Richie Furay

RICHIE FURAY
 
 
Richie Furay  (born May 9, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter, and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member who is best known for forming the bands Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Bruce Palmer, and Dewey Martin; and Poco with Jim Messina, Rusty Young, George Grantham and Randy Meisner.  His best known song (originally written during his tenure in Buffalo Springfield, but eventually performed by Poco, as well) was “Kind Woman”, which he wrote for his wife, Nancy.  (More from Wikipedia) 
 
 

Buffalo Springfield started with a chance meeting of Stephen Stills and Neil Young; later, Stills and his friend Richie Furay were driving along Sunset Boulevard in L.A. and spotted a hearse.  Stills was sure that it was Young’s, and sure enough, it was.  Neil Young had another Canadian in the hearse as a passenger:  Bruce Palmer.  These four formed the band with drummer Dewey Martin

 

When Last Time Around was being wound up, Stephen Stills and Neil Young had already exited Buffalo Springfield; and Richie Furay (guitar and vocals) and Jim Messina (bass guitar) were about the only ones left.  For the final track laid down by Buffalo Springfield, Furay and Messina were joined by Rusty Young (pedal steel guitar); he was a rarity in that time period in being one of the few steel guitarists who felt comfortable playing rock music.  The three stuck together; at Rusty Young’s suggestion, they added Randy Meisner (bass guitar and vocals), who had been in a band called the Poor, and George Grantham (drums and vocals), who had been in a psychedelic folk/rock band called Boenzee Cryque with Rusty Young

 

Poco became one of the earliest and most long-lived country-rock bands.  Several record companies were interested in signing the new act, but they hit a road block:  Richie Furay and Jim Messina were still signed to Atlantic Records as part of Buffalo Springfield.  Meanwhile, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young were having the same problem getting signed.  David Geffen, then a young talent scout, arranged for the recording contracts for Stephen Stills and Neil Young to be swapped for those of Richie Furay and Jim Messina, so that CSNY could be signed to Atlantic Records, and Poco could be signed to Epic Records

 

Richie Furay stayed with Poco through their sixth album, Crazy Eyes (1973); the album made the Top 40, but with the lackluster sales of both albums and singles, even he was starting to get discouraged. 

 

Poco hung in there and hit something of a creative peak with Rose of Cimarron (1976); the title track, “Rose of Cimarron”, written by Rusty Young was covered by Emmylou Harris and was the de facto title track on her album Cimarron.  Though only Rusty Young remained among the founding members, their 1978 album Legend was the band’s most successful, reaching #14 on the Billboard album charts and including two Top 20 singles, “Crazy Love” and “Heart of the Night”.  

 

(April 2014)

 

Last edited: March 22, 2021