bridge School Benefit in October 2010. That appearance prompted the trio to recruit drummer Joe Vitale and bassist Rick Rosas for a short 2011 tour that included a set at Bonnaroo. Further touring plans were abandoned once Young refocused on Crazy Horse, returning Buffalo Springfield to inactivity by 2012. Their catalog resurfaced in 2018 with the five-disc collection What’s That Sound? Complete Albums Collection, which presented Young-approved remasters of the mono and stereo mixes of their three original albums.